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Journal of Emerging Markets and Management

Coloniality in International Trade Relations and Underdevelopment in Sub-Saharan Africa

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.63385/jemm.v2i2.179

Keywords:

Capital Formation, Coloniality, Economic Sovereignty, Eurocentrism, Free Market, Innovation

Abstract

This paper examines how coloniality continues to shape international trade procedures and processes, thereby contributing to persistent underdevelopment in countries of sub-Saharan Africa. Although formal colonial rule has ended, the paper argues that its underlying power structures remain embedded in global economic systems. These manifest in countries of sub-Saharan Africa through unequal terms of trade, dependence on primary commodity exports, and externally driven development agendas. Drawing from dependency theory and Schumpeter’s notion of creative destruction, the paper specifically analyzes how historical patterns of exploitation and knowledge hierarchies are reproduced through contemporary trade agreements, financial institutions, and global value chains. The paper highlights how structural constraints of limited industrialization, vulnerability to price fluctuations, and asymmetrical bargaining power perpetuate economic dependency and destabilize social productive forces in countries of sub-Saharan Africa. Consequently, creative talents to create new products and technologies to transform societies in sub-Saharan Africa are befuddled and crumpled. The paper concludes that addressing underdevelopment in sub-Saharan Africa requires confronting the colonial logics embedded in global trade structures and advancing alternative models grounded in economic sovereignty, regional integration, and equitable global governance. Thus, there is a need for the formation of capital for competitive innovation to support indigenous businesses in countries of sub-Saharan Africa. This is necessary because innovation tends not to occur in a free market; instead, innovation is deeply shaped by choices and investments made by the State in industrial policy (subsidies), research and development (R&D) funding, infrastructure, education, and human capital development.

References


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    Copyright (c) 2026 Godwin Etta Odok, Olutayo Akinpelu Olanrewaju

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