Before you blame colonialism for Africa’s poverty, explain these 5 countries. 3 were colonized. 1 of them was later destroyed by war. The remaining 2 escaped long-term colonial rule. Who became rich does not line up with who was colonized. History matters. But it does not decide whether people... can own property, start businesses, or trust the law today. Governments decide that. We cannot change what happened to us. But can change what is keeping our people poor right now.show more

I wish your voice was amplified to the 9th degree 📜

Government meddling in free market through, subsidies, price control, import bans, bad monetary policies, etc, are also a hindrance to business flourishing.

History informs. It doesn't have to determine.

We know success of nations depend on more than a history of colonization...its those things called economics and politics.

La colonisation est devenue une excuse pour nos dirigeants faible de ne pas se mettre à la tâche. Combien d'années avons-nous obtenu nos indépendance ? Et qu'ont-ils pu faire comme réalisation ?

Historically, geography was a huge determinant for how well a region could do. But thanks to global capitalism and technological progress in logistics, this has softened immensely, and almost any region in the world can become prosperous now.

Every former British colony to this day enjoys the highest quality of life their respective countries. The British Empire outlawed slavery throughout the empire affecting 25% of the World’s population. The British Empire then fought a long war with Africans and successfully ended the Atlantic slave trade. The World should thank the UK for all that it has done to greatly uplift the entire world

Good attitude

Was the colonisation process for each country identical? Did they all serve the same purpose?

Exactly. Rule clarity is what capital underwrites, not history. I'd put money where property rights and taxes are predictable. The Gulf's rise shows how fast that compounds.

FICTION!!!

I think, for the sake of accuracy, you mean European colonisation, they were all colonised many times before that.

You do great work and have a much needed message for the continent, @magattew. But your libertarian passion and free-market passion will remain useless for Africa until you acknowledge the continuing impact of colonization as a core factor in our circumstances. It's not the only one of course, but refusing to see it (when the other developing countries and regions you admire for taking off economically did just that), is a remarkable level of obtuseness. Also unfortunate

What do you define as rich and poor?

You have a smartphone in your hands right now. It’s a global telecommunications, trade and travel network with freedom & security. We have ALL been through so much to get here. I’m not letting the past define my future anyway. I love networking with people from other countries.

The British never colonized Nepal and it’s still a poor country. My one example

“Why nations fail” book cover this pretty well

@DAcemogluMIT & colleagues wrote an entire book stating as much.

Capital Ibrahim Traoré est le seul vrai dirigeant mais malheureusement son pays n'est aussi riche que le Congo, Nigeria , la Guinée et tant d'autres pays.

@therealmrsim @kwesikwaa It's very simple

Facts

I'm living in Singapore. We're grateful to the British for creating some aspects of necessary infrastructure while we were only a sleepy fishing village. But the rest depended on us. The British left, we built on what they gave us, and in 50 years we moved from 3rd world to 1st.

And especially the 300,000 years before colonization.

All things are possible with property rights.