My PhD research is a comparative study of the economic development trajectories of five countries: Ghana, Algeria, Angola, Côte d’Ivoire, and the DRC from the 1950s to the 1990s.

I am exploring how colonial economic structures, post-independence policy choices (e.g., socialism vs. capitalism), and external pressures (e.g., Cold War politics, Structural Adjustment Programs) shaped long-term economic outcomes.

From your perspective, what single factor or policy decision from the immediate post-independence era had the most significant, long-term impact on the economic path of these nations?

I am particularly interested in the interplay between institutional legacies and ideological choices.