The Management of the Bank of Senegal and the Formation of a Colonial Economy, 1840s–1901

Abstract In 1854, the Bank of Senegal was established using part of the compensation paid to former slave owners. The bank issued banknotes and provided modern financial services. Masaki analyzes the bank’s management and interrogates the widely accepted argument that merchants from Bordeaux controlled the bank to marginalize African merchants, concluding that the bank largely provided equitable service to this colony. Additionally, Masaki shows that the bank was a site of political struggles for the métis elites and suggests that the complexities of Senegalese society at the time made it difficult to assess the full scope of the bank’s operations.