Competition for Power and Profits in Kete-Krachi, West Africa, 1875-1900

This article examines the economic and political effects of expanded commercial conditions in a late nineteenth-century regional center, Kete-Krachi, on the border of Asante in West Africa. Although the basic mode of production in the area remained virtually unaltered during the period discussed, there were significant changes in the social relations of groups to the productive process and a rapid increase in the level of exchange value realized within the community. These economic changes correlated with a dynamic political restructuring of the community under stress and competition. The first section of the article traces the growth of Kete-Krachi during the late nineteenth century and deals with some of the consequences of its rapid urban development, while the second section focuses on the economic relationship between the town and its hinterland. It is argued that Krachi was originally a religious center and, as with many precolonial African towns, this was a sufficient basis for a limited existence. With the arrival of Muslim traders, however, it also became a commercial center of increasing profitability, a change paralleled by Krachi development of a strong agricultural system producing for the market. Strain on the support services in the town as well as competition among the elites for privileges of appropriation led to factional and ethnic strife and, finally, broadly based violence. Nevertheless the town continued as a central place until colonial interference with trade caused its commercial base to diminish. The religious, agricultural, and administrative functions which persisted were still sufficient to guarantee Kete-Krachi's survival, albeit with reduced regional significance and population

Biology · Business · Competition (biology · Economics · Political science · Power (physics · African history and culture studies · African studies and sociopolitical issues · Global Maritime and Colonial Histories

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