By most objective measures, the socio-economic development trend in Africa over the last several decades has not been positive. The vast majority of the continent’s countries have long suffered from political dysfunction and economic mismanagement that have translated into lack of basic services and high unemployment. Apart from the misery they have unleashed, these problems have triggered internal strife and various forms of violence in several African nations.

There are several underlying reasons for this sorry state of affairs, but the common thread is the effect that colonialism has had on the continent. Precious resources were plundered by European settlers and sent to their home countries. The colonial governors disrupted much of the local institutional architectures that existed in Africa prior to their arrival. When those rulers eventually departed, many of the newly independent nations not only had their cupboards stripped bare, they were also left rudderless.

Any society would struggle to function under those circumstances. Making matters worse, the colonizers, even after they left, found ways to undermine the indigenous governments that took their places. From their distant homelands, they managed to infiltrate Africa’s nascent political organizations, often finding willing African collaborators who helped sabotage most of the efforts their young nations were making to get on their feet. One purpose of this remote influence was to maintain access to some of Africa’s precious resources. In many cases, the local saboteurs ultimately ended up as the ruling classes in their countries. They have perpetuated many of the bad practices of the colonial governors. There are many Africans today who openly say that their current rulers are worse than the colonial ones.

Quite understandably, millions of Africans have become disillusioned. The continent’s young people see no bright future ahead of them at home and thus have emigrated in droves in the last couple of decades to Europe and elsewhere in search of jobs and better lives. The exodus has made an already bad situation much worse; Africa is drained of the crucial human resources it needs to develop. Rapacious politicians have stepped into that vacuum and made away with whatever little remained in national cupboards. It is the reason so many African countries depend on foreign aid for even the most basic of needs nowadays.

My close observation of the direction of many nations in Africa over the last couple of decades has sapped my confidence in the ability of the continent to sort itself out, at least in the near future. That is because Ghana, where I grew up, and its peer countries on the continent appear to have completely lost their way. They seem to be retrogressing progressively, even when much of the rest of the world has advanced quite nicely.

But lately, I have been heartened somewhat by the thought of Brazil, and how it has managed to transform itself from a once-colonized country to become a major player on the global stage today. If Brazil can make that leap, then there is hope that African nations could as well.

Brazil became an independent nation in 1822, after being colonized by Portugal for over three centuries. It is reasonable to assume that Brazil was victimized by colonialism in much the same ways that African countries were. There are of course regional, cultural, structural and several other factors that differentiate Brazil from countries like Ghana and Nigeria, which were similarly ruled previously by external powers. Nevertheless, it is important for Africans to take a close look at Brazil and learn from its history.

By current estimates, Portugal’s 2024 GDP (by purchasing power parity, PPP) is $486 billion, making it the fiftieth largest economy in the world. Its projected 2024 GDP per capita is $47,070 (PPP). The equivalent figures for Brazil are as follows: GDP of $4.3 trillion (PPP), which ranks the country as the eighth largest economy in the world, and GDP per capita of $20,809 (PPP).

In the 200 years that Brazil has been a sovereign nation, it has managed to build an economy that is nearly nine times the size of that of the European country that once colonized it. That is a highly impressive achievement. Although the average Portuguese is still a little over two times richer than an ordinary Brazilian today, it is quite clear that Brazil is on the right trajectory. Its population has not been rendered so hopeless as to make emigration the only option for large segments of it. Not many Brazilians are seen among the waves of migrants crisscrossing the globe nowadays.

Whenever I think about Brazil these days, the African country that readily comes to mind is Nigeria. Relatively, Nigeria is a much younger nation, having only gained its independence from Britain in 1960. It therefore still has a long way to go on its developmental journey. But, being quite similar to Brazil in terms of its land mass and abundance of natural resources relative to the endowments of its colonizer, Britain, one would expect Nigeria to show a great deal of promise to become a global powerhouse someday. Instead, the current picture in the country is quite depressing.

Nigeria is a major oil producer and a member of OPEC. That alone should be enough to make its citizens enjoy comfortable lives. But the World Bank estimates that 40.7 percent of Nigerians will live below the international poverty line by the end of 2024. Rampant corruption and incompetent management mean that a substantial portion of national wealth is either stolen or wasted by government officials. Tens of thousands of Nigerians are making treacherous journeys every year looking for economic opportunities in other continents due to extreme destitution. Their recent presidents have been among those in Africa who are regularly summoned, with begging bowls in hand, to attend economic summits in Washington, Beijing, Moscow, and Seoul. Because they are widely seen as ahuanfo leaders, these African heads of state, and by extension the countries they lead, don’t get much respect on the world stage.

Whether we are individuals or nations, we regularly seek inspiration from others and places as we pursue our important life goals. Brazil has set an excellent example for African countries to emulate. Nigeria and its leaders should take note of that. If it manages to turn itself into an economic powerhouse in future, Nigeria’s fortunes would turbocharge economic growth on the African continent and bring prosperity to the millions who live there.