DECOLONIZATION OR RECOLONIZATION: A CRITICAL ASSESSMENT OF POST-INDEPENDENCE ECONOMIC POLICIES IN AFRICA

Abstract

Six decades have come and gone, after African countries secured political independence, yet they have not been able to boast of economic independence. Western-dictated economic policies, which the dictators said would put Africa on the path of economic development and eventual decolonization, have failed to do so. African economies are still precariously tied to the economies of the West, and the centre-periphery linkage has gained sustenance rather than severance, leading to the impoverishment and under-development of Africa by the West. This deleterious situation has attracted the attention of scholars, who have taken it upon themselves to find out why economic emancipation has been long in coming. Two schools of thought have emerged- the Neo-liberal School and the Neo-Marxist School of thought. While the former believes that African economies are being gradually decolonized despite the sorry state of affairs, and that decolonization process, though has been slow, has already started with the adoption of western-tailored economic policies, the neo-marxist scholars believe that the contrary is the case. They believe that Africa is not yet on the path of de-colonization, but is going through the process of re-colonization, as it faithfully implements dictated economic policies, and that this explains why Africa has not yet secured economic independence. This paper assesses the economic policies of post-Independent Africa in the light of these two schools of thought, to find out which of the schools’ argument is relevant for understanding and addressing the economic challenges of contemporary Africa. Secondary sources which are analyzed quantitatively utilizing a discursive approach, are used for the study. It shows, based on the evidence examined, that the continent is going through the process of re-colonization. and offers suggestions on how to put the African economies on the path of de-colonization.