The Berlin Conference of 1884–85, also known as the Congo Conference (German: Kongokonferenz) or West Africa Conference (Westafrika-Konferenz), regulated European colonization and trade in Africa during the New Imperialism period, and coincided with Germany's sudden emergence as an imperial power.he conference was convened on Saturday, November 15, 1884 at Bismarck's official residence on Wilhelmstrasse (site of the Congress of Berlin six years earlier). Bismarck accepted the chairmanship.