The Performance of African Countries after the Second World War

Moayed Salim

Lara Apps
History 209/Global Studies 209
31 March 2016

Moayed Salim

Moayed Salim 2

Lara Apps
History 209/Global Studies 209
15 April 2016

The Performance of African Countries after the Second World War

The crux of neo-colonialism is that a state may contain from the
peripheral what would be considered operationally independent, while in
reality, highly influenced and directed from the outside. Though extreme
cases exist, where imperial forces are present in the neo-colonial state,
usually the state is controlled through monetary or economic means. An
expert on the subject, Kwame Nkrumah, wrote Neo-Colonialism: The Last
Stage of Imperialism to demonstrate how invaluable political freedom is
without economic independence, while also arguing the need for unification
of Africa as protection from neo-colonialism. Nkrumah further claims that
foreign capital is used for the exploitation rather than the development of
the less developed parts of the world, where investment enlarges the gap
between the rich and poor countries.
Paul Johnson, the author of Modern Times: The World from the
Twenties to the Nineties, argues quite the opposite in regards to Africas
stagnation, in fact, completely blaming Nkrumah for the economic decline of
Ghana. Paul claims Nkrumah made two decisive mistakes. The first was
assuming that economic problems can explicitly be solved through economic
means (Johnson 512). He ascertained that Nkrumahs attempts at politicizing
led Ghana to losing its balance of payments surplus to accumulating a

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mountain of debt and a low international credit rating. The second fallacy of
Nkrumah was the notion that the process of economic and political liberation
needed leadership with charismatic personalities. Nkrumah even allowed his
followers to refer to him as The Redeemer. Johnson claims this illusion of
aspiring divine qualities did not last, as the tumbling economic conditions
lead to a military coup in Ghana.
David Rooney, the author of The Socialist State attempts to reveal
Nkrumahs socialist ambitions for Africa, and Ghana in particular. Details of
government economic control prove that production was based on socialist
values under Nkrumah, as he also continuously encouraged the population to
have a socialist drive and perspective (Rooney 182). Rooney suggests
Nkrumah integrated socialist and African values: Many of Nkrumahs ideas,
as he openly testified, were derived from Marx, Lenin, Mao Tse-tung and
other revolutionary leaders, but his originality lay in adapting these ideas
into a coherent philosophy, relevant to the African scene generally and to
Ghana in particular (Roony 184). Therefore, Nkrumah reservedly embraced
these ideologies, as he saw some concepts being incompatible with African
standards.
David Birmingham, the author of Kwame Nukrumah: The Father of
African Nationalism explicates the legacy of Nkrumah. The author states
Nkrumahs dreams and ambitions, while blaming his failures on external
forces and conspiracies. He claims a whole campaign was launched by the

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West to undermine Nkrumahs objectives. Birmingham believes foreign

control over African countries was accomplished through financial
domination, the corrupting of politicians, control over the armies, and
tampering with the culture of the neo-colonial state. The author seems to
unceasingly give Nkrumah the benefit of the doubt. An example would be
claiming that the accusation of financial corruption against the leader was
essentially money directed to causes he held dearly, while admitting
Nkrumahs finances were unorthodox.
Overall, there is merit some of the authors claims. Nkrumah is correct
when stating tribalism is a hindrance to national achievement. For genuine
nationalism to take form, the population must see the state as the primary
unifier of the people. National unity cannot form when the population is
divided by community and lineage. Though Birminghams views could
initially seem as mere conspiracies, when analyzing the greater scheme, the
economic interests of developed nations, there exists validity in his defense
of Nkrumah. A united Africa, as the first president of Ghana envisioned,
would heavily reduce the financial domination and bargaining power of the
West. Primary products could be demanded to be sold at a fair market-price,
similarly, a united Africa would carry greater bargaining power to purchase
manufactured goods at a fair price, and not prices fixed by the developed
nations. Such equality is not obligatory, as the developed countries see it,
when you can colonize and exploit, or as Nkrumah outlines the remuneration
of colonization, The neo-colonial state may be obliged to take the

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manufactured products of the imperialist power to the exclusion of

competing products from elsewhere. Control over government policy in the
neo-colonial state may be secured by payments towards the cost of running
the State, by the provision of civil servants in positions where they can
dictate policy and by monetary control over foreign exchange through the
imposition of a banking system controlled by the imperial power(Nkrumah
316). It is clear the developed nations carry a financially rewarding leverage
they cannot afford to lose.
A campaign of denigration by the West against Nkrumah seems likely,
for it is only natural his views are an economic threat. For neo-colonialism is
based upon the principle of breaking up former large united territories into
smaller, non-viable states that must then financially and economically
depend on the imperialist. As Nkrumah states that military coups can
materialize and can be hindered by The West, it is clear that the West had
allowed the military coup against Nkrumah to happen with ease, if not
instigating the act. It is therefore probable that the first president of Ghana
carried motives the West had perceived as a threat to their interests.
Neo-colonialism, as Nkrumah believes, is based upon the notion of
dividing united colonial territories into smaller disadvantaged states. These
smaller states are then dependant on the former imperial power, for they are
incapable of independent development. In consequence, their economic and
financial systems are linked with those of the former ruler. Due to the

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dependence, the neo-colonial state is compelled to sell their primary

products at prices dictated by the developed nations, and buy their
manufactured goods at prices fixed by the developed nation (Nkrumah 318).
Under this condition, the neo-colonial state will be unable to neither support
industrialization nor carry the financial strength to coerce the developed
countries to purchase their products at a fair price. Critics have undermined
the impact of this condition on African countries, but other elements have
clearly aided in its stagnation. The factors that are responsible for the poor
performance of African countries after World War II are foreign interference,
high interest rates and government mismanagement.
The African continent was colonized through the sphere of economics,
political, religious, ideological, and culture. Such infiltration would no doubt
hinder economic development . The Invisible Government, as Nkurumah
terms it, is a group of agencies, wall street, and various intelligence services:
To an extent that is only beginning to be perceived, this shadow
government is shaping the lives of 190,000 Americans. An informed citizen
might come to suspect that the foreign policy of the United States often
works publicly in one direction and secretly through the Invisible Government
in just the opposite(Nkrumah 325). Its aim is to reap the benefits of
colonialism, thereby carrying stronger control over the world market, and
control of the pricing of commodities bought and sold in the developing
countries. This domination by the Invisible Government is partly to blame for
the decrease in primary products by 33.1 percent, while prices of

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manufactured products rose 3.5 percent (Nkrumah 326)(. As a result, while

the volume of exports from Africa rose, their earnings in foreign exchange
from such exports decreased.
Another factor responsible for the poor performance is the high interest
rates of interest: Figures from the World Bank for 1962 showed that seventy
one Asian, African, and Latin American countries owed foreign debts of some
$27,000 million, on which they paid in interest and service charges of some
$5,000 million. Since then, such foreign debts have been estimated as more
than 30,000 million Euros in these areas. In 1961, the interest rates on
almost three-quarters of the loans offered by the major imperialist powers
amounted to more than five percent, in some cases up to seven or eight
percent, while the call-in periods of such loans have been burdensomely
short(Nkrumah 326). African states could not focus on, and lacked the
financial capital to support industrialization.
Though Nkurumah acknowledges the lack of financial capital in some
African nations, he considers mismanagement is to blame, and believes
Africa can perform better with fair distribution: For the first time in human
history the potential material resources of the world are so great that there is
no need for there to be rich and poor. It is only the organization to deploy
these potential resources that is lacking. Effective world pressure can force
such a redeployment, but world pressure is not exercised by appeals,
however eloquent, or by arguments, however convincing. It is only achieved

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by deeds. It is necessary to secure a world realignment so that those who are

at the moment the helpless victims of a system will in the future be able to
exert counter pressure (Nkrumah 339). His socialist objectives are clearly
articulated, while asserting that the answers to Africas woes are freedom
from foreign interference and a realignment in resources.
In summary, direct neo-colonialism and its indirect influences are
responsible for the poor performance of Africa from the end of World War II to
the 1970s. Continuous tampering with the African society and its potential no
doubt hindered the efforts of African nations to flourish. A disunited continent
paved way for the imperialist exploitation observed in the decades following
the 1970s. Therefore, the opposite must occur, for colonialism cannot be
destroyed without unity.

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Works Cited

David Birmingham, excerpt from Kwame Nkrumah: The Father of

African Nationalism, rev. ed. Athens: Ohio UP, 1998, pp. 110-114.
David Rooney, The Socialist State. in Kwame Nkrumah: The Political
Kingdom in the Third World. New York: St. Martins, 1988, pp. 181-202.
Kwame Nkrumah, Revolutionary Path. New York: International, 1973.
Paul Johnson, Modern Times: The World from the Twenties to the
Nineties, rev. ed. New York: HarperCollins, 1992.