[ANALYSIS] + PDF: Lucien van der Walt, 2015, “How Imperialism and Postcolonial Elites have Plundered Africa: And the Class Struggle, Anarchist-Communist Solution,” in ‘Tokologo’

Lucien van der Walt, 2015, “How Imperialism and Postcolonial Elites have Plundered Africa: And the Class Struggle, Anarchist-Communist Solution,” Tokologo, numbers 5/6, pp. 17-19.

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How Imperialism and Postcolonial Elites have Plundered Africa: And the Class Struggle, Anarchist-Communist Solution
by LUCIEN VAN DER WALT
‘Tokologo,’ numbers 5/6, pp. 17-19.

p. 17
Roughly 50 years ago we saw the dismantling of most of the European colonial empires in Africa. High hopes greeted the “new nations” that merged – and certainly,a move from colonial rule, with its racism and external control and extractive economies, was
progressive.

DISAPPOINTMENTS OF INDEPENDENCE
However, many of the hopes were soon dashed. Politically, most independent African states moved in the direction of dictatorships and one-party systems, normally headed by the nationalist party that took office at independence – and,  over time, the military became a major player too. Many of these states were highly corrupt, even predatory, and the gap between the rising local (indigenous) ruling class, and the masses, grew ever vaster.

p. 18
These gaps did not start in the colonial period, as many African societies were already very divided, but they continued and grew over time. The new ruling elites largely emerged from educated middle class groups, along with traditional aristocracies; from independence on, the masses never ran the “new nations.”

These were followed by neo- liberal restructuring from the 1980s. Poverty and inequality is widespread, joblessness exists on a massive scale, with more people in absolutely poverty and in warzones here than in any other region worldwide. Postcolonial plans to industrialise the economies by building up local manufacturing through closed, protected economies largely failed. Today, the entire GDP of sub-Saharan Africa, including its economic powerhouse, South Africa, is less than half of that of a single European country, Germany.

REJECTING RACIST EXPLANATIONS
Leaving  aside  South  Africa,  with its peculiar history, how can this economic situation be explained? We can immediately dispense with views that Africans are more corrupt or less capable.

Besides being based on racist ideas, the fact is that massive economic failures, inequality, repression and low levels of industrial development can be found everywhere – including in parts of Europe Read more of this post