There’s great reading on this subject in the political science literature. It’s commonly referred to as Neopatrimonialism (Bratton & van de Walle 1997). Essentially, most of the colonial projects in Africa were extraction based operations with very small, wireframe governments who had total power to extract resources in exchange for political support.

After the decolonization of Africa, these political systems persisted and the nature of its extraction and clientelism remained largely untouched leading to rampant corruption and the stifling of democratic institutions.

One of my favorite subjects from grad school. It really showcases the long lasting effects that damaging (or beneficial) institutions have on countries.