Abstract
In this chapter, we analyse what role a number of imperialist policies and colonial institutions played for the estimated return on investment in Africa. We study whether two particular imperialist events—the occupation of Egypt in 1882 and the South African War of 1899–1902—had any impact upon the return on investment in these respective parts of Africa. We furthermore study the impact of different colonial institutions. One such institution studied here is the use of chartered companies for the colonization of African countries. We furthermore exploit the distinction between settler and non-settler colonies to analyse the impact of a bundle of colonial institutions associated with settler colonies, in particular, upon the return on investment in these types of colonies. We finally turn to studying the return on investment in connection with decolonization during the 1950s and 1960s and whether decolonization led to the realization of country risk for the investors. We conclude that while specific imperial policies and colonial institutions influenced the return on investment temporarily, this did not translate into a higher average return on investment throughout the period under study.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Austin, Gareth. 2016. Sub-Saharan Africa. In A History of the Global Economy 1500 to the Present, ed. Joerg Baten, 316–350. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Austin, Gareth, Ewout Frankema, and Ewout Morten Jerven. 2017. Patterns of Manufacturing Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa: From Colonization to the Present. In The Spread of Industrialization in the Global Periphery, ed. Kevin O’Rourke and Jeffrey Williamson, 345–374. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Baker, Geoffrey. 1996. Trade Winds on the Niger: The Saga of the Royal Niger Company, 1830–1971. London: The Radcliffe Press.
Buelens, Frans, and Stefaan Marysse. 2009. Returns on Investments During the Colonial Era: The Case of the Belgian Congo. The Economic History Review 62 (s1): 135–166.
Cain, Peter J., and Anthony G. Hopkins. 2001. British Imperialism, 1688–2000. Harlow: Longman.
Carlos, Ann M., and Stephen Nicholas. 1988. ‘Giants of an Earlier Capitalism’: The Chartered Trading Companies as Modern Multinationals. Business History Review 62 (3): 398–419.
Chamberlain, M.E. 1976. Sir Charles Dilke and the British Intervention in Egypt, 1882: Decision Making in a Nineteenth-Century Cabinet. Review of International Studies 2 (3): 231–245.
Darwin, John. 1997. Imperialism and the Victorians: The Dynamics of Territorial Expansion. The English Historical Review 112 (447): 614–642.
Farnie, D.A. 1969. East and West of Suez: The Suez Canal in History 1854–1956. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Feinstein, Charles. 2005. An Economic History of South Africa: Conquest, Discrimination and Development. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Flint, John. 1960. Sir George Goldie and the Making of Nigeria. London: Oxford University Press.
———. 1976. Cecil Rhodes. London: Hutchinson.
Galbraith, John. 1972. Mackinnon and East Africa 1878–1895: A Study in the ‘new Imperialism’. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
———. 1973. Origins of The British South Africa Company. In Perspectives of Empire. Essays Presented to Gerald S. Graham, ed. John E. Flint and Glyndwr Williams, 148–171. London: Longman.
———. 1974. Crown and Charter: The Early Years of the British South Africa Company. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Galbraith, John, and Afaf Lutfi al-Sayyid-Marsot. 1978. The British Occupation of Egypt: Another View. International Journal of Middle East Studies 9 (4): 471–488.
Harrison, Robert. 1995. Gladstone’s Imperialism in Egypt: Techniques of Domination. Westport: Greenwood Press.
Hobsbawm, Eric. 1987. The Age of Empire, 1875–1914. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson.
Hobson, John Atkinson. 1900. The War in South Africa: Its Causes and Effects. London: J. Nisbet.
———. 1988. Imperialism: A Study. London: Unwin Hyman.
Hopkins, Anthony G. 1986. The Victorians and Africa: A Reconsideration of the Occupation of Egypt, 1882. The Journal of African History 27 (2): 363–391.
Jeeves, Alan H. 1996. The Rand Capitalists and the Coming of the South African War 1896–1899. South African Journal of Economic History 11 (1): 55–81.
Jones, S.R.H., and Simon P. Ville. 1996. Efficient Transactors or Rent-Seeking Monopolists? The Rationale for Early Chartered Trading Companies. The Journal of Economic History 56 (4): 898–915.
Pakenham, Thomas. 1979. The Boer War. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson.
———. 1991. The Scramble for Africa 1876–1912. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson.
Pedler, Frederick. 1974. The Lion and the Unicorn in Africa: A History of the Origins of the United Africa Company 1787–1931. London: Heinemann.
Platt, D.C.M. 1968. Finance, Trade, and Politics in British Foreign Policy 1815–1914. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Porter, Andrew. 2000. The South African War and the Historians. African Affairs 99 (397): 633–648.
Porter, Bernard. 2012. The Lion’s Share – A History of British Imperialism 1850 to the Present. 5th ed. London: Routledge.
Pretorius, Fransjohan. 2014. Everyone’s War: The Anglo-Boer War (1899–1902). In A History of South Africa: From the Distant Past to the Present Day, ed. Fransjohan Pretorious, 239–259. Pretoria: Protea Book House.
Robinson, Ronald Edward, and John Gallagher. 1968. Africa and the Victorians: The Climax of Imperialism. New York: Anchor Books.
Rotberg, Robert. 1988. The Founder: Cecil Rhodes and the Pursuit of Power. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Schölch, Alexander. 1976. The ‘Men on the Spot’ and the English Occupation of Egypt in 1882. The Historical Journal 19 (3): 773–785.
Slinn, Peter. 1971. Commercial Concessions and Politics during the Colonial Period: The Role of the British South Africa Company in Northern Rhodesia 1890–1964. African Affairs 70 (281): 365–384.
Tignor, Robert. 1966. Modernization and British Colonial Rule in Egypt, 1882–1914. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Vatikiotis, P.J. 1991. The History of Modern Egypt from Muhammad Ali to Mubarak. 4th ed. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson.
Wesseling, Hendrik Lodewijk. 1996. Divide and Rule: The Partition of Africa, 1880–1914. Westport: Praeger.
Wickins, Peter. 1986. Africa 1880–1980: An Economic History. Cape Town: Oxford University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Rönnbäck, K., Broberg, O. (2019). Imperial Profit. In: Capital and Colonialism. Palgrave Studies in Economic History. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-19711-7_13
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-19711-7_13
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-19710-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-19711-7
eBook Packages: Economics and FinanceEconomics and Finance (R0)