The early years of African political independence, that is, from the 1960s to the mid-1970s, exhibited much development potential. Although countries fared differently, gross domestic product (GDP ) and GDP per capita (GDP/C) show an overall improvement up until the mid-1970s. This chapter describes the development trajectory and also explores the key factors that could have contributed to success in this period. This chapter is based on secondary sources obtained in both grey and academic literature. The chapter found that the early years were characterised by substantial improvements in health, life expectancy, education, and infrastructure development across the continent. It was also found that this could have been the result of the mass mobilisation of the indigenous populations and other interested investors to participate in the economy unrestricted by the racial biases of colonial administrators. This could also have been linked to the deployment of context- and culture-specific indigenous development approaches introduced by African leaders at independence. The chapter concludes that considering the substantial successes of the early years, Africa’s future lies, therefore, in its capacity to retrace, redevelop, and rebuild on its sovereign early independence past.