EKPOMA REVIEW

As Philosophy of Economics investigates the foundational concepts and methods of economics: the rational choice, the appraisal of economic outcomes, institutions and processes, and the ontology of economic phenomena and the possibilities of acquiring knowledge of them, this research raises the question of why is there continuing economic underdevelopment in Africa? How to explain Africa, the world's second-largest continent, with 1.4 billion people in 54 countries and with plenty of human and natural resources, but still lacking in development over 60 years after its independence? By phenomenological and structural methods, the author critically evaluates the economic theories, particularly on the views of African scholars after Independence, that have been proposed for this continuing problem that affects the human condition of so many people. This study ?nds that among post-colonial African scholars, the path to African development has been debated between the Internalist and Externalist schools of development. While the Internalist tends to blame inside forces (local corruption, tyranny, bad governance), and with the view that Africa alone has the responsibility of bailing itself out of its present state of underdevelopment. The externalist school contends that Africa alone cannot attain any level of development because of historical constraints, such as the slave trade, imperialism, colonialism, and the power structure of the modern world. The Integrationist school, which ?nds the polarizing African development experts ridiculous, as they blame both internal and external forces for the causes of Africa's underdevelopment, holds that Africa's underdevelopment is solved by the integration of forces both from within and outside Africa. However, and philosophically speaking, the author ?nds that Africa's development is possible only with an appreciation of what is original and authentically African, which is dependent on the culture and consciousness of African people.

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