Africa A Voyage of Discovery - The Magnificent African Cake - Scramble for Africa
The title is derived from King Leopold II of Belgium who declared his determination during the scramble for African territory to secure for himself a large a slice as possible of this so called 'magnificent African cake' The main European powers of the day met at the 1884 Berlin Conference to carve up the continent of Africa between themselves. Starting out on a West African shore where new European commercial interests had come to replace the old slaving ties, the films shows a variety of locations to examine the character and effects of European colonial interference in African affairs.

Basil Davidson's seminal documentary series 'Africa' challenges the long held beliefs like the opinion of David Hume that Africa had 'no ingenious manufactures among them, no arts, no sciences'. The series presents a Pan-African conception of history from the origins of Egypt and Nubia to the liberation movements that Basil Davidson was familiar with in newly independent nations in Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

Basil Davidson was an acclaimed writer on the subject of African history having written more than 30 books on the subject before he died in 2010. His works are required reading in many African, British and US universities & is often used as the framework for many Black history courses worldwide.

Basil Davidson's Africa A Voyage of Discovery series premiered at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on 20th October 1983, with a wonderful reception hosted by the Nigerian Permanent Mission to the UN

The Africa A Voyage of Discovery series was shot and edited over a 2 year period beginning in 1981. During this period the accompanying book The Story of Africa was also written by Basil Davidson.