BREAKING DEPENDENCY CHAINS: A PATH TO OVERCOMING UNDERDEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA
INTRODUCTION This paper explores the ways in which Africa and other parts of the world have remained underdeveloped while Western countries have become developed. It does this by comparing the similarities and differences between developed and underdeveloped countries. Babatunde and Iwu (2023) argue that without comparison, true knowledge is hanging. Similarly, Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–1859) noted that without making comparisons, the mind does not know how to proceed. Therefore, this study examines how the African continent can liberate itself and break away from the chains of underdevelopment physically, psychologically, and ideologically. Dependency theorists such as Claude Ake, Theotonio Dos Santos, Andre Gunder Frank, and Walter Rodney, among others, argue that many African countries remain poor because their economies depend heavily on developed countries for finance, technology, trade, and policy direction. According to them, this dependency relationship ha...