When we arrive at an ill-fitting or unfriendly present, retracing our steps can answer looming questions and reveal how we even arrived somewhere in the first place. Looking to the past can inform our present and give insights towards the future.

Sankofa is an Akan word from the Twi language, meaning “go back and get it.” Its sentiments affirm learning from the past to guide the future. Since the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, Sankofa has become a Pan-African term centered on ancestral remembrance and storytelling. The Ghanaian adage not only identifies the past as wise but also informative and moralistic. There is much to be learned from the ways things were, how events took place, and “who all was there.” Perhaps, we can (re)discover our place in the future.

While the same message can be applied to development theory, Africa’s history tends to live in the shadows of conventional principles. Recent signaling from African thinkers and practitioners suggests that reconnecting with the bygone systems of our ancestors can forge sustainable development on the continent. However, we should keep in mind that the past is riddled with inconsistencies, biased data, and vanishing oral historians. Thus, examining the fading consciousness of early Africa begs the question; when the past is just as uncertain as the future, is there anything to go back and get?

“For decades, outside a small circle of passionate dedicated scholars, these African pasts have suffered neglect. Yet they reveal ancient civilisations and a history whose relevance is absolutely contemporary.” - Toby Green, A Fistful of Shells

Early Africa was a sprawling land populated by self-sufficient agricultural societies. Independent territories specialized in crops that their soil allowed, establishing varied and unique forms of production across the continent. Non-agricultural activities included hunting, craftsmanship, and pastoralism. An often overlooked feature of traditional society was its highly developed internal trade networks accomplished from its territorial specializations (Oloidi 2021). Intra-regional trade routes extended from the coasts of West Africa to the Indian Ocean, connecting territories, encouraging cultural exchange, and introducing new technologies. 

The mutually beneficial trade relationships shouldered the “survival and prosperity of African communities” (Akyeampong 2017) for centuries. And then, like in Avatar: The Last Airbender, “everything changed when the fire nation attacked…” 

Losing Memory

Traditional systems and culture began to undo when Portuguese ships found themselves on the coasts of West Africa in the middle of the 15th century. By the beginning of the 16th century, the entire coastline became cluttered with European ports. 

By leveraging the utility of their ships, European companies developed relationships with coastal tribes and inserted themselves into trading networks, securing maritime dominion through the textile trade. Their strategic positioning re-directed trade routes to the sea, turning them inside out, which eventually led to the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade (Akyeampong 2017). To answer the demands of overseas labor, the interests of participating tribes set in motion the forsaking of traditional systems. Throughout 400 years and about 12 million enslaved Africans, the entire continent underwent an indelible socioeconomic transformation. 

As Europe began to industrialize in the later part of the 18th century, the idea of slavery presented a moral dilemma that put pressure on governments to abolish the Slave Trade and “engage in legitimate trade” (Jones 1989). The absolute ruling resulted in the British Royal Navy blocking slave ships along the Atlantic route from reaching West African shores, cutting the West African economy off from its most lucrative source of income. Abandoned at their own beaches, tribal communities could no longer return to self-sufficiency after centuries of dependency, besides that, they’d lost millions of their best labor force to the slave trade. 

Once the past fades beyond memory you can no longer “ensure a strong sustainable future” (Waldron-Moore 2024). Having strayed so far from traditions, going back to the way things were is no longer an option.

“History does not repeat itself, but it does rhyme” - Mark Twain

Not long after, a golden opportunity presented itself drenched in the red hues of oil palm. Traditionally the oil palm plant was valued for its sap to make wine. During the slave trade oil palm kernels were brought onto ships as food for enslaved Africans during the overseas passage (Jones 1989). It grew wildly throughout West Africa, but its ideal climate was in the southernmost region of present-day Nigeria. 

Global demand for oil palm grew during the height of the Industrial Revolution (19th century), as the sap provided a cheap lubricant for the new machinery. European companies repurposed their built infrastructure along the West African coast and revitalized their relationships with coastal communities. Satisfying the rules of legitimate trade, oil production was carried out by wage laborers, many of whom were migrant workers precipitated by the previous trade (Njoku 1983). 

An episode of European Imperialism resulted in the Scramble for Africa leading into the 20th century (Newbury and Kanya-Fostner 1969). Under colonial rule, West Africa experienced a renewed sense of economic growth driven by the oil palm trade. However, an expansion in Asian oil palm reservoirs, a global effect of European imperialism, re-directed trade yet again. In the midst of falling oil prices, “controlled by companies operating in the world oil market”, the Great Depression, and the Second World War, rumblings of independence swept across Africa (Jones 1989), bringing us to our present juncture. 

A futuristic focused model 

Barely older than our parents, independent Africa is still figuring out what it wants to be when it grows up. Coming into its bloom, Africa is damned with bouts of angst, resistant to restrictive systems, and shines a fierce hubris. 

“Se wo were fi na wosan kofa a yenkiri”, it is not taboo to get which you have forgotten. 

Alas, the past is the past and Africa’s place in history indeed becomes a timeline of ideas the further we look back. Nonetheless, there is still value in learning from this past to avoid the missteps of our ancestors and be future-focused. Strictly speaking, Sankofa does not get us very far, but it does inspire and guide fresh possibilities for the future, forcing us to think outside boxes and most importantly, think for ourselves.