Evaluate the extent to which newly independent African countries succeeded in achieving economic independence from the West in the second half of the twentieth century. Document 1
We always refused to compromise with imperialism, but up until now, we had made the mistake of compromising with the wealthy classes in Egypt who are, in essence, the agents of imperialism. We imagined that whatever the differences between the ordinary people and the wealthy might be, the wealthy were nonetheless sons of the same country and partners in the same future as the rest of us. But experience has shown that we were wrong. It has shown that these reactionary elements in our society, on which imperialism relies, cannot be left to their own devices to continue to rob the people of its economic and social gains. When we nationalized the Suez Canal [in 1956], we thought our blows against imperialism should be aimed at its alliances and military bases. But we forgot that imperialism was also hiding in the palaces and safes of our Egyptian millionaires.
For hundreds of years, our fellow countrymen suffered political oppression and social injustice. But now [with nationalization] they have found a way to regain their rights. Farmers have been turned into landowners. Factory workers have also been turned into owners, for now, they take part in the administration of their companies.
Document 2
We will welcome and actively encourage foreign investment in petroleum exploration and production, mining and mineral processing, timber logging, wood processing, etc. To achieve this, we will pass new laws to streamline and remove bureaucratic obstacles and delays in processing foreign investors’ applications for prospecting and resource exploitation. We will draft new financial and accounting regulations to guarantee the free transfer of funds and dividends across the border and to ensure the uninterrupted availability of foreign investment funds deposited in Ghanaian banks. We assure existing foreign investors that they will be allowed to operate freely within the confines of our laws. The [national] Bank of Ghana will make endeavors to assist such investors in clearing their backlog of missed payments.
Document 3
The trouble with us in Ghana and, indeed, in the whole of our continent is not lack of ideas, plans, and programs for the solution of our problems but the resolve and integrity to implement them. . . .
My solution is to advise that we give priority attention to agriculture and domestic cottage industries—and make these much more lucrative than the selling of dog chains, hair products, and all sorts of other imported goods that so many of our people are currently engaged in. And may I be permitted to caution this and all African and Third World governments that if we do not put an end to our reckless accumulation of foreign debts, we stand a great risk of being recolonized by the industrialized countries and their agencies in the near future. Already Liberia has now been virtually recolonized and its economy has been taken over by the United States. And how many IMF* and World Bank experts do we have in both advisory and managerial positions in this country at this very moment? Too many! Unless we change course, we are headed for trouble!
*International Monetary Fund, an international economic organization providing loans to developing countries in exchange for commitments to implement free-market economic reforms.
Document 4
Soon after the formal departure of the colonial rulers at independence, African states were beset by many problems and I shall concentrate on the most crucial of them. The first problem was that the state was economically dependent on the former colonial powers, especially for technology. We often talk of economic dependence, but this dependence is coupled with and aggravated by an absence of technology: we do not have the technical and managerial skills to enable us to solve our own problems.
After a number of years of independence—more than 30 years in some countries—we have managed to train a few economists and some scientists, professional people like you. But because we have not solved the problem of technological dependence, we are not making much headway.
The only way at present that we can participate in the global economy is by someone giving us technology in the form of aid. The donor finances it and then his people come and build a factory in our country. Occasionally, we buy technology with our own money. This is all fine and good, but it means that we cannot be truly independent. And since our states cannot be independent, they become easy prey to manipulation and they find themselves unable to respond to people’s needs without the permission, as it were, of the former colonial rulers. A state that does not have the capacity to tell the colonial or neocolonial rulers that it will act independently, in spite of what those rulers think, is completely handicapped.