This chapter interrogates the historical foundations of Africa’s economic marginalisation within the global financial system shaped by British colonialism. It critically examines the period 1870–1914 under the gold standard, arguing that the British-dominated international monetary order institutionalised Africa’s extractive role in the world economy. Drawing on Walter Rodney’s analysis and a post-positivist meta-theoretical lens, it explores the Lagos Plan of Action (LPA) as a radical, self-reliant response to historical exploitation and neo-colonial dependence. The chapter situates Pan-African diplomacy and agency within anti-colonial struggles and the rise of the New International Economic Order (NIEO), showing how Africa’s quest for epistemic and economic sovereignty confronted entrenched global hierarchies. Ultimately, it contends that while LPA offered transformative potential, its outcomes were constrained by enduring global inequalities and limited institutional translation.