Final answer:
European powers established exploitative colonial systems, expropriating land and raw materials while exploiting native labor to eliminate competition against European businesses in the colonies. These systems prioritized resource extraction for Europe's industrial economies and bolstered national power, leaving the native populations economically marginalized.
Step-by-step explanation:
European colonial powers systematically eliminated native competition against European businesses during the period of imperialism. To maintain dominance and control over resources, European powers such as Britain and France established authoritarian colonial governments that suppressed local enterprise and used military force to conquer and control territories. They appropriated land from local communities, leveraged their advanced technology to dominate, and enforced systems that prioritized the extraction of raw materials for European industries, often at the social and economic detriment of the native populations.
Businesses exploiting raw materials in the colonies benefitted from policies that excluded Africans from making a profit from their resources. European colonialism employed 'plunder economies', where natural resources like rubber and minerals were exported to Europe, and native labor was exploited, often in brutal conditions. Infrastructure such as improved transportation and communication facilitated this exploitation, while European powers disregarded existing rights of the native populations, removing their ability to compete or benefit economically from their resources.
The economic motives behind imperialism were not only aimed at controlling resources but also at strengthening national power. The colonial systems were designed to establish monopolies, force the production of cash crops, levy taxes, and subjugate local industries and traders to secure a continuous flow of cheap raw materials to fuel the booming industrial economies of Europe. By the late 19th century, European countries had carved up territories and dominated trade, effectively erasing any potential competition from native businesses in the colonies.