Did Europe grow at the expense of Africa? and other questions — A review of “How Europe Underdeveloped Africa”

Despite being published over four decades ago this book is as relevant now as it was then. If you consider yourself a pan-Africanist, this is definitely a good read. The book was first published in 1974, a few years before the untimely demise of its author, and it grapples with the question of what is the cause of underdevelopment in Africa. For the most part, the author argues that Europe’s exploitation of Africa is the main cause of Africa’s underdevelopment. We will come back to you US. To put his point across, he focuses on Africa’s development in the 15th century, the pre-colonial period, and the colonial period. Furthermore, the integration of Africa into the exploitative international capitalist system serves the purpose of convincing us that Africa is underdeveloped because it is essentially the exploited, and Europe and the West are the exploiters. Well, he managed to convince me.

Africa as a continent has been exploited of its resources including manpower, minerals, and land which are factors of production. Manpower has been exploited from the time of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade which resulted in the continent’s productive workforce being transported across an ocean to work in plantations for the benefit of Europe. It also robbed Africa of a productive workforce for centuries stunting Africa’s population growth for at least three centuries. The exploitation of Africa’s manpower also took place during the colonial period when Europeans introduced measures such as taxation to force people to work, thus integrating them into the capitalist system. This also changed the entire fabric of society in Africa where men moved from rural areas to work in urban areas and cash crop-growing areas in order to earn money to pay taxes. And here we thought rural-to-urban migration started recently.

This left women, children, and old men in rural areas to farm and in turn impacted gender roles and the ability of rural areas to engage in subsistence farming. Minerals have been mined from Africa for centuries using African labor with the benefit of it being cheap. These minerals are transported to Europe where they are processed and their value increases. Profits from these minerals ultimately stayed in Europe. Land to date is still owned by white settlers who acquired the land through unfair methods and alienated Africans from their land.

The book also raises critical questions pertaining to capitalism and whether it is the best fit for Africa. One of the key features of capitalism is exploitation. However, arguments have however been made that the exploitative nature of capitalism has reduced over the years, but has it really? You be the judge of that. Africa is being exploited for its resources and manpower and we are powerless to do anything. Whether we are really powerless remains to be seen with several African countries attempting to cut the cord from their former colonial masters, whether in the form of coups or dictating prices of commodities. Capitalism also means exploitation within countries of the masses by the local bourgeois (I still have trouble getting the spelling right, apologies to my political science lecturers), thus explaining the inequalities that exist. Capitalism also means that international companies have the upper hand over local companies, yet we still argue for multinationals and foreign direct investment as means of promoting development in Africa. These are some of the few questions raised. You may disagree with capitalism as a factor in Africa’s underdevelopment but do you disagree the system is rigged? Then just say the system instead of capitalism. And the system was never built for us.

Apart from discussions of capitalism and its associated exploitations, the book is a work of history focusing on African relations, people, and political and military units since the 15th century. I thoroughly enjoyed this part and it also got me thinking, this man must have really loved Dahomey. Dahomey may have been the inspiration for the world-famous, Woman King, but the real Dahomey has been discussed in-depth. The book also features political units in West, North, South, and East Africa which I knew little about prior to reading the book. Discussions about companies that benefitted from the exploitation of Africa are another part of the book I enjoyed. These companies took I see it, I need it, I buy it to a whole other level. It also got me thinking, Should I be boycotting these companies?

The book however has some questionable points. For instance, I would question putting North Korea and Russia as good examples of the success of socialism. They may have been good examples in the 1970s but in the present, they are questionable. Is Russia really a socialist country to date? And is North Korea a socialist country today? The country is considered to be a full-blown example of authoritarianism for most people. The book also got me thinking about whether socialism is actually the solution to Africa’s development issues. I don’t think so, but I do think a combination of socialism and capitalism is feasible, after all, most of us do enjoy private ownership of property. Despite these questions, I will be reading more of his books.

I would like to credit this article and reading the book to the theft of my phone (I was welcomed to Nairobi, four years later!! IYKYK) and the timely or untimely (depending on how long your laptops last) demise of over 5-year-old laptop, I am still grieving the latter. This book had been part of required reading on campus, but I can confess I didn’t read it then. I did enjoy the company and comfort this book offered during this time. May he continue resting in power.

I will likely be following this up with the relevance of this book to Africa in the 21st century. Please follow me and feedback is always appreciated.