Paper short abstract:

Through the example of local networks in the French settlement of Juda on the slave coast of Africa, this paper aims to understand why the French Compagnie des Indes found it economically relevant to outsource its own overseas business.

Paper long abstract:

From 1720 to 1749, only 16.1% of the French ships engaged in the slave trade sailed on behalf of the French Compagnie des Indes and a large majority was left to by private traders. Although the company was largely inactive, it still held a formal monopoly on the West African coast and outsourced the trade by allocating licenses in exchange for a percentage of the profit. Why did this state-sponsored company license most of the slave trade on the Slave coast to private traders? The state, through the Company, was still held responsible for the maintenance of the forts and the provisioning of trained personnel without getting maximum return on its investment. What were the state's interests behind such strategy?

This presentation will argue that private entrepreneurs took on most of the French slave trade because they were connected to relevant networks both in Europe and in the overseas domains. Through cross-cultural and trans-national networks, private traders had maximized their access to knowledge of the markets abroad. Men on the spot developed trust relations with local rulers and local merchants. Furthermore they interacted on a daily basis with other European officials and traders. Such connections put them at the focal point for knowledge exchange. With the example of local networks in the French settlement of Juda on the Slave Coast of Africa, this paper aims to understand why the French state found it economically relevant to outsource its own overseas business.