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' Herbst (1996, 122) Argues That ‘[t]he Notion That Africa Was Ever Composed ...

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Herbst (1996, 122) argues that ‘[t]he notion that Africa was ever composed of sovereign states classically defined as having a monopoly on force in the territory within their boundaries is false. Most colonial states did not make any effort to extend the administrative apparatus of government much beyond the capital city.' This is important to understanding African history and, consequently, important for securing Africa's developmental future, for two reasons. The first is that the limited reach of the administrative apparatus. This has led to the parallel development of very differently organised societies in rural areas and the capital cities, and this has implications for how to organise social political and economic institutions, and how to develop a sense of cohesion in contemporary African states. Secondly, it may shed new light on the so-calld ‘failure' of African states. There is a sense that African states functioned effectively under colonial rule but have ‘failed' since independence. However, this view of how the states functioned under colonial rule suggests that this perception is inaccurate.
Alemayehu (2003, 70) explains that analysis of the African debt crisis has generally only considered the post-independence years and has therefore uncovered only some short-term, trigger causes of the debt crisis. ‘The oil price shocks of 1973-74 and 1978-79, the expansion of the Eurodollar, a rise in public expenditure by African governments following increases in commodity prices during the early 1970s, recession in the industrialised nations and subsequent fall in commodity prices, as well as rises in real world interest rate are all mentioned as major factors. Surprisingly, almost all of this literature focuses on the post-independence period, with a greater part of the analysis contained therein relating to the 1970s and 80s.' He goes on to argue that in order to fully understand the causes of the debt crisis, it is necessary to look back to Africa's economic history in the pre-independence period, and even (to some extent) back to the pre-colonial period. Again then it is clear that the colonial legacy has had far-reaching effects on Africa's development course. The impact spans social, political and economic life with particular emphasis on state formation and eocnomic development.
Alemayehu (2003, 73) explains that ‘the economic pattern of what is called ‘matured' colonialism in Africa has three distinct components. Firstly, both imports (which were mainly manufactured goods), and exports (mainly raw materials), were fixed with the ‘mother' country. Second, capital investment in the colony was determined by the trading interest of the ‘mother' country, and concentrated in exporting enclaves. Finally, a supply of cheap labour was ensured through a variety of mechanisms (legal, monopolistic employment and through other economic instruments.)'.

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