Capitalism

During the age of imperialism, European powers conquered African lands and ruled them as colonies. As African nations began to throw off their colonial rule and become independent in the mid-20th century, they began to form their own governments and seek to establish control over their economies. However, most of them became almost immediately privy to neocolonialism, which is where foreign investors and local ruling elites partner to "invest" in the country, but instead return said country to an almost colonial type of relationship. They are now subject to market forces, loans, transportation changes, and local corruption. Ngugi chronicles Ilmorog's experience with neocolonialism, showing that all of the new modern developments merely hid the fact that the people were losing any power of their own.