Europe had long held an interest in Africa since the Portuguese started creating trading posts there in the late 15th Century, however the reunification of Germany and Italy in the late 19th Century gave new impetus to European involvement in the African continent, because, to put it simply, there was no room for further expansion for powers within Europe.

There was one guiding principle for European colonialism in Africa; exploitation and this desire for exploitation was fuelled by the end of the slave trade whereby European nations needed to replace human trade with alternative trade and industries.

Up until the end of the 18th Century most European involvement had focussed on coastal areas, with their trading posts with Britain having a presence in Sierra Leone, southern Africa, and Lagos, France ruled settlements in Senegal (Dakar and St Louis), Cote d’Ivoire (Assinie and Grand Bassam), Benin and some of Algeria, while Spain dominated parts of northwest Africa. The Turks had Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, whilst Portugal controlled Angola and Mozambique.