This article examines the little researched link between cultural records and national development, considering, in particular, the role African cultural information could play in spurring the continent’s development. It argues that cultural records play a significant, if oft-overlooked and little understood, role in national development. Furthermore, it suggests that if the information deposited and derived from records documenting culture is not included in policy making and analyses of development, the development process is actually shortchanged. The study pays attention to the African context in which this issue is particularly heightened due to a general disregard for the relevance of good records management to national development, and inadequate financial support for the archives, libraries, museums and indigenous knowledge centers responsible for documenting and preserving culture and heritage.