The British had three major areas of interest in Africa that led to theircolonization of it ; strategic ports and routes to their Asian colonies, trade interests, and political objectives such as beating the French in the Scramble , and Christianizing the natives . The British had already made significant imperial actions in Africa by 1870, including capturing the Cape of South Africa in 1875, and controlling various ports along the west African coast. It was only after the French completed the Suez Canal in 1869 ;though, that British began to ....