Critical Thinking about Post-Independence in Africa and the Anglophone Caribbean

The African continent and the Anglophone Caribbean region share a common history. The two regions were colonized. Majority of the countries gained independence, through peaceful negotiation and armed struggle. Evaluating the progress of the two regions in the last five decades of independence is not easy. The task of evaluating becomes objective and reliable when the task is approached from the perspective of African and Anglo Caribbean nationalism, and the expectation of independence. Both the regions harbored complex nationalist. It’s possible for     one to; argue that the two regions sought to achieve the objectives of decolonization, nation building, development, democracy, and regional in integration (John, McLeod 2007:15-25). State formation Decolonization was one of the great historical phenomenon and achievements of the twentieth century. It marked the achievement for African and Anglo-Caribbean society. The period after 1945 culminated in the demise of colonialism in Africa and Anglophone Caribbean. The taunting task was state formation and setting up basic infrastructure to drive the economy. The independent governments successfully managed to put in place a functional civil service. Education At independence, there were very few institutions of higher learning in both regions. The citizens of these colonies received basic education to enable them render cheap labor in colonial farms. Countries like Zimbabwe, Kenya, Ghana, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago in have established many institutions of higher learning like universities and polytechnics to increase access to higher Education. Besides, Kenya, Ghana and Uganda provides free primary Education hence improving the quality of education (John McLeod 100-105). Democracy Every modern government must embrace democratic culture. This is an area where most states in these regions have underscored.   A decade preceding independence saw most of the states degenerate to despotism. Most of the states in Anglophone Caribbean adopted Liberal authoritarianism while others like Guyana went too far to adopt dictatorship where young black men were extra- judicially prosecuted by the government. Majority of African states adopted one party state, which was used as a symbol of oppression and exploitation. Although, elections in Africa have been conducted on a regular basis, they are not always free and fair. The current crisis in Kenya and Zimbabwe is a great testimony. Independence Most of the states in Africa and Anglophone Caribbean are not fully independent. They have continuously depended on financial aid from Britain and North America. The issue of neocolonialism is imminent in both the regions, because the affairs of these states are in directly controlled by powerful states. These countries are always required to undertake some structural adjustments programs. (Gogfrey Mwakikagile 2006:40-48) Development Africa and the Caribbean Anglophone harbor the most impoverished countries in the world. In the recent statistics released by the World Bank, African countries featured prominently in the bottom fifty. The genesis of economic under- development was the adoption of the colonial economy by the independent governments.   Plantation agriculture as opposed food crop farming has made these regions to become, victims of over dependence on food aid from the most industrialized states. The last fifty years of independence in Africa and Anglophone Caribbean have witnessed great periods of success and failure in the areas democracy, economic development and national integration.   Africa and the Anglophone Caribbean need to restructure their economic system to bring in an aspect of mixed economy. Besides, the culture of democracy must be entrenched to span economic development because persistent wrangling has had a negative influence on the economy. Work Cited John, McLeod Rout ledge companion to postcolonial studies Publisher Routledge, 2007 John McLeod Beginning post colonialism Manchester University Press, 2000 Gogfrey Mwakikagile Africa after independence: realities of nationhood llustratedPublisher, 2006