Hundreds of years ago, many African kings effectively engaged with the West’s rising imperial powers to halt the growth of indigenous industry in pre-colonial Africa. Instead of having their peoples begin to manufacture their own goods, these rulers chose to import them from Europe in exchange for their own subjects – or the subjects of neighboring rulers – whom they exported as slaves.
而这种行为模式恰恰源自于非洲统治精英的某些最恶劣的作为。数百年前，许多非洲封建君主不遗余力地充当西方帝国的帮凶，拼命扼杀殖民时代之前的非洲本土工业。这些统治者不让人民生产自己的商品，反而从欧洲进口商品，用来交换的则是他们自己的占有物——或是邻国统治者的占有物——黑奴。