Paper short abstract:

This paper explores what insights company records of the United Africa Company (UAC) can provide in the question of the expectations that West African employees of European-owned enterprises had of independence.

Paper long abstract:

In the years before the formal achievement of flag independence, tens of thousands of African workers were employed by European enterprises on all levels from manual labourer to mid-level management. What would independence mean for their jobs? Would it lead to rapid promotions as Africanisation policies were expected to result in more African managers? Or would the potential for nationalisation or a forced retreat from former colonies endanger their job security? Studies of the responses of European business to decolonisation have looked at political and business strategies, business planning and investment decisions – including business links to nationalist politicians – but much less is known about the expectations of ordinary employees. Were their expectations similar to those of other colonial subjects, or did they perceive their interests and opportunities to be different? This paper will explore this question on the basis of company records mainly relating to the United Africa Company (UAC) – one of West Africa’s biggest private employers from the 1930s to the 1980s.