What causes the continued endemic poverty in Africa - a continent rich with natural resources? This paper also argues for a historical materialist approach, which exposes the condition of widespread routine poverty, unemployment, malnutrition and inequality to be a modern world-historical product, the outcome of five centuries of global capitalist expansion under relations of imperialism. The author attempts to reach an alternative approach to the development of the African society.

Despite being richly endowed in mineral resources, most Africans derive little benefit from this wealth. Additional problems regarding the legacy of colonialism have exacerbated existing issues of territoriality, ethnicity, trading difficulties, aid and debt and poor governance. In order to negate some of these problems, the author proposes a number of continent-wide policy changes:

• improved trading infrastructure, including transport, payment systems, and financial services
• liberalization of trade restrictions within the African countries as well as the south
• organisational ties which would make it easier for African as well as developing countries to exploit the economies of specialisation in intra-industry trade
• creation of an effective and innovative capacity for the development of more efficient products and techniques suitable to factor and resource endowments of the south
• to accelerate the growth of the productive forces as to build a strong and internally self-sustaining national economy free from the influences of capitalist market
• to expand, strengthen and ensure the dominance of the socialist production relations with a view to creating a conducive environment for the growth of the productive forces, expand socialist economic organisations and amangement.

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