I understand the fact that the slave trade and colonisation highly affected the continent, but fact is African countries weren’t the only ones affected by that so it still puzzles me as to why African nations have failed to spring up like the Super power nations we have today
In: Economics
I just listen to a podcast featuring Magatte Wade, a Senegalese business woman and author about this topic. To grossly oversimplify her point, Africa is where it is because decades of bad governance resulting from the popularity of Liberation (communist) movements during the time when Africa was coming out of colonialization. Because of massive government bureaucracies, it is very difficult (and costly) for the average African to start a business. As a result the only businesses that can operate are massive foreign corporation who bribe officials and extract wealth from Africa. People complain about the foreign companies but the reality is that the people need the services and it is too difficult to get a homegrown solution that keeps the wealth in Africa. An example she mentioned was Orange, the giant French telecommunication company. The Senegalese need cell service and internet access but it is difficult for a Senegalese company to be able to compete with Orange.
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