DEVELOPMENT AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT IN AFRICAN STATES: A CRITICAL EVALUATION OF HOW EUROPE UNDERDEVELOPED AFRICA
Abstract
This study critically evaluates the development and underdevelopment of African states: a critical evaluation of how Europe underdeveloped Africa. This study also investigates the historical and contemporary processes that contribute to underdevelopment in African States, the impact of colonial legacy experience on Francophone and Anglophone African States, and the role of neoliberalism and the state-led economy growth model in Africa’s development. Dependency theory and Marxist political economy theory were adopted as the theoretical framework for this study to explain how global inequalities were historically constituted and continue to be reproduced. A qualitative approach and interpretive methodology were utilized for this study, which explores the intersections of colonialism, neoliberalism, state-led development models, and internal governance failures. The findings contribute to a more nuanced, interdisciplinary understanding of Africa’s developmental trajectory, offering critical insights for scholars, policymakers, and practitioners working toward the continent’s sustainable and inclusive growth. The study concludes that African development requires a decolonized, context-specific paradigm that acknowledges historical injustices, reclaims African agency, and integrates grassroots and participation. Thus, this study recommends hybrid models which involve mixing market incentives with social protection and decentralization with strategic planning
Keywords:
Development, Underdevelopment, African State, Colonialism, NeoliberalismDownloads
Published
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.16779499Issue
Section
How to Cite
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Enyioko Ikechukwu Jacinta (Ph. D.) , Bayefine Onaiyekan Robert
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
References
Aiyede, E. R. (2020). State capacity and the politics of the belly: Nigeria’s neopatrimonialism and political order. In T. Falola & A. Oyebade (Eds.), The Palgrave handbook of African colonial and postcolonial history (pp. 797–818). Palgrave Macmillan.
Ake, C. (1981). A political economy of Africa. Longman.
Amadiume, I. (2015). Male daughters, female husbands: Gender and sex in an African society. Zed Books. (Original work published 1987)
Andrews, K. (2021). The new age of empire: How racism and colonialism still rule the world. Allen Lane.
Bayart, J. F. (1993). The state in Africa: Politics of the belly. Longman.
Bond, P. (2006). Looting Africa: The economics of exploitation. Zed Books.
Escobar, A. (2012). Encountering development: The making and unmaking of the Third World (2nd ed.). Princeton University Press.
Harsch, E. (2014). Thomas Sankara: An African revolutionary. Ohio University Press.
Harsch, E. (2017). Thomas Sankara: An African revolutionary. Ohio University Press.
Hilgers, M., & Loada, A. (2013). Tensions and protestations in Burkina Faso. Politique Africaine, 129, 187–206. https://doi.org/10.3917/polaf.129.0187
Joseph, R. A. (1987). Democracy and prebendal politics in Nigeria: The rise and fall of the Second Republic of Nigeria. Cambridge University Press.
Karl, T. L. (1997). The paradox of abundance: Oil booms and petro-states. University of California Press.
Mama, A. (2001). Challenging subjects: Gender and power in African contexts. African Sociological Review, 5(2), 63–73.
Mkandawire, T. (2005). Maladjusted African economies and globalization. In Y. Bangura & T. Mkandawire (Eds.), African voices on structural adjustment (pp. 83–126). Africa World Press.
Mustapha, A. R. (2014). Understanding Boko Haram. In M. P. G. Gaiya & E. L. Diamond (Eds.), Religion and violence in Nigeria: 1980–2012 (pp. 82–101). Premium Times Books.
National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). (2022). Multidimensional poverty index (MPI) report. https://nigerianstat.gov.ng
National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). (2023). Poverty and inequality in Nigeria: 2023 executive summary. https://nigerianstat.gov.ng
Ndlovu-Gatsheni, S. J. (2020). Decolonization, development and knowledge in Africa: Becoming a better person. Routledge.
Ndongo, S. S. (2017). CFA Franc: French monetary imperialism in Africa. Pluto Press.
Obi, C. (2010). Oil extraction, dispossession, resistance, and conflict in the oil-rich Niger Delta of Nigeria. Canadian Journal of Development Studies, 30(1–2), 219–236. https://doi.org/10.1080/02255189.2010.9669289
Okonjo-Iweala, N. (2018). Fighting corruption is dangerous: The story behind the headlines. MIT Press.
Okonta, I., & Douglas, O. (2001). Where vultures feast: Shell, human rights, and oil in the Niger Delta. Sierra Club Books.
Oxfam. (2017). Inequality in Nigeria: Exploring its drivers. Oxfam International. https://www.oxfam.org/en/research/inequality-nigeria
Panitch, L., & Gindin, S. (2012). Making global capitalism: The political economy of the American empire. Verso.
Rodney, W. (1972). How Europe underdeveloped Africa. Bogle-L’Ouverture Publications.
Rutazibwa, O. U. (2021). What is there to mourn? Decolonial reflections on development and solidarity. In C. Girard & P. Hudson (Eds.), Rethinking development politics: The emerging global agenda (pp. 92–110). Routledge.
Shivji, I. G. (2009). Where is Uhuru? Reflections on Africa’s struggle for democracy. Fahamu Books.
Shivji, I. G. (2020). The struggle for socialism in Africa: A new analysis. Daraja Press.
Sylla, N. S. (2017). The CFA Franc and monetary colonialism in Francophone Africa. Review of African Political Economy, 44(152), 729–736. https://doi.org/10.1080/03056244.2017.1368609
Taylor, I. (2019). Africa and the development debate: How underdeveloped Africa was revisited in Europe. Routledge.
Willoughby-Herard, T. (2015). White skin, black masks: The Carnegie Corporation and the racial logic of white vulnerability. University of California Press.
World Bank & International Monetary Fund. (n.d.). Structural adjustment policies and poverty. [Institutional publication].
Watts, M. (2004). Resource curse? Governmentality, oil and power in the Niger Delta, Nigeria. Geopolitics, 9(1), 50–80. https://doi.org/10.1080/14650040412331307832
Weinhardt, C. (2021). Asymmetry and legitimacy in EU–Africa trade negotiations: Revisiting the Economic Partnership Agreements. Journal of European Public Policy, 28(6), 913–931. https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2020.1796327
Yeros, P., & Moyo, S. (2015). Reclaiming Africa: Scrambling for Africa’s resources and the South’s rise. Pluto Press.
