The essence of neo-colonialism is that the State which is
subject to it is, in theory, independent and has all the outward
trappings of international sovereignty. In reality its economic
system and thus its political policy is directed from outside.
The methods and form of this direction can take various
shapes. For example, in an extreme case the troops of the
imperial power may garrison the territory of the neo-colonial
State and control the government of it. More often, however,
neo-colonialist control is exercised through economic or
monetary means. The neo-colonial State may be obliged to
take the manufactured products of the imperialist power to
the exclusion of competing products from elsewhere. Control
over government policy in the neo-colonial State may be
secured by payments towards the cost of running the State,
by the provision of civil servants in positions where they can
dictate policy, and by monetary control over foreign
exchange through the imposition of a banking system
controlled by the imperial power. [...]
It is possible that neo-colonial control may
be exercised by a consortium of financial interests which are
not specifically identifiable with any particular State. The
control of the Congo by great international financial concerns
is a case in point.
The result of neo-colonialism is that foreign capital is used
for the exploitation rather than for the development of the
less developed parts of the world. Investment under neocolonialism
increases rather than decreases the gap between
the rich and the poor countries of the world.
By Kwame Nkrumah , In Neo-Colonialism, the Last Stage of imperialism
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