Currency in Commercial Exchanges in Pre-colonial Cameroon

March 20, 2023, 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm (GMT+1)

Online – Zoom (Register Here)

1. Context

The currency is considered a fundamental instrument in trade. Communities involved in trade in pre-colonial Cameroon had sophisticated systems in place to facilitate trade with either their neighbors or with Europeans. Beyond the bartering of goods, exchanges were carried out utilizing money among the peoples of the western highlands, in the Sudanian zones, and on the coast. To illustrate the density of this trade on the Cameroonian coast, Kum’a Ndumbe estimates that there were about 57 British companies from Liverpool, Bristol, etc., 26 German companies from Hamburg, Berlin, Bremen, etc., and a few French and Belgian companies in the Sanaga-Ngoko region. In these multiple exchanges between Cameroonians and Europeans on the coast, the currency of exchange was the Kroo. In the hinterland, exchanges were made with the “nbom“.

2. Objective

The main objective of this webinar is to examine the role and place of money in trade exchange in pre-colonial Cameroon.

Specifically, it will :

• Identify the different currencies used in pre-colonial Cameroon for trade purposes;
• determine the real values of these currencies on the trade market; and
• explain the process of depreciation and disappearance of these currencies with the advent of colonization in the 19th century.

3. Target audience

This public dialogue is organized by the Governance and Democracy Division of the Nkafu Policy Institute as part of the project “Free Trade in Pre-colonial Cameroon: Historical Perspectives from Traditional Leaders and Elders”. It is open to all without restriction.

4. Panelists

– Pr. René Ngek Monteh, Associate Professor of History, Higher Teachers Training College, University of Yaoundé 1

– Pr. Jules Ambroise Nopoudem, Associate Professor of History, Higher Teachers Training College, University of Yaoundé I

– Dr Lucie Nankeng, Researcher in History, University of Dschang

Moderator: Pr. Moïse Williams Pokam Kamdem, Associate Professor of History

Contacts

For more information, kindly contact us by email at the following address: [email protected] or by telephone at: (+237) 222 31 15 84 / 654 86 72 54.