Britain's Impact On Sierra Leone

In 1787, Sierra Leone was colonized by freed slaves from England. When Britain completely took over the nation, they began to exploit Sierra Leone’s natural and valuable resources, such as minerals and fish. Britain’s discovery had a negative impact on Sierra Leone since they were being deprived of the benefits from their resources. Chinese investment in Sierra Leone is a different form of imperialism than Britain in the past, due to the opposite effects on Sierra Leone’s economy, the contrasting way Britain and China were accepted into the nation, and the diverging effects both nations had on Sierra Leone’s development.

While Britain abused Sierra Leone’s economy, current Chinese investment has brought many benefits to the economic growth

of Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone, containing rich marine resources, lost over $30 million worth of fish in the 18th century, as a result of poaching by nonnative vessels. According to the article, “British Imperialism Fuels Civil War in Sierra Leone,” in 1900, Britain used their control over Sierra Leone to create an “aid program” intended to avert the poaching from nations overseas. Although the program was designed to help Sierra Leone’s economy, Britain accomplished the complete opposite by costing Sierra Leone it’s entire income from fishing. Britain’s imperialist domination unsuccessfully affected the economic growth of Sierra Leone, and caused the nation to lose the economic benefits from their marine resources. On the contrary, Britain’s imperialism differs from present Chinese investment due to the economic benefits China brings to Sierra Leone. AllAfrica’s “China and Sierra Leone Relations” article, states that China has recently become the world's second largest economy and in 2012, China’s foreign trade was called to be $3.87 trillion. As China’s economy is quickly rising, Sierra Leone is also benefitting from the nation’s rise since China is their largest importer and exporter. Chinese investment in Sierra Leone is a contrasting form of imperialism in the nation, due to the contribution of economic improvement that exists there today, compared to Britain’s destruction on Sierra Leone’s economy.
Britain’s control and involvement in Sierra Leone was forced, while Chinese investment was welcomed by the nation.

In 1787, Sierra Leone, along with the rest of west Africa, was designed to be a settlement for freed slaves arriving from England. As the invasion expanded throughout the west African nations, Britain declared a protectorate over Sierra Leone in 1896, as well as the other countries occupied with freed British slaves. Britain’s protectorate in Sierra Leone negatively impacted the nation, by restricting Sierra Leone’s freedom and ability to control their own country. However, according to “History World: History of Sierra Leone,” Sierra Leone’s opposition caused a large uprising in 1898 after Britain’s forced protectorate. British imperialism was not favored by the Sierra Leonean people, which brought nothing but conflict and disorder. On the other hand, while British imperialism was despised by Sierra Leone, Chinese investment is something Sierra Leoneans embrace and value. Sierra Leone Telegraph states that China and Sierra Leone share a mutual relationship and benefits, as well as maintaining a “win-win” partnership. Because of the benefits and success Chinese investment brings, Sierra Leone greatly welcomes and favors China. The fair trade and exchange between the countries has also allowed Sierra Leone to improve the development of their nation, which is why they is so appreciative and welcoming of the entire investment. Britain’s domination in Sierra Leone

was something the people revolted against, while Chinese investment is something the nation fully accepts and uses to their advantage.
Britain’s imperialism negatively impacted Sierra Leone’s development, which differs from Chinese investment’s contribution to modernization throughout the nation.

Under British rule in the 19th century, Sierra Leone was unable to pursue the process of development. The Militant article, “British Imperialism Fuels Civil War in Sierra Leone,” says that, although Sierra Leone had a plentiful supply of minerals, including diamonds and gold, the economic value of their resources were never developed to profit the nation. Rather than benefitting the Sierra Leonean people, the wealth of their minerals were always deprived by authoritative Britain, which then lead to many issues regarding the nation’s development. For instance, the same Militant article states that in 1992, the life expectancy of Sierra Leone was only 42.4 years, and in 1996, UNICEF recorded that over 5,000 children in nation’s capital, Freetown, passed away before the age of 1. Today, Chinese investment has brought many positive changes to the Sierra Leonean society, along with multiple forms of modernization. According to the AllAfrica article, China provided the nation with $3.5 million through the World Food Programme and $2 million to the World Health Organization. Sierra Leone significantly benefitted from China’s offerings by showing a great improvement in their development. For instance, ABC-CLIO states that in 2012, the average life expectancy rose to 56.6 years, and infant mortality decreased from 200 in

1994, to 107 per 1,000 live births in 2013. Chinese investment in Sierra Leone has a great impact on the nation’s social development, while British imperialism prevented and blocked the process of advancing the nation’s society.
In Sierra Leone, Chinese investment is a different form of imperialism because of the different effects Britain and China have on the nation’s economy, how the nations differ in the way they are accepted by Sierra Leone, and how the nations have opposite effects on the Sierra Leone’s development. Chinese investment is aiding the needs of Sierra Leone as a whole by maintaining fair relations and not taking advantage of their power over another nation, something Britain could not accomplish while colonizing Sierra Leone.