ABSTRACT
Ever since Britain’s retreat from colonialism in Africa got underway in earnest the primary concern of successive governments towards the continent has been aptly summarized by James Mayall as one of damage limitation. During this period, Mayall (1986) argued, Britain’s Africa policy revolved around the need to turn its imperial legacies ‘from liabilities into assets’. This required the creation of ‘a network of low key, but still special, relationships between Britain and her former colonies’ (1986: 54). Successive British governments pursued this goal through three main mechanisms: the organization and management of the international economy; bilateral relations – primarily economic in character; and the political organization of international society.
