The "Scramble for Africa" had its roots in European politics (Option 2).
The Scramble for Africa was a result of European's competition for power over the African continent. Once European powers found out that the vast continent of Africa was full of raw materials (diamond, gold, nickel, uranium, and titanium, etc.), which could be exploited to fuel their industrial revolution, the claiming over their lands began. It unquestionably had its roots in European politics.
It officially started with the Berlin Conference (1884–5), which aimed to regulate European occupation, division, colonization and trade in Africa.