The effects of the Cold War on Africa were stifling. In many respects. It was a second scramble for Africa. The great powers (in this case the Soviet Union and the U.S.) wanted Africa simply to prevent each other from possessing it African economic and political development was hindered; independence was often delayed. Neither the Soviet goal of socialist development nor the American goal of democratic nationhood were realized from the vast opportunities present in independent Africa. The election of John F. Kennedy appeared to be a milestone in U.S.-African relations. As chairman of the Subcommittee on Africa of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Kennedy had been in close contact with many African nationalist leaders. Showing his support for African nationalism, Kennedy, in 1957, criticized Eisenhowers non-involvement policy toward French colonialism in Algeria.  

The Apartheid (1948 to 1994) in South Africa was the racial segregation under the all-white government of South Africa which dictated that non-white South Africans (a majority of the population) were required to live in separate areas from whites and use separate public facilities, and contact between the two groups would be limited. The different racial group were physically separated according to their location, public facilities and social life. In 1948, after the National Party won that year’s elections, Apartheid became a social project of the government based on a series of laws which made it legal.