How did colonizations contribute to the many civil wars in newly independent african nations?

Question

How did colonizations contribute to the many civil wars in newly independent african nations?

Answer 1

Wow, I don't think there's even enough room here to answer this. Short answer:

Colonization introduced totally unnatural forms of culture to Africa. Eurocentric infrastructure was put in place, then abandoned in the 60's when European occupying forces began pulling out of the continent. In some countries, like Rwanda, the occupying white forces had purposefully divided the country's population into groups and treated one group much better, to make them easier to rule. When the powerful whites left, the groups which had been oppressed began to struggle with the favored groups for power. The long history of oppression and violence escalated the conflicts into civil wars and violent coup d'etats. The countries were mostly poor enough that they could not afford stable government, so the groups continued to overthrow each other in an effort to take power of the country.

Answer 2

The countries that the colonial powers (Britain, France, Belgium, etc.) created did not match the traditional tribal division of Africa.  Therefore, when independence came about, there were peoples who were not related/from a similar tribe/people etc. in a single country and this led to conflict as one group vied for power over the other group(s).