RE-ALIGNING THE DIS-ARTICULATION CLAIM: HOW DIS-ARTICULATED ARE THE COLONIAL AND THE POST-COLONIAL AFRICAN ECONOMIES

Abstract

No doubt, the fact that colonialism etched a decisive mark in the economic history of Africa cannot be wished away. However, a balanced understanding of the nature and extent of this impact is necessary. A foggy understanding of the true nature of the colonial economy has retarded the economy of many African countries as they have wasted productive time doing the unproductive - blaming the Europeans for their economic woes. It has been claimed by Claude Ake, a professor of political economy, and indeed by many scholars, that the colonial African economy, was dis-articulated, disoriented and incoherent. The belief that political independence did not guarantee any serious economic change also led to the conclusion that the Post-Colonial African economies inherited that character of dis articulation. This paper examines these claims. Drawing mainly from secondary sources of information and utilizing the descriptive and interpretive methods of analysis, it argues that the dis-articulation claim is only a myth in the colonial economy context once the structure of the colonial economy is properly understood as an appendage of the British metropolitan economy. While conceding that the post-colonial Africa is dis-articulated, the paper rejects the Inherited Dis articulation theory. It is shown to the contrary that the African post-colonial economies are victims of internally caused dis-articulation. It concludes with a charge to contemporary African leaders to borrow leaf from the colonial economy managers who ran an economy that was in articulation with the interest of their people, and restructure the economy to favour the African masses.