Writing Africa’s Economic History: Beyond One Single Story

When most people think about Africa’s economic history, they jump straight to colonialism, poverty, or “emerging markets.” But the story is far older, far more complex, and much harder to squeeze into a simple headline.​

Today’s episode unpacks how historians actually write Africa’s economic history, and how ideas about Africa’s development have shifted over the last century—from serving European empires to today’s more nuanced, data‑driven perspectives.