But a lot of countries were doing economically well under colonialism. Rhodesia was the 'breadbasket of Africa', a very rich state. When the British left they arranged elections, the first and the last. Mugabe took control and look at Zimbabwe today. A different kind of basket case.

The state of Ethiopia isn't so far different to other places, but that's mostly because after colonialism ended too many countries slipped backwards into the sort of tribal warfare, Marxism, corruption, economic mismanagement etc that typified the non-colonialist states. Do you think the British would have tolerated a Marxist insurrection in a colony, if they'd still been in charge?

The article alludes to this when it talks about how the illiterate man would prefer being ruled by a white man, because he thinks he'd be treated more fairly. Colonialism created many problems, but the state of these countries after it ended puts it in perspective.