Berlin conference 1884 – European powers met to divide up Africa into different imperial territories.  Gave Leopold of Belgium territory 70x his own state, essentially as his own private property (his claim was based on explorations by Stanley).  He instituted serfdom, wiped out elephants for piano keys, billiard balls and false teeth (as in other parts of Africa) then moved on to rubber.  Atrocities of his regime eg amputations as punishment for inadequate rubber quotas, captured in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness.   Estimated that half the population (10 million) died during the regime, helped by smallpox and sleeping sickness, possibly the biggest humanitarian disaster of the 20th century). His promises of a “free state” were initially supported by abolitionists.
No Africans involved in the conference, government representatives were lobbied hard by business interests esp ports. Most of the conference’s ethical principles overturned within 10yr. Slavery continued to be a major economic interest (“Arab traders” certainly not all Arabs, lazy racist shorthand encouraged by Livingstone), Palm oil in W Africa, later gold in S Africa.
Africans were involved in the scramble for Africa, in that the multitude of small polities were busy bargaining with the Europeans as part of their own power games. Difficult to say how Africa would have done without Europeans, as even Ethiopia and Liberia severely constrained by Europe dominated economics on the continent.