How Religion Underdeveloped Africa #920555

In this bold and unflinching critique, C.F. Adie confronts one of Africa’s most sensitive and overlooked realities: the complex role religion has played in shaping the continent’s development, or lack thereof. From colonial-era missionary schools to modern-day mega-churches and Islamic courts, Adie traces how faith has been used to pacify minds, suppress inquiry, distort economies, and entrench inequality.

But this is not a book of blanket condemnation. With nuance and clarity, Adie explores how religion has also built communities, offered moral guidance, and inspired reformers who challenge harmful dogma. Through vivid case studies of Nigeria’s Pentecostal politics, Sudan’s Sharia-fueled conflict, and Ethiopia’s Orthodox tension between tradition and progress—he reveals how faith has both unified and divided, uplifted and restrained Africa Development.

How Religion Underdeveloped Africa is a call to rethink, reclaim, and reform. It invites readers to imagine a future where spiritual traditions empower rather than inhibit, and where faith walks hand-in-hand with freedom, reasoning, and development.