Editing Balkanization (section)

==In Africa==
[[File:British Decolonisation in Africa.png|thumb|right|British [[Decolonisation of Africa|decolonization in Africa]].]]
Bates, Coatsworth & Williamson argued Balkanization was observed greatly in West Africa then [[British East Africa]]. In the 1960s, countries in the {{lang|fr|Communauté Financière Africaine}} started to opt for "autonomy within the French community" in the postcolonial era. Countries in the [[CFA franc]] zone were allowed to impose tariffs, regulate trade and manage transport services.

[[Zambia]], [[Zimbabwe]], [[Malawi]], [[Uganda]] and [[Tanzania]] achieved independence toward the end of when the [[Great Powers]] postcolonial era came about. The period also saw the breakdown of the Federation of the Rhodesias and Nyasaland as well as the [[East African High Commission]]. Splintering into today's nations was a result of the movement towards a closed economy. Countries were adopting antitrade and anti-market policies. Tariff rates were 15% higher than in [[OECD]] countries during the 1970s and 1980s.{{sfn|Bates|Coatsworth|Williamson|2007}} Furthermore, countries took approaches to subsidise their own local industries, but the interior markets were small in scale. Transport networks were fragmented; regulations on labor and capital flow were increased; price controls were introduced. Between 1960 and 1990, balkanization led to disastrous results. The GDP of these regions were one tenth of OECD countries.{{sfn|Bates|Coatsworth|Williamson|2007}} Balkanization also resulted in what van de Valle called "typically fairly overvalued exchanged rates" in Africa. Balkanization contributed to what Bates, Coatsworth & Williamson claimed to be a lost decade in Africa.

Economic stagnation ended only in the mid-1990s. Countries within the region started to input more stabilization policies. What was originally a high exchange rate eventually fell to a more reasonable exchange rate after devaluations in 1994. By 1994, the number of countries with an exchange rate 50 percent higher than the official exchange rate had decreased from 18 to four.{{sfn|Van de Walle|2004}} However, there is still limited progress in improving trade policies within the region, according to van de Walle. In addition, the post-independent countries still rely heavily on donors for development plans. Balkanization still has an impact on today's Africa. However, this causation narrative is not popular in many circles.