Trade In West Africa Research Articles

Sustainability under siege: Transport costs and corruption on West Africa's trade corridors

We use recent data on transport costs in West Africa, including the added burden of bribes and enforced delays, to show how such costs represent a deterrent to investment in — and therefore the sustainability of — agricultural assets. We focus on data for two important tree crops in West Africa, cashew and shea. We also have data for the transport of onions between Niger and the urban market in Accra, Ghana. Our data allow us to predict plausible increases in farm-gate prices from a reduction in transport costs and bribes. A 10% reduction in the total transport costs (actual costs plus corruption costs) of onions from Niger could result in a 12-13% price increase to onion farmers. Similar elasticities are 2% for cashew in Ghana and 7% for shea in Mali. These feasible price increases would encourage farmers to improve onion production, and to protect and improve production from cashew and shea trees, thereby enhancing the sustainability of agro-forestry in West Africa. We call these price increases the “sustainability dividend”. narf_1342

Silences that Speak to the Slave Trade

AbstractThis article reviews three books that address the memory and commemoration of the slave trade in West Africa. The author contextualises these books in the political context of slave trade commemoration and its academic analysis. In contrast to several European countries that have publicly admitted that this trade constituted a crime against humanity, in many African countries slavery and the slave trade remain silenced. The books discussed here address this “silence”. Holsey examines the politics of commemoration amongst the coastal population of contemporary Ghana. Historically complicit in the slave trade, these populations have “forgotten” the complicity of their forebears. The books by Shaw and Argenti suggest that the historical memory of the slave trade is no longer available in discourse, but embodied in ritual and performance. The unspeakable violence perpetrated against historical forebears is still remembered in today’s divination rituals and masked performances. Thus, these books provide sophisticated analysis of the ways in which a nightmarish modernity is remembered today and why the history of the slave trade is unfinished. Whether sequestered in discourse or embodied in ambiguous performance, the slave trade maintains a ghostly presence.

The Classic: Sainte-Beuve and the Nineteenth-Century Culture Wars by Christopher Prendergast

MLR, 104.4, 2009 1151 the author's journey to the sources of the Senegal and Gambia rivers in 1818. A naval position enables Mollien to travel to Africa and may also account for his occasional observations on opportunities for colonial expansion or commercial exploitation. Yet, the dominant tone of the text does not echo contemporary, Eu rocentric discourses of alterity, but is rather suggestive of a mode of encounter more readily associated with later travellers writing against colonialist paradigms of intercultural contact. By virtue of travellingwithout a European companion, for example, Mollien's contact with indigenous peoples is unmediated. This disrupts the conventional investment of power and control in the European, forMollien is largely dependent on the hospitality of those he meets for food, shelter, or the right to passage. Only items such as coral or tobacco offer him a commodity with which to bargain. The processes of encounter are thus not unilateral?the white European does not discover the black African?but are based, rather, on ex change. By extension, theEuropean becomes the object of the exotic gaze, regarded with hostility or hilarity, but always curiosity. This curiosity is reciprocated in the textual narrative, but not inways that other' the peoples encountered. Rather, Mollien resists homogenization by reporting in detail the customs, codes, beliefs, and landscapes of each individual tribe, as well as explicitly contesting colonialist stereotypes ofAfricans as cruel and uncivilized. Indeed, Mollien frequently estab lishes commonality between Europeans and Africans. His interpersonal encounters may result inboth celebratory and condemnatory vignettes of individuals, but this coexistence suggests balance, a willingness to look beyond monolithic preconcep tions. The text also offers a captivating tale of adventure, danger, and suspense. It opens with Mollien being shipwrecked on theMeduse and reaches its close with a rapid succession of threats on his life,with a perfidious guide, and grave illness. A highly informative introduction into the history of exploration in West Africa prefaces Mollien's narrative, including such fascinating, but little-known, facts as the Chinese trade in West Africa as early as that of fifteenth-centuryPor tuguese explorers. The availability ofMollien's narrative to a wider audience in the form of this new edition ismost welcome. The textwill be of considerable interest to those working in the fields of travelwriting and colonial/postcolonial studies. Cardiff University Margaret Topping The Classic: Sainte-Beuve and theNineteenth-Century Culture Wars. By Christo pher Prendergast. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2007. x+3i5pp. ?60. ISBN 978-0-19-921585-0. Many French scholars know by sight the several feet of shelf space occupied by the twenty-nine volumes of Sainte-Beuve's Causeries du lundi and Nouveaux lundis; some have dipped into these volumes in pursuit of a particular article or illumi nating comment; few have examined them in their own right.Moreover, on first reading Christopher Prendergast's introduction, one may indeed wonder why the 1152 Reviews mere fact of saving a set of Lundis, cast offby his college library, should have led him to bother with a writer with whose anti-democratic views he patently feels so little sympathy. Yet, as this study convincingly shows, Sainte-Beuve, though increasingly slippery, reactionary, and sycophantic in his conversations' with his Second Empire newspaper readers, stands nevertheless as amajor cultural figure of nineteenth-century France, reflecting and inflecting the intellectual debates of his day, as he engages in an ultimately vain attempt to shore up the belletrist notion of an elite French-inspired cultural canon against the democratizing German-led discourses of comparative philology, comparative mythology, and ethnography. Discussion of twentyyears' worth of articles (1848-68), covering a huge variety of authors, topics, periods, and places, presents amajor analytical and scholarly chal lenge. Prendergast's clear central argument starts by skilfully steering the reader through Sainte-Beuve's paradoxical conception of the classic as a phenomenon simultaneously universal and specifically French, rooted in the great writers of classical Latinity, notably Virgil, and carried forward through theMiddle Ages and theRenaissance to a new flowering in the great seventeenth-century authors of Le Roi-Soleil. It then considers the nineteenth-century challenges which this comfort ing notion of the classic aims to counter and contain: the intellectual competition...

Cloth in West African History (review)

Reviewed by: Cloth in West African History Heather Marie Akou (bio) Cloth in West African History. By Colleen E. Kriger . Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, 2006. Pp. xviii+214. $80/ $32.95. At first, the title of this book seems to have too much sweep. Much of the literature on textiles and clothing in Africa has actually been about a few English-speaking, sub-Saharan countries like Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa (a good example of this is Judith Perani and Norma H. Wolff's Cloth, Dress, and Art Patronage in Africa [1999], which, despite its title, is primarily about Nigeria). Only in the last ten years has a body of literature on other countries like Senegal, Mali, Zambia, and Madagascar begun to coalesce. In some ways, Colleen Kriger's book fits the old pattern. In each chapter, she builds her analysis around a single textile from Nigeria—a Bida woman's wrapper made of supplementary-weft "brocade" on a vertical loom, a pair of elaborately embroidered Muslim-style trousers from northern Nigeria, and a Yoruba woman's olokun wrapper made by resist-dyeing with indigo on factory-made cloth. So why not call this book "Cloth in Nigerian History"? What Kriger does differently, however—and extremely well—is to connect these textiles to a larger history of technology and trade in West Africa, [End Page 431] examining issues such as cotton production, indigo-dye recipes, and the transfer of consumer preferences and skills in weaving and embroidery. Her review of the literature is quite thorough (especially on Nigeria), but she also gathered new data from a wide variety of sources: archaeological textiles from Mali and Nigeria that had hardly been studied, collections from museums in Europe and North America (the British Museum and the Fowler Museum of Cultural History at the University of California, Los Angeles, as well as the Royal Ontario Museum, Wisbech and Fenland Museum in the United Kingdom, and the Ulmer Museum in Germany). She also reexamined linguistic evidence and motifs and even conducted her own experiments with indigo resist-dyeing techniques. As a historian with a degree in fine arts, Kriger was able to use her firsthand knowledge of spinning, weaving, dyeing, and sewing to take a fresh look at both textiles and written records. As she notes in the first chapter: Describing the fibers, how they were processed, and what dye was used to color them, can reveal information about raw-material production, technology, and trade. Carefully noting thread measurements, fabric densities, tailoring methods, and embroidery stitches can suggest the skills of the artisans, whether the artisans were specialized, and if they had adopted laborsaving strategies. . . . But in order to gain access to this information, one must know the specific technology as well as the historical circumstances and conditions that give a textile its particular character. (p. 14) This book will definitely satisfy historians of technology; it offers a state-of-the-art view of what we know about the history of cloth in West Africa, always explained in outstanding technical detail. In her third chapter, for example, Kriger compares sak'i (yarn-dyed strip-cloth) collected between 1841 and 1962 by a number of travelers and scholars. Along with examining the styles and names given to these textiles in different Nigerian languages, she also notes the width of the strips, ends per inch in the warp and weft, total thread count per square inch, and the number of white-to-indigo threads in the warp and weft that were used to create repeating geometric patterns. This allows Kriger to conclude that artisans were producing "incremental differences in quality that could be reflected in a broad range of prices" (p. 88), but also that the highest levels were equal to or better than the finest textiles coming from India and thus were not threatened by imports. At the same time, Kriger is careful to note where there are still gaps in the body of knowledge and where debates have yet to be settled. Ultimately, I think that Cloth in West African History sets a new and very high standard for the study of textiles in Africa—or really for any part of the world...

Combating light weapons proliferation in West Africa

Light weapons proliferation is a serious problem in West Africa. A regional moratorium on imports of small arms and light weapons has not worked and UN arms embargoes on Sierra Leone, Liberia and Cote d'Ivoire have had limited impact. The Economic Community of West African States is currently drafting a new binding legal instrument aimed at controlling flows in West Africa but this will only succeed if the heads of state and government seriously adopt it. This needs to include greater compliance of UN sanctions, international reform of the End User Certificate system, mapping the spread of artisan production and an examination of ammunition imports to West Africa. Better control of ammunition imports in particular may assist the combat of light weapons proliferation as well as the comprehensive destruction of weapons from disarmament efforts. The illicit weapons trade in West Africa is increasingly transnational and it requires regional and international cooperation and support to combat it.

James Rogers and the Bristol slave trade*

Abstract This article examines the business failure of James Rogers, a large Bristol slave trader, within the context of the operation of the late British slave trade in west Africa, on the Middle Passage, and in the Caribbean. Based on a large cache of surviving manuscripts, the article shows that the credit crisis of 1793 led to the demise of Rogers's mercantile career but also that his business collapse stemmed from over-extending his slave trading activities, from relatively poor profit levels, and from attempts to expand his trading portfolio in the eighteen months before the national financial crash.

Fact and fetish in creolization studies: Herskovits and the problem of induction, or, Guinea Coast, 1593

Focuses on the way Melville Herkovits used facts and facticity in his scientific work on creolization, and how these facts related to the theories in his work. Author relates this to the idea of fact as a stand-alone datum, or "fetish", independent of any theory for its existence. He describes how Herkovits in his work presented classifications of intensity of African retentions in different parts of the Americas, as well as of cultural elements, which Herkovits meant to be heuristic, yet, the author argues, seemed to precede the data. Further, the author discusses criticisms on this "economic anthropology". In addition, he sketches how the data as fetish, and related induction, developed out of the scientific revolution in Europe, separating arguments from facts, but also out of colonial ventures and the history of the slave trade in West Africa, making it a part of the study of creolization, of African slavery and the African diaspora. He points out, and applaudes, that Herkovits' theoretical stance changed from a strict empiricism to an awareness of the place of argument, or social convention, in the making of the facts themselves.

Regionalisation in Africa: Integration and Disintegration

Part 1 Regionalism and globalization in sub-Saharan Africa: revisiting a paradigm, Daniel Bach multilateralism and regionalism in international economic relations, Alice Landau African regional economic integration and the European Union, Walter Kennes. Part 2 States and territories: crisis of the state and communalism - new ideological stakes in African integration, Dominique Darbon boundaries and states in the new African order, Christopher Clapham paradoxes and ambiguities of democratization, Abdoulaye Niandou Souley is African civil society civilized?, Celestin Monga the collapse of Congo/Zaire and its regional impact, Edouard Bustin integration and disintegration in the Nigerian Federation, Rotimi Suberu territoriality and institutional change in the New South Africa, Simon Bekker. Part 3 Regional organizations: integration in ECOWAS - successes and difficulties, Olatunde B.J. Ojo failing institutions and shattered spaces - what regional integration in Central Africa?, Marc-Louis Ropivia the renovation of UDEAC - sense and nonsense in Central African integration, Michel Lelart the rival strategies of SADC and COMESA in Southern Africa, Peter Takirambudde SACU and the Rand zone, Colin McCarthy. Part 4 Networks: cross-border trade in West Africa - the Gahan-Cote d'Ivoire frontier, Bruno Stary personal networks and trans-frontier trade - Zairean and Congolese migrants, Janet MacGaffey and Remy Bazenguissa the production and distribution of illicit drugs, Alain Labrousse.

The English in West Africa, 1681-1683: The Local Correspondence of the Royal African Company of England, 1681-1699, Part 1

The letter-books of the Royal African Company of England form the most substantial and important source of material on English trade in West Africa in the late seventeenth century. The Royal African Company held a legal monopoly of English trade with West Africa, principally in gold and slaves for the American colonies. The correspondence among the Company's local agents is exceptionally detailed in its coverage of the day-to-day operation of their trade and their interactions with local African societies - especially on the Gold Coast (Ghana). The letter-books, never previously printed, cover the period 1681-1699. The original texts are being published in full, with extensive explanatory commentary, in three or four volumes. This first volume contains the letters for the years 1681-1683. Available in OSO:

Uses, management and economic potential of Irvingia gabonensis in the humid lowlands of Cameroon

Irvingia gabonensis is one of the most preferred tree species by farmers in the humid lowlands of Cameroon. The kernel of the species figures prominently in international trade in West Africa. Although there exists empirical data on the volume of international trade of the kernel, no data are available at the farm-level. The species generally grows in the wild and very little efforts have been made to domesticate it. As part of a prioritization exercise a field survey was undertaken to quantify, at the farm-level, the economic importance of the species. Uses, management and farmers' improvement objectives were also identified. The results of the survey indicate that Irvingia gabonensis is propagated rather by transplanting wildings than by planting of seedlings and is found mostly in tree crop fields (e.g. cocoa and coffee). The kernel or seed is highly traded and is also transformed into a paste which is used in the preparation of sauces. Irvingia wood is used for timber, its dead branches for firewood and the bark is used as medicine. The farm-level annual value of production for Irvingia averages US$ 93.00–US$ 15.00 from fruits and US$ 78.00 from seeds – per grower/collector in some regions. Desired improvement objectives include increasing fruit size, improving the taste of fruits, increasing yield, reducing tree height and time to bearing.

Contraintes structurelles, politiques nationales et coopération régionale: déterminants des échanges entre les pays d'Afrique de l'Ouest?

ABSTRACT Since 1993, the prospects of intraregional trade in West Africa have been the subject of much debate. On the one hand, Foroutan and Pritchett (1993) explain the low level of trade between sub-Saharan African countries by structural factors; on the other hand, Naudet (1993) shows that trade growth potential is important between West African countries. This debate is even more important because the seven countries that form the UEMOA have reasserted their willingness to strengthen their economic relationship in January 1994. This article tries through highlights of the different determinants of intraregional trade to show that effective regional cooperation is an important factor to promote trade between developing countries, and to determine why and how the UEMOA could be the cornerstone of sustainable development in West Africa.

Rotgut and Revenue: Fiscal Aspects of the Liquor Trade in Southern Nigeria, 1890–1919

Once recommended by A.G. Hopkins as a ‘profitable subject of future research’, the European liquor trade in West Africa has since then received considerable attention from scholars. While Lynn Pan examined the region in a broad survey of the African liquor trade, other scholars have focused on more specific aspects of the topic. To be sure, much of the literature has concentrated on the ideological controversy between the defenders and opponents of the European liquor traffic. Other aspects of the subject, however, such as the significance of the liquor traffic in the Anglo-German commercial rivalry in West Africa liquor prohibition as colonial policy in largely-Muslim territories, and the fiscal importance of liquor – both spirits and beer – in the colonial and post-independence states, have been examined in various studies.

L'intégration monétaire avant l'intégration commerciale : le cas de l'Afrique de l'Ouest

Regional integration schemes have experienced a big surge in the world over the past thirty years. Contrary to the usual process, uemoa countries have led a «monetary agreement first, trade agreement after» strategy. These countries have the most important intra-regional trade in West Africa. Monetary agreement reduces real exchange rate instability and prevents rough and repeated monetary adjustments. The stabilisation of macro-economic environment is hence the main condition to the expansion of intra-regional trade. Trade agreement can then take place without creating regional desequilibrium. This paper uses a bilateral trade gravity model for west african countries to show that a «monetary agreement first, trade agreement after» strategy, could be a better way to achieve regional integration between developing countries.

Intraregional trade in West Africa: Impacts of Ghana's cocoa exports and economic growth

Agricultural trade between West African countries increased rapidly during the 1960s and early 1970s, but has been declining since the 1970s. This article uses available data on individual commodity imports to test whether the policy environment in Ghana influences its imports from regional markets. The results show that the dramatic fall in the country's imports of bovine cattle from the regional market has been largely caused by the decline in economic and export performance. The country's imports of rice and wheat are sensitive to real exchange rate and world market prices, implying that overvaluation of the national currency resulted in increased imports and consumption of these commodities to the disadvantage of grains produced in the region.

Small Company Trade and the Gold Coast: The Swedish Africa Company 1650-1663

The Swedish Africa Company (Svenska Afrikakompaniet, SAK) was a chartered trading company which conducted a limited and short-lived trade in the middle of the seventeenth century. Its political and economic significance for Sweden itself was negligible, and in West Africa the Company was one of the smallest and shortest lived of trading companies. At first glance, the SAK appears to be merely a historical curiosity and therefore outside the interest of scientific research. Yet closer examination reveals that the Company was actually quite profitable. An understanding of how t i achieved its success will surely add to our knowledge about European trade in West Africa.

西アフリカのイスラム化と交易

西アフリカのイスラム化と交易

Les Théories des Avantages Comparés et de la Dépendance Appliquées à L'analyse du Commerce Extérieur de I'Afrique de I'Ouest

Economic theories of comparative advantage and dependence provide partial explanations of the structure of agricultural foreign trade in West Africa. However, their sometimes simplistic and narrow perspective explains existing gaps between theoretical forecasts and empirical evidence.

African resistance to the Atlantic slave trade in West Africa

African resistance to the Atlantic slave trade in West Africa

Markets and Trade in West Africa: Policy Issues for the Poorest Members of ECOWAS

The limited size of domestic markets, the availability of natural and technological resources in national units, and the desire to retain some form of protection against full global competition are all factors which promote the formation of regional economic groupings. National markets are usually too small to support efficient industries, exploiting economies of scale or specialization. The elimination of tariffs within an economic community and a common external tariff to non-members should divert trade from external to internal community sources. For industries favorably affected by trade diversion, trade expansion should enable the exploitation of economies of scale and specialization formerly unattainable because of the small size of the domestic market. Production should be allocated among members on the basis of comparative advantage and, following free trade theory, it should then be at its most efficient and low cost. Economic integration is essentially then a strategy of export promotion and free trade among members and of import substitution and protection towards non

Trade and growth in West Africa in the 1980s

The classical school regards international trade as the main engine of growth. But modern empirical studies have failed to show any simple and generally consistent correlation between foreign trade statistics and macro-economic aggregates such as savings, Investment, consumption and growth1. The more generally accepted view is that development through trade where it occurred was partly the consequence of favourable internal environment. What are the prospects for growth through trade in West Africa in the 1980s?