Which European people were the first to arrive along the coasts of Africa as traders and explorers, a process that eventually led to the European colonisation of Africa?

The Portuguese were the first Europeans to explore the Atlantic coast of Africa and set up trading posts there, beginning in the 15th century; this marked the start of European involvement that later led to the colonisation of Africa.

Portuguese exploration of Africa:

• Prince Henry of Portugal, known as "Henry the Navigator", encouraged voyages of exploration along the west coast of Africa in the early 15th century.
• The Portuguese captured Ceuta, in North Africa, in 1415.
• They gradually sailed further south along the coast, setting up forts and trading posts.
• They traded in gold, ivory, pepper and, later, enslaved Africans.
• In 1488, Bartolomeu Dias sailed round the southern tip of Africa, which was named the Cape of Good Hope.
• Vasco da Gama sailed round Africa and reached Calicut in India in May 1498, opening the sea route from Europe to India.

Portuguese colonies in Africa:

• The Portuguese held colonies such as Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, and Sao Tome and Principe for centuries.
• They were among the last European powers to give up their African colonies, in 1974-1975.

Other European powers in Africa:

• The Dutch set up a settlement at the Cape of Good Hope in 1652.
• The British, the French, the Belgians, the Germans and the Italians took over large parts of Africa later, especially in the late 19th century.

The "Scramble for Africa":

• At the Berlin Conference (1884-1885), the European powers laid down rules for dividing Africa among themselves.
• By 1914, almost the whole of Africa, except Ethiopia and Liberia, was under European control.

Decolonisation:

Most African countries became independent after the Second World War, especially in the 1950s and 1960s.

Why not the other options?

• ✗The British, the French and the Dutch arrived in Africa later than the Portuguese.