The History of Business in Africa: Complex Discontinuity to Emerging Markets PDF
Preview The History of Business in Africa: Complex Discontinuity to Emerging Markets
Studies in Economic History Grietjie Verhoef The History of Business in Africa Complex Discontinuity to Emerging Markets Studies in Economic History Serieseditor TetsujiOkazaki,TheUniversityofTokyo,Tokyo,Japan EditorialBoardMembers LorenBrandt,UniversityofToronto,Canada MyungSooCha,YeungnamUniversity,Korea NicholasCrafts,UniversityofWarwick,UK ClaudeDiebolt,UniversityofStrasbourg,France BarryEichengreen,UniversityofCaliforniaatBerkeley,USA StanleyEngerman,UniversityofRochester,USA PriceV.Fishback,UniversityofArizona,USA AvnerGreif,StanfordUniversity,USA TirthankerRoy,LondonSchoolofEconomicsandPoliticalScience,UK OsamuSaito,HitotsubashiUniversity,Japan JochenStreb,UniversityofMannheim,Germany NikolausWolf,HumboldtUniversity,Germany AimsandScope This series from Springer provides a platform for works in economic history that trulyintegrateeconomicsandhistory.Booksonawiderangeofrelatedtopicsare welcomed and encouraged, including those in macro-economic history, financial history, labor history, industrial history, agricultural history, the history of institutionsandorganizations,spatialeconomichistory,lawandeconomichistory, politicaleconomichistory,historicaldemography,andenvironmentalhistory. Economichistorystudieshave greatlydeveloped overthepastseveraldecades throughapplicationofeconomicsandeconometrics.Particularlyinrecentyears,a variety of new economic theories and sophisticated econometric techniques— including game theory, spatial economics, and generalized method of moment (GMM)—havebeenintroducedforthegreatbenefitofeconomichistoriansandthe researchcommunity. At the same time, a good economic history study should contribute more than just an application of economics and econometrics to past data. It raises novel research questions, proposes a new view of history, and/or provides rich documentation.Thisseriesisintendedtointegratedataanalysis,closeexamination ofarchivalworks,andapplicationoftheoretical frameworkstooffernewinsights andevenprovideopportunitiestorethinktheories. ThepurviewofthisnewSpringerseriesistrulyglobal,encompassingallnations and areas of the world as well as all eras from ancient times to the present. The editorial board, who are internationally renowned leaders among economic historians,carefullyevaluateandjudgeeachmanuscript,referringtoreportsfrom expert reviewers. The series publishes contributions by university professors and otherswellestablishedintheacademiccommunity,aswellasworkdeemedtobe ofequivalentmerit. Moreinformationaboutthisseriesathttp://www.springer.com/series/13279 Grietjie Verhoef The History of Business in Africa Complex Discontinuity to Emerging Markets GrietjieVerhoef DepartmentofAccountancy UniversityofJohannesburg AucklandPark,SouthAfrica ISSN2364-1797 ISSN2364-1800 (electronic) StudiesinEconomicHistory ISBN978-3-319-62565-2 ISBN978-3-319-62566-9 (eBook) DOI10.1007/978-3-319-62566-9 LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2017947894 ©SpringerInternationalPublishingAG2017 Thisworkissubjecttocopyright.AllrightsarereservedbythePublisher,whetherthewholeorpartof the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilarmethodologynowknownorhereafterdeveloped. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publicationdoesnotimply,evenintheabsenceofaspecificstatement,thatsuchnamesareexempt fromtherelevantprotectivelawsandregulationsandthereforefreeforgeneraluse. Thepublisher,theauthorsandtheeditorsaresafetoassumethattheadviceandinformationinthis book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained hereinor for anyerrors oromissionsthat may havebeenmade. Thepublisher remainsneutralwith regardtojurisdictionalclaimsinpublishedmapsandinstitutionalaffiliations. Printedonacid-freepaper ThisSpringerimprintispublishedbySpringerNature TheregisteredcompanyisSpringerInternationalPublishingAG Theregisteredcompanyaddressis:Gewerbestrasse11,6330Cham,Switzerland Preface IamanAfrican.IamanAfrikanerAfrican. The unexplored potential of the people of my continent is the single most distressing fact of our times. Africa has the benefit of centuries-long culturally enricheddiversity.Thereisstrengthinthisdiversity.Meetingcolleaguesininter- national business history gatherings has always left me explaining the disunity of Africa,thediversityandthedevastatingpowerstruggles.Thisbookwasinspiredby theneedtointroducethestrengthofthatdiversityontheAfricancontinent.Since Africa is not the home of the world’s largest multinational corporations, business historians have paid scant attention to the development trajectory of business in Africa. The impressive growth performance of African economies since the last decade of the twentieth century and the emergence of African multinational cor- porations on global bourses hint at the fact that the time has come to consider Africanbusinessdevelopmentinitsownright.Thelargestemergingmultinational corporation in the market is Naspers, a South African enterprise. The biggest transaction in the global beverages industry was completed by Anheuser-Busch InBevacquiringSouthAfricanBreweriesin2016.Thelargestmobiletelecommu- nications company in Africa and the Middle East is MTN, greeting the world as ‘Yello’.TherichestblackmanintheworldisAlikoDangotefromNigeria.There mustbesomethinginAfrica’swater! Since my first attendance of a business history conference in Palo Alto, San Francisco, in 1999, aspects of the business history of Africa entered international businesshistorymeetings.SinglepapersonAfricanandSouthAfricantopicswere difficult to fit into the internationally oriented sessions in the USA, Europe and other leading economies. Since 2002, I organised sessions at the International EconomicHistoryAssociation’sconferences,hopingtoattractwiderinterest.The first session on Africa history was at the Buenos Aires congress of the IEHA in 2002.Atthe2006IEHAcongressinHelsinki,Finland,twosessionsdevotedtheir attention to economic and business development in Africa. In the 2009 World Economic History Congress in Utrecht, the Netherlands, the momentum grew as scholarsfromAfricaorganisedsessionsontheeconomichistoryofAfricaandearly v vi Preface eighteenth-centuryCapeColonyandonbusinessinAfrica,especiallythefinancial sector, insurance in comparative perspective. In 2012, the first IEHA World Con- gress came to South Africa, where the number of sessions on economic develop- ment and business in Africa testified to the growing interest in Africa. The one dimensionthatremainedunderdevelopedwasthebusinesshistoryofAfrica.Atthe World EconomicHistory CongressinKyotoin2015,Africa featuredinatotalof eight sessions. It was in Kyoto where the idea was mooted to write a full text to introducethestateofbusinesshistoryinAfricaonAfricanbusiness. This book developed from many long, penetrating and inspiring discussions between perhaps one of the business history community’s leading intellectuals, FrancoAmatoryfromBocconiUniversity,Italy,andmyself.Hebroughtmetothe point of attempting to put the business history of Africa on the agenda. He encouragedthedisciplinetoengageinamanuscripttointroduceotherscholarsto the history of business in Africa. His inspiration has always been directed at encouraging young scholars and creating opportunities for open debate whereby the crucial new directions in business history enter inspirational dimensions. This intends to bring scholars together in pursuing many of the outstanding issues pertaining to the nature, progress and limitations of Africa’s business. The book outlines the broad trajectories of development in business in Africa and shows a persistent entrepreneurial presence. It shows multi-ethnic manifestations of entre- preneurial talent and the fostering of individual aspirations, ability and success. Those are the foundations of African business Amatori encouraged me to write about and to inspire African scholars to pursue. This book is by no means an exhaustivetextonAfricanbusiness.Itidentifiesthegradualconvergencebetween businessinAfricaandbusinessinneighbouringandglobalmarkets.Itcallsscholars to accept the challenge to write the history ofbusiness inAfrica, by Africans and fromAfricaintoglobalmarkets.Thepresentationofthewiderangeofbiographies, collected and synthesised here, constitutes the fabric from which future African business development will take off. An unmined field of entrepreneurial biogra- phies, organisational studies and configuration of business groups are the themes invitingfutureresearch.Thereisalifetimeofworkontheimpactoftechnological progressonbusinessinAfrica,ontheroleoforganisationsincreatingeconomiesof scaleandontheemergenceofbigbusinessas‘anactofrationality’(Amatori2015) opentoscholarsofbusinessinAfrica. ThevisiontoengagesystematicallywithAfrica’seconomicandbusinesshistory has taken a long winding road through world congresses and business history meetings. I am indebted to all the participants in the sessions since 1999 and continued the discourse about Africa. Moreover, I thank the band of economic andbusinesshistoriansinSouthAfrica,fortheirperseveranceanddedicationtothe vision of Africa’s past. My work has benefitted immensely from those initiatives, debatesandmeetingsonhomesoilandinglobalmeetingplaces.IthankFrancoand MaggiAmatorifortheirgeneroushospitalityduringanumberofvisitstoBocconi, towardsmyself,aswellastowardsthescholarlycommunityseekingtostretchthe boundaries ofbusiness history. My work has benefitted tono limited degree from theinvaluableresearchassistanceofDrSuzannevanEeden-Allen,whohasbeenan Preface vii exceptional explorer, synthesiser and editor to my endeavours. The work on the historyofbusinessinAfricahasonlyjustbegun. Johannesburg GrietjieVerhoef May2017 Reference Amatori F (2015) State and enterprise: the case of SOEs in Europe in the 20th century.RivistadiPoliticaEconomica3,July/September2015:13–19 Contents 1 TheHistoryofBusinessinAfrica:Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 2 AfricaandAfricas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 2.1 Conclusion. . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . 22 References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 3 NetworksofExchange. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 3.1 BusinessUnitofOperation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 3.2 MerchantsandTradeintheEast. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 3.3 IndianBusinessinAfrica:MiaandDockratFamilyBusiness. . . . 48 3.4 Conclusion. . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . 51 References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 4 BusinessinNewMarketsUnderNewMasters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 4.1 EscalatingCostofCompetitionMandatedDiplomacy. . . . . . . . . 57 4.2 Strategy:CharteredCompanies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 4.3 AfricanEntrepreneursinSouthAfrica:Exceptionalism andSimilarity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 4.4 ConcludingOverview:TheRoleofCreditandBanking. . . . . . . . 76 4.5 Conclusion. . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . 81 References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 5 BusinessinIndependentAfrica. . . . .. . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . .. 87 5.1 Ideology,PolicyandBusiness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 5.2 Power,BusinessandthePeople:Ghana. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 5.3 Power,BusinessandthePeople:Nigeria. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 5.4 PowerandBusiness:FrenchWestAfrica. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 5.5 StatismandBusiness:EastAfrica. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 5.6 TheState,PowerandBusiness:CentralAfrica. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 5.7 OutlierSouthAfrica. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 5.8 Conclusion:AfricanBusinessattheEndofthe1980s. . . . . . . . . 115 References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 ix x Contents 6 EntertheMarket:AfricanEntrepreneurialRebirthAfter1980. . . . 119 6.1 ContextualOverhaul. . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 119 6.2 Privatisation:EntersAfricanEntrepreneurs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122 6.3 NewGenerationEntrepreneurialInnovation. . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. 126 6.4 TransformingHumbleTradingintoaCorporateEmpire. . . . . . . . 133 6.5 TransformingSocialismintoaMarket. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 6.6 MuslimMaghreb. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148 6.7 Banking. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152 6.8 BlackBusinessandOpenMarketsinSouthAfrica. . . . . . . . . . . . 154 6.9 Conclusion:TheJourneyHasJustBegun. .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. 160 References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162 7 IntotheGlobal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167 7.1 BigandPowerful. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 7.2 TheNewGlobalAfricanBusiness:Entrepreneurs andBillionaires. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189 7.3 Conclusion. . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . 201 References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203 8 Conclusion:TheBeginningofAfricanBusinessHistory. . . . . . . . . . 207 References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
The list of books you might like
