| Past studies on underlying causes of poverty in Africa focus almost exclusively on income (living below a poverty line) and relative gross domestic product as indicators of poverty; and are not theory-driven and lump African countries together in regional studies that ignore unique local conditions such as: colonial heritage, nature of the economy, system of governance, administrative capacity, the role of civil society organizations (CSOs), geopolitical disposition and importance, and historical grounding for some of the conditions.;This study overcomes these limitations by applying historical materialism (theory and method) to assess the extent to which during the second colonial (1916 to 1959) and neocolonial era (1960 to 2004) sociopolitical and economic factors influenced the impoverishment of Cameroon. For the second colonial era, the study examines consequences of the plantation economy and effects of the suppression of sociopolitical activism; and for the neocolonial era, the study examines backlash from frenchification, the Anglophone problem, neopatrimonialism, neoliberal globalization, and systemic corruption. Historical materialism is used to guide the collection and analysis of secondary data on Cameroon's sociopolitical and economic milieu, from 1916 to 2004.;Results of analysis support the contention that economic shift from the second colonial era to the neocolonial era increased the level of poverty in Cameroon. During the second colonial era (1916 to 1959), the very nature of the plantation economy (expropriation and monopolization of native land for the cultivation of cash crops used strictly as raw materials for imperialist gains) and brutal suppression of sociopolitical activism (denial of the opportunity to self-rule) influenced the impoverishment of Cameroon. During the neocolonial era activities of the local capitalist class and the contradictions of inter-imperialist competing interests by western capitalist nations and nongovernmental vectors of global capitalism such as the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and World Trade Organization, influenced the impoverishment of Cameroon. Effects of the activities of the local capitalist class and the contradictions of inter-imperialist competing interests are manifested by frenchification, the Anglophone problem, neopatrimonialism, neoliberal globalization, and systemic corruption. Emerging themes from the analysis and suggestions for further study are also discussed. |
