Sorry for the vague title, but I could not think of the best way to phrase my question. How did national park systems come to exist and then persist in African countries with a history of colonialism, war, government corruption, and poverty? It seems to me like national park systems would be a result of a stable government/economy. As someone who knows very little of African history any insight would be greatly appreciated.
A large part of the national parks in African countries have their origins as hunting reserves. These areas were set aside in the era from 1900 to 1930 for the purpose of maintaining populations of game animals, to be hunted by European sportsmen.
A parallel development in this era was a growing concern about diminishing populations of charismatic African animal populations like lions, leopards, giraffes, elephants, gorillas, antelope, etc. So, attitudes change, and the focus goes from game reserves meant to manage populations to nature parks for the preservation threatened animal populations.
In 1925 you see the establishment of the Albert National Park in the Virunga mountains of Belgian Congo, for the express purpose of protecting the mountain gorilla population of that region. The next year, in South Africa the Sabi game reserve is rechristened as Kruger National Park.
Skipping ahead a few years, and in 1933 there was a gathering in London that created the Convention for the Protection of African Flora and Fauna. This agreement aimed at preserving African flora and fauna, drawing upon Albert National Park and Kruger National Park as the blueprint for parks elsewhere in Africa.
Now, you might well ask why these parks that originate in the Colonial era have continued in the independence era. For some of the major parks like Virunga (formerly Albert national park), Kruger, or Tsavo park, tourism becomes a major economic boon.
Additionally, after independence, environmentalist principles still placed a high value on the protection of charismatic wildlife. Groups like the World Wildlife Fund, the Nature Conservancy, and UNICEF did become important voices for the maintenance and perpetuation of parks dedicated to the preservation of threatened species on the continent.
If you would like to read a bit about this topic, I recommend the following books.
the Myth of Wild Africa: Conservation without illusion by Jonathan Adams and Thomas McShane
Empire of Nature: Hunting, Conservation and British Imperialism
and Decolonizing Nature which lends more focus to conservation policy in the post-colonial era.