The Business of Development in Post-Colonial Africa (Cambridge Imperial and Post-Colonial Studies)

This collection brings together a range of case studies by both established and early career scholars to consider the nexus between business and development in post-colonial Africa. A number of contributors examine the involvement of European companies (most notably those of former colonial powers) in development in various African states at the end of empire and in the early post-colonial era. They explore how businesses were not just challenged by the new international landscape but benefited from the opportunities it offered, particularly those provided by development aid. Other contributors focus on the development agencies of the departing colonial powers to consider how far these served to promote the interests of European companies. Together these case studies constitute an important contribution to our understanding of both business and development in post-colonial Africa, redressing an imbalance in existing histories of both business and development which focus predominantly on the colonial period. This volume breaks new ground as one of the very first to bring the study of foreign companies and development aid into the same frame of analysis Acknowledgements Contents Abbreviations Notes on Contributors Chapter 1: Introduction: New Directions in the History of Business and Development in Post-Colonial Africa Post-colonial Development in Africa European Business in Colonial and Post-colonial Africa The Business of Development References Chapter 2: Business, the Commonwealth and the Rhetoric of Development: The Federation of Commonwealth Chambers of Commerce and Africa, 1945–1974 I II III IV V References Chapter 3: Adapting to Independence: The East Africa Association, Post-Colonial Business Networks and Economic Development The Tanganyika Association and Decolonisation in East Africa A Possible East Africa Committee Membership and Benefits of the EAA Development and Personal Networks Conclusion References Chapter 4: Belgian Firms, Development Plans and the Independence of the Belgian Congo Tractionel as a Colonial Economic Actor GIDEC as a Trojan Horse Building Independence from Private Actors And What about the Congolese? Conclusion References Chapter 5: Oil Companies as Agents of Post-Colonial Relations: France, Algeria, and Italy in the Sahara French Oil in the Sahara Saharan Oil to the Algerians Rogue Oil: Enrico Mattei and Oil Development Projects Towards an Algerian Oil Industry Conclusion References Chapter 6: A Partner in Progress? Shell-BP’s Development Role in Nigeria During the Transition to Independence ‘Black Gold Hype’ and Managing Expectations Shell-BP’s Independence Settlement with the Federal Government Shell-BP’s Advance/Loan Deal with the Federal Government Conclusions References Chapter 7: The ‘Know-How of the World is Mainly with Private Companies’: The Commonwealth Development Corporation and British Business in Post-Colonial Africa CDC and the Benefits of Partnership with Private Enterprise Private Enterprise and the Benefits of Partnership with CDC Thinking British? CDC and British Business Conclusion References Chapter 8: Decolonising Finance, Africanising Banking Introduction From the Origins of the Caisse Centrale to the First Steps of French Development Assistance The First Step Towards Africanisation: The Africanisation of Personnel The Africanisation of Ownership: The Multiplication of Development Banks Conclusion References Chapter 9: The European Development Fund, a Dowry for French Companies? Business as Usual The EDF: A Piggy Bank for French Firms Dealing with the ‘Discrimination Issue’ Turning Local Conclusion References Chapter 10: Displacing the French? Ivorian Development and the Question of Economic Decolonisation, 1946–1975 French-Style Decolonisation and the Evanescence of the Displacement From Triangulation to State-Led Industrial Development Large-Scale Development and the Triumph of Foreign Firms Conclusion References Chapter 11: European Private Sector and African Firms in EU-ACP Development Cooperation (1975–2000) Introduction Industrial Cooperation in the 1970s: Accelerating Business Development in ACP Countries European Business Networks Around DG VIII in the 1970s The European Commission between European and African Businesses in the late 1980s A Neoliberal Version of Business Support in the 1990s—for ACP or European Companies? Conclusion References Chapter 12: Afterword References Index This collection brings together a range of case studies of European companies (most notably those of former colonial powers) and considers their involvement in development after European decolonisation. In this way, the book makes an original contribution to post-colonial studies. Individual chapters by both established and early career scholars examine the activities of foreign enterprise in various African states and the companies' strategies to stay in Africa. They explore how businesses were not just challenged by the new international landscape but benefited from the opportunities it offered, particularly those provided by development aid. Together they constitute an important contribution to our understanding of both business and development in post-colonial Africa, redressing an imbalance in existing histories of both business and development which focus predominantly on the colonial period. This volume breaks new ground as one of the very first to bring the study of foreign companies and development aid into the same frame of analysis