From colonial extraction to structural adjustment: sectoral policy and unequal exchange in Sub-Saharan Africa

Structural adjustment programs (SAPs) and their developmental impacts have been extensively studied. Literatures on neo-colonialism and unequal exchange suggest that SAPs represented a continuation or resumption of extractive colonial strategies, promoting the transfer of physical resources and value from post-colonial countries to developed countries. However, there has been little systematic analysis (1) exploring measurable similarities between colonial and SAP policies and (2) tying those similarities to patterns of neo-colonial exploitation and unequal exchange. This paper contributes to this gap by measuring similarities in agricultural, extractive and industrial sector policies between the colonial and SAP eras in ten Sub-Saharan African countries. I construct ‘sector focus’ indicators measuring the degree to which each sector was prioritised by policymakers in each period. I then assess (1) whether sectoral focus was similar across the two periods and (2) whether the observed patterns suggest that sectoral policies may have been used to promote unequal exchange by prioritising agricultural and natural resource extraction for world markets. While mixed, the results lend some support to theories of neo-colonialism and unequal exchange, with sectoral policies in both periods generally favouring agricultural and natural resource extraction for export and under-prioritising industrial sector activities relative to primary sector activities.