What is that?As always, I feel obliged to insert the obligatory Yellowstone supercaldera possibility.
Have the Europeans make more ethno-linguistically accurate territorial divisions. That alone would make Africa far more diverse and numerous in countries. However I am left to remind you that Africa already is the most nation diverse region in the world. All you need to do is have a more devastating first world war for the Europeans to loose control of Africa by choice or by force. The natives, lacking even the cohesion that the Europeans were able to carry on until well after WW2, would disintegrate into bitter and incessant wars over the scraps and perceived legitimacy. You'll get twice as many states as OTL, but the price will be an entire world war in levels of blood.Create a TL with a POD(s) that can take place before 1900 which leads to various areas of Africa riggleing free of European control and forming various free and perhaps waring states and countries. Also see if you can try to keep the European influences of the cultures of those areas intact.
Have the Europeans make more ethno-linguistically accurate territorial divisions. That alone would make Africa far more diverse and numerous in countries. However I am left to remind you that Africa already is the most nation diverse region in the world. All you need to do is have a more devastating first world war for the Europeans to loose control of Africa by choice or by force. The natives, lacking even the cohesion that the Europeans were able to carry on until well after WW2, would disintegrate into bitter and incessant wars over the scraps and perceived legitimacy. You'll get twice as many states as OTL, but the price will be an entire world war in levels of blood.
An early development of quinine-resistant malaria?It doesn't involve wriggling free of anybody's control and I can't think of
any good POD to cause it right now, but the obvious answer would be
along the lines of "remove the scramble for Africa".
Make Europe uninterested in/unable to colonise Africa or pick a point in
time (pretty much any time before the Berlin Conference, I suppose) for
Europe to lose interest and you get lots and lots of free, and often quite
small and warring, countries.