Armed conflicts, climate change and misguided government policies in different parts of the African continent have displaced millions of people from their homes, disrupting the continent’s historical ethnic and social fabric.
In Africa, according to unconfirmed reports, some 3,000 ethnic groups continue to exist.
In the Central African Republic, they are the Luba, Mongo, Congo and Kanuri; in East Africa, the Oromo, Somali, Hutu, Tigray and Afar; in South Africa, the Chewa, Shona, Zulu, Soto and Tswana; and in West Africa, the Yoruba, Hausa, Mande, Akan and Fulbes.
The partition of the continent by colonizers through the Berlin Conference of 1884-1885, the formation of independent states after the 1960s and the drawing of boundaries, as well as conflicts, drought and migration in different parts of Africa have had a negative impact on the historical ethnic structure of the continent.
Years-long clashes between the army and rebels in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, clashes between the army and the Rapid Reaction Force (RRF) in Sudan, the internal conflict in Ethiopia that began in 20220 and has been ongoing for two years, and attacks on civilians by armed groups in Somalia, Mozambique, and Nigeria have forced millions of Africans to flee their homes.
Africa’s ethnic wealth is at risk
In different regions of Africa, small ethnic groups are threatened with extinction for reasons such as climate change, the construction of natural parks or dams, or conflict.
The Sengwers in Kenya, the Himba in Namibia and Angola, the Ik in Uganda or the Mursi in Ethiopia, who have practiced their traditional way of life for centuries, have been adversely affected by change.
In Kenya, the Government plans to evict the Sengwer, hunters and gatherers, from their homelands to protect water and forest areas.
In Tanzania, the cultural wealth of the Maasai people is threatened with extinction due to the Government’s evacuation decision.
In Uganda, the Ik people numbering about 10,000 were expelled from their ancestral lands after the creation of the Kidepo Valley National Park.
Today they have to deal with many hardships, most notably a food crisis.
Forced migration
Forced migrations in Africa, occurring for various reasons, have led to the destruction of ethnic composition and cultural wealth.
According to a report by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) titled Grid 2021, as of 2020, about 24 million people in sub-Saharan Africa have fled their homes due to conflict and violence.
In 2020, 2.5 million people migrated in the Democratic Republic of Congo alone. In Ethiopia, the figure was 2.3 million and in Somalia, 1.3 million.
According to the NRC’s 2023 report, this figure has increased to 32 million people. Somalia’s ethnic structure has been most affected by conflict. According to recent UN reports, more than 11 million people in Sudan have been displaced, including 7.3 million internally.
Migrations due to droughts and floods caused by seasonal changes have also changed the ethnic composition in countries such as Somalia, South Sudan and Ethiopia.
The International Islamic Relief Worldwide reported that 4.3 million people have migrated due to drought and security problems in Somalia.
Artificial borders have divided nations
Borders drawn after the independence of African countries led to the dispersal of ethnic groups to different countries.
The Hausa were divided between Niger and Nigeria, the Hutu between DRC and Rwanda, the Somali between Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya, the Afar between Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti, and the Nuer between Ethiopia and South Sudan.
Artificial borders have negatively affected ethnic groups that have practiced animal husbandry and agriculture for centuries.
The way of life and traditional livelihoods of African communities, their administrative structure and economic well-being have been disrupted.
The Fulani, the largest semi-nomadic tribe in West Africa, who have crossed the borders of many countries with hundreds of herds of cattle, are having difficulty finding pastures.
A symbol of ethnic conflict: the Rwandan genocide
In addition to conflict and drought, ethnic structure has also been negatively affected by conflicts between peoples who have retained their cultural identity.
Conflicts between tribes such as the Kikuyu-Lu and Kalenjin in Kenya, Fulani-Igbo in Nigeria, Oromo-Tigray in Ethiopia, Hutu and Nande in DRC, Nuer-Murle in Sudan and Dir-Marihan in Ethiopia have exacerbated the situation of ethnic preservation.
Divide-and-rule policies based on colonial legacies as well as misguided policies of African leaders have led to ethnic conflicts in Africa, such as the tensions between Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda or the tensions between Fulani and Igbo in Nigeria.
On April 7, 1994, 27 years ago, the massacre of Tutsi people in Rwanda began, which was later recognized as genocide. The killings lasted for 100 days and more than 800 thousand people became victims of genocide. Every year on April 7, the UN organizes events to commemorate the Rwandan Genocide Remembrance Day.
Elections and ethnic division
Struggles for power by local leaders or the exploitation of ethnic differences for political purposes fueled social conflicts.
At least 2,000 people died and 150,000 were forced to migrate during the 1994 conflicts between the Konkomba-Nanumba tribes in northern Ghana.
Ethnic diversity in Africa has also directly affected presidential, parliamentary and local electoral systems. In Somalia, Kenya and Nigeria, a significant proportion of the population votes according to their ethnicity.
Somalia and Kenya are the most important examples of how ethnic structure directly influences elections.