ENCLAVES OF AFRICA: A Product of Colonial Interests & Colonial Geopolitical Rivalry

Introduction
During the mid to late 19th century, the period of colonization — when a colonial power wanted a piece of land, conveniently termed a "protectorate," a river, or a buffer zone, the result was the creation of territorial enclaves.Come the African independence era of the 1960s and 1970s, these territorial enclaves became independent sovereign countries.

Meaning
An enclave is a sovereign country that is completely surrounded by one other country.There are only three such true enclaves in the world: Lesotho, San Marino, and Vatican City. In Africa, in addition to the true enclave Lesotho, two semi-enclaves exist: Eswatini and The Gambia. Enclaves exist in Africa today as a direct result of colonial history and colonial geopolitical rivalry over African lands.

LESOTHO
“Protectorate Politics”
A True Enclave
Lesotho is a true enclave, completely surrounded by one single country: South Africa. The borders of present-day Lesotho were defined in 1869... when the British declared Basutoland a British Protectorate. Lesotho is 100% mountainous. It is therefore nicknamed "the Kingdom in the Sky". It is the only country in the world entirely above 1,000m above sea level.

The Free State-Basotho Wars
Between the 1820s and 1860s, King Moshoeshoe I united the Basotho clans in the Drakensberg Mountains to escape Zulu attacks and Boer expansion. On one hand, the Zulus kept attacking the Basotho. On the other hand, so did the Boers.These Basotho-Boer wars are known as the "Free State-Basotho Wars." After every war, the Basotho lost land as the Boers kept grabbing more and more Basotho territory. In 1868, King Moshoeshoe asked the British for protection against the Boers.The British declared Basutoland a "British Protectorate" to prevent the Boers from taking it all.

Legacy
By 1869, with British assistance, the final border was drawn.By then, all the flat, fertile land had been taken by the Boers to form the Orange Free State — modern-day South Africa.What was left for the Basotho were the mountains.

THE GAMBIA
“River Politics”
A Semi-Enclave
The Republic of The Gambia is a narrow, West African semi-enclave within Senegal. Gambia is entirely surrounded by Senegal on its northern, eastern, and southern borders, but its western coast faces the Atlantic Ocean. Present-day borders were defined in 1889 after the Anglo-French Treaty.This small West African country, also nicknamed _“the Groundnut Colony,”_ was a product of colonial river politics between the French and the British. Basically, Gambia exists today because of the Gambia River. In the 1800s, the British wanted control of the river for trade in groundnuts, access to the interior, and transport of groundnuts to the sea.

The Anglo-French Deal
France took the vast area now known as Senegal. Britain took a narrow strip, about 10km wide, along both banks of the river.

Legacy
The result was a country 480km long and only 50km wide at its widest point.A country with a coastline on the Atlantic, but with no land border except with Senegal.A river, with land on both sides, totally inside French Senegal.

ESWATINI (SWAZILAND)
“Buffer Zone Politics”
A Semi-Enclave
Eswatini, formerly Swaziland, is a semi-enclave country in Southern Africa. On its northern, western, and southern borders it is bordered by South Africa. Its eastern border is shared with Mozambique.Present-day borders were defined in 1903 when the British made the kingdom a British Protectorate.In the 1800s, the Swazi people under King Mswati II had built a strong kingdom.From the British perspective, the problem was between two regional powers: the Zulu and the Boers.In 1903, the British moved in to make the Swazi kingdom a protectorate to prevent either the Boers in the Transvaal or the Portuguese in Mozambique from taking over. The British used it as a buffer.

The Deal
South Africa took everything around the Swazi kingdom..Mozambique took a small coastline further east.

Legacy
What remained in between was Swaziland — now Eswatini — a British buffer state sharing borders with Mozambique and South Africa.

Afterthought
Colonial motives were behind modern African borders. African enclaves show how colonial convenience became African sovereignty. Their borders were not drawn for Africans, but for British, French and Boer interests. Yet they survived as Before Africa fights for borders or fights to defend borders- remember these borders are not an African creation and were not in the first place created to serve African interests. These modern day so-called African nations are not an African creation in the first place. These modern day African countries were created to create wealth and serve foreign interests. The story of African enclaves in particular and African borders in general is a continuous reminder of the colonial narrative and its legacy on Africa.

6. Madondo (African Teacher) fortmada123@gmail.com

AUTHOR BIO
Fortune Madondo is a Zimbabwean Pan-Africanist writer, political analyst and a decolonial thinker. His work is characterized by staunch, unapologetic, defiant, Pan-Africanist and anti-imperialist stance, often addressing issues of neocolonialism and the need for African self-determination. His writing champions global South solidarity, regularly critiquing global powers hegemony and resource exploitation in Africa.His work is driven by his core Pan-Africanist framework: African sovereignty, anti-paternalism, African geopolitics; in all this, he advocates for socio-economic justice. He is a youth empowerment advocate, organiser, activist and a founder of a youth organization.

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