Africa is the cradle of humankind. During the 20th century scientists have found strong evidence
that the evolution of the modern human being (the homo sapiens) originated in Africa, some
500,000 to 200,000 years ago. From Africa our ancestors migrated across the entire world: first to
Asia and Europe, and later to Australia, America and many of the tiny islands in the world oceans.
Since the time of this exodus, societies inside as well as outside Africa have experienced very
different development paths: some societies became sedentary agriculturalists, others remained or
became tribal hunter and gatherers. Economically, politically and military powerful nations
emerged. Industrialization revolutionized societies from the 18th century onward, first in Europe
and later also in many other parts of the world. Some societies became wealthy, while others
remained in poverty. All of these changes happened in different ways and at different times
depending on a variety of historical circumstances. For us to understand where we are today, we
need to know where we came from and what has influenced our various trajectories of
development. This makes the study of history so valuable for personal intellectual development.
Today, Africa boasts with energetic people and their numbers are increasing rapidly. It is estimated
that by 2050 about one quarter of the world population will live on the African continent, which is
the second largest in terms of land area, behind Asia. All these people want to make the best of
their own lives and that of their children. Africa hosts a large number of animals, plants and trees
that can be found nowhere else in the world. The continent has vast tracts of fertile land in varying
climate zones, among the worlds’ largest freshwater lakes, and some of the world’s richest deposits
of minerals. But if Africa is so resourceful and has so many people eager to develop these resources,
why then are so many Africans still poor? Why are African economies less productive than most
Western or Asian economies? And why is wealth and power within African countries so unequally
distributed across different groups of people? To study such vastly important questions one has to
start thinking in a more systematic way about the specific development trajectories of African
societies, polities and economies.
This textbook aims to introduce students to a wide range of themes and concepts that deal with the
history of African development. The book seeks to create bridges between the study of economic,
social and political history and long-term human development in Africa. The key premise of the
book is that understanding the drivers of historical change is the key to explaining long-term
development, and that within this process of historical change, there are important ‘general
patterns’ to discover in the economic, political and social structures of African and non-African
societies. A better understanding of these patterns will help a new generation of African students
to engage with the major development issues of their time.
The textbook is used worldwide. However, more than half of downloaded chapters are from Africa,
where the book is used in teaching courses at the universities of Stellenbosch (South Africa),
Zimbabwe, Malawi, Ghana, African School of Economics (Benin), Mountains of the Moon
University (Uganda), American University of Nigeria, among many others.
A complex history
The history of African development is, as we have argued above, a complex history. If the problem
of poverty, for instance, would be easy to resolve, all Africans would be wealthy today and there
would also be little reason for studying economic development. If all African countries were
governed by highly efficient and effective administrations, there would be less reason to study
political development. The fact that poverty and coercion has been a constant factor in human
history, while people have made great efforts to reduce it in every region of the world indicates
that wealth and power are complex phenomena. History is a study of complexity.
The reason that we need to study the history of development is that it includes many different
factors that all affect and connect to each other. Understanding development thus requires not only
an understanding of the relevant factors (economic growth, education, health, good governance,
food security), but also an understanding of their specific interaction. To understand ‘causality’ in
long-term processes of socio-economic or political development implies a basic conception of what
is meant by ‘sufficient’ and ‘necessary conditions’. The best way to start exploring complexity it
is to break it down in pieces that we can understand. This is what the chapters in this book all try
to do. Break down an extremely complicated long-term process of development in a very large area
of the world (Africa) into pieces. The challenge that remains to the student reading these texts is to
reconnect these pieces and start building up his or her own understanding of African development
and, by doing so, enlarge the intellectual wealth of Africa