Political and Social Context of Economic Development in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

As hinted in Chapter 1, a significant event in the history of SSA countries has been the political domination of the subcontinent by seven European countries — Britain, France, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Germany and Belgium. The impact of colonial legacy on SSA’s current economic, political and social malaise has remained a contestable issue among writers and observers of development trends on the subcontinent (Ndulu et al., 2007). Some scholars blame Europe for most of the problems. It has been argued, for example, that by redrawing the map of SSA and throwing diverse people together without consideration of potentials for ethnic conflicts and other challenges of social-space management, Europe has sown the seeds of conflict, destabilization and decline on the subcontinent (Austin, 2010). There are also those who attribute the modicum of modernity found in parts of SSA to colonization and its related European influence (Dumont, 1969). The divergences in opinion appear irreconcilable and have defied sober reflections. I do not intend to provide such a reflection in this chapter but merely offer an overview of the main issues that have occupied the centre stage of the contemporary debate and trace aspects of the colonial heritage and its impact on contemporary developments in the subcontinent.