This book examines the standard scholarly explanations of the cause of Africa’s underdevelopment and argues that the traditional scholarly explanations — colonial and neo-colonial expropriation, racial assumptions, nor geographical theory — are plausible as the main cause of Africa’s underdevelopment. Rather, the book contends, the chief cause of the continent’s underdevelopment is the failure of leadership in a long succession of Africa’s traditional ruling classes. This failure of leadership, the book shows, was demonstrated most clearly in the historically traceable indifference of a long line of Africa’s monarchs to scientific and technological progress. This indifference set the stage for the subsequent conquest, expropriation, and technological stagnation of Africa. The book concludes by recommending a blueprint for the continent’s future development.