<P> Indeed, in the 1930s, the colonial powers had cultivated, sometimes inadvertently, a small elite of leaders educated in Western universities and familiar with ideas such as self - determination . In some cases where the road to independence was fought, settled arrangements with the colonial powers were also being placed . These leaders came to lead the struggles for independence, and included leading nationalists such as Jomo Kenyatta (Kenya), Kwame Nkrumah (Gold Coast, now Ghana), Julius Nyerere (Tanganyika, now Tanzania), Léopold Sédar Senghor (Senegal), Nnamdi Azikiwe (Nigeria), and Félix Houphouët - Boigny (Côte d'Ivoire). </P> <P> The economic legacy of colonialism is difficult to quantify but is likely to have been negative . Modernisation theory emphasises that colonial powers built infrastructure to integrate Africa into the world economy, however this was built mainly for extraction purposes . African economies were structured to benefit the coloniser and any surplus was likely to be' drained', thereby stifling capital accumulation . Dependency theory suggests that most African economies continued to occupy a subordinate position in the world economy after independence with a reliance on primary commodities such as copper in Zambia and tea in Kenya . Despite this continued reliance and unfair trading terms, a meta - analysis of 18 African countries found that a third of countries experienced increased economic growth post-independence . </P> <P> The debts of African economies are external and one - sided . While the USA and the UK have gross external debts of 95% and 400% respectively, these debts are balanced by the countries being major lenders . This is not the case for African nations which do not own as many assets or debts to balance the burden . The debt situation in sub-Saharan Africa means that the world's poorest countries were transferring $3 billion US dollars to developed countries between 1995 and 2000 . This is exacerbated by interest and principal arrears which made up over 27% of total external debt for sub-Saharan nations in 1998 . This causes two main problems: firstly, servicing the debt means less money is available for importing goods, secondly debt creates uncertainty and risk which puts off investors and reduces business confidence . </P> <P> Over 2,000 distinct languages are spoken in the continent . Along with Africa's indigenous dialects - Afro - Asiatic, Kordofanian and Khoisan languages, many colonial languages are spoken today . For example, English is spoken in Ghana, Gambia and Kenya, French in Benin, Burkina - Faso and Cameroon, and Portuguese in Guinea - Bissau, Angola, São Tomé and Príncipe . Scholars including Dellal (2013), Miraftab (2012) and Bamgbose (2011) have argued that Africa's linguistic diversity has been eroded . Language has been used by western colonial powers to divide territories and create new identities which has led to conflicts and tensions between African nations . </P>

When did south africa gain it's independence