The Role of Africans in Perpetuating Neo-colonialism

25 min

A warning from 1961

In 1961 Frantz Fanon, a psychiatrist from Martinique who had joined Algeria's liberation struggle, published The Wretched of the Earth. In a chapter called "The Pitfalls of National Consciousness" he warned that, after independence, a small national middle class might simply take the place of the colonial rulers: instead of building the national economy, it would act as an agent for foreign businesses, live in luxury and keep the people poor. Fanon's warning moves the question from "what did outsiders do?" to "what did Africans do?". This lesson weighs the answer.

Figure 2. External pressures and African choices both sustain neo-colonialism. Drawn by Ganzaa.

Definition

Comprador elite: a local ruling or business class that profits by serving foreign interests, for example as agents or partners of foreign companies, rather than developing the national economy.

Corruption: the abuse of public office for private gain, such as taking bribes for contracts.

Illicit financial flows: money that leaves a country illegally, through corruption, tax evasion or false pricing of trade.

Capital flight: the movement of wealth out of a country by its own citizens, often to foreign banks.

Self-reliance: the policy of developing mainly with a country's own resources, savings and skills.

How African leaders and elites have sustained neo-colonialism

Corruption and illicit financial flows. A High Level Panel of the African Union and the UN Economic Commission for Africa, chaired by former South African president Thabo Mbeki, reported in 2015 that Africa was losing more than US$50 billion a year in illicit financial flows, and that the true figure was probably much higher.
Dependence on foreign backers to stay in power. During the Cold War some rulers survived because outside powers supported them. Mobutu Sese Seko ruled Zaire (today's DR Congo) from 1965 to 1997 with Western backing, while the country's mineral wealth did little for its people.
Unfair contracts for natural resources. Officials have signed mining and oil agreements that gave foreign companies low taxes and long concessions, sometimes in exchange for personal benefits.
Conflicts and coups. Civil wars and coups destroy wealth, drive away skilled people and invite foreign arms, mercenaries and peacekeepers.
Economic policy choices. Some governments neglected farming and local industry, spent loans on prestige projects, and kept exporting raw materials instead of processing them.
Weak African integration. African states have traded far more with Europe, Asia and America than with each other, so each faced the world's powers alone.
Cultural self-doubt. When elites value foreign languages, goods and lifestyles above African ones, local producers and cultures lose out.

Leaders who chose another path

Leader or country	Policy	Result, briefly
Julius Nyerere, Tanzania	the Arusha Declaration (5 February 1967): self-reliance and ujamaa villages	strong national unity and literacy; but collective farming failed economically
Thomas Sankara, Burkina Faso (1983–1987)	cut the costs of government, promoted local products, and in July 1987 called on African states at the OAU not to repay their foreign debts	popular reforms, ended when he was killed in a coup in October 1987
Rwanda	when some donors suspended aid in 2012, citizens and the diaspora contributed to the new Agaciro Development Fund; "Made in Rwanda" and home-grown solutions (Lesson 4)	a public commitment to dignity and self-reliance, though aid remains part of the budget

Analysis. Neo-colonialism needs partners inside Africa as well as interests outside it. The examples above show that African choices can either sustain dependence or reduce it, which is also why the responses in Lesson 4 depend on leadership and citizens, not only on foreign goodwill.

Warning

Avoid blaming one side only. "It was all the West" and "it was all corrupt African leaders" are both weak answers. Show how the two worked together: for example, a foreign company and an official who signed an unfair contract both gained, and the public lost.

Tip

Name names and dates. Examiners reward precise evidence: Mobutu (1965–1997), the Arusha Declaration (1967), Sankara's debt speech (1987), the Mbeki panel (2015), the Agaciro Development Fund (2012). One precise example is worth three vague ones.

Important

Discuss. Fanon feared a middle class that would copy and serve foreign interests. What could citizens, and especially young people, do to make sure that leaders and businesses serve the nation?

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Practice

What did Frantz Fanon warn about in "The Pitfalls of National Consciousness"?
Define illicit financial flows and capital flight.
Give four ways in which African leaders and elites have helped to sustain neo-colonialism.
What did the Mbeki panel report in 2015?
Explain how Mobutu's rule in Zaire illustrates the role of Africans in neo-colonialism.
Compare Nyerere's and Sankara's attempts to reduce dependence.
"Africans themselves are mainly responsible for neo-colonialism today." Evaluate this view using Figure 2.

Show answersHide answers

That after independence a small national middle class might replace the colonial rulers and act as agents of foreign business, enriching itself instead of developing the nation.
Illicit financial flows: money that leaves a country illegally through corruption, tax evasion or false trade pricing. Capital flight: citizens moving their wealth out of the country, often to foreign banks.
Any four: corruption and illicit flows; depending on foreign backers to stay in power; unfair resource contracts; conflicts and coups; poor economic choices; weak African integration; cultural self-doubt.
That Africa was losing more than US$50 billion a year in illicit financial flows, and probably much more, since some flows cannot be measured.
Mobutu stayed in power from 1965 to 1997 with Western Cold War backing, while Zaire's mineral wealth benefited foreign interests and a small elite rather than the people: an African ruler and outside powers sustained dependence together.
Both rejected dependence: Nyerere through the Arusha Declaration's self-reliance and ujamaa (1967), which built unity but failed economically; Sankara through austerity, local production and his call not to repay foreign debts (1987), which ended with his killing in a coup. Both show that resisting dependence is politically difficult.
A balanced answer: corruption, capital flight, unfair contracts and weak integration are real African responsibilities; but debt, trade rules, foreign firms and outside backing for rulers are external pressures. The two reinforce each other; responsibility is shared, and the solutions need action on both sides.

Sources and credits

Illicit Financial Flows: Report of the High Level Panel on Illicit Financial Flows from Africa, African Union and UN Economic Commission for Africa, 2015.
Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth (1961), summarised in Ganzaa's words.

Written by Ganzaa: the analysis, the diagram (Figure 2), the table and the exercises.

1A warning from 1961

2How African leaders and elites have sustained neo-colonialism

3Leaders who chose another path

A warning from 1961

How African leaders and elites have sustained neo-colonialism

Leaders who chose another path