Introduction
Africa is a continent of contradictions and a land of immense wealth (Moti, 2019). Africa, according to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), has 30% of the global mineral reserves, 8% of the global natural gas, 12% of the global oil reserves, 40% of the global gold, 90% of the global chromium and platinum, 65% of the global arable land, 10% of the global internal renewable freshwater, and the highest cobalt, diamond, and uranium reserves (UNEP, n.d; North Africa Post, 2023). Natural resources in Africa are estimated at $6.5 trillion (African Development Bank, 2023). Furthermore, Africa also has 60% of the world’s best solar resources but only 1% of the capacity of global solar generation (Alex-Oke et al., 2025, Mensah et al., 2024). However, despite this tremendous wealth, Africa is beset by widespread poverty, unemployment, poor health, hunger, severe infrastructure deficit as well as degradation of the environment (see ILO, 2024; Kates & Dasgupta, 2007; McLachlan & Aikins, 2022; Onyeaka et al., 2024). Poverty amidst plenty is even more ironic considering that the majority of African countries have mortgaged their vast natural wealth as security for $66 billion in loans, which they have chiefly borrowed from China’s state-owned Development and EXIM Banks (Mlambo, 2022; Moti, 2019; Wilson Center, 2024). This situation raises a basic question: how can it be that such a resource-endowed continent remains so poor?
Akinwumi Adesina, the President of the African Development Bank, asserts that Africa does not need to be poor, given that it is richly endowed with natural resources. Nevertheless, the Sahel part of Africa remains the epicenter of international terrorism (Reliefweb, 2025). The continent is also plagued by armed conflicts, transnational organized crime (drug trafficking, human trafficking, money laundering, and terrorist financing), and other governance challenges (Babatunde, 2014; Obonyo, 2023). This juxtaposition between potential and reality raises a valid question: Is Africa a failed continent, an illusion, an impression, or a fantasy? The overarching question that this article tries to address is: Why is it that Africa, with all these vast resources, has widespread poverty, insecurity, and underdevelopment? This paper will provide a multidimensional explanation of the paradox of Africa, considering the historical, religious, psychological, and internal factors that have contributed to its present state. It will also offer a potential path forward and provide practical recommendations on how to overcome such obstacles.
Colonialism
Colonialism offers a unique explanation for Africa’s underdevelopment. Walter Rodney, author of How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, exposed how European nations applied a deliberate exploitation of Africa’s resources, destroyed traditional societies, and imposed exploitative economic structures (Rodney, 1972). Colonial powers did not only take over territory; they remade African society to meet European economic needs, creating cash crop economies oriented to the requirements of European industries instead of local food cultivation (see Hayford, 1913; Hayford & Fante Federation, 1903). It extended beyond physical resources. As a follow-up to Gunder Andre Frank’s dependency theory, African societies were added to a capitalist global economy in a dependent position supplying raw materials to European factories and remaining consumers of European goods (Frank, 1979; Manning & Gills, 2013). Economic dependence persisted post-independence as African countries were compelled to adopt neoliberalism on the orders of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank.
Neoliberal policies that were characterised by deregulation, privatisation, and the state’s reduced role widened Africa’s economic suffering. For instance, Ghana adopted this policy in 1983, just 26 years into independence, a brief period that had experienced numerous coups by the military. How would a country with such a long history of communal living, dating back to the 15th century, suddenly leave its communal assets to capitalist control, spurning its centuries-old traditions long before the impact of European contact? Public services such as healthcare, education, and basic infrastructure were privatised and managed by a rich elite, leaving the majority of people in poverty. This shift undercut the communal structures that had once provided a more equitable distribution of resources, as Walter Rodney explained in reference to the Afrocentric advantages of communalism. Additionally, communalism that once fostered mutuality and shared prosperity was overtaken by capitalism that maximised the accumulation of wealth for the self. This shift created a society where very little was controlled by very few and where many were barely able to survive.
But a lingering question remains: Would Africa have been better off without European contact? While we may never fully answer this question, historical records by Casely Hayford of Ghana vividly document that Africans were a developed people long before European arrival. They had their own institutions, governance systems, thriving trade networks, advanced agricultural practices, sophisticated architecture, metallurgy, and rich cultural traditions. European contact did not introduce civilization to Africa, it disrupted and restructured pre-existing systems, replacing indigenous governance with exploitative colonial rule and communal resource management with capitalist exploitation. In fact, colonialism did not just rob riches; it restructured the social fabric of Africa, laying the groundwork for current entrenched inequality.
Religious and Psychological Explanation
Religious and psychological factors are critical in understanding Africa’s struggles. The notion that Africa is fulfilling a scriptural prophecy “the first shall be last, and the last shall be first” has shaped perceptions, creating a fatalistic mindset that some Africans may internalise. According to Rodney, when capitalists from the developed part of the world try to explain the paradox of Africa’s underdevelopment, they make it look like there are God given factors about the situation (Rodney, 1972, p. 51). Rodeny added that they often quote Matthew 25:29 “those who have been entrusted with gifts and opportunities and use them well will receive more”. As a result, the modern explanation of Africa’s underdevelopment is the story of what they have not. Another damaging belief is the myth of the “curse of Ham,” which falsely suggests that Africans are descendants of Ham, cursed by Noah. This myth, rooted in misinterpretations of biblical texts, has been used to justify racism and colonial oppression. In addition, Frantz Fanon, in Black Skin, White Masks and The Wretched of the Earth, explores how colonialism imposed an inferiority complex on Africans (Fanon, 2008, 1963). He describes a psychological struggle where the Negro is enslaved by his inferiority, and the white man is enslaved by his superiority. Fanon wrote:
A negro baby, having grown up in a normal negro family becomes abnormal on the slightest contact with the white World. This immediate and intense psychological response originates from the unconscious and unnatural training of black people from early childhood to associate blackness with wrongness (Fanon, 2008, p 111)
This neurotic orientation leads to internalised racism, where Africans devalue their own cultures, languages as well as identities in favor of Western standards. This psychological damage was not only individual but systemic. In the Congo, colonial brutality saw the cutting off of hands as punishment, a symbol of dehumanisation and in Angola, malcontents had their lips pierced and padlocked, a chilling method of silencing dissent (Fanon, 1963, p. 16). Such brutalities were not just physical; they left deep psychological scars, creating a sense of powerlessness and inferiority that still affects African societies today. These religious and psychological narratives continue to shape African identities, sometimes promoting fatalism, dependency and a lack of self-belief. Understanding this dimension is crucial to grasping why Africa, despite its wealth, struggles to overcome poverty and underdevelopment.
How Africa Underdeveloped Africa: Internal Factors and Leadership Failures
While external factors are significant, Africa has also been complicit in its own underdevelopment. Igwe (2010), in his work How Africa Underdeveloped Africa, argues that post-independence African leaders perpetuated corruption, nepotism as well as mismanagement. Many of these leaders enriched themselves at the expense of their populations, betraying the anti-colonial struggles that brought them to power (Ngarsou, 2012). Africa’s development has also been hindered by path dependence, a situation where colonial-era practices continue to influence governance, resource distribution, and economic management. Segregation remains evident, with wealth and infrastructure concentrated in specific urban areas while rural or poorer regions are neglected. Corruption and abuse of power have triggered political instability, creating fertile ground for extremist movements and terrorism (Nkwede, Moliki, & Dauda, 2017). The Sahel region, in particular, has become a hotspot for violent attacks, driven by governance failures and socio-economic marginalisation.
Way Forward
To unlock Africa’s potential for prosperity, a multi-dimensional approach is required:
- Leadership Reorientation: Democratic or military, African leadership must be proactive and Pan-African. This means prioritizing the general good of the continent over foreign or personal interests. People-centered policies must support development and responsibility.
- Decolonial Perspective: African countries should be critically engaged with their colonial history and avoid neo-colonial reliance. This involves resisting exploitative world agreements and taking policies that advance economic sovereignty.
- Socialist Orientation in Strategic Sectors: There must be an even-handed approach, where strategic sectors like health, education, and basic infrastructure are kept under state control and ownership to provide them for everybody. This would reduce inequality and enhance social welfare.
- Pan-African Solidarity: Promoting regional institutions like the African Union and regional collaboration among African countries can together strengthen bargaining power, hold in check external exploitation, and promote shared development.
Conclusion
While some academics like Prof. Nana Oppong recently postulated in an interview that Africans must work on developing themselves and not raise accusatory fingers against colonial authority, his argument left out the complex factors determining Africa’s underdevelopment. Africa is not a continent of failure by its nature; it is a nation of promising potential beset by a complex matrix of historical, psychological, and systemic factors. A knowledge of these factors from colonial oppression, religious and psychological manipulation to failure of governance is the key to realising the potential of the continent. Knowledge, however, is not enough. Something needs to be done by Africa. The rebirth of the continent will require bold and visionary leadership unafraid to confront external domination, rejuvenated collective identity based on Pan-Africanism, and a determination to the welfare of the people that will not be shaken. Although we cannot overturn the effect of colonialism on the continent, the history of the continent still awaits to be written, and it is up to the Africans to decide how it should be written.
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