The paper seeks to explain in detail how the African continent has been systematically 'looted' of its resource wealth by capitalist countries in the past which continues at present in the garb of a hypocritical concern for Africa's well being. The paper discusses the problems of poverty and unequal income distribution in the continent that has kept any developmental projects from being successful. The paper provides a theoretical and philosophical analysis of the imperial onslaught by the agencies of the capitalist world. He explains how high debt duties are being used as an instrument for pushing forward the neo-liberal free trade agenda that does not only strip the countries of their resources, but also seriously handicap their abilities to use such resources for their own development. The second half of the paper is an analysis of the different interpretations of the problem and the different struggles being waged across the continent for addressing these problems.

March 10, 2007.