Paper short abstract:

Colonialism ensured that colonies were dependent on primary commodity exports. We connect several marginalised works within the GVC literature – imperialism, financialisation and dependency – to trace the persistence of colonial structures and ensuing challenges to upgrading primary commodities.

Paper long abstract:

In the 1960s, as African countries became independent, all national governments faced a similar challenge of needing to diversify what they produced and exported. Nearly everywhere, colonialism ensured that former colonies were dependent on exporting primary commodities such as coffee, tea, minerals, or oil. Countries have tried diversifying their economies and upgrading their primary commodity sectors pursuing a range of strategies. The results were variable, and success to diversify exports was limited throughout. This paper builds on the field experience of both authors on primary commodity value chains in two African countries – coffee and cocoa in Rwanda and Ghana – and connects several disparate and relatively marginalised works within GVCs, namely imperialism, financialisation and dependency, to highlight contemporary challenges to upgrading primary commodities within Africa. In doing so, the paper highlights the centrality of colonialism in shaping how contemporary inter-scalar power relations continue to shape prospects for getting more out of the value of primary products. Further, the paper highlights the difficult political challenges that result domestically because of dependence on global commodity price fluctuations and how these challenges have persisted as a result of colonial structures which have been reproduced over time. In doing so, the paper argues that upgrading commodity sectors is only possible by breaking through these colonial structures.