Institutions and challenges to development: "An Analysis of Economic Growth, Governance, and Development in Sub-Saharan Africa"

Drawing on primary sources – colonial public finance documents and existing literature – this article examines the financial challenges associated with British and French colonial expansion in Africa. It highlights the important role that revenue extraction through colonial taxation played in establishing and maintaining colonial administrative institutions. We believe that this factor is at the root of postcolonial institutional dualism and, by extension, the weakness of the rule of law in the former colonies. The article concludes that concerns about the rising administrative operating costs of colonial rule influenced and dictated all aspects of colonial policymaking and institutions adopted by imperial powers, ultimately shaping the structure of governance in postcolonial Africa.