GROUPE NUMBeR: 04
GROUP MEMBERS: MWAITA SHINGAI (M205899)
MUTAMBA TINOTENDA (M202336)
MASOCHA BLESSING (M201835)
ASHLEY LYDIA VAKISAI (M202944)
TANAKA T HUNI (M204960)
CHIMONYO MICHAEL (M204256)
CHITARARA KUDZAI F (M206437)
SIMBARASHE DAITON (M203358)
HARUZIVI BROLINE (M203039)
CHINOTSA ISHEANESU J (M203624)
LEVEL: PART 1:2 (CONVECTIONAL)
MODULE TITLE/CODE: (HDES121 - DEVELOPMENT PLANNING)
LECTURER: MR ASIMA
Assignment Question; 4. How valid is the notion that western imperial interest has
prevented economic development in Africa
The assertion that western imperial interest has prevented economic development in Africa is to
a smaller extent. This is supported by factors such as they return the profits they get from Africa
back to their mother-land, they colonise, change in economic structure slave trade and they take
over our land. However, one cannot ignore other factors which are caused by our own leadership
or government which are corruption not doing justice to state funds, unfair land distribution,
African leaders scare away investors as well as other factors such as geographical locations,
climate change, natural disasters example cyclones and droughts, dependency syndrome and
rapid population growth. These effects will be explained after key terms have been defined.
Imperialism has been defined by W. Rodney (1973) as a state policy, practice, or advocacy of
extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political
and economic control of other territories and peoples. Economic development can be defined as
the process of bringing about fundamental and substantial changes in the society which embraces
such aspects as justice, equality and opportunity for citizens, equitable distribution of income,
and democratization (Nguyen 2016).
To start with, they return profits to their mother country in the sense that if they are interested in
a certain mine, they tend to extract minerals from the developing nations going back with it raw
at their mother land and come back with finished products such as jewellery which will be more
expensive although it won't be pure gold and they send their doubled profits back home leaving
us economically weak and even exhausted as they aim to leave us in poverty so that we continue
seeking their aid and they later dominate or take over control of our nation. Example, in
Zimbabwe the Chinese have taken over mining in Chiyadzwa, Norton as well as Bocha area
where little or no development were made and they still mine and take the minerals back to their
home country leaving us economically unstable. Therefore, western imperial interest has
prevented economic development in Africa.
Furthermore, they take over the African land for their own interest. Colonial governments took
over much of Africa’s land for their own personal or commercial use, for mining and or
commercial farms. They were selective in choosing land and took only the best and called it their
own. Belgium and Britain were mostly responsible for taking the land. The Belgians took land in
the Congo and the British conquered land in Kenya and South Africa. Central, East, and South
Africa had nice climates and fertile soil, encouraging the British and Belgians to settle in these
areas to farm and mine leaving the majority of the citizens landless at their own selfish benefits.
The Africans mainly became workers to the western people being paid back peanuts although
they will be over working and working for minerals worth millions leaving them economically
underdeveloped as their wages would not take them far. The Westerns tend to take over these
knowing that the African’s resources will at some point be exhausted and they will need them to
help and it will be easy for them to control them in the event that we will be depending on them.
Therefore, western imperial interest has prevented economic development in Africa.
The economic structure of African society was changed by Europeans. Cash crops were
introduced to meet industrial needs of European countries. Cocoa, coffee, tea, and cotton were
the main cash crops produced on a large scale. Several minerals were mined extensively. The
problem with this was cash crops were focused on instead of food for basic needs, leading to
famine among many Africans. Europeans changed the economy from a model of producing
foods for need to mainly the production of cash crops. All crops produced by Africans were
exported and prices were set by the colonies. Africans were not allowed to grow these cash crops
to benefit themselves. Trade was prohibited between Africans, so they were forced to export all
cash crops produced and minerals mined. Thus, Western imperial interest is to blame for the
underdevelopment of African economies.
Western imperialism has affected economic development because of the Slave trade. According
to Palgrave Macmillan [2005] the slave trade is believed to be mankind’s greatest disaster, as it
was characterized with death and exploitation to a lot of Africans. The slave trade led to the de-
population and under-development of the continent. The most productive age group estimated to
the tune of between 15 to 30 million people, were exported to the Americas, Europe and Asia.
Hallet and Fage exposes the fact that slave trade targeted the able boded males n females of the
African societies which were shipped to Europe and America for slavery. Thus, exploiting the
African continent of individuals who will be able to take part in economically and socially
developing Africa. Rodney [1974] asserts that about 11 million people went to America alone.
Hence, potential empire-builders and great leaders were killed in the process, or they got
permanently detached from their continent from which they were capable of making lasting
contribution. This was an inhumane practice due to exploitative manner in which African were
taken into slavery to develop European countries infrastructures and industries forcefully living
their own continent without the power and bodies needed for economic development as
Mahmood Mamdani highlights, normal economic activities such as farming, were severely
disrupted. This is because the young and able craftsmen, traders and farmers were carried away
into slavery, causing economic stagnation as the normal workforce was either depleted or
decimated. As a result, it weakened the whole of the African community thus leaving a huge gap
between the third world countries and most African countries up to this present day.
Colonization by westerns can also be pointed out as another obstacle that has prevented Africa's
economic development. Colonization saw a massive looting of natural resources which include
gold and diamonds in African accompanied by exhaustion of land and minerals by European
imperialist. According to Rodney colonization marked as the sole cause for the
underdevelopment of African as it caused a shortage in fore mostly human life, minerals and
again exhausted African land. He further exposes the idea that this experience marked the
supremacy of the Europeans and American as looted commodities were used to develop
American and European countries whilst Africa was at a standstill. Andre Munro clearly reveals
the idea that colonization provided Europeans and American ownership to African and they did
wat they deemed necessary so as to plunder all the booty which then ignites the fact that
European imperialists selfishness clearly caused the underdevelopment of African through
colonization.
However, apart from western imperialism, geographical locations are also another cause. The
Africans mainly rely on agriculture for living as they provide food for the family and also sell the
surplus they get. In Zimbabwe, places in region 4 and 5 have little or no rainfall which are not
favourable for farming of cash crops hence they are economically underdeveloped. African
nations like Ethiopia who are failing to produce fruitfully in the agriculture sector because they
are located in mountainous and rocky areas. This makes it hard to produce products such as cash
crops which can generate foreign currency which can help boost the nation's income hence
providing economic development. Nations like Botswana are covered by desert most parts and it
is affecting its incomes in the agriculture sector and that is affecting economic development too.
Therefore, it would be biased to blame the western imperial interest alone on Africans
economically underdevelopment.
The issue of dependency has also prevented economic development in Africa. According to
Andre Frank [1999] the dependency theory is mainly caused by the peripheral position of the
affected countries. Meaning typically African underdeveloped countries offer cheap labour and
raw materials to the world market which are sold to developed countries at cheap prices and
these countries transform these products to finished goods. Underdeveloped countries end up
purchasing finished products at high prices thus depleting capital. On the other hand, thus
leaving the economy cripple but if they were to devote to upgrading their own product capacity.
This results in a vicious cycle that perpetuates the division of the world economy between the
rich core and the poor periphery as revealed by Brazilian sociologist Fernando Henrique. This
ends in underdeveloped countries finding it hard to develop as they depend of the economically
developed countries for finished products for example the ongoing covid 19 vaccines issue
clearly exposes how underdeveloped countries depended on the economically developed
countries but the developed countries are stating by vaccinating they’re on civilians first which
leaves Africa vulnerable. Thus, dependency has weekended the African continent in such a way
that they are finding it hard to develop well economically on their own.
Rapid population growth has affected the economic development in Africa in that, it is leading to
the degradation of the natural environment hence affecting agriculture. The relationship between
the three variables shows that the situation in Africa is critical. From the 660 million hectares of
forest, about 3.2 million hectares per year are lost. The demand for firewood is increasing about
the same rate of population growth. This degradation of environment has a negative repercussion
on the agriculture production and among other things on the availability of water resources. The
food deficit generated aggravated the malnutrition situation in African countries. The agriculture
and economic stagnation impede the process of transition towards the lowering of fertility.
Therefore, it has led to the underdevelopment of Africa for example Zimbabwe, people depend
on depend on farming.
Natural disasters have also prevented the economic development of Africa. When natural
disasters occur like floods, droughts and cyclones they affect production in most African
countries as most of them are agriculturally based economy. Zimbabwe and Mozambique have
been affected by cyclone Idai and both countries suffered infrastructure destruction, human loss
and a halt in both Agriculture and mining sector in those affected areas. Hence this strained the
government budget as it tries to cover up for the damage.
In addition, civil wars caused by the leaders to try and crush opposition parties rather than
development. For example, the ruling party in Zimbabwe, ZANU PF youths led by Hare District
Secretary for transport Nicholas Hamadziripi unleashed violence, beating up MDC Alliance
members on 29th of July 2020 published by Desmond Chingarande, Newsday. The ruling party
ZANU PF leader the president of Zimbabwe Emerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa was labelled a
terrorist organization and a blood thirsty regime planning to spill the blood of innocent citizens
exercising democratic right to demonstrate by opposition Vice-President Tendai Biti published
by Moses Matenga, Newsday. This clearly shows that there is political tension between political
parties causing civil wars rather than focusing on the development of the nation as a whole.
Moving on, climate change is also a cancerous disease in agriculture problem in Zimbabwe.
Chiredzi, Bikita, Mwenezi they suffered from poor rainfall which will result in food insecurity
and water scarcity. As noted by Mushore et al (2013), in Bikita district, subsistence farmers are
producing less on their fields as the years are progressing because effects of droughts are
worsening with time resulting in food insecurity. Maize is one of the crops that is being grown
while agriculture is the main source of livelihood in Zimbabwe. Unpredictable and harsh climatic
conditions are very common in most African nations and these have on many cases resulted in
failures of crops and hence immediate poverty as most African nations are Agro-based.
According to C. Matando (Manicapost, 27 November 2015), thousands of acres of grown crops
in the western parts of Zimbabwe in Marange District wilted at very early stages due to the
massive heat imposed by the heat wave which heated the country that year. Many people in
Zimbabwe depend of products from their family and communal fields for food and survival and
when the plants failed to produce fruitfully like in Zimbabwe in years like 2008,2009 and 2015
poverty is unavoidable. Scarce rainfalls during the farming seasons when rain is needed to
irrigate people’s crops in rural areas where water sources are very far has caused more starvation
to these people as their food sources failures to produce enough. Most African communities are
characterized by the inability to properly adjust to climate changes through putting resilient
mechanisms and hence they are always at loss whenever there is a massive harsh climatic
condition. Therefore, climate change is another contributing factor to the poverty in African
countries.
The tendency by some African leaders of deliberately scaring away investors has also resulted in
low economic development. Strategic means of chasing away operating and potential economic
investors out of the countries has become another notable way used by various heartless leaders
to safeguard their positions. According to M. Kimani in (Financial times 2017), trade barriers,
high transport cost and unjustifiable demands of many operational licenses have been used to
chase away investors in Zambia. The Zambian tourism industry is said to be requiring about 33
licenses to invest into the sector according to Kamini (2017). Scaring away investors can be
taken as a way by the ruling leaders to maintain the people’s wealthy in a deplorable but stable
condition and hence corrupting their minds to think of nothing more other than where they will
find the next meal. The idea of keeping people in needy conditions by the government can be
taken as a way of making it easier to govern as the people will be weak willed and hungry hence
invulnerable. Foreign and local Investors are needed for the prosperity of any nation and when
they are absent it means the flowing in of foreign currency and outside advanced ideas will not
be there and the country suffers. Investors in sectors like the mining are also fundamental as they
reduce poverty in the communities as many local people will get employment and salaries that
can sustain themselves and when they are chased away poverty will increase and economic
development is affected. Thus, hostile leadership tactics used by African leaders can be blamed
for causing a strain economic development.
More so, economic development in Africa has also been greatly prevented by the corrupt leader.
In Africa, efforts by government officials to secure wealth and power through illegal means and
at the expense of the public has largely hold back the economies. According to The Post Express
(July 10.2000 page 26), the late Nigerian dictator General Sani Abacha had siphoned more than
$8 billion of Nigeria’s foreign exchange into fictitious accounts in Europe, Asia, America,
Caribbean and the Arab countries. These selfish acts of looting and externalizing nation’s
currency for current and future personal desires by African government leaders like S. Abacha
can be pointed out as contributing factors to rampant and ever unending poverty in Nigeria and
Africa at large. Given Nigeria’s economic structure which was then characterized by deadly
shortage of food in households, limited access to clean water, poor shelter, dilapidated road
networks and saddest of all, penny salaries to government workers in the civil sector which was
posing rampant suffering to the Nigerians, the Oligarchy can be blamed largely on this. More
Similar to that, (The Washington Times, 3 August 1995 A18) of Kenya reported that, many
people in the government have biggest accounts in foreign banks and these banks have more
money than the entire Kenyan debt which was about $8 billion. Prior to that, Nairobi
businessman, Peter Wamai charged that, “If they are serious about eradicating poverty, they
should start by returning the money they had been stealing into their hands”. Theft of
government coffers paralyzes the efforts for promotion of security justice among people and in
these two cases of Nigeria and Kenya these effects were undeniable. Through theft, billions have
reportedly been said to have vanished without any trace in Africa leaving the economy stranded
thereby, the leaders are largely to be blamed because they are the ones responsible for the
budgets. Thus, bad leadership characterised by massive stealing and corruption can be blamed
for preventing economic development in Africa.
This essay presentation has attempted to demonstrate that the notion that the western imperial
interest has prevented economic development in Africa is valid to a lesser extent when
juxtaposed with other factors that have prevented development. The western imperial interest has
been said to have prevented economic development through the after effects of slave trade,
colonisation and the changes to the African societal systems. However, other factors have also
been pointed out to be major contributing factors to Africa’s poor economic development and
these include geographical locations, dependency, rapid population growth, natural disasters
climate change, civil wars and poor governance.
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