In pre-colonial Africa, Africans would produce for their own use in local markets, and did not conceive of production for trade in global markets. Due to imported ideas of trade, the development of the use of a standardized common currency has limited barter exchange and subsistence trade (primary components of pre-colonial African economies) within African societies. The commercialization of commodities has attached specific money values to work or objects that had previously been for social use, and without ownership rights. No one owned the land in pre-colonial Africa; farmers had use-rights for areas of land but could not sell the land. Integration into a global market has changed the manner of trade and the economic systems of African societies themselves.
African economies have become import-and-export-dependent; such a reliance on external economies did not exist in pre-colonial Africa. Most African nations are reliant on the export of one or two primary commodities or unpolished goods. African nations are virtually forced to sell these exports at market prices at the behest of the global marketplace; and also, as a direct result of colonialism, African economies are not reliant on indigenous manufacturing or industry. In fact, there are very few domestic industries or companies, not including multinational corporations. As long as African states are incapable of manufacturing raw goods, it would be very difficult to disengage from the world economy because of their overwhelming reliance upon imports. The importation of vehicles and food is a daily requirement for survival. Africa's poor gained little or nothing from colonialism, but its elites certainly owe their fortunes to colonialism.
The colonial era introduced social and demographic changes in Africa that have affected the economy positively, such as the introduction of formal education, literacy expansion, urbanization, and health care.
