Socialism or Capitalism? Which would have solved Africa’s post-colonial problems

 We are in the middle of the 19th century and a repeat of the event of 1885 is about to take place. This time around, it is no longer the scramble of Africa but the scramble for independence. After a century long period of colonial rule, it was finally time for our ancestors to be set free, not from slavery in a foreign land but in their own home. As expected, this motion was met by a lot of resistance by the European powers who wanted to hold onto these countries for nothing else but their selfish gains. Who in their right minds will give up what enriched him and his comrades I am sure they asked themselves? Perhaps they were already devising the means by which they were going to hold longer unto the land so that they could drain the people completely of what they had left. Whatever the case, fate already had it that it was finally time for the liberation of the people. It wasn’t any more about choice or will but rather, it was about the timing. In all these, were we really ready for independence and all the things that ensued? Let’s find out.

The late fifties and early sixties saw most African nations gain their independence. It was a sign of relief for a lot of the natives. Perhaps they were still some sceptics amongst them who thought colonialism was still a better option. Was this the beginning of our end or the end of a treacherous era? Or perhaps it was both. It was now time for us to compare competence with incompetence, imitation with indoctrination. It was finally time for us to take charge of our destiny and see how far we could go. Could the leaders lead the people properly? At the time, so many African leaders wanted nothing to do with colonialism anymore. As a result, most of them adopted Socialism as a system of government. Socialism is a political, social and economic philosophy encompassing a range of economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production and workers’ self-management of enterprises. According to them, this was the complete opposite of colonialism and western imperialism. Did our leaders have a good understanding of the system they adopted?

Case Study:

Tanzania under Julius Nyerere: Julius Nyerere aka Mwalimu was the first leader of independent Tanzania. As many of his colleagues, he adopted socialism.

  

- He created a one-party system

- He also institutionalised social, economic and political equality through

the creation of central democracy

- Production was villagized which essentially collectivised all forms of local

productive capacity.

This amongst many others were part of his system. In as much as it flourished in some aspects, it was a complete disaster.

Food shortages became the norm. This was largely because most companies and corporations were being nationalised. This greatly reduced efficiency and productivity.

It also led to poor management of these companies. Officials were answerable to no one and this effectively led to unhealthy monopolies across Tanzania

The same could be said for Kwame Nkrumah during his time as the president of the newly independent Ghana.

What if these nations adopted a different system of government such as Capitalism? Would things have been better if these corporations were in the hands of private individuals? Maybe there would have been an increase in competition effectively reducing monopoly in the different sectors. Maybe we would have had better economies as competition usually leads to efficiency and hard work. In that case, the consumers satisfaction would have been the least of the producers worries as people only care about profits and pay very little attention to the consumer’s wellbeing.

Maybe capitalism would have been a better off system or perhaps socialism still. What about both? Would things have been any different. Maybe, just maybe our leaders could finally see the downsides and upsides of both systems and try to maximise the perks that both bring.