When Giovanni Arrighi examined the causes of the slow development in the African States, he notes they come from different perspectives. Arrighi claims the most significant aspects that prevent African states from developing are the structure of domination. In this case, domination in Africa comes from bad policies and unreliable governance. The elite classes that took over governance after colonial governments, in most African states, used this power to benefit their personal interests. Another factor that Arrighi puts into focus is the element of limited or lack of knowledge as a cause of slow economic growth in Africa.

Societies require knowledge to empower their people to think strategically and have the capacity to better their lives. In the case of Africa, knowledge has been limited since the periods of colonization. There are states that record high levels of education among their locals, but the massive number of the uneducated still remains to be an influencing factor. The cause of limited education could be the elite class doing this on purpose to hinder the people from discovering their self-centered political schemes. Where the elite understand that limited education guarantees total control it is highly likely that they will suppress the growth of knowledge. Africa is notorious for dictatorial leadership which suppresses knowledge, political and economic growth as resources are not equally distributed.

It could be argued that when African states received their independence there was a setup system of governance that they could use to grow their economies. It is unfortunate as this was not the case since most of the leaders that received powered made it a personal and not public affair. I could proceed to argue on this concept claiming that to this day we can still observe dictatorial governance in Africa. It is evidence of poor governance and bad policies. In the domestic element, most African communities are repressed from social-economic and political growth. For example, numerous African states still face the problem of unfair elections where election results are rigged. As much as international factors may play a role in the delayed growth, the domestic factors have more influence on the slow economic growth in African states.