Okay.
I'm a Marxist-functionalist.
I recommend taking Walter Rodney's 1973 book in context. You and breathesgelatin aren't debating opposite ends of the spectrum. You're debating different interpretations of history. Both agree with the outcome of colonialism but have been reading different takes on the condition that Africa was in before colonialism hit.
There are few unbiased historical accounts because history has been reported and interpreted to fuel racial and capitalist agendas and are in line with the conflict theorist vs consensus theorist vs functionalist approaches to history. The truth lies in the middle.