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

France à fric: the CFA zone in Africa and neocolonialism

“…18 The saliency of neocolonialism remains a powerful as an analytical category to understand contemporary Africa's political economy. 19 The result of such arrangements in much of Francophone Africa has been continued underdevelopment, understood here as the increasing loss by a society over control of its own future; the emergence of structures of external dependency in the economy; net transfers of resources and national wealth to foreigners; a growing gap between the dominated and dominant nations vis-à-vis technology, life chances and living standards and the consolidation of a domestic social structure whereby local elites benefit while the majority do not. 20 The role of the African elites within the CFA zone in perpetuating this scenario, which is objectively against the interest of their own countries, cannot be underestimated.…”

(Un)Sustainable Development(s) in International Economic Law: A Quest for Sustainability

“…A wealth of literature, especially in African studies, often tends to blame for the failure of the developmental state solely corrupted state leaderships, while shying away from the analysis of multilevel implications and responsibilities of Western corporations, who used to control most of mineral exports-related operations, particularly in Africa [112] (pp. [36][37][38][39].…”

A brief agricultural history of cannabis in Africa, from prehistory to canna-colony

“…5 I analyze African cannabis history based upon elements of political economic theory. I argue that current processes of cannabis liberalization are, with one exception, instances of accumulation through dispossession (Harvey, 2004) by Global Northern companies, enabled through the exercise of neocolonial power (Nkrumah, 1965;Langan, 2018). Seven African governments have authorized limited instances of cannabis farming.…”

“…been cheered as a new avenue for development, but empirical evidence on cannabis history illuminates that cannabis-centered 'development' has instead only extended a pathway of economic dependence into a new sector. The case of cannabis suggests the enduring influence of colonialism, while underscoring the neocolonial power of Global Northern businesses (Langan, 2018). Second, cannabis-policy reforms in the Global North have global political-economic meaning, and are not simply precedents for how states might manage drugs within their borders.…”