Africa was never behind, it was held back

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OPINION

By Crispin Kaheru

Recently, on our way to Arua in West Nile, we briefly stopped by Pakwach. An old man showed us a rusted train rail. “This used to carry cotton and coffee,” he said. “Now it carries nothing.” He wasn’t just describing a railway. He was describing a continent that once connected to the world, not as an equal of course, but as a supplier of raw hope and extracted wealth.

Africa’s so-called “underdevelopment” is not a question of ability, laziness, or culture. It is the result of centuries of structural trauma and geopolitical design. The common argument that Africa lags exclusively because of corruption, poor leadership, or cultural inertia may be comforting in its simplicity and convenient. But it is dangerously incomplete and imperfect.

Africa has not failed. It has been failed, again and again, by histories not of its choosing and structures not of its making. The deeper truth: Africa was never given a fair start.

Facts first. Between 1500 and 1900, over 12.5 million Africans were trafficked through the transatlantic slave trade. This was not random violence. It was an economic strategy engineered to undercut Africa’s population, fragment its societies, and redirect labour to power the economies of Europe and the Americas. In contrast, Europe’s population doubled in the same period.

By the time Africa began to recover, the 1884 Berlin Conference carved it up like a carcass. Uganda became a British protectorate not for the development of its people, but for the control of the Nile and the extraction of cotton and coffee. Railways were built not to connect communities but to move goods from inland farms to coastal ports like Mombasa and Dar es Salaam. The Uganda Railway, completed in 1901, wasn’t built to connect us, but rather to collect from us.

Then came independence. But not freedom. By 1960, 17 African nations were independent. Uganda joined in 1962. But real power stayed elsewhere. The Cold War turned Africa into a chessboard. Lumumba won Congo, then was killed within months. Nkrumah built Ghana, then fell after a debt crisis. In Uganda, Obote nationalised industries then was overthrown. Twice.

Then came “recovery”, the SAPs. Hospitals lost half their budgets. Between 1987 and 1993, Uganda’s health funding was cut by 50%. Teachers earned peanuts. Food subsidies vanished. The army suffered a Reduction in Force (RIF). The World Bank and IMF wanted markets “free.”

Privatize. Liberalize. Deregulate. But free for who? Recovery, they called it. But for whom?

By 2001, 34 of the world’s 41 Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPCs) were in Africa. Debt service often consumed more than 50% of national budgets, more than education or health combined.

For some of us, geography has not helped. Uganda is landlocked. A container from Kampala to Mombasa costs up to $3,000. The same container from Shanghai to Los Angeles? Less than $1,800. Geography can sometimes be costly. Poor roads make it worse. As of 2020, only 33% of roads in Uganda were paved. Commendable, but still far. But the story is changing. Oil roads in places like Buliisa. Industrial parks in Kapeeka. Tarmacked corridors in Karamoja. Slowly, tarmac is reaching the village. Bit by bit, Uganda is connecting itself to the world.

So, here is what explains the elusive “first-world” status. Africa has tested every model. Socialism in Tanzania. Capitalism in Nigeria. Liberal democracy in Ghana. Developmental authoritarianism. Benevolent dictatorship etc. Yet no African nation is a member of the OECD. South Korea’s per capita income grew from $158 in 1960 to over $35,000 in 2022. Uganda, by contrast, moved from $59 in 1960 to just over $1,000 today.

The staircase was never the same. Yet still, Africa rises. Uganda, for instance, has the world’s second youngest population. Over 75% are under 30. These are not passive youth. They innovate and build apps. In Kampala’s Katwe Market, informal mechanics repair laptops, smartphones, fridges, using skills passed down, not taught.  But they cannot fix systems alone.

We therefore must confront history without apology. We must fix institutions before selling them. We must grow economies that serve people, not just numbers. Trade must build solidarity, not just profits. And this isn’t Africa’s burden alone. It’s the world’s unfinished business. Transformation takes time. The West had 300 years. Africa is expected to do it in 30. With less money. More mouths to feed. That’s not progress. That’s magic.

But there is hope. Africa’s youth are its secret weapon. Still, they need the burden of history to be named and lifted.

So next time someone asks, “Why hasn’t Africa developed?”, pause. Then answer: “Because development isn’t a race. It’s a relay. And Africa has been handed a broken baton every lap.”

This time, let’s run together. Or get out of the way.

The writer is Commissioner, UHRC