Q1. [3] medium thorough-understanding
By the late nineteenth century, several European nations had carved up Africa among themselves. What was the primary economic motivation that drew European powers to Africa, and why did this motivation paradoxically create a labour problem for them?
Generated by claude-sonnet-4-6 · 2026-06-26 14:58 · grounding rag
Model Answer
Primary Economic Motivation: Europeans were attracted to Africa due to its vast resources of land and minerals. They came to establish plantations and mines to produce crops and minerals for export to Europe.
The Labour Paradox: However, Africans had little reason to work for wages — they possessed land and livestock in abundance, and there were few consumer goods that wages could buy. This created an unexpected shortage of labour willing to work for wages on European-owned plantations and mines.
Source: Chapter 3, Sections 2.3 and 2.4
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Explanation
- The question has two parts — name the motivation AND explain the paradox. Award yourself marks only if both are addressed.
- Key phrase examiners look for: "land and minerals" as the motivation, and "Africans had land and livestock / no need for wages" as the paradox.
- Avoid vague answers like "they wanted to be rich" — use textbook terminology: plantations, mines, export, wage labour.
- The paradox is economic: self-sufficient people have no incentive to enter wage labour, which is exactly what the colonisers needed.