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A Survey of Categories of Economic Activities among the Peoples of Africa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 January 2012

D. H. Reader
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Extract

This essay is based on a review of the documentation on tribal economies in Africa. It attempts (i) to outline reported economic development within and outside the subsistence sector in traditional African societies; (ii) to assess tribal economic attitudes disclosed; (iii) to appraise, in the light of these, probable reactions towards further economic development with reference to the technological, industrial, and commercial dimensions of urbanization.

Résumé

APERÇU DES CATÉGORIES D'ACTIVITÉS ÉCONOMIQUES CHEZ LES PEUPLES DE L'AFRIQUE

Cet exposé est basé sur une revue de la documentation concernant les régimes économiques des tribus en Afrique, et cherche (i) à tracer les grandes lignes de l'évolution économique dont il a été rendu compte à l'intérieur et à l'extérieur du secteur ‘subsistance ’ chez les sociétés traditionnelles africaines; (ii) à évaluer les attitudes économiques tribales révélées; (iii) à estimer, à la lumière de ces attitudes, les réactions probables envers l'évolution économique ultérieure. Une classification des caractéristiques économiques par groupes de tribus laisse apparaître six niveaux d'activité économique; à savoir, le régime de la subsistance seule, le commerce non-monétaire, le commerce monétaire, la culture de denrées pour la vente, la main-d'œuvre migratrice et la main-d'œuvre industrielle. L'analyse par zones en fonction de ces six critères peut être résumée d'une façon générale au moyen de quatre séries de régions économiques. Les contrastes entre ces régions impliquent des différences éventuelles concernant la réaction envers les procédés d'une évolution économique ultérieure:

1. La région de la subsistance seule, comprenant les Bédouins du Sahara et les peuples du couloir du Nil moyen. Ces tribus ont montré une grande résistance aux changements et, d'une façon générale, semblent être moins susceptibles de se prêter aux projets de développement.

2. Les régions du commerce non-monétaire, englobant les zones au nord et au sud du bassin du Congo, la lisière de l'Afrique Occidentale au sud du Sahara et la partie au nord-ouest du continent; généralement, aucune raison ne paraît exister pour que ces régions ne peuvent être converties par la suite à une base monétaire d'échange.

3. Les régions d'économie mixte, comprenant les zones côtières de l'Afrique Occidentale et la région Ouganda–Kénya–Tanganyika. Sous l'impulsion de l'indépendance nationale, il est probable que l'industrialisation se développera ici plus tôt que dans les régions mentionnées ci-dessus, bien que le fonctionnement défectueux des entreprises et une mauvaise administration de l'économie pourraient la retarder indéfiniment.

4. Une région industrielle, englobant l'Afrique du Sud et les régions extérieures qui la pourvoit de main-d'œuvre migratoire et industrielle. La main-d'œuvre africaine est fortement astreinte au travail industriel, surtout en raison du dénuement de l'agriculture tribale et du manque de base pour le commerce indigène. Mais l'évolution d'une main-d'œuvre africaine, complètement industrialisée et urbanisée, a été empêchée par des facteurs économiques et autres liés à la présence d'une société politiquement dominante d'hommes blancs.

Type
Research Article
Information
Africa , Volume 34 , Issue 1 , January 1964 , pp. 28 - 45
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 1964

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