Money in West Africa

The economic and social history

of the transitions from commodity to colonial currencies

Clare Hall, University of Cambridge, UK

17 December 2019

Organisers: Toyomu MASAKI (Kanazawa University, Japan)

Gareth AUSTIN (University of Cambridge, UK)

Venue: Richard Eden Suite

at 10:00AM

The time allocation

Presentation 10 minutes, Discussant & Reply 10 minutes, and Floor Discussion 25 minutes.

Welcome Coffee

10:00-10:15

Opening remarks & Aim of the project

10:15-10:25

Toyomu Masaki & Gareth Austin

Session: Money in Portuguese and French West Africa

Chair: Gareth Austin

10:25-11:10

Monetary Transition in Portuguese West Africa

Presenter: Maria Eugénia Mata (Universidade Nova de Lisboa)

Discussant : Toby Green (King’s College London)

11:10-11:55

French struggles to make payments with cotton cloth in the territories of Upper Senegal in the 1880s

Presenter: Toyomu Masaki (Kanazawa University)

Discussant : Bamidélé Aly (Independent reseracher, alumni of Panthéon-Sorbonne University)

11:55-12:40

Marginality and Multiple-Currency in the Colonial Situation: Monetary Transition from the Cowry to the Franc in Upper Volta

Presenter: Seiji Nakao (Research Institute for Humanity&Nature)

Discussant:Karin Pallaver (University of Bologna)

Lunch

12:40-13:30

Session: Money in Nigeria

Chair:Toby Green

13:30-14:15

From Commodity to Colonial Currencies: A History of Money in the Former Sokoto Province of Nigeria during Pre-colonial and Colonial periods

Presenter: Yasin Abubakar (Usmanu Danfodiyo University)

Discussant: Seiji Nakao (Research Institute for Humanity &Nature)

14:15-15:00

Resistance to Monetary Centralisation from the Colony of Lagos to Nigeria (1880-1920)

Presenter: Bamidélé Aly (Independent reseracher, alumni of Panthéon-Sorbonne University)

Discussant: Yasin Abubakar (Usmanu Danfodiyo University)

Coffee Break

15:00-15:20

Session: Transactions and Money in West Africa

Chair: Karin Pallaver

15:20-16:05

Trade and Money in British West Africa, 1912-70: Evidence from Seasonal Cycles

Presenter: Leigh Gardner (LSE)

Discussant: Maria Eugénia Mata (Universidade Nova de Lisboa)

16:05-16:50

Transactions costs, merchants and states: the colonial currency transition in West Africa in long-term perspective.

Presenter: Gareth Austin(University of Cambridge)

Discussant: Leigh Gardner (LSE)

Wrap up session.

16:50-17:35

Chair: Gareth Austin

Closing remarks

17:35-17:45

Gareth Austin &Toyomu Masaki

Drinks Reception

17:45-18:15

Dinner

18:15-20:30