Journal of International Studies Vol.

13, 1-14 (2017)

The Impact of Globalization on African Culture

and Politics

Ibrahim Kawuley Mikail & 2Ainuddin Iskandar Lee Abdullah

1

1
Federal College of Education, Zaria, Nigeria
2
School of International Studies, Universiti Utara Malaysia, Malaysia

Corresponding author: [email protected]

1

Abstract

The world is undergoing the process of transition ranging from orthodox traditionalist to
the modern colonial system of multipolar divergent domination of colonial agenda and
later transcending to bipolar twin ideological dominance of western capitalist and eastern
central planned economy with modern technological development. This trend has really
transformed the global scenario to enter into modern clutches since Second World War up
to the terminal point of the cold war in early 90’s. Meanwhile, the new post-cold war global
agenda came up with new changes such as “modern advancement, revolution in information,
communication and technology, globalization, liberalization of economy, democracy and
democratization process among others. Content analysis was the methodology that the
researchers adopted in this paper. The study reveals that globalization and modernity have
detrimental impacts on African culture and politics in areas of its political system, economy,
education, religion and socio-psychological systems. The paper recommends that Africans
should maintain their culture, norms and values as well as enhance the national boundary
and sovereignty so as meet the challenges of globalization.

Keywords: Impact, globalization, African culture, politics, cultural imperialism.

Introduction

Africa is the continent that has been subjugated and dominated by different sinister at all
cost. Before the era of colonial plunder, the continent was deprived with bad governance
in the hand of emperors, monarchs with divergent draconian tendencies. However,
superstitions, magic and traditional cultural obliquity and barbaric propensity was the order
of the day. This traditional milieu precipitates the religious missioners to wage crusades in
some areas to enhance their socio-cultural system in the continent. The inter-alia relations
of the continent with Arab Middle East has really attributed to the cultural transformation
and development for most of the regions in Africa. In fact, some scholars viewed that the
word Africa was derived from the name of the former King of Yemen, Ifriqos bin Qais bin
Ibrahim Kawuley Mikail & Ainuddin Iskandar Lee Abdullah

Saifi, while others said that Africa is Queen of Heaven. Nevertheless, the inclination of the
continent with the Arabs has developed a new trend in the customs, norms and values of the
African society. Besides that, the Arabs are part and parcel of the continent. The countries in
Fezzan and Maghreb are in the northern region of the African states. This includes Algeria,
Morocco, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt among others. Meanwhile, Egypt is the cradle of world
civilization and a religious historical monument in the global archives which have both
Muslims and orthodox Christians in some areas of Alexandria.

The colonial agenda came up to the continent during the aftermath of the 17th century
industrial revolution of Europe. This led to the spread and devastation of colonial imperial
powers from the western European countries to Africa, Latin America and Asia in search for
raw materials and slaves. This is the intensification of globalization as observed by Samir
Amin or what has been described as global slavery and enslavement of Africans by the
western powers. But, such globalization is basically to look at the raw materials, cheap human
labor and markets for the development of European nations and the underdevelopment of
Africa as hinted by Rodney as development of underdevelopment (Rodney, 1973). Africa’s
contact with other parts of the world, especially America and Europe, started in the 15th
century through trade including the trans-Atlantic slave trade. During this period, western
merchants bought from African slave traders Africa’s most valuable resources - able-bodied
men, women and children (Obioha, 2010). At this juncture, more than twelve million slaves
were taken away from Africa to the western world and countless thousands of them died in
the process (Mazrui, 1986).

Globalization is not a new concept to Africa. Scholars believe that there have been three
major phases of globalization: 1870 -1914; 1945 -1980 and from 1980 till now (Ajayi,
2003). In fact, the first phase of globalization, as pointed out by Ajayi (2003), from 1870-
1914 was towards the end of the 19th century and before the first world war; this was the
period for colonization and colonial domination of developing states of Africa, Asia and
Latin America. It served as a platform for spreading western culture and the usurpation of
the political economic power of the colonies towards building a European economy. The
second phase was (1945-1980), from World War II down to the period of decolonization
in the late 50s-60s down to 80s. This signified the post-colonial era and the emergence
of neo-colonialism in the developing states. This was due to the imposition of western
political culture on the developing states with the white man system of leadership which was
prescribed by Franz Fanon as black skin white mask. Finally, the third phase 1980 to date
has marked the period of the second wave of democratization as vindicated by Huntington
(1991, 1996; Schreader, 1995). In fact, most of the nation states changed their tectonic
system of governance to western liberal democracy. Therefore, globalization has already
been in place since time immemorial. The terminology is a long terminology as old as
mankind, but the dispersal of nationals to another region or continent accelerated the agenda
to greater heights. The old diplomatic relations, war, expansion of empires and religious
revivalists are the bedrock of global relations. Later colonial explorers exacerbated the trend
to the peak and modified it into the modern agenda of modernization and westernization of

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 The Impact of Globalization on African Culture and Politics

Africans. Currently, the proliferation of information communication and technology (ICT)

is the conduit pipe for conquering the globe to become a global village. That cements the
carpet for global governance (Finkelstein, 1995; Held, 2006).

This trend has precipitated the changing nature of the political system, socio-cultural,
educational and psychological scene of African colonies into the cobweb of modernity,
and incorporation into vagaries of western capitalists (Tar, 1999). The Africans learnt to
wear western, drill western, speak western, but what they did not learn was to be western
in this temporal world (Mazrui, 1986). This syndrome has attributed to the domestication
of western culture and civilization into the indigenous culture that has affected the cultural
background of the African society. This scenario has also affected Asian countries such as
Asian Tigers and Arab countries in the middle east. In fact, some Arabs respect western
culture as par excellence than their local customs from the Arabism Islamic background.
This transcends them to westernize under the auspices of globalization. This scenario has
been alluded and accepted to wide coverage during the colonial plunder and the post-
colonial domination or neo-colonial imperialist up to the end of the Cold War. This trend
paved the way to unipolarity and ascendancy of America hegemony into balance of power
configuration. This study was an attempt to analyze the effect of globalization and politics
on the anthropological system in Africa.

Literature Review and Theoretical Framework

Globalization

Globalization may be referred to as an increased speed of development in which modern

technologies, production techniques, organizations, consumption patterns and worldviews
are spreading across the globe (Stilgizt, 2002). Far better than the economic trend,
globalization is considered as a far reaching socio-cultural process. It is branded by the
diffusion of not only consumer products but also of political ideas and principles, as well
as socio-cultural symbols and images in new settings. The existence of potentially large
benefits of globalization makes the question of fairness in sharing those benefits critically
important (Stilgizt, 2002).

Globalization is a process of advancement and an increase in interaction among the world’s

countries and people facilitated by progressive technological changes in movement,
communication, political and military power, knowledge and skills, as well as interfacing of
cultural values, systems and practices (Nsibami, 2001). Globalization is the intensification
of cross-border trade and increased financial and foreign direct investment flows among
nations, promoted by rapid advances in liberalization of communication and information
technology (Islam, 1999; Aninat, 2002). In other words, Precious (2010) posits that,
globalization is the international, socio-politico-economic and cultural permeation process
facilitated by policies of government, private corporations, international agencies and

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Ibrahim Kawuley Mikail & Ainuddin Iskandar Lee Abdullah

civil society organizations. Indeed, this indicates that globalization creates a strong link
and interconnectedness within international agencies, communities and associations that
vindicate harmony and inter-alia relations in public policies and private sector management
within the global arena. In fact, it consolidates uniformity in governing the international
community.

Akindele (1990) refers to globalization as the process of the intensification of economic,

political, social and cultural relations across international boundaries. Sequel to the above
perspectives, globalization is the process that creates inter-relationship and interconnectedness
within the global eco-system through the transformation of political, socio-economic,
education, culture, communication, technology, and flow of information towards integrating
the global arena into unique modern patterns of relationship. Globalization is principally
aimed at the transcendental homogenization of political and socio-economic theory across
the globe. It is equally aimed at “making global being present worldwide at the world stage
or global arena” (Fafowora, 1998). Globalization is the “acceleration and intensification of
economic interaction among the people, companies, and governments of different nations.”
(http://www.globalization101.org). Corroborating with the above assertion, Armstrong et
al. (2004) hinted that globalization is the multifaceted process that involves the emergence
of global financial markets exchanging ever vast sums with increasing speed of movement
of global actors like multinational corporations, massive media empires whose powers
may exceed that of some governments (Armstrong, Llyod & Redmond, 2004). The above
concepts provide impetus to analyze the state of globalization which centered on establishing
the inter-alia relations among nation states in all systems of life for the benefit of modernity
or western development.

From the aforementioned, the trend of globalization created integration of the divergent
systems, nations, states and institutions, either the south-south relationship or the north–south
relationship and vice–versa. Due to the acceleration of science and technology, information
communication and education ross the global arena. This is in line with the interdependency
theory as pointed out by Robert Keohane and Joseph Nye (1977). Interdependence in
world politics refers to situations characterized by reciprocal effects among nation states
or actors in different countries.” (Keohan & Nye, 1977: 8) Under this mutual dependence,
the relationship between the actors involved, including states as well as other transnational
actors, is characterized by both cooperation and competition.

Culture

Literally, culture is the total way of people’s life that includes customs and costumes,
manners and mannerism, ideas and ideology, art, beliefs and all sort of things that integrate
people as members of the society. Culture differentiates one community with the other even
within the African continent. Culture is a complex whole including knowledge, beliefs,
art, morals, laws, customs and any other capabilities and habits created by men who are
members of a society. However, culture makes a group of people relate to each other through

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 The Impact of Globalization on African Culture and Politics

persistent relationship. It also makes a large social group share the scarce geographical or
virtual territory, subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations
(Weber & Hsee, 1998).

The above definition vindicates how one community differs with the other due to their
different cultural orientations. Indeed, the Swahilis from the east African states (Kenya,
Djibouti, Tanzania, Uganda and Zanzibar) differ in their culture with the Babers and Arabs
in the North African states of Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Egypt and Tunisia,
while the culture of Hausa/Fulani of the West African states of Northern Nigeria, Ghana,
Niger, Cameroon, Chad and Gambia were also different from the Kwazulu of the South
African region. In other words, the Malays of Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei and Singapore
are different from the Chinese, Indians and Thais of China, India and Thailand, even if they
are staying in Malaysia or Indonesia.

In the process of international interactions, there is an interaction of cultures, and thus

a borrowing and diffusion of cultures amongst nations. This is not unusual, but unusual
and unfortunate is the domination of one culture over the other (Precious, 2011). In other
words, globalization is the process that is detrimental to the cultural values and beliefs of
devastated countries in Africa (David, 2002). This shows that globalization has negative
impacts on indigenous culture that would make the people behave outside their traditional
orientation, customs and beliefs. This scenario might precipitate the ascendancy of western
liberal culture on the domestic culture of the local African people. This is referred to as
the “Americanization” of world cultures. The spread of American corporations abroad has
various consequences on local cultures, some very visible, and others more subtle (http://
www.globalization101.org).

The Benefits and Impact of Globalization

Accordingly, some authorities like Huntington (1996), Nye (2004) and Stiglitz (2002)
among others vindicate that globalization has created integration that may foster economic
trade, international corporations, rapid movement of goods, capital and technology across
the borders. This may ensure open market operations, economic liberalization, transfer
of technology and exchange of goods and services via transnational corporations and
international agencies for the betterment of the global community. Indeed, this trend
has reduced the level of isolation among the developing states and created an access to
knowledge beyond the reach of even the wealthiest country a century ago (Stiglitz, 2002).

Mazrui (2006) pointed out that globalization has been going on for centuries fostered
by the engines of empire, economy, technology and religion. He posited that two world
religions Christianity and Islam, have become globalizing elements in establishing a series
of values across vast distances. To him, expansion of empire, technological advancement,
international economic systems and religious revivalism were among the contending forces
for the spread of globalization. Huntington (1996) substantiates that the democratization
process that swept several dozen countries in the aftermath of the cold war was the vehicle for

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Ibrahim Kawuley Mikail & Ainuddin Iskandar Lee Abdullah

globalization. This trend was mooted due to the acceleration of information communication
and technology that led to a new vista in the global political climate to have its new post-
cold war global agenda.

Globalization has basically renewed the attention of the international intergovernmental

institutions like the United Nations in the maintenance of peace and ensuring stability; the
International Labor Organization (ILO) in promoting decent work environment across the
globe as well as the World Health Organization (WHO) in improving the health sector and
health conditions (Stilgitz, 2002). In this regard, globalizations via global institutions have
remarkably assisted the international community through foreign aids, technical assistance
and multilateral support of global agencies to the entire world community. Globalization
is a vital step towards both a more stable world and better lives for the people (Rothkopf,
1997).

Meanwhile, globalization promotes cultural integration that pushes the world to become the
global village to inculcate the ideology for universal religion, ideology (Mazrui, 2006), as
well establish room for a uniform culture that detribalizes African customs and tradition.
This scenario, would be tantamount to the relegation of African cultural values or cultural
extermination. In fact, globalization has attributes to expose to all societies foreign cultures
that may bring changes to their local cultures, norms and values, and traditions (www.
globalization101.org). This is inimical to their socialization and traditional backgrounds.

Sincerely, globalization has an important and strong effect on national identity and culture
of the people. Though, the impact of globalization on national identity and the culture of the
people of the Middle East (such as in Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Yemen,
etc.) really affects their culture and identity in a general sense, it seethes with the thought
of human perceptions, theories, practices and principles of the enjoyment of freedom of
thought and uniqueness of privacy. The issue at hand is the direction to the formulation of a
global cultural value (Al-Rawashdeh, 2014). This transformation has negative effects on the
Middle East and some Asian communities because the global cultural system paved the way
for modernity and western culture which are detrimental to their domestic cultural values
and religious practices.

Some scholars and policy–makers from 18 African countries described globalization as

the Americanization of the world (Al-Rawashdeh, 2014). Indeed, it is the propagation
of a universal paradigm for economic and political development, and the dominance
of unilateralism as a way of conducting international relations. (Development Policy
Management Forum, 2002). US has been growing to have so much unprecedented
hegemonic force in world history that America has evolved into a new form of empire
controlling millions of people through a variety of inducements and intimidations (Mazrui,
2006). Hence US has emerged as the global power in the twentieth century or Americanized
of the world, which invariably led to resentment of American cultural imports (Nye, 2004).

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 The Impact of Globalization on African Culture and Politics

This paper is in line with the model of ‘Complex Interdependence’ developed by Robert O
Keohane and Joseph S. Nye in the late 1970s in which interdependency precipitates mutual
dependency of one state on the other. Complex interdependence highlights the emergence
of transnational actors vis-à-vis the state. The focus was the rise of international regimes
and institutions that compensated traditional military capabilities, and the new importance
of welfare and trade in foreign–policy matters compared to status and security issues (Rana,
2015). The policies and actions of one actor have profound impacts on the policies and
actions of other actors and vice versa. Complex interdependency is an attempt to understand
the willingness of a state to enter into cooperative alliance with another under conditions
of anarchy and dependence. While emphasizing the growing importance of International
Organizations (IOs) and Multinational Corporations (MNCs), this theory anticipated what
is now known as globalization.

Keohane and Nye (1977) argued that in the era of interdependence, the very nature of
international relations has been changed and the world has become more interdependent
in all respects especially economics. Interdependence is a relationship between actors
characterized by cooperation, dependence and interaction in a number of different areas,
and conflict as well. Complex interdependence is a theory which stresses the complex ways
in which, as a result of growing ties, the transnational actors become mutually dependent,
vulnerable to each other’s actions and sensitive to each other’s needs. In this respect,
globalization has paved the way for interconnection and inter-alia relations among nation
states within the international system. This relationship would serves as a conduit to favor
the developed world or the less developed third world countries or both. The impact of
such disjointed relations would provide us some imperative for ascertaining wherever
globalization has an impact on African development or otherwise.

Impact of Globalization on African Culture

It is imperative to gist some aspects of African traditional culture prior to the globalization
agenda. The Africans had their own customs, norms and values within the context of
religious belief (i.e. traditional African religion, Islam and Christianity) and the cultural
teaching from their ancestors. Africa is a heterogeneous society that has around 1500-2000
dialects with some major ethnic tribes in the continent. The Swahili language in East Africa
cuts across Kenya, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Uganda, and some parts of Somalia, while Hausa/
Fulani and Yoruba are used in West Africa; Bambara in Mali, Senegal and Burkina Faso;
Arabic in North Africa, Central, East and some parts of West Africa (i.e. Chad, Shuwa Arabs
in north eastern Nigeria ); and Afrikaans, isiZulu, and isiXhosa are widely spoken in South
Africa, Lesotho and parts of Namibia (www.nationsonline.org/one /african_languages.
htm) Indeed, each culture has its way of communication based on its background and
anthropological history.

Although, all cultures in Africa have their festivities, beliefs and traditions as well as
economic systems for earning their living through either agriculture, mining, trade and

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Ibrahim Kawuley Mikail & Ainuddin Iskandar Lee Abdullah

auxiliary menial professions (like black–smith, weaving, textile and building engineers
among others). The role of Babangoni Muhammadu Durugu who built countless palaces,
mosques and historical monuments in northern Nigeria is widely recognized. The level of
civilization is highly intensified and varies according to the different communities in Africa.
The emancipation of globalization has created a lot of changes, destruction and distortion to
the African cultural system. Let us examine the notion of globalization within the paradigm
shift of the cultural system of Africans to modern western obliquity that serves as a tandem
for glorifying Africans under the tutelage and slogan of globalization.

1. Sovereignty questions: Globalization has retarded the level of sovereignty of African

traditional leaders and religious kingdoms to the extent that they cannot continue
governing their society which has never happen before. Colonization is an anathema
to African traditional leadership which not only reduces their power but relegated
them to the background under the dictatorial directive of the White man via indirect
rule (i.e. West African states). There were assimilations in the French colony and
apartheid in South Africa. This notion has vindicated the colonial masters to become
enemies of the traditional political system of the African people. Some resistance
among the proto-nationalist such as Samori Touré of the Mandinka Empire resisted
French colonization and crushed multiple numbers of their armies, while King Alu
Babba of Kano and Sultan Attahiru of Sokoto were killed and the Kosoko of Lagos,
Jaja of Opobo and Nana of Itsheikire became submissive under colonial directives.
These sinister acts truncated the sovereign power of traditional African leaders to
become vulnerable or subjective to the White man then and even in the days of
the post-colonial era. Ake (1993) hinted that power was given to the colonies with
colonial economic systems that could not make the new leaders establish their own
political economic systems. Moreover, globalization has weakened the power and
even the legitimacy of the state by undermining its claims to be able to provide
various collective goods like security and stability against external trade among
others (Armstrong, Lloyd and Redmond, 2004). Today, all African states and their
leaders are controlled by either the old colonial imperial powers or by world super
powers the US, International Organizations, and the international community. In fact,
some economic policies like privatization, deregulation, open market operation or
liberalization were the products of the West transferred to Africa, not for the Africans
or the development of the continent.

This cements the ground for the international system to appear as Unipolar (Thi
Thuy, 2012), due to US hegemony in international balance of power configuration.
This trend has paved the way for the US to interfere in the domestic issues of other
countries. The US interference in drawing the attention of the Malaysian government
to accept IMF loans during the global economic melt-down, of 1997-98, and human
rights violations over the arrest of former deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim
(Mukhtaruddin, 2015).

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 The Impact of Globalization on African Culture and Politics

1. Cultural imperialism: This is the transition of the African states into the modern
world of colonial plunder, neo-colonialism and imperialism. The present day global
cultural system or globalization has alluded to the dynamic change of the traditional
cultural process of Africa to western culture. Geller (1995) hinted that colonialism
is a system of political economic and cultural domination forcibly imposed by a
technologically advanced foreign minority on an indigenous majority. Nevertheless,
the colonial conquest has brought new trends of culture to the people of the colonies
in Africa, Asia and Latin America. This scenario, led them to shun away from their
cultural system. Obioha (2010) points out that there is a rapid decline in the traditional
cultural system across the globe. This is due to the spread of colonization, the western
system and global culture.

Amazingly, the Africans were behaving in line with western culture, western dressing
and even western dreaming and thinking (Mazrui, 1986). This illusion has already
entered into the African psyche and affected their psychological systems that made
some Africans not create a balance within the socio-psychological cultural system of
Africa in relation to western culture. In fact, some Africans perceived western culture
to be more superior than their own culture. The culture is fast running into extinction
(Obioha, 2010). Globalization promotes integration and the removal not only of
cultural barriers but also of many of the negative dimensions of culture (Rothkopf,
1997). The acceleration of globalization has really permeated African customs,
norms and values and changed the cultural thinking of Africans towards western
perspectives. Today in Africa, most of the women are half dressed–while their male
counterparts braid their hair, put on earrings, nose rings and wear torn clothes or rags
all in the name of fashion and western civilization.

2. Cultural diplomacy: According to Cummings (2003), cultural diplomacy has

been referred to as “the exchange of ideas, information, art and other aspects of
culture among nations and their peoples in order to foster mutual understandings. It
explains cultural diplomacy within cultural activities that a nation’s idea of itself is
best represented so as to continue to inspire people the world over, despite political
differences and cross borders.” This stresses the compatibility of cultural exchange
across the globe which some nations would benefit from the customs and cultural
values of others. In, another dimension it can be detrimental to other cultures more
especially in Africa, because it led Africans to loss their cultural values and imitate
the culture of others.

Cultural diplomacy can be practised as a means of public diplomacy through

multicultural events, art exhibitions, and through various international festivals
(Kim, 2011). In this respect, cultural diplomacy ensured unity in diversity in African
culture in the mid–70s via FESTAC in Nigeria that called all Africans to celebrate
their cultural jamborees. This has really created harmony and unity among African
cultures and tradition as well better understanding within divergent African cultures.

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Ibrahim Kawuley Mikail & Ainuddin Iskandar Lee Abdullah

More so, cultural diplomacy has become a cornerstone for public diplomacy and
globalization in the sense of connectivity in economic and cultural life across the world
that has been growing for centuries (Kim, 2011). With the rise of soft power, the term
“Cultural Diplomacy‟ has been confused with similar words such as international
cultural exchange, cultural public relations and cultural cooperation. Precedent studies
refer to cultural diplomacy as the to actual implementation of structure. Ironically,
cultural exchange in the midst of globalization has some detrimental impacts or
extinction of the local culture due to the acceleration of western hegemonic culture
via the social media and international movies.

3. Imposition of democracy as an African political system: As pointed out earlier,

each society or region in Africa has its own political system since before the advent
of the colonial imperialist but, in the aftermath of colonization it has changed the
system of governance to favor its egocentric mission and exploitative tendency.
Political independence is duly granted to Africans, but the undermining variable
is that, such countries were not opportune to offer them economic autonomy. This
episode has bedeviled the continent to design its system of governance in accordance
to its cultural social system.

The democratization process is booming in most of the African states due to the third
wave of democratization process, as opined by Huntington (1996). Consolidating
this assertion, Fukuyama (1992) submits that the end of the cold war is the ‘end of
history’ at the end point of mankind’s ideological evolution and the universalization
of Western liberal democracy as the final form of human government. The above
assertions show the relevance of western liberal democracy as utopia or an ideal
system of governance. Debunking these postulations, Ki-zerbo ask “good governance
for Africa is good governance for whom….?” To him, the Africans should decide
their system of governance and not allow others to impose any system on them.
Indeed, Ujama’a socialism advocated by Nyerere of Tanzania is a stepping stone for
the African states to have their own system of government (Mutiso and Rohio, 1975).

Globalization of democracy paved the way for illegitimate leaders to emerge in

the affairs of the political system in Africa. Ironically, the west used to support the
illegitimate leaders as long as they danced to their tune. President Abdul Fatah Assisi
of Egypt is a classical illustration. This tragedy paved the way for old African leaders
such as Yoweri Musaveni of Uganda, Idris Derby of Chad and Pierre Ngruziza of
Burundi among others to continue ruling their states without any transformational
development over the years.

4. Economic challenges: Globalization brought poverty and inequality to Africa

due to the incorporation of the continent into the world capitalist economic system
(Bush, 2015). The local industries declined rapidly and gave way to multi-national
companies. Tar (1999) observed that the extinction of local industries paved the way

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 The Impact of Globalization on African Culture and Politics

for giant companies from the developed world to invest in less developed countries
in Africa. This new trend of economic globalization was detrimental to the African
economy and turned them to become subservient and dependent on the developed
world.

Meanwhile, foreign direct investment from 2006-2008 to Africa was in the states
with unprocessed raw materials and largely accrued to the oil producing states (i.e.
Chad, Algeria, Egypt, Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, and Sudan). These states accounted
for 48% of investment flows to the continent (Bush, 2015). In other words, trade
liberalization exacerbated the distortion and truncation on local industries to perform
to the best of their expectations (Ayenagbo et al, 2012). This paved the way for
importing finished goods that Africans were capable of producing, domestically. In
fact, the above intricacies blocked the culture of production and the manufacturing
process in Africa whereby even table water was imported into some African states.

5. Challenges of information technology: Globalization consolidated due to the

acceleration of Information Communication and Technology, which had some impact
on the cultural system. The globalization of information flow through technological
outlets such as YouTube, Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, WeChat and Twitter in
the worldwide web of the Internet is to create social relationships within the global
arena as well as to transfer western culture, films, pornography, prostitution and moral
decadence to the developing societies. This phenomenon has ease of the system of
communication and dissemination of knowledge in one way, while in another it has
destroyed our moral values via pornography, western films, movies and cinemas.
Nye (2004) described the American movies, films and cinemas as part of the US
soft-power in the international scene. This episode has affected most of the African
youths to spend most of their time on the Internet, not for academic development but
for watching these nasty films that have serious effects on their cultural system, moral
upbringing and socialization.

6. Language extinction: Language is a cultural system; individual languages may

classify objects and ideas in completely different fashions because every person
belongs to his or her cultural language for communication within the environment
(encylopeadia2.freedictionary.com/language). Globalization has transformed
Africans to becomes Anglophones, Francophones and Lexiphones’. This made
them speak in English, French or Portuguese. This appalling dominance of western
languages has relegated the domestic indigenous languages in Africa, whereby some
Africans feel shy to speak their mother tongue but are more comfortable with the
European languages. This is Eurocentric mission against our African languages may
lead to the extinction or decline of some languages in Africa including the major one.
It was just recently that the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) discovered that
the Igbo language is facing extinction or is collapsing particularly among the Igbos
in Nigeria, and the diaspora in Africa. Today, the western languages have generated

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Ibrahim Kawuley Mikail & Ainuddin Iskandar Lee Abdullah

momentum as the international lingua franca in international communication which

is detrimental to African languages.

7. Effects of globalization on the educational system: The western system of education

precipitated Africans to menial professions. The effect of western education with
literary emphasis was to discourage Africans from manual labor (Mazrui, 1986).
Meanwhile, the curriculum adopted by the Africans was a western product which did
not take cognizance of their cultural values always only on some rare occasions. They
instructed Africans to follow their social sciences instead of leaving the Africans to
design their own indigenous social sciences. Ake (1985) lamented that “imperialism
of western powers is our social sciences”, where no standard literature confirmed or
contained African social sciences. This issue deprived Africans of formulating their
curriculum in line with their customs, dialects and traditions. This scenario aided in
brainwashing the Africans towards western ideologies.

Western education led to the exit of talents from Africa. The exodus of human
resources from Africa reduced the number of professional talents who were capable
of manning African institutions, organizations, and agencies in the public and private
sector domains. In 2002, an estimated 30,000 Africans with PhD worked abroad
while over 130, 000 studyied outside the continent (Okoli, 2012). This number has
increased, because the Nigerians in US alone number 3-5 million and out of them five
thousand are said to be medical doctors (Mikail, 2011). This condition is worrisome
to the African human development index and creates a serious vacuum in different
professions, more especially in academic, medical and engineering profession among
others.

Conclusion

The effect of globalization on African culture, indicates that the integration of Africa
through the conduit of globalization has already eroded the sovereign power of Africa,
infused African culture and the democratic system of government, retarded their economic
and educational systems, and turned the Africans to become vulnerable to western ideology.
This is a great set back to the Africans in building their nation states within the purview of
their traditions, culture and belief.

Sequel to the above analysis so far, the paper recommends that there is an urgent need
for African leaders to revive African culture via their respective ministries, agencies and
departments. Festivities like FESTAC should be organized promptly so as to instill cultural
consciousness in the minds of African youths and the subsequent generation. Priority should
be given to all materials on African culture. Seminars, workshops and conferences should be
organized in Africa for the Africans so that they would value their origins. The educational
curriculum should be revisited to capture the African culture. The African union should

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 The Impact of Globalization on African Culture and Politics

direct all the members to comply with the UNESCO budgetary system of 25% to education
in order to provide adequate remunerations, facilities and conducive learning environments.
This would discard or reduce the trauma of brain drain and studying abroad for African
development and prosperity.

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