Industrialization and Rural Development in the Anglophone African Countries

At independence, Anglophone African countries or the former British colonies inherited a structural and spatial pattern of industries incapable of contributing significantly to sustainable rural development and nationally integrated economies. In the subsequent post-independence period, efforts in some countries were made in their industrial planning and implementation processes to restructure the inherited pattern, but not much success has been attained. To date, industrialization and rural development have made little impact in many of the Anglophone African countries. The central argument of this article is that the inherited characteristics and pattern of industrialization in the Anglophone African countries are incapable of contributing significantly to sustainable rural development and balanced nationally integrated economies and there is need for a new industrial allocation pattern. The article discusses the characteristics and evolving trends in industrialization and rural development and makes suggestions for the future.