Neocolonialism in Africa
Senior 6 · History
Neocolonialism in Africa
Lesson 4 of 4
25 min
On 21 March 2018, at an extraordinary summit of the African Union in Kigali, 44 African countries signed the agreement establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). It entered into force on 30 May 2019, and trading under it began on 1 January 2021; its secretariat is in Accra. Its aim answers one of the oldest complaints about neo-colonialism: that African states trade mainly with the world's richer economies rather than with each other. Before you study Africa's responses, weigh what neo-colonialism has cost.
Definition
Underdevelopment: a condition in which an economy produces far below its potential, often because its wealth and decisions are controlled from outside.
Value addition: processing raw materials at home, for example roasting and packaging coffee instead of exporting green beans, so that more income and jobs stay in the country.
Economic diversification: spreading a country's production and exports over many products and services so that it no longer depends on one or two.
Regional integration: cooperation between neighbouring states to remove trade barriers and share infrastructure and institutions, as in the East African Community (EAC).
Agenda 2063: the African Union's long-term plan, adopted in January 2015, for "the Africa we want" fifty years after the founding of the OAU.
| Area | Consequences |
|---|---|
| Economic | continued dependence on raw-material exports and their unstable prices; heavy foreign debt by the 1980s; little industry; profits from mining and oil sent abroad; unemployment |
| Political | governments answerable to lenders or foreign backers rather than citizens; coups and dictatorships supported from outside during the Cold War; limited real sovereignty |
| Social | cuts in health and education under structural adjustment; growing inequality; brain drain of doctors, nurses and engineers |
| Cultural | African languages, knowledge and products undervalued; foreign media and consumer habits dominant |
| Conflict and environment | competition for minerals has fed conflicts, as in the east of the DR Congo; oil extraction has polluted land and water, as in Ogoniland in Nigeria's Niger Delta, assessed by the UN Environment Programme in 2011 |
| Measure | What it does |
|---|---|
| Vision 2020 (2000) and Vision 2050 (2020) | long-term national plans to build a knowledge-based, service and industrial economy, less dependent on aid |
| Agaciro Development Fund (2012) | a sovereign wealth fund built from contributions by citizens and the diaspora: agaciro means dignity |
| "Made in Rwanda" policy (2017) | supports local production and value addition, and encourages Rwandans to buy local products |
| Home-grown solutions | Umuganda, Girinka, Imihigo and others draw on Rwandan culture to solve national problems (S6 Unit 1) |
| Regional and continental trade | EAC membership since 2007; host of the AfCFTA signing in 2018 |
Analysis. These responses aim to break the cycle in Lesson 1 at its weakest points: adding value to exports, trading more within Africa, raising savings at home and controlling resources. They face real limits: infrastructure gaps, small markets, debts, and the need for skills and investment. Their success will depend, as Lesson 3 showed, on African leadership and citizens as much as on the rest of the world.
Warning
Avoid describing every foreign link as neo-colonial. Trade, investment and cooperation are normal between sovereign states. The test is whether the relationship is chosen, negotiated and balanced, or imposed and one-sided.
Tip
Link consequences to responses. In an essay, pair each consequence with the response that targets it: dependence on raw materials → value addition; isolated small markets → the AfCFTA and the EAC; illicit flows → transparency and tax reforms; aid dependence → domestic savings such as the Agaciro Development Fund. Then judge how far each response has worked.
Important
Discuss. "Buy Made in Rwanda." Is buying local products a small act of resistance to neo-colonialism, an economic choice, or both? What would make Rwandan products competitive across the AfCFTA market?
UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD): "The African Continental Free Trade Area offers an opportunity to boost intra-African trade" (about 30 seconds). Note the two things UNCTAD says African countries should do alongside the free-trade area.
Practice
Further reading
Sources and credits
Written by Ganzaa: the analysis, the tables, the case study and the exercises.
