Credit, currencies, and culture : African financial institutions in historical perspective

Introduction / E. Stiansen & J. Guyer -- Finance And Credit In Pre-colonial Dahomey / Robin Law -- On Currency And Credit In The Western Sahel, 1700-1850 / James L.a. Webb -- Slaves As Money In The Sokoto Caliphate / Jan Hogendorn -- Islamic Financial Institutions / John Hunwick -- Islamic Banking In The Sudan / Endre Stiansen -- Imposing A Guide On The Indigène : The Fifty Year Experience Of The Sociétés De Prévoyance In French West And Equatorial Africa / Gregory Mann & Jane I. Guyer -- Kòse-é-mánì : Idealism And Contradiction In The Yoruba View Of Money. Edited By Endre Stiansen And Jane I. Guyer. Most Of These Papers Were First Presented As A Seminar Series, Financial Institutions In Africa, Historical And Contemporary Perspectives, At The Program Of African Studies, Northwestern University, During The Winter Of 1996. Includes Bibliographical References. A striking feature of African history is the volume of commerce and production that has been possible without the full panoply of credit, insurances, future markets, stock companies, limited liability, and other legal and financial services that make up the formal sector of modern economies. The contributions to this volume investigate institutional nexuses through which money has been managed in Africa. Together they present important perspectives that are needed to understand the present economic crisis on the continent. The operation of credit in pre-colonial West Africa has not attracted much in the way of detailed study.