>>808185Africa's problems aren't just those of western exploitation, but also that "traditional" communities just plain suck. The reason China developed rapidly while India took longer and grew fairly slowly is that Mao successfully smashed up the dead-hands of those old social bonds while India did not.
To take one example: Did you know lots of African people take out loans despite having 100% of the money at hand? The reason is because if you have any savings, your extended family will mooch off you and you'll be socially obliged to let them, so there's no point earning any money… but if you put all the money in the bank, then take out a loan for the same amount, even though you'll have to pay interest, you have an excuse not to give it to them: it's a loan after all… you'd love to help, but you don't have the money…
(Now, you're possibly thinking "how selfish! we should help our families!" but remember that we're talking random africans here. We're talking like "replacing your tin roof" money at the most. not buying a mansion and several trucks off the record. imagine living in a house with a big hole in the roof because your family keep mooching beer money off you!)
>>808191To build on this: imagine you take some terrible, dirty, dangerous, tedious and underpaid job… and then get none of the money because your third cousins browbeat you into giving it to them instead. Not fun! Not good for development!
That's before you get into theories like: are most attacks on "witches" really a socially acceptable way to get rid of a dependent old person who is taking too long to die?