Pre-colonial Africa: Diversity in Organization and Management of Economy and Society

Management was integral to state organization, traditional hierarchical stratification of authority, and ownership of resources in Africa. The history of dynamic state formation, challenge of authority and conquest in Africa. Limited separation existed between state and commercial activity. Islam expanded and conquered indigenous empires, while some indigenous peoples converted to Islam. Traditional management was integral to state management. In some geographical locations, the monarch allowed private enterprise and decentralized management of commerce. In West Africa, more decentralized commercial management occurred, while in East Africa Muslim traders controlled trade routes. This chapter shows how state formation and business management developed in parallel trajectories before colonial intervention. Limited organizational structures emerged as distinctly managerial in origin. This chapter illustrates diversity of management culture and sophistication before the late nineteenth century.