Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dlnhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T04:36:44.545Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Britain and the Breakdown of the Colonial Environment: The Struggle over the Tanzam Oil Pipeline in Zambia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 January 2015

Andrew Cohen
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article explores the tendering process for the construction of the Tanzam oil pipeline during the mid-1960s. In addressing aspects of the political response to British investment overseas and the history of the British company Lonrho, it argues that the British government's determination to concentrate financial investments at home affected its ability to project its presence through supporting business overseas. In addition, the article suggests that the Zambian government demonstrated autonomy in awarding the tender.

Type
Research Article
Information
Business History Review , Volume 88 , Issue 4 , Winter 2014 , pp. 737 - 759
Copyright
Copyright © The President and Fellows of Harvard College 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 Roberts, Andrew, A History of Zambia (New York, 1976), 224Google Scholar.

2 Wilson informed the House of Commons that he had told African nationalist leaders in Rhodesia, “If there are those who are thinking in terms of a thunderbolt hurtling from the sky and destroying their enemies, a thunderbolt in the shape of the Royal Air Force, let me say the thunderbolt will not be coming, and to continue in this delusion wastes valuable time, and misdirects valuable energy.” 718 Parl. Deb., H.C. (5th ser.) (1965), 634.

3 At this time, Zambia was reliant on Rhodesia Railways for nine-tenths of its imports and all of its copper exports. A further crucial consideration was that the turbines and switchgear of the Kariba Dam, which supplied the Copperbelt's electricity, were all located on the Rhodesian side of the border. See Hall, Richard, The High Price of Principles: Kaunda and the White South (Harmondsworth, 1969), 70–71Google Scholar. Economist, 20 Nov. 1965.

4 United States Embassy, Lusaka to the Department of State, Washington, D.C., 24 Nov. 1965, Box 2619, RG 59, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C. (hereafter NARA).

5 Sutcliffe, R. B., “Zambia and the Strains of UDI,” World Today 23, no. 12 (Dec. 1967): 506Google Scholar.

6 Kenneth Kaunda, Towards Complete Independence, 11 Aug. 1969, Box 29a, Papers of Frank Taylor Ostrander, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyo.

7 Economist, 13 Nov. 1965.

8 720 Parl. Deb., H. C. (5th ser.) (1965), 715.

9 See Cohen, Andrew, “Lonrho and Oil Sanctions against Rhodesia in the 1960s,” Journal of Southern African Studies 37, no. 4 (2011): 715–30Google Scholar.

10 Young, Kenneth, Rhodesia and Independence (London, 1967), 359–60Google Scholar.

11 C. M. van Nieberk to the South African Secretariats of Finance and Agriculture, 22 May 1966, BTS 1.156.1.19.9 vol. 1, Department of Foreign Affairs, National Archives of South Africa, Pretoria (hereafter SAFAA).

12 Time magazine colorfully suggested that the road “may be the world's worst international highway. Its dizzy hairpin turns were scraped out and leveled (often with dragged thorn bushes) by African tribesmen working off their tax debts. Along its flat stretches, the road is little more than a trail of treacherous sand or soap-slick mud. Black, blinding rains and eerie mists make it all but impassable from October to May. And the right of way is often usurped by two-ton rhinos, herds of elephant, and lions basking in the sun.” See 25 Feb. 1966.

13 Young, Rhodesia, 359–60.

14 “World Bank Press Release,” 16 Sept. 1966, BTS 1.156.1.19.9 vol. 1, SAFAA.

15 U.S. Embassy, Lusaka to the Department of State, Washington, D.C., 22 Dec. 1965, Box 2608, RG 59, NARA.

16 Economist, 21 May 1966.

17 Economist, 13 Nov. 1965.

18 Sutcliffe, “Zambia and the Strains of UDI,” 507.

19 R. J. Montgomery to the Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Pretoria, 2 Mar. 1966, BTS 1.156.1.19.9 vol. 1, SAFAA.

20 Ibid.

21 Lenin, Vladimir, Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism (Beijing, 1975), 101Google Scholar.

22 See, for example, Wallerstein, Immanuel, The Capitalist World Economy (Cambridge, U.K., 1979)Google Scholar.

23 See Darwin, John, The End of the British Empire: The Historical Debate (Oxford, 1991), 51Google Scholar.

24 See, for example, Rodney, Walter, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa (Washington, D.C., 1982)Google Scholar; Tandon, Yash, Debate on Class, State, and Imperialism (Dar-es-Salaam, 1982)Google Scholar; and Coquery-Vidrovitch, Catherine, “De l'impérialisme modern: L'avatar colonial,” in L'impérialisme française d'avant 1914, ed. Bouvier, Jean and Girault, René (Paris, 1976), 61–90Google Scholar.

25 See Fieldhouse, David, Black Africa, 1945–1980: Economic Decolonization and Arrested Development (London, 1986)Google Scholar; Hopkins, A. G., An Economic History of West Africa (Harlow, 1973)Google Scholar; and Tignor, Robert, Capitalism and Nationalism at the End of Empire: State and Business in Decolonizing Egypt, Nigeria, and Kenya, 1945–1963 (Princeton, N.J., 1998), 11–13Google Scholar.

26 See Misra, Maria, Business, Race, and Politics in British India, c. 1850–1960 (Oxford, 1999)Google Scholar; Stockwell, Sarah, The Business of Decolonization (Oxford, 2000)Google Scholar; Tignor, Robert, “Decolonization and Business: The Case of Egypt,” Journal of Modern History 59, no. 3 (Sept. 1987): 479–505Google Scholar and Capitalism and Nationalism at the End of Empire; and White, Nicholas, Business, Government, and the End of Empire: Malaya, 1942–1957 (Oxford, 1996)Google Scholar, “The Business and the Politics of Decolonization: The British Experience in the Twentieth Century,” Economic History Review 53, no. 3 (Aug. 2000): 544–64CrossRefGoogle Scholar, and British Business in Post-Colonial Malaysia, 1957–70: Neo-colonialism or Disengagement? (London, 2004)Google Scholar.

27 White, Business, Government, and the End of Empire, vii.

28 EIR [Executive Intelligence Review] Investigative Team, Tiny Rowland: The Ugly Face of Neocolonialism in Africa (Washington, D.C., 1993), 4Google Scholar.

29 Davenport-Hines, Richard, “Rowland, Roland Walter [Tiny] (1917–1998),” Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford, 2004)Google Scholarhttp://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/70253, accessed 11 Mar. 2013.

30 Observer, 17 Oct. 1971, cited in Cronjé, Suzanne, Ling, Margaret, and Cronjé, Gillian, Lonrho: Portrait of a Multinational (London, 1976), 12Google Scholar. Welensky would later comment about Lonrho: Portrait of a Multinational: “I felt the book was nothing else other than a series of innuendos and sneers—though the remark I made about Tiny was true.” See Welensky to Ball, 26 Jan. 1977, Welensky Papers 730/3, Rhodes House Library, University of Oxford, Oxford, U.K.

31 Affidavit from William Wilkinson, 3 May 1973, Board of Trade 299/319, National Archives, Kew, U.K. (hereafter BNA).

32 Newsweek, 20 Jan. 1969.

33 Research Department Memorandum, “Lonrho's Activities in Africa,” 22 Aug. 1972, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (hereafter FCO) 45/1075, BNA.

34 White, Business, Government, and the End of Empire, 42.

35 Nkomo, Joshua, The Story of My Life (London, 1984), 183Google Scholar.

36 Research Department Memorandum, “Lonrho's Activities in Africa.”

37 Bower, Tom, Tiny Rowland: A Rebel Tycoon (London, 1993), 367–68Google Scholar.

38 Ibid., 276.

39 Hall, Richard, My Life with Tiny: A Biography of Tiny Rowland (London, 1987), 19Google Scholar.

40 Nkomo, My Life, 244.

41 Cronjé, Ling, and Cronjé, Lonrho, 33–35.

42 “Request by Lonrho Ltd from HMG assistance for the construction of an oil refinery in Zambia and a pipeline from Zambia to Tanzania,” Shell Aide Memoire, 23 May 1966, Treasury (hereafter T) 317/870, BNA.

43 Ibid.

44 Sir Peter Youens was in many ways a typical Rowland appointment to the company. Youens previously served as Deputy Chief Secretary of Nyasaland, and after the country's independence he became President Hastings Banda's first personal secretary. His close relationship with Banda led to Rowland offering him a position as an executive director at Lonrho. See http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1366809/Sir-Peter-Youens.html, accessed 3 Apr. 2013.

45 Shell Aide Memoire.

46 Ibid.

47 Ibid.

48 Burke Trend, “Note for the Record,” 12 May 1966, T 317/870, BNA.

49 “Outline of Tanzania/Zambia Pipeline and Refinery Project,” May 1966, T 317/870, BNA.

50 Bancroft to Sharp, 11 May 1966, T 317/870, BNA.

51 Minutes of Meeting held 16 May 1966, T 317/870, BNA.

52 Economist, 23 July 1966.

53 Ian Watt, “Briefing Note,” 17 May 1966, T 317/870, BNA.

54 “Note on Zambia Economic Position,” 18 Oct. 1966, T 317/1377, BNA.

55 R. G. Lavelle, “Note for the Record,” 18 May 1966, T 317/870, BNA.

56 “Note on Zambia Economic Position.”

57 Angus Ogilvy to James Callaghan, 19 May 1966, T 317/870, BNA.

58 For details of the financing of the Kariba Dam, see Tischler, Julia, Light and Power for a Multiracial Nation: The Kariba Dam Scheme in the Central African Federation (Basingstoke, 2013), 38–51Google Scholar.

59 “Note on Zambia Economic Position.”

60 W. H. McFadzean to Heathcoat Amory, 20 May 1959, MSS. 200/F/3/D3/6/4, Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick, Coventry, U.K. (hereafter MRC).

61 Evelyn Baring, Lord Howick to Andrew Cohen, 19 May 1966, T 317/870, BNA.

62 “Note on Zambia Economic Position.”

63 Cypher (2559) from Lusaka to the Commonwealth Office, 3 June 1966, T 317/870, BNA.

64 Bower, Tiny Rowland, 177. See High Commission, Nairobi to Commonwealth Relations Office, 24 Sept. 1966 and High Commission, Nairobi to Commonwealth Relations Office, 24 Sept. 1966, T 317/870, BNA.

65 High Commission, Lusaka to Monson, 7 June 1966, T 317/870, BNA.

66 S. H. Wright to D. F. Hubback, 21 Oct. 1966, T 317/1377, BNA.

67 ENI was a “junior member” among oil multinationals in the mid-1960s, producing around 5 percent of the output of Standard Oil. See Pozzi, Daniele, “Entrepreneurship and Capabilities in a ‘Beginner’ Oil Multinational: The Case of ENI,” Business History Review 84 (2010): 254Google Scholar.

68 “Note on Zambia Economic Position.”

69 Mr. Gilchrist to the Minister of State, 19 Oct. 1966, T 317/1377, BNA.

70 “Note on Zambia Economic Position.”

71 Cain, P. J. and Hopkins, A. G., British Imperialism: Crisis and Deconstruction, 1914–1990 (London, 1993), 265Google Scholar.

72 See Rodgers, Christopher, “Economic Policy and the Problem of Sterling under Harold Wilson and James Callaghan,” Contemporary British History 25, no. 3 (2011): 339–63Google Scholar.

73 Strange, Susan, Sterling and British Policy: A Political Study of a Currency in Decline (Oxford, 1971)Google Scholar, esp. chs. 4 and 5.

74 King, Anthony, ed., British Political Opinion, 1937–2000: The Gallup Polls (London, 2001), 264Google Scholar.

75 Commonwealth Office to High Commission, Lusaka, 14 Oct. 1966, T 317/1377, BNA.

76 Their fear was that Italian companies would enter Zambia on a “trading agency” basis and cream off the main contract business with the state, without any commitment to general distribution throughout the country. Foreign Office to British Embassy, Washington, D.C., 14 Oct. 1966, T 317/1377, BNA.

77 High Commission, Lusaka to the Commonwealth Office, 14 Oct. 1966, T 317/1377, BNA.

78 Ibid.

79 Financial Times, 15 Oct. 1966.

80 Commonwealth Office to High Commission, Lusaka, 17 Oct. 1966, T 317/1377, BNA, and Lusaka to the Commonwealth Office, 14 Oct. 1966.

81 Commonwealth Office to High Commission, Lusaka, 18 Oct. 1966, T 317/1377, BNA.

82 The Italians had previous experience of dam engineering in Central Africa. In 1956, Impresit (Kariba) Pvt. Ltd. was awarded the contract to construct the Kariba Dam on the Zambezi River. See Tischler, Light and Power, 266.

83 Guardian, 17 Oct. 1966.

84 Hall, My Life with Tiny, 47.

85 High Commission, Lusaka to the Commonwealth Office, 19 Oct. 1966, T 317/1377, BNA.

86 The British National Export Council was founded in 1965 to promote British business overseas. It was sponsored by the Federation of British Industries, the National Association of British Manufacturers, the Association of British Chambers of Commerce, the Trades Union Congress, and the City Financial Advisory Panel on Exports. Commonwealth Office to High Commission, Lusaka, 18 Oct. 1966.

87 High Commission, Lusaka to the Commonwealth Office, 20 Oct. 1966, T 317/1377, BNA.

88 Commonwealth Office to High Commission, Lusaka, 18 Oct. 1966.

89 Times, 18 Oct. 1966.

90 High Commission, Dar-es-Salaam to Commonwealth Office, 18 Oct. 1966, T 317/1377, BNA.

91 High Commission, Lusaka to the Commonwealth Office, 19 Oct. 1966.

92 D. F. Hubback to Mr. Goldman, 19 Oct. 1966, T 317/1377, BNA.

93 High Commission, Nairobi to the Commonwealth Relations Office, 24 Sept. 1966, T 317/870, BNA.

94 Montgomery to the Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Pretoria, 28 Apr. 1966, BTS 1.156.1.19.9 vol. 1, SAFAA.

95 Research Department Memorandum, “Lonrho's Activities in Africa.”

96 High Commission, Lusaka to the Commonwealth Office, 20 Oct. 1966.

97 Wright to Hubback, 21 Oct. 1966, T 317/1377, BNA.

98 High Commission, Lusaka to the Commonwealth Office, 29 Oct. 1966, T 317/1377, BNA.

99 Guardian, 29 Oct. 1966.

100 Roland Rowland to Harold Wilson, 1 Nov. 1966, T 317/1377, BNA.

101 Gilchrist, “Summary Tanzam Pipeline,” 14 Oct. 1966, Prime Minister's Office Files, 13/1926, BNA.

102 “Committee for Exports to Africa Minutes,” 17 Nov. 1966, MSS. 292B/527.2/3, British National Export Council, MRC.

103 D. C. Tebbit, “Lonrho in Africa,” 17 Feb. 1970, FCO 65/576, BNA.

104 Sardanis, Andrew, Africa: Another Side of the Coin; Northern Rhodesia's Final Years and Zambia's Nationhood (London, 2003), 56–57Google Scholar.

105 Cohen to Howick, 2 June 1966, T 317/870, BNA.

106 Mr. Laing to Mr. Davies, 30 Aug. 1966, MSS. 200/C/3/DGI/3, MRC.

107 “Note on Zambia Economic Position.”

108 Darwin, John, The Empire Project: The Rise and Fall of the British World System, 1830–1970 (Cambridge, U.K., 2009), 632Google Scholar.

109 Cronjé, Ling, and Cronjé, Lonrho, 37.

110 Shaw, Timothy, “Beyond Neo-Colonialism: Varieties of Corporatism in Africa,” Journal of Modern African Studies 20, no. 2 (1982): 241Google Scholar.

111 Bower, Tiny Rowland, 91.

112 Kahler, Miles, Decolonization in Britain and France: The Domestic Consequences of International Relations (Princeton, N.J., 1984), 269Google Scholar.