Explanation
Correct answer: A.
Choice A is the best answer because it presents a statement about Alfagali and other Africanist scholars that is supported by the text. The last sentence of the text explains that historians of capitalism generally rely on a type of data that requires "archival records, which do not exist for much of precolonial Africa." Nevertheless, Alfagali and other Africanist scholars have demonstrated that features of capitalism including "returns-focused investment,...open markets for wage labor, and other features of capitalism" existed in parts of Africa before colonization. Because archival records typically used by historians of capitalism aren′t available for precolonial Africa, Alfagali and other Africanist scholars of precolonial capitalism in Africa likely used atypical sources for their studies.
Why the other choices are wrong
Choice B
Choice B is incorrect because the text states that archival records containing longitudinal economic data "do not exist for much of precolonial Africa." If these records don’t exist for precolonial Africa, then Alfagali and other Africanist scholars couldn’t derive data from them by any method.
Choice C
Choice C is incorrect because the text doesn’t suggest that Alfagali and other Africanist scholars define capitalism differently than other historians of capitalism do. On the contrary, the text simply asserts that specific features they found, such as "returns-focused investment [and] open markets for wage labor," are "features of capitalism," which implies scholarly agreement that these activities are capitalist in nature.
Choice D
Choice D is incorrect because the text doesn’t indicate any effects of capitalism in Africa, positive or negative. Rather, the text explains why precolonial Africa has been omitted from mainstream histories of capitalism and presents work by Alfagali and other Africanist scholars that challenges and corrects the historical record of precolonial capitalism.