IntroductionModern African states face several problems ranging from corruption to armed conflicts to structural development lag. The effects of colonialism have been proposed as a starting point for much of the analysis on African states, but the question of why African states are particularly dysfunctional needs to be examined, given how far behind they have become compared to other former European colonies in many areas. aspects. In the first section, I will examine the problems of African states from the state's perspective. That is, the nature of state creations and the underlying flaws may explain some of the problems associated with African states today. I then examine the development or lack thereof of civil society and institutions that took place across the continent during the colonial era. In particular, I consider the lack of education and judicial authority and how this has affected the formation of structures that exist in the postcolonial era. Finally, the economic legacy of colonialism is analyzed and the question of whether the failure of African states to prosper can be explained by colonial practices. State Formation Since Africa's borders were drawn in 1884-1885, very little has changed in terms of territorial divisions. Much has been made of the fact that the postcolonial states that constitute Africa were the product of colonial demarcations and whose territories did not correspond to existing political and ethnic organizations. Ethnic conflicts within states are an unfortunate feature of many African states and one that undoubtedly retards development of any kind. There has been debate over the nature of African ethnicities and whether they were synthetic...... middle of document ...... provision of education during the colonial period affected the ability to develop from within. Civil institutions were weak and the judiciary incapable of playing a balancing role against the central power of the state. Native Africans were generally not allowed to reach significant levels in the industrial complex, and infrastructure was built only in sufficient quantity to serve the extraction of wealth. The small number of educated bureaucrats who previously thrived in their positions found themselves as a new elite class in the absence of the colonialists, and it may have been too difficult for them to change their behavior after inheriting the state. In summary, it could be said that a large part of the inhabitants of the newly independent state had not entered into any sort of stable "social contract" through the organic process, as had been the case for other societies..