Dependency in Africa: Exploitation in Aspiration to Educational Development

This study examined the mechanisms that promote educational dependency in Africa. These mechanisms focus on dependency theory, economic and political status of African countries. According to the dependence theory, both economic and educational progress cannot be achieved in a balanced and constructive way because of the nature of the structural interaction between the developed and less-developed states. The benefit of applying dependence theory is to explain human relationships and why wealthy countries continue to be wealthy while impoverished countries find it difficult to escape poverty. Contemporary African scholars in all academic disciplines have blamed the Europeans for the underdevelopment of Africa. This has necessitated the evocation of dependency theory in explaining Sub-Sahara Africa’s under-development conditions. Subsequently, Africa’s underdevelopment has been linked to internal and external factors. The paradigm has recently shifted from political to economic colonialism, which has fueled dependency and underdevelopment in Africa. Nonetheless, there exist justifications for maintaining reliance on education and advancing education in Africa. According to this school of thinking, the sustainability of education depends on the interactions between society and education. The African education industry has been impacted by this paradigm change.