Commercial Politics and the Overstocking Crisis in Mwanza Province, Tanganyika, 1926-1935

Fom the turn of the century onward, settler and metropolitan firms operating in the Mwanza region persistently lobbied colonial administrators for special privileges.2 Some complained of ruinous competition from smaller rivals, and sought to hinder their access to markets. Others promised that exclusive buying zones or processing monopolies for their firms would benefit the colonial economy or augment official revenues. By and large, doubting local administrators resisted such proposals. And when the business community finally did get many of their long-standing requests, through a series of Depression era market reforms imposed by theTerritorial Administration, ironically, few could successfully compete.3 Many studies have expounded the apparent advantages enjoyed by metropolitan and settler firms: bank loans, shareholder capital, modern equipment, professional management and, most importantly, access to colonial officials.4 In the case of Mwanza Province, however, despite such advantages, settler and metropolitan capital proved to be both economically and politically weak. First and foremost, such firms were undercapitalized and overstaffed: they lacked the necessary funds to sustain European modeled processing enterprises.' Moreover, their managers often lacked expert knowledge of local markets, and therefore company buying strategies were generally impractical and their products ill-suited or overpriced. Even access to policymakers proved to be of little actual benefit. Schisms within the government, between departments and also between levels of administration made it difficult to enforce

Development economics · Economics · Environmental protection · Geography · Political science · Politics · African history and culture studies · Law

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