ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the central argument in the book. It provides the reasons why the current African economies must be structurally transformed. One of the major reasons is that the key features of the colonial economy which are still dominant in African economies today were not intended to benefit the African people. The chapter has identified and discussed the core features of the colonial economy, illustrating that these features have survived six decades of independence. It is argued in this chapter that if African economies have continued to operate under the colonial economic structures and logic, and if these structures were designed to benefit people outside Africa, it is not surprising that the continent has remained one of the most impoverished regions on the planet, despite being one of the most richly endowed continents, in terms of both natural and human resources. The chapter makes a case for a special type of industrial policy, which is referred to as Frontier Industrial Policy (FIP), to be used as an instrument for transforming African economies. A rationale for using the Zambian experience to illustrate the challenges and the need to transform the colonial economy in Africa is also provided in this chapter.
