The Emergence of African Entrepreneurs in Fort Rosebery (Mansa) - Samfya Area, 1930 - 1964

Mwansa, Maximus (1990) The Emergence of African Entrepreneurs in Fort Rosebery (Mansa) - Samfya Area, 1930 - 1964. Masters thesis, University of Zambia.

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Abstract

his dissertation examines the factors responsible for the emergence of African entrepreneurs in Fort Rosebery (Mansa) - Samfya area from the period 1930 to 1964. This study focuses on Mansa and Samfya districts. The coming of colonial rule to Northern Rhodesia (Zambia) was followed by a complete change in the political, social and economic organization of the indigenous people.In the economic arena, the African economies were incorporated into the cash economy for the local people no longer depended on barter system. The cash economy entailed the introduction of European manufactured goods such as cloth, pots and other items for which the local people had to use cash to buy them.The European items were at first bought from the European stores. Later, Africans also started establishing stores. However, under the British South Africa Company (B.S.A. Co.) administration, Africans were not encouraged to own stores because the company administration was not interested in promoting African interests. Instead, store owning was considered as a preserve of the Europeans. The company was only interested in tapping the labour of the Africans in order to increase their profits. The situation was reversed after 1924 when the British colonial office took over administration from the B.S.A. co. In their quest to promote African interests, the colonial office started encouraging Africans to take up trade. This was climaxed by the publication of the Passifield Memorandum in 1930, which upheld the interests of the Africans against those of the Europeans.In analyzing the factors which facilitated the emergence of African entrepreneurs, the study shows how various factors interacted to enhance the process. Among others, it shows how favourable government policies throughout the period under study contributed to the emergence of African entrepreneurs. At the level of capital accumulation for example, the government did not tamper with the major sources of capital accumulation such as kombo and fish trade. The government also did not interfere with the free trade that existed between the Congo (Zaire) and Northern Rhodesia, This led to the interchange of ideas between the two peoples especially in the area of trade. At the level of access to the industrial centres, the government was committed to improving communications in the area to facilitate the movement of goods to and from the industrial centres. In the I940s and 1950s the prosperous entrepreneurs started investing in motorized transport which step led to efficiency in transportation of goods, thereby creating conditions for more capital accumulation. Because of this, there was a gradual differentiation within the business community. Some became more prosperous while others remained relatively poor.

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
Divisions:	Africana
Depositing User:	Geoffrey Obatsa
Date Deposited:	16 Apr 2019 13:48
Last Modified:	16 Apr 2019 13:48
URI:	http://thesisbank.jhia.ac.ke/id/eprint/9165

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