This book was written by Emmanuel Akyeampong, professor of history at Harvard University. He has written on social history and the history of disease and the environment in West Africa. His most recent work focuses on commerce and political economy, interests strengthened by his participation in the Harvard task force. Africa and India were devastated by famine and mired in poverty, but are now experiencing economic growth. poverty and widespread economic decline after African independence. The people of Africa are now returning to per capita income levels. Africa's economic problems were a subject of intense interest to European colonials. Political scientists have become much more interested in the politics of contemporary Africa. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why violent video games should not be banned"? Get an original essay From a historical perspective, Christopher Ehret argues that as early as 10,000 BCE, the African continent was on par with the rest of the world in terms of economic development. Agriculture and the development of ceramics appeared around 9,000 and 6,000 BCE, which was a start by world standards. As well as the domestication of livestock around 8,500 to 7,200 BCE. David Weil suggests that around 1500 BCE, Africa was not one of the poorest regions but rather a fairly average region. Africa was on par with America in terms of urbanization and technological choice, but still lagged behind Europe and Asia. Patrick Manning traces the demographic history of Africa from 1650 to 2000 CE. Total population provides an indicator of economic development and is of interest given the export of humans during the slave trade. This shows that Africa had a large population but it was growing at a very slow rate. This implies that it experienced sustained stagnation that lasted 250 years. Before the 1500s, Africa had much higher economic development than the Americas. However, due to the transatlantic slave trade which shipped approximately 12 million Africans to the Americas, African slaves enabled the growth of specialized agriculture and mining, while also contributing to the growth of 'Africa. stagnation. African countries like Dahomey, which is today's Benin, were protected by other countries that were also armed. This led to continued conflict. The Atlantic slave trade was the reason for the militarization of these societies and the absorption of war captives. However, Thornton notes that the slave trade alone is not the only reason Africa lacks industrialization. Thornton argues that the industrial revolution was not led by the state in Europe but by private enterprise. In Africa there was war, but what people don't see is that political leaders sought to protect and promote economic activity. In West Africa, the urban core had to support traders and artisans. The military was employed to protect markets and promote trade. In East Africa, it focused on long-distance trade, which promoted regional specialization and Smithian growth, that is, an increase in welfare through specialization and exchanges. All this resulted in the formation of states demobilizing banditry and transforming war into an instrument of public policy. Douglas and Colson suggest that the lack of state authority in parts ofpre-colonial Africa led to disorder and insecurity of property rights. It is clear that slavery was endemic in Africa until the 20th century, leading to economic inefficiency and one of the reasons for the lack of technological change. In terms of culture in Africa, Platteau focuses on the existence of common cultural traits around the world. various cultures of Africa. While Olukoju focuses on one culture which is Yoruba. Olukoju says that in Yoruba culture, the rich are encouraged to celebrate their wealth, display it and share it, because wealth is a social act and not just about an individual. It also suggests that the values ​​of this culture lead people to trade their wealth for status. Platteau agrees with this but also says that the wealthy have their own defense to avoid this: removing themselves from the culture and forming their own communities. Nunn discusses the impact of early 20th century Christian missions on contemporary values. It showed that Africans influenced by foreign missions obtained a higher level of education. However, for Catholic missions, it mainly affected men, while in Protestant missions, it affected both sexes, but more for women. Some cultural practices of other societies that experienced growth also contributed to Africa's decline. The absence of writing in most of Africa helped limit the growth of science and, consequently, that of African economies. Lacking widespread literacy and a printing industry, Africa failed to generate widespread technical progress. Africa had technological advances but was not able to disseminate its knowledge across the continent. In fact, Africa's encounter with Europe promoted Africa's development to some extent, and the beginning of trade also promoted the development of African market institutions. During this time, African businessmen also began to be active in trade. Trade with Europe truly boosted African commercial activities because the cost of transportation fell and European traders needed more African traders with economic power in West Africa. In the agricultural sector, engagement in the global market resulted in a "welfare loss" for Africa, as slave workers did not gain the freedom to participate in production and income redistribution did not. was not in line with the growth of trade. The main cause of poverty in Africa has not only reduced the African labor force, but also distorted the structure of African industries and institutions. As a result, the model established by the salvo trade has actually hindered Africa's constructive creativity and caused African industries to form a model of "pure extraction." Slaves were assigned to the plantation industry and exported overseas, hindering their creativity and opportunities. Slaves therefore did not really participate in the market and were engaged in planting at a low level. From then on, slaves can no longer be considered free labor on the market, but rather "commodity", demonstrating that they have lost the attributes of labor and that this therefore did not benefit the economic development of Africa. the impact of colonialism on the African continent is also a considerable cause of contemporary Africa. The influence of colonialism lasted a long time and therefore had a considerable impact on the shape of institutions. For many years,.