Economics throughout the British Empire has always had to be focused on maintenance, especially in Africa. But as we will establish, Geo-strategic and Political factors, put strain on the Empire’s ability to preserve its economy, and caused dismantlement in Africa between the years of 1870 - 1980. Though the factors of the latter, outweigh that of economics, as they all relied on perfect economics in order to be maintained or in order for the Empire to expand. As a result of two World Wars, the British where wasting resources annually trying to uphold its colonies, and as a result, simply ran out of finance and began relying on its allies, such as the USA, for support. In addition, the looming Cold War priorities meant that Britain could no longer provide for her colonies in Africa, eventually leading to dismantlement.
The first issues to consider are the financial and economical impact that Africa had on the Empire, pre-world war and during the African Scramble, which contributed to the expansion of the Empire in Africa. The diamond industry became the key to the economic fortunes of the Empire in Southern Africa in the late 1800s. Though intrinsically worthless, Cecil Rhodes, who had succeeded in monopolising the diamond industry in Southern Africa, allowed the value to increase, by restricting its sales. Diamonds, which were mined from the Transvaal region, accounted for (1) “£4,000,000 (£181,600,000 today), of a £15,000,000 (£618,000,000 today)” economy. South Africa was worth more than the rest of Africa combined, making it a great asset to the Empire. It contained huge deposits of diamonds and Gold (from Witwatersrand), and all resources were controlled by the British, due to cheap or sometimes free labour, it was very inexpensive to extract, and incredibly easy to obtain. It was a heavy contributor to maintenance of the Imperial World, and as it was