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Research ArticleArticle

The Rise and Fall of African Indigenous Entrepreneurs’ Economic Solidarity in Lesotho, 1966–1975

SEAN MALIEHE
African Economic History, January 2017, 45 (1) 110-137; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3368/aeh.45.1.110
SEAN MALIEHE
Sean Maliehe is a postdoctoral researcher in the Human Economy Programme (HE) at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. He holds a PhD in History (Economic History, with specialization in business and entrepreneurship). He works on Lesotho’s economic history, and, on money and mobile phones in South Africa and Lesotho. His recent publications include: “An Obscured Narrative in the Political Economy of Colonial Commerce in Lesotho, 1870–1966”, 59, no. 2 (2014): 28–45; “Survival in post-mining communities in southern Africa: women and entrepreneurship in Lesotho”, in T. Salverda, A. Hollington, S. Klob, N. Scheinder and O. Tappe (eds), (2016), ; “Money and Markets for and against the People: The Rise and Fall of Basotho’s Economic Independence, 1830s–1930s,” in Keith Hart (ed.), [Oxford: Berghanhn Human Economy Series, forthcoming (in press)].
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Abstract

This article examines the rise and fall of African indigenous entrepreneurs’ economic solidarity in Lesotho between 1966 (independence) and 1975. It rebuts the historical metanarrative that the black African indigenous entrepreneurs (the Basotho) lacked adequate entrepreneurial spirit, business acumen and economic solidarity. Using historical records and oral histories, this article demonstrates that there is sufficient historical evidence to argue otherwise. Rather, Basotho traders became victims of sinister political and economic interests of the first postcolonial government, which acted to protect interests of minority European traders—a common phenomenon in postcolonial Africa. Furthermore, the article makes two significant contributions—first to the growing literature on the history of African business and entrepreneurship, and secondly, it uses the constructed economic history of Basotho entrepreneurs to critique the dominant nationalistic and geo-political view that Lesotho’s position as landlocked by South Africa is predominantly responsible for the country’s sluggish economic growth, poverty and lack of economic independence.

  • © 2017 by the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
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African Economic History: 45 (1)
African Economic History
Vol. 45, Issue 1
1 Jan 2017
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The Rise and Fall of African Indigenous Entrepreneurs’ Economic Solidarity in Lesotho, 1966–1975
SEAN MALIEHE
African Economic History Jan 2017, 45 (1) 110-137; DOI: 10.3368/aeh.45.1.110

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The Rise and Fall of African Indigenous Entrepreneurs’ Economic Solidarity in Lesotho, 1966–1975
SEAN MALIEHE
African Economic History Jan 2017, 45 (1) 110-137; DOI: 10.3368/aeh.45.1.110
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  • Article
    • Abstract
    • Introduction
    • Literature Review: African Entrepreneurship and Business History Debates
    • Background: Political Economy of Colonial Commerce
    • Self-organization and Economic Aspirations at Independence
    • Economic, Moral and Political War against Basotho Traders
    • Conclusion
    • Footnotes
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