The impact that both slavery and then colonisation have had on Africa is still evident today. There are many issues with respect of this, but the ones I am considering are the stifling of innovation, forced migration, and lack of self-esteem.
Firstly, pre-colonial trade has been recognised as stifling innovation, which was perpetuated by the subsequent colonisation, as described by Kyambalesa in his book ‘Socio-Econonic Challenges: The African Context’:

‘There is general consensus that pre-colonial trade in both goods and humans… seriously undermined Africa’s potential for indigenous-based technological advancement…European industries contributed to the weakening of the indigenous skills, expertise and know-how of communities in Africa…It is widely held that…[this] partly led to the creation of conditions for persistent technological stagnation, retrogression and protracted dependency…

European colonialism…further suppressed creativity and innovation among indigenous African’s… [which] effectively precluded the potential for further improvements in existing indigenous technologies and the generation of new forms of technology.’

The diasporas created by slavery can be analysed in comparison to the migration in the Western world from Europe to Australia, Canada and the USA. However, the significant difference between the two is that the western migration took place after the countries had implemented and developed a strong economy. Africa on the other hand, had not, and the migration created many problems such as:

‘…Coercion and violence, and, as such, was disruptive to the existing, as well as the potential transformation of the, political, economic and technological facets of African life.’

This problem was only made worse by the subsequent colonisation, which did not allow for the problems to be addresses, and they therefore became further ingrained.

My last point is that of self-esteem, by which I mean the faith that a country’s leaders have in their own people. The era of colonisation has arguably left its mark through the pre-conceived notions of local people that foreigners are more proficient at their jobs than locals, which leads to dependence on foreigners for development, particularly in areas such as technology.

This appears to be made worse by the lack of education and training of the local people in the present. Moreover, it appears that it is largely this lack of education and training, which can be blamed on the governments of the countries, that is causing this lingering problem, and if the governments dealt with the issue of education and training, they would also solve this one.

‘[There is]… unwanted preference of some government leaders in Africa for foreign experts, particularly those leaders who have… claimed that locally trained experts are half-baked… But if this state of affairs is true, then it is the government leaders themselves who are to blame for not having [enabled]… training of citizens.’ (Kyambalesa)