19th century commerce in coastal West Africa

Résumé du document

The nineteenth century has been a turning point in the West African economic history. Indeed, the transition from the eighteenth to the nineteenth century marked the intensification of commerce. As a result of the industrial revolution which took place in Europe, especially in Britain, the demand for new products in industrial processes and consumption increased and some of these could be found readily in Africa. Thus, raw materials were imported by Europeans from Africa, in exchange for manufactured products such as clothes, firearms, gunpowder and spirituous liquors. The middlemen between the African producers and the European capitalists formed a specific class of indigenous merchants which grew from the 1830s to the 1850s, and after a decline of their prosperity during the 1860s, they flourished again from the 1870s to the 1890s. This essay will discuss how nineteenth century commerce in coastal West Africa seemed to operate from the perspective of African merchants.

Extraits

[...] Indeed, the European merchandises were ordered by the African merchants from consignment houses, who charged a rate of 2 [and a half] to 5 per cent commission on the net invoice value of the merchandise plus shipping and insurance costs.[15] Therefore, debts with European consignment houses were piled up, and the African merchants were often requesting for extensions of credit. These extensions were granted in exchange of the increase of the interest rate. Furthermore, the African merchants applied to the European firms for goods on credit. [...]

[...] But in order to be the most competitive as possible in these bilateral exchanges between Europe and West Africa, the indigenous merchants kept practicing slavery. Therefore, the slave-trade within Africa increased in volume. This can be explained by the need of local labour forces, particularly for the transportation of goods from the hinterlands to the coast. So the first half of the nineteenth century witnessed mainly a continuation of the eighteenth century pattern.[5] Furthermore, the establishment of this “legitimate” commerce had witnessed the increased participation of African merchants in the import and export trade. [...]

[...] Susan Kaplow, Mudfish and the Crocodile”. p.328. Edward Reynolds, “Rise and Fall of an African Merchant Class on the Gold Coast 1830-74”. p.262. Susan Kaplow, Mudfish and the Crocodile”. p.318. Bill Freund, Making of Contemporary Africa. The Development of African Society since 1800”. p.63. Susan Kaplow, Mudfish and the Crocodile”. p.333. [...]

[...] Edward Reynolds, “Rise and Fall of an African Merchant Class on the Gold Coast 1830-74”. p.254. Edward Reynolds, “Rise and Fall of an African Merchant Class on the Gold Coast 1830-74”. p.256. Raymond Dumett, ‘John Sarbah the Elder and African Merchant Entrepreneurship on the Gold Coast in the late nineteenth century”. p.657. Susan Kaplow, Mudfish and the Crocodile”. p.317. Edward Reynolds, “Rise and Fall of an African Merchant Class on the Gold Coast 1830-74”. p.259. Susan Kaplow, Mudfish and the Crocodile”. [...]

[...] Allen Howard and David Skinner, “Network Building and Political Power in North-Western Sierra Leone 1800-65”. p.24. Allen Howard and David Skinner, “Network Building and Political Power in North-Western Sierra Leone 1800-65”. p.7. Bill Freund, Making of Contemporary Africa. The Development of African Society since 1800”. p.54. Raymond Dumett, ‘John Sarbah the Elder and African Merchant Entrepreneurship on the Gold Coast in the late nineteenth century”. p.664. Edward Reynolds, “Rise and Fall of an African Merchant Class on the Gold Coast 1830-74”. p.260. [...]