Africa and Europe: Who is Dependent on Who?

Unveiling Economic Intersections and Power Dynamics

In 1976, when I was still playing with toys and ran around with my favorite childhood dog, Dookie, Foreign Affairs magazine published an article examining whether the Decolonization of Africa created a dependency of Africa on Europe. The point was that despite the UN resolution of December 1960 that granted independence to colonial countries and peoples, Europe still had a significant influence on African countries.

Independence never meant they ultimately left and allowed these formerly colonized countries to be autonomous. European power became more subtle through aid, investment, a similar preferential trade regime as during colonialism, and a sizable flow of teachers, businessmen, missionaries, and consultants, like me, at the time, providing technical assistance and capacity building to help them graduate to becoming “developed” countries.

Did Foreign Aid Work in Africa? Presentation by Bill Easterly. See the link for his full presentation.

In good conscience, as consultants, most of us believe we are moving the needle towards more…