ABSTRACT:From 1766 to 1816, the Rev. Philip Quaque, through the employ of the Society for the Gospel in Foreign Parts and the Company of Merchants Trading to Africa, worked to proselytize and educate the Cape Coast people. As Quaque struggled to overcome the barriers to conversion erected by Cape Coast’s role as an Atlantic trade enclave, he penned a series of letters to the SPG that provide insight into his life and the trading community of Cape Coast. The life of Rev. Philip Quaque, especially his lack of missionary success and limited educational success at Cape Coast, provides insight into the workings of a Gold Coast trade enclave, nonetheless. To understand his successes and failures, one must understand how trade and interaction worked within this commercial and administrative center and from there we can better understand the insurmountable odds that Quaque faced within his labors.
{"title":"The Barriers to Conversion: The Rev. Philip Quaque, Company Pay, and the Economy of Cape Coast, 1766–1816","authors":"Ty M. Reese","doi":"10.1353/aeh.2020.0000","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/aeh.2020.0000","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT:From 1766 to 1816, the Rev. Philip Quaque, through the employ of the Society for the Gospel in Foreign Parts and the Company of Merchants Trading to Africa, worked to proselytize and educate the Cape Coast people. As Quaque struggled to overcome the barriers to conversion erected by Cape Coast’s role as an Atlantic trade enclave, he penned a series of letters to the SPG that provide insight into his life and the trading community of Cape Coast. The life of Rev. Philip Quaque, especially his lack of missionary success and limited educational success at Cape Coast, provides insight into the workings of a Gold Coast trade enclave, nonetheless. To understand his successes and failures, one must understand how trade and interaction worked within this commercial and administrative center and from there we can better understand the insurmountable odds that Quaque faced within his labors.","PeriodicalId":43935,"journal":{"name":"AFRICAN ECONOMIC HISTORY","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2020-08-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1353/aeh.2020.0000","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41520930","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ABSTRACT:The economy and health of populations have had inextricable relationships over time. Prior to colonisation, the environment of the Gold Coast like other places within the tropics of Africa was tagged as the “graveyard of the White man” due to its environmental vulnerability to diseases such as malaria, yellow fever, dysentery and sleeping sickness among others. In this regard, scholars have argued that colonisation did not only lead to the exploitation of the resources of Africa and the Gold Coast in particular, but it also led to the enhancement of public health. Essentially, the British Colonial Administration put measures in place to check common diseases that disturbed the people of the Gold Coast. The study therefore pays attention to the extent of disease burden on the adult working population in Gold Coast. The paper also examines how same colonial occurrences influenced the post-independence government of Ghana and Nkrumah’s administration in particular. Secondly, tying economic status to health and well-being, the study concludes with an analysis of how such public health interventions had the propensity to impact on the social and economic well-being of the people of Gold Coast, with specific emphasis on Accra and Kumase during the 1950s.
{"title":"Economy and Health in the Gold Coast, 1902–1957","authors":"Samuel Adu-Gyamfi, Richard Oware","doi":"10.1353/aeh.2019.0006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/aeh.2019.0006","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT:The economy and health of populations have had inextricable relationships over time. Prior to colonisation, the environment of the Gold Coast like other places within the tropics of Africa was tagged as the “graveyard of the White man” due to its environmental vulnerability to diseases such as malaria, yellow fever, dysentery and sleeping sickness among others. In this regard, scholars have argued that colonisation did not only lead to the exploitation of the resources of Africa and the Gold Coast in particular, but it also led to the enhancement of public health. Essentially, the British Colonial Administration put measures in place to check common diseases that disturbed the people of the Gold Coast. The study therefore pays attention to the extent of disease burden on the adult working population in Gold Coast. The paper also examines how same colonial occurrences influenced the post-independence government of Ghana and Nkrumah’s administration in particular. Secondly, tying economic status to health and well-being, the study concludes with an analysis of how such public health interventions had the propensity to impact on the social and economic well-being of the people of Gold Coast, with specific emphasis on Accra and Kumase during the 1950s.","PeriodicalId":43935,"journal":{"name":"AFRICAN ECONOMIC HISTORY","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2020-01-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1353/aeh.2019.0006","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42496636","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ABSTRACT:The colonial history of neglect frames the development narrative of northern Ghana. Postcolonial critics emphasized the conscious neglect by the British imperial power and to some extent the post-colonial state. This paper seeks to deconstruct the narratives of the “blame-game,” by highlighting the economic potentials of the region, the contradictory policy positions of the colonial state and the ambivalence of post-colonial state. We argue that the “rule of colonial difference” birthed by the imperial power has guided the post- colonial state’s interventions in northern Ghana. The rule of difference allowed the British to categorize the region as backward and inferior in relation to other zones—especially the southern part of the Gold Coast colony. Consequently, the region served as a “labor reserve” to support production in the colonial economy in the south. The history of economic development in the zone was characterized by false starts, duplication and under-investment. This has left the economy of the North lagging behind the “south,” in terms of socio-economic development.
{"title":"The Economic Potentials of Northern Ghana: The Ambivalence of the Colonial and Post-Colonial States to Develop the North","authors":"Ali Yakubu Nyaaba, G. Bob-Milliar","doi":"10.1353/aeh.2019.0007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/aeh.2019.0007","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT:The colonial history of neglect frames the development narrative of northern Ghana. Postcolonial critics emphasized the conscious neglect by the British imperial power and to some extent the post-colonial state. This paper seeks to deconstruct the narratives of the “blame-game,” by highlighting the economic potentials of the region, the contradictory policy positions of the colonial state and the ambivalence of post-colonial state. We argue that the “rule of colonial difference” birthed by the imperial power has guided the post- colonial state’s interventions in northern Ghana. The rule of difference allowed the British to categorize the region as backward and inferior in relation to other zones—especially the southern part of the Gold Coast colony. Consequently, the region served as a “labor reserve” to support production in the colonial economy in the south. The history of economic development in the zone was characterized by false starts, duplication and under-investment. This has left the economy of the North lagging behind the “south,” in terms of socio-economic development.","PeriodicalId":43935,"journal":{"name":"AFRICAN ECONOMIC HISTORY","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2020-01-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1353/aeh.2019.0007","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48239150","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ABSTRACT:Some marked features of the colonial economy of the Gold Coast were increased migration and urbanization. While internally, the people of the Gold Coast migrated from one location to the other, international migrants from other West African countries as well as European and Asian countries were also present. Such movements were largely labor migrations. Male labor was particularly important in the colonial economy and streams of men moved into port towns, administrative centers, mining areas and places noted for cash crop production. However, employment was not readily available for all people. Devising survival strategies to cope with the situation resulted in the creation of new economies, or expansion of the informal economy by the unemployed. In this case, necessity created a need that was filled by economic activities which were either innovations of existing ones or new ones introduced by migrants. These diversified the country’s economy. This paper examines the intricacies involved under the mixed group of labor migrants and seeks to answer the following questions: What was the nature of patterns of migration in the Gold Coast under colonial rule?, What were some of the “new” jobs or the innovations made out of existing ones in the Gold Coast colonial economy, and how have these contributed to the development of the informal sector in the country?
{"title":"Migration and the Production of Informal Economies in the Gold Coast","authors":"Mariama Marciana Kuusaana","doi":"10.1353/aeh.2019.0008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/aeh.2019.0008","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT:Some marked features of the colonial economy of the Gold Coast were increased migration and urbanization. While internally, the people of the Gold Coast migrated from one location to the other, international migrants from other West African countries as well as European and Asian countries were also present. Such movements were largely labor migrations. Male labor was particularly important in the colonial economy and streams of men moved into port towns, administrative centers, mining areas and places noted for cash crop production. However, employment was not readily available for all people. Devising survival strategies to cope with the situation resulted in the creation of new economies, or expansion of the informal economy by the unemployed. In this case, necessity created a need that was filled by economic activities which were either innovations of existing ones or new ones introduced by migrants. These diversified the country’s economy. This paper examines the intricacies involved under the mixed group of labor migrants and seeks to answer the following questions: What was the nature of patterns of migration in the Gold Coast under colonial rule?, What were some of the “new” jobs or the innovations made out of existing ones in the Gold Coast colonial economy, and how have these contributed to the development of the informal sector in the country?","PeriodicalId":43935,"journal":{"name":"AFRICAN ECONOMIC HISTORY","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2020-01-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1353/aeh.2019.0008","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47089551","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ABSTRACT:Historical literature on the colonial period in The Gambia tends to focus on the roles of the outsiders such as British colonial agents like the Commissioners and soldiers, in the administration of the oldest British possession in Africa. This approach marginalizes the salient role of district chiefs in the running of the colonial state. Although most recent scholarship has started to address the leadership trajectory of chiefs in Gambia’s Protectorate administration, their cardinal role as factors in the colonial economic system has not been addressed. In this study, I argue that they were the backbone of the protectorate economic set up. To do so, I shall examine the role of chiefs as tax collectors; chiefs as agents in the production of ground nuts; and chiefs as proponents of the “cottage” industries in their districts. This article shall further our understanding of the critical African agency in the success of the colonial project in West Africa.
{"title":"“Help Us Balance Our Budget”: Chiefs as Economic Agents in Colonial Gambia: 1900–1950","authors":"Hassoum Ceesay","doi":"10.1353/aeh.2019.0009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/aeh.2019.0009","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT:Historical literature on the colonial period in The Gambia tends to focus on the roles of the outsiders such as British colonial agents like the Commissioners and soldiers, in the administration of the oldest British possession in Africa. This approach marginalizes the salient role of district chiefs in the running of the colonial state. Although most recent scholarship has started to address the leadership trajectory of chiefs in Gambia’s Protectorate administration, their cardinal role as factors in the colonial economic system has not been addressed. In this study, I argue that they were the backbone of the protectorate economic set up. To do so, I shall examine the role of chiefs as tax collectors; chiefs as agents in the production of ground nuts; and chiefs as proponents of the “cottage” industries in their districts. This article shall further our understanding of the critical African agency in the success of the colonial project in West Africa.","PeriodicalId":43935,"journal":{"name":"AFRICAN ECONOMIC HISTORY","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2020-01-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1353/aeh.2019.0009","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48254934","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ABSTRACT:This paper is a statistically based research and analysis that examines the historical evolution of the “Strange Farmer” phenomenon from the pre-colonial to the 1990s, and traces their contribution to The Gambia’s peanut export trade and to the colonial coffers, and subsequently those of the independent state. Strange farming is an agricultural contractual arrangement of “input (particularly labor and land) sharing” that enables Gambian landlords to “tie” migrant labor to their farms for the duration of the farming season. This is particularly important during periods of peak labor demand, when migrant-tenants could simply flee for better opportunities. The paper carries out simple linear regression and correlation analyses and finds significant correlation between the number of “Strange Farmers” in a given year and the volume of peanut exports in the subsequent year, contradicting Jarrett’s (1949) claim of no apparent correlation. The study describes the “Strange Farmer” system and also uses, but modifies, the classical “vent for surplus” theory, noting that expanded peanut production and exports must be understood against the background of seasonal labor supply augmentation by “Strange Farmers.” With these premises, the paper takes a long-term perspective on this important source of labor for The Gambia’s peanut trade.
{"title":"“Strange Farmers” and the Development of The Gambia’s Peanut Trade","authors":"Tijan M. Sallah","doi":"10.1353/aeh.2019.0010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/aeh.2019.0010","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT:This paper is a statistically based research and analysis that examines the historical evolution of the “Strange Farmer” phenomenon from the pre-colonial to the 1990s, and traces their contribution to The Gambia’s peanut export trade and to the colonial coffers, and subsequently those of the independent state. Strange farming is an agricultural contractual arrangement of “input (particularly labor and land) sharing” that enables Gambian landlords to “tie” migrant labor to their farms for the duration of the farming season. This is particularly important during periods of peak labor demand, when migrant-tenants could simply flee for better opportunities. The paper carries out simple linear regression and correlation analyses and finds significant correlation between the number of “Strange Farmers” in a given year and the volume of peanut exports in the subsequent year, contradicting Jarrett’s (1949) claim of no apparent correlation. The study describes the “Strange Farmer” system and also uses, but modifies, the classical “vent for surplus” theory, noting that expanded peanut production and exports must be understood against the background of seasonal labor supply augmentation by “Strange Farmers.” With these premises, the paper takes a long-term perspective on this important source of labor for The Gambia’s peanut trade.","PeriodicalId":43935,"journal":{"name":"AFRICAN ECONOMIC HISTORY","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2020-01-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1353/aeh.2019.0010","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44569554","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ABSTRACT:Drawing on a range of archival sources, this article examines the experiences of Africans who purchased land under freehold tenure and the debates that this generated among white settlers in early colonial Zimbabwe. In doing so, the article addresses the question of peasant differentiation, rural authority and colonial anxieties over power and African economic competition and the policing of white settlers' sexual behaviours. By focusing on African attempts at purchasing land before the passage of the Land Apportionment Act (1930) which institutionalized racialized land allocation and set aside exclusive areas where better off Africans could purchase land, this article does not only address a neglected subject, but pulls together in one narrative the different strands of themes surrounding land, missionary paternalism, colonial projects of rural rule and the policing of settler social behaviour in early colonial Zimbabwe.
{"title":"The Politics of African Freehold Land Ownership in Early Colonial Zimbabwe, 1890–1930","authors":"Joseph Mujere, Admire Mseba","doi":"10.1353/aeh.2019.0002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/aeh.2019.0002","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT:Drawing on a range of archival sources, this article examines the experiences of Africans who purchased land under freehold tenure and the debates that this generated among white settlers in early colonial Zimbabwe. In doing so, the article addresses the question of peasant differentiation, rural authority and colonial anxieties over power and African economic competition and the policing of white settlers' sexual behaviours. By focusing on African attempts at purchasing land before the passage of the Land Apportionment Act (1930) which institutionalized racialized land allocation and set aside exclusive areas where better off Africans could purchase land, this article does not only address a neglected subject, but pulls together in one narrative the different strands of themes surrounding land, missionary paternalism, colonial projects of rural rule and the policing of settler social behaviour in early colonial Zimbabwe.","PeriodicalId":43935,"journal":{"name":"AFRICAN ECONOMIC HISTORY","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2019-09-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1353/aeh.2019.0002","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46919851","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ABSTRACT:The Nigeria Cocoa Marketing Board was a post-war arrangement aimed at continuing the war-time control on cocoa trade in West Africa. Besides trade arrangements, the Board got involved in the improvement and sustainability of the cocoa industry in Nigeria. This point has either been missed out or mentioned only in passing by the hitherto existing literature on the subject. This is due to the concentration by scholars on the discussion of price stabilization and fiscal roles of the board, which in turn is due partly to the dominance of economists in the analysis of the subject. This study seeks to fill this knowledge gap by examining the contributions of the Nigeria Cocoa Marketing board to the development and sustainability of the cocoa economy in colonial Nigeria. The board intervened in the areas of disease control, cocoa and soil survey, rehabilitation of infected areas, quality assurance, and research into the economy of cocoa industry. Archival sources provided data for this analysis. It is a contribution to knowledge in the areas of the colonial economy, marketing boards, and the cocoa industry.
{"title":"Cocoa Marketing Board and the Sustainable Cocoa Economy in Colonial Nigeria","authors":"Olisa Godson Muojama","doi":"10.1353/aeh.2019.0001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/aeh.2019.0001","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT:The Nigeria Cocoa Marketing Board was a post-war arrangement aimed at continuing the war-time control on cocoa trade in West Africa. Besides trade arrangements, the Board got involved in the improvement and sustainability of the cocoa industry in Nigeria. This point has either been missed out or mentioned only in passing by the hitherto existing literature on the subject. This is due to the concentration by scholars on the discussion of price stabilization and fiscal roles of the board, which in turn is due partly to the dominance of economists in the analysis of the subject. This study seeks to fill this knowledge gap by examining the contributions of the Nigeria Cocoa Marketing board to the development and sustainability of the cocoa economy in colonial Nigeria. The board intervened in the areas of disease control, cocoa and soil survey, rehabilitation of infected areas, quality assurance, and research into the economy of cocoa industry. Archival sources provided data for this analysis. It is a contribution to knowledge in the areas of the colonial economy, marketing boards, and the cocoa industry.","PeriodicalId":43935,"journal":{"name":"AFRICAN ECONOMIC HISTORY","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2019-09-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1353/aeh.2019.0001","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45423964","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ABSTRACT:This article contributes to Southern Africa, Southern Rhodesia and South African historiography. Although work has been done on customs relations between Southern Rhodesia and South Africa, a study that examines ties exclusively and their links to settler colonialism has yet to be done. Foregrounded by the establishment and development of customs ties between the two, this article focuses on the nature of the customs agreements and the shifts over time, thus adding a new dimension to settler colonialism. The period under study was marked by an increasing divergence between the two countries in the realm of politics and economics. Global developments such as the Great Depression exposed and contributed to the widening cracks on the issue of customs ties between the two countries. While customs agreements continued to bind the two countries especially economically, Southern Rhodesia and South Africa became less accommodative to the other's economic requests, which in the case of Southern Rhodesia extended to a desire to loosen political ties and be less reliant on South Africa economically. Divergence of interests over the period under study saw a relationship marked by antagonism, competition and at times cooperation between the two settler colonial governments. This article unpacks how these aspects of the relationship emerged by way of the customs ties and what this relationship contributes to expanding understanding of settler colonialism more generally and Southern Africa in particular.
{"title":"Settler Colonialism and Trade in the Periphery: Customs Relations Between Southern Rhodesia and South Africa, 1924–1935","authors":"Abraham Mlombo","doi":"10.1353/aeh.2019.0004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/aeh.2019.0004","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT:This article contributes to Southern Africa, Southern Rhodesia and South African historiography. Although work has been done on customs relations between Southern Rhodesia and South Africa, a study that examines ties exclusively and their links to settler colonialism has yet to be done. Foregrounded by the establishment and development of customs ties between the two, this article focuses on the nature of the customs agreements and the shifts over time, thus adding a new dimension to settler colonialism. The period under study was marked by an increasing divergence between the two countries in the realm of politics and economics. Global developments such as the Great Depression exposed and contributed to the widening cracks on the issue of customs ties between the two countries. While customs agreements continued to bind the two countries especially economically, Southern Rhodesia and South Africa became less accommodative to the other's economic requests, which in the case of Southern Rhodesia extended to a desire to loosen political ties and be less reliant on South Africa economically. Divergence of interests over the period under study saw a relationship marked by antagonism, competition and at times cooperation between the two settler colonial governments. This article unpacks how these aspects of the relationship emerged by way of the customs ties and what this relationship contributes to expanding understanding of settler colonialism more generally and Southern Africa in particular.","PeriodicalId":43935,"journal":{"name":"AFRICAN ECONOMIC HISTORY","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2019-09-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1353/aeh.2019.0004","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49047555","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ABSTRACT:The introduction in 1905 of the Post Office Savings Bank (POSB) in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) made banking generally accessible to Africans and white settlers in outlying districts. The bank emerged because of pressure from the press, white settlers residing in outlying districts, chiefly farmers, civil servants and small miners. The government acquiesced to this pressure with a view to then inculcate a saving culture. Although the POSB was primarily designed to benefit white settlers, it extended its services to Africans because of the assumption that Africans were hoarding coins and that this problem would be solved by extending banking services to them. More importantly, the ruling British South African Company (BSAC) also hoped to tap into a growing African agricultural based economy to complement the struggling mining sector. However, for many reasons, only a few Africans banked with the POSB, relative to the total African population in the country. The POSB's reluctant "inclusive" banking did not necessarily deracialize banking as Africans who banked with the POSB still experienced degrading treatment and were denied access to some facilities provided by the POSB. Moreover, alternative African economies were more lucrative and fully managed by the Africans themselves, hence the lower uptake of POSB banking services.
{"title":"Towards Banking Inclusion? The Post Office Savings Bank (POSB) in Southern Rhodesia, 1905–1945","authors":"Tapiwa Madimu, Enocent Msindo","doi":"10.1353/aeh.2019.0003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/aeh.2019.0003","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT:The introduction in 1905 of the Post Office Savings Bank (POSB) in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) made banking generally accessible to Africans and white settlers in outlying districts. The bank emerged because of pressure from the press, white settlers residing in outlying districts, chiefly farmers, civil servants and small miners. The government acquiesced to this pressure with a view to then inculcate a saving culture. Although the POSB was primarily designed to benefit white settlers, it extended its services to Africans because of the assumption that Africans were hoarding coins and that this problem would be solved by extending banking services to them. More importantly, the ruling British South African Company (BSAC) also hoped to tap into a growing African agricultural based economy to complement the struggling mining sector. However, for many reasons, only a few Africans banked with the POSB, relative to the total African population in the country. The POSB's reluctant \"inclusive\" banking did not necessarily deracialize banking as Africans who banked with the POSB still experienced degrading treatment and were denied access to some facilities provided by the POSB. Moreover, alternative African economies were more lucrative and fully managed by the Africans themselves, hence the lower uptake of POSB banking services.","PeriodicalId":43935,"journal":{"name":"AFRICAN ECONOMIC HISTORY","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2019-09-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1353/aeh.2019.0003","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48913707","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
京公网安备 11010802042870号
京ICP备2023020795号-1
扫码关注我们
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：