12 ROLE OF THE EGYPTIAN REVOLUTION IN THE GROWTH OF AFRICAN NATIONALISM

The Egyptian revolution took place in 1952, organized by the free officers movement led by Gamel Abdel Nasser, Anwar Sadat against the puppet regime of King Farouk.

To a greater extent, the Egyptian revolution contributed to the growth of African nationalism in the following ways;

• The revolution led to the establishment of Radio Cairo. The radio was used to spread
  anti-colonial propaganda in Africa. This was used by the Mau-Mau fighters in Kenya to run a Kiswahili program against the British.
• The Egyptian revolution served as an eye opener to dictatorial regime in Africa. It began with the destruction of the Egyptian monarchy and it spread across the continent targeting colonial masters.
• The Egyptian revolution under Gamel Nasser extended the education scholarships to
  African students. This helped African nationalists from other countries to enroll in
  Egyptian universities. This in turn helped to fill up the man power gaps in Africa after the departure of colonialists.
• The Egyptian revolution militarized African struggles for independence. Egypt under
  Gamel Nasser gave military and financial assistance to African countries like Kenya
  under the Mau-Mau, Algeria under Ben Bella leading to African independence.
• Gamel allowed the nationalists to establish military external bases in Cairo. This included the FLN in Algeria formed in 1954. Gadafi had F.U.O training in Egypt.
• The Egyptian revolution gave political asylum/protection to African nationalists. These included Ignatius Kangave Musaazi from Uganda, Patrice Lumumba from Congo. This helped their countries to destroy the colonial powers using Egypt as a coordinating centre.
• Egypt under Gamel Nasser changed the attitude of the Arab North. It is historically true that Arabs had been associated with slave trade and therefore the countries south of the Sahara looked at Arabs as enemies. Therefore, Gamel Nasser united the African continent for the sake of independence.

• Gamel Nasser of Egypt contributed to the formation of OAU in 1963. This was a result of the reconciliation of the Monrovia and Casablanca grouping in Addis Ababa. The OAU gave financial and military support to African countries.
• The Egyptian revolution under Gamel Nasser encouraged the revival of African cultural values. This was done through encouraging African countries to practice local languages like Arabic, Kiswahili, Hausa etc, which brought unity among the people.
• Gamel Nasser of Egypt encouraged African countries to nationalize foreign property.
  This began with the nationalization of the Suez Canal in Egypt 1956 that chased the
  British from the country. Other countries were encouraged to do the same for example Muammar Gadafi of Libya, idi Amin Dada of Uganda and Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana.
• Gamel Nasser of Egypt encouraged socialist policies. Socialist countries particularly
  USSR gave Nasser military and financial support to solve its external problems after the removal of IMF / W.B loan. Therefore, Nasser encouraged other countries to solicit
  support from the socialist countries, eg Mozambique, Angola, and Algeria.
• Gamel Nasser under Egypt influenced African countries to adopt Non-Aligned
  Movement (NAM). Nasser was part of the Bandung conference organized in 1955 that advocated for independent African ideologies, promoted Afro-Asian solidarity that made Asian countries to support Africans to get independence.

• Revolutionary Egypt helped to destroy the British and French empires. It is on record that Gamel Nasser gave the Algerians support in 1954 making them get independence in 1962 leading to the rise of African Nationalism.

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• POSITIVE IMPACT OF THE EGYPTIAN REVOLUTION
• NEGATIVE IMPACT OF THE EGYPTIAN REVOLUTION
• FACTORS FOR THE GROWTH OF CAIRO
• CAUSES OF THE SUEZ CANAL CRISIS 1956
• CAUSES OF THE EGYPTIAN REVOLUTION OF 1952