Frontiers in African Economic History – AEHN’s blog – diffuses research-based content and promotes discussion concerning the study of long-term African development. The blog provides authors a platform to disseminate easily accessible summaries (700 words) of their recently published research (articles, book chapters, book reviews, theses), publishes interviews with key scholars in the field, and discusses relevant developments. We welcome blog contributions and suggestions. Please contact the editors (Rebecca Simson, Michael Chanda Chiseni and Igor Martins) to discuss possible posts.
Monetary practices and currency transitions in early colonial Uganda
Introduction When discussing currency matters, colonial officials often observed that Africans had no pockets as an explanation for Africans’ use of strings of cowrie shells or beads as money carried around their necks. The dichotomy between pocketed and strung currencies brings to light different...
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Interview: Patrick Manning
Patrick, you began your illustrious career in African economic history in the late 1960s. How has the field evolved over time? I completed my PhD in 1969 and published my first book, on Dahomey 1640-1960, in 1982. The field was then small, interdisciplinary, and...
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How Colonial Railroads defined Africa’s Economic Geography
Do infrastructure investments have the potential to transform Africa’s economic geography? Today, Africa suffers a massive infrastructure deficit (Calderón and Servén 2010). The World Bank estimates that sub-Saharan Africa has fewer than 16 km of road per 100 km2 of land surface, which is...
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Witchcraft Beliefs and the Erosion of Social Capital
Belief in witchcraft, broadly defined as the ability to use supernatural techniques to harm others or acquire wealth, is a deep-rooted cultural phenomenon which still represents a salient feature of daily life in many parts of the African continent and beyond. While witchcraft beliefs...
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Interview: Ewout Frankema
Ewout, you were trained as a historian and economist and wrote your PhD thesis on inequality in Latin America. What made you invest so much of your professional energy in African economic history? A better understanding of the nature and historical origins of global...
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The launch of Frontiers in African Economic History
We are delighted to launch the AEHN’s new blog, Frontiers in African Economic History. The editorial team consists of Michiel de Haas, Kate Frederick (both Wageningen University) and Felix Meier zu Selhausen (University of Southern Denmark & University of Sussex). The aim of this...
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