Before WWI, Africa was almost entirely controlled by European powers following the Scramble for Africa (roughly 1881 to 1914).
By 1914, only two regions were not under formal European colonial rule: Ethiopia (which successfully resisted Italy at the Battle of Adwa in 1896) and Liberia (founded earlier by the United States for freed African Americans).The continent was divided mainly among seven European powers. Britain controlled large continuous territories including Egypt (influence after 1882), Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, South Africa, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe and Zambia), and Nigeria, among others, forming a mostly north south network of holdings.
France held the largest single colonial bloc in Africa, stretching across much of West Africa (Senegal to Chad region), parts of Central Africa (Gabon, Congo region), and North Africa (Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco as a protectorate by 1912).
Germany had colonies including German East Africa (modern Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi), German Southwest Africa (Namibia), Cameroon, and Togo, but these were lost after World War I.
Belgium controlled the vast and brutally exploited Congo Free State under King Leopold II until 1908, after which it became the Belgian Congo.
Portugal retained older coastal colonies such as Angola and Mozambique. Italy held Libya (taken from the Ottoman Empire in 1911), Eritrea, and Italian Somaliland.
Spain held smaller territories including Spanish Sahara (Western Sahara), Spanish Morocco (northern coastal zone), and Equatorial Guinea.
The division was driven by economic extraction, strategic positioning (especially around the Suez Canal and key ports), and competition among European empires. Borders were often drawn with little regard for existing ethnic or political boundaries, which contributed to long term instability in many regions after independence
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