Why colonial investments persist more in Francophone than anglophone Africa

Comparisons of British and French colonialism in Africa have typically examined the legacy of institutions but ignored colonial public investments in health and education. New research into these investments finds they are better predictors of today’s development in Francophone than Anglophone Africa. As conflict and political instability has been similar between these two sets of countries, Anglophone Africa’s higher economic growth in recent decades is suggested as eroding the persistence of colonial investments.