Why did newly independent countries consider public sector a tool of strategic development?

Correct answer: To build basic industries and infrastructure under state leadership

Newly independent countries often used the public sector to build industries and infrastructure that private companies could not or would not develop quickly. State ownership or leadership could direct investment toward steel, energy, transport, irrigation, communications, education, and other foundations of development. Governments also saw public enterprises as a way to reduce dependence on former colonial powers, create jobs, and support economic planning and national self-reliance.

Option A is correct because it describes state-led construction of basic industries and infrastructure. Option B is the opposite of the purpose, since the public sector was meant to retain or guide strategic control rather than hand everything to foreign interests. Option C is wrong because public investment generally aimed to promote industrialization. Option D is also incorrect: industrial development did not require ending agriculture. The key idea is planned, state-supported development after colonial rule.