2018 | Book

Neo-Colonialism and the Poverty of 'Development' in Africa

Author: Dr. Mark Langan

Publisher: Springer International Publishing

Book Series : Contemporary African Political Economy

Part of: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft" , Springer Professional "Technik"

Table of Contents

About this book

Langan reclaims neo-colonialism as an analytical force for making sense of the failure of ‘development’ strategies in many African states in an era of free market globalisation. Eschewing polemics and critically engaging the work of Ghana’s first President – Kwame Nkrumah – the book offers a rigorous assessment of the concept of neo-colonialism. It then demonstrates how neo-colonialism remains an impediment to genuine empirical sovereignty and poverty reduction in Africa today. It does this through examination of corporate interventions; Western aid-giving; the emergence of ‘new’ donors such as China; EU-Africa trade regimes; the securitisation of development; and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Throughout the chapters, it becomes clear that the current challenges of African development cannot be solely pinned on so-called neo-patrimonial elites. Instead it becomes imperative to fully acknowledge, and interrogate, corporate and donor interventions which lock many poorer countries into neo-colonial patterns of trade and production. The book provides an original contribution to studies of African political economy, demonstrating the on-going relevance of the concept of neo-colonialism, and reclaiming it for scholarly analysis in a global era.

Frontmatter

Chapter 1. Neo-Colonialism and Nkrumah: Recovering a Critical Concept

Abstract

Neo-colonialism refers to a situation of infringed national sovereignty and excessive influence/control exercised by foreign corporations and donors. This chapter explores this concept with reference to the writings of Kwame Nkrumah, the first President of Ghana. Engaging his major work, Neo-colonialism: The Last Stage of Imperialism, the chapter argues that his concept retains relevance for an understanding of modern African ‘development’ today. This is contextualised in terms of debates about dependency theory which are often equated with writings on neo-colonialism. It is also contextualised in terms of the literature on the so-called neo-patrimonial state and the ‘governance state’ in Africa.

Mark Langan

Chapter 2. Neo-Colonialism and Foreign Corporations in Africa

Abstract

Foreign corporations challenge African countries’ empirical sovereignty through a variety of regressive forms of foreign direct investment (FDI). This chapter examines the role of foreign companies in the oil sector and agribusiness. It assesses the role of oil companies in Ghana, the home-nation of Kwame Nkrumah, and queries lucrative arrangements that deny Ghanaians the true value of their natural resources. Focussing on the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition (NAFSN), the chapter also queries whether corporation mobilisation for food security genuinely benefits local communities. Notably here, the chapter draws attention to ‘land grabs’ which deny subsistence farmers access to land in favour of intensive cash crop cultivation by large-scale agribusiness.

Mark Langan

Chapter 3. Neo-Colonialism and Donor Interventions: Western Aid Mechanisms

Abstract

Western aid-giving is couched in a progressive language of poverty reduction and human wellbeing. This chapter, however, casts critical light upon three Western aid modalities; project aid, budget support and aid ‘blending’ initiatives. It illustrates the way in which Western donor aid is often used as a subsidy for foreign corporate involvement in Africa despite dubious returns for the poorer citizenry in developing countries. For example, the chapter queries the ‘development’ auspices of private sector development (PSD) and Aid for Trade interventions carried out by the European Commission. It also challenges the role of development finance institutions (DFIs) in so-called aid blending projects, which combine public tax-payers money to DFI capital in African infrastructure projects. Donor budget support, meanwhile, is deemed a genuine obstacle to empirical sovereignty in African countries.

Mark Langan

Chapter 4. Emerging Powers and Neo-Colonialism in Africa

Abstract

Many writings on African ‘development’ now concern themselves with new donor actors, especially China and its state-sponsored corporations. This chapter explores ‘new’ donor involvement in the continent with focus on China and Turkey. In relation to Chinese trade and aid, the chapter queries the progressive ‘development’ credentials of Chinese interventions with focus on Zambia and Angola. In both country contexts, Chinese corporations are seen to secure access to lucrative natural resources with little tangible return for the poorer citizenry. Indeed, Chinese interventions are seen to perpetuate (neo)colonial trade and production patterns and to denude the exercise of empirical sovereignty. Meanwhile, Turkish interventions under President Erodgan are seen to be couched in a benevolent discourse of humanitarian concern. Nevertheless, Turkish interests in oil in Somalia’s Puntland province combined to its arms deals, challenges the notion that Turkey offers a real alternative system to the ‘neo-colonialism’ of the West.

Mark Langan

Chapter 5. Trade and Neo-Colonialism: The Case of Africa–EU Ties

Abstract

Nkrumah warned that European nations would seek to perpetuate neo-colonial patterns of trade and production in their relations with African countries. This chapter examines the current EU Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) being implemented in sub-regions of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group. It points to concerns about EU ‘ladder-kicking’ in Africa, with regard to premature tariff liberalisation and the import flooding of manufactured and agricultural goods into local markets. This chapter contextualises this impact in terms of livelihoods and growth within vital sectors such as poultry and textiles. Moreover, the chapter points to the EU’s ‘development’ discourse as a legitimating component of its controversial EPA deals in African sub-regions.

Mark Langan

Chapter 6. Security, Development, and Neo-Colonialism

Abstract

In Neo-colonialism: The Last Stage of Imperialism, Nkrumah warned that foreign donor and corporate penetration of African governance systems would be the ‘breeding ground for limited wars’. Oftentimes, this is now associated with superpower interventions in African civil strife during the Cold War. This chapter, however, contextualises Nkrumah’s warnings in terms of the contemporary actions taken by France, and the EU, in a number of Sahelian conflicts. Notably, the chapter considers French interventions in Mali and explains how French policy preferences for economic liberalisation helped to precipitate the outbreak of crisis. In terms of the ‘securitisation of development’, moreover, the chapter also examines the EU’s enhanced focus upon migration partnership agreements with African states.

Mark Langan

Chapter 7. The UN Sustainable Development Goals and Neo-Colonialism

Abstract

The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) seek to put economic growth and private sector expansion back onto the agenda of African development. Goals 8 and 9, for instance, place great significance on the need for decent jobs and for infrastructure building to spur African prosperity. This chapter illustrates how the SDG’s pivot to economic growth and private sector development (PSD) represents a reinforcement of existing donor commitment to free market policies in Africa. Moreover, by focusing on sustainable development initiatives in the palm oil sector, and the EU-Africa Infrastructural Trust Fund (EU-AITF), the chapter queries whether poverty reduction is at the heart of donor (and corporate) strategies in the era of the UN SDGs. Again, Nkrumah’s concerns about neo-colonial trade and aid linkages appear pertinent for a current assessment of African ‘development’.

Mark Langan

Chapter 8. Agency, Sovereignty, and Neo-Colonialism

Abstract

Nkrumah remained optimistic about the ability of Africans to realise a progressive form of agency that could challenge, and overcome, relations of neo-colonialism. This chapter examines recent debates about sovereignty and Africa. It reiterates Nkrumah’s––and Fanon’s––concerns about the diminution of genuine empirical sovereignty in Africa even after juridical/legal sovereignty had been achieved. It then considers opportunities for progressive agency with regards to civil society and trade unions, the democratic developmental state in Africa, and pan-Africanism (with focus on the current African Union). The chapter highlights Nkrumah’s analysis that only pan-African solutions to neo-colonialism would offer a long-term antidote to donor and corporate subversion of empirical sovereignty in Africa.

Mark Langan

Backmatter

Title: Neo-Colonialism and the Poverty of 'Development' in Africa
Author: Dr. Mark Langan
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Electronic ISBN: 978-3-319-58571-0
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-58570-3
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-58571-0