DAAD Professorship African Economic History
From the summer semester 2021 until the end of the winter semester 2022/23, the DAAD guest chair in ‘African Economic History’ was established at the University of Bayreuth. The position was part of the DAAD Professorship program enabling several guest lecturers to be invited to the University of Bayreuth for a period of two years for stays of up to four months each. In recent times, the economic history of Africa has been extensively debated, especially in the light of findings by development economists like Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson. At the "Africa Multiple" cluster of excellence, a new research and teaching focus in economic history is available as the University of Bayreuth offers a unique environment for the reception of debates in the African economic history field.
The goal of the guest professorship was a medium-term expansion of the range of courses offered at the Chair, to include topics from African economic and corporate history, which were to enable the further development of its curriculum and significantly increase its scope and attractiveness. Specifically, courses were offered for the Master’s programmes History & Economics, Global History, and Development Studies. Moreover, there were also offers for BA students enrolled in Cultures and Society of Africa, International Economy and Development, and Philosophy & Economics in order to inspire interest from various academic contexts in the study and research of African History. In general, the goal of the visiting professorship was to better integrate two of the University’s very successful programs – History & Economics and African Studies.
The Guest Lecturers
Prof. George Bob-Milliar
George Bob-Milliar (Kumasi, Ghana) Summer Semester 2021
Dr. George M. Bob-Milliar is an expert in the field of the economic history of West Africa. He is also a co-editor of the journal of “African Economic History”, one of the most important journals in African economic history. In this role, he worked as editor of a special issue for the journal on the history of West Africa. His second research interest lies in the area of development studies and in particular the development of political party systems.
Bob-Milliar gave a Lecture on West African economic history for all students, some of which were integrated into the compulsory History & Economics course “Foundations of Economic History II: Global Economy.” Furthermore, he offered a seminar on "Capitalism in the pre-colonial and colonial Asante state" for the "Advanced Development Sociology/Politics" module of the Development Studies Master’s degree, which could also be attended by students from the Global History Master’s programme. Bob-Milliar also offered a seminar on the "History of Poverty in Africa" for the Bachelor’s degree programmes.
Prof. Morten Jerven
Morten Jerven (Norway) Winter Semester 2021/22
The second guest lecturer was Morten Jerven from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), who focused on economic growth and development in Africa, especially on the problems of measurement. While most "industrialized countries" have had national accounts since World war II and at least reliable estimates for the period since the 18th century, this is not the case for many African countries. Therefore, there are numerous misunderstandings and misinterpretations in the economic history of Africa. Morten Jerven masterfully shows this in his monograph "Poor Numbers." Another focus of his research is on the financial history of African countries.
The themes of the research by Morten Jerven were linked to the first guest lecturer, although with a focus on the methodological problems and challenges of African economic history. For example, the lecturer offered a lecture on the history of determining the gross national product in Africa and a Master’s seminar on the development and measurement of poverty. His research remains particularly relevant because much of the more recent economic historical research on Africa is produced through the use of a variety of statistical methods, which oftentimes face considerable challenges.
Prof. Ayodeji Olujoku
Ayodeji Olukoju (Lagos, Nigeria) Summer Semester 2022
Prof. Olukoju is an expert in the history of African international sea trade and African corporate history. In particular, he researched the development of the large seaports in West Africa and the trade in goods carried out in them. In the area of corporate history, his research deals with the development of the palm oil industry in Nigeria, with an article on this topic published in the Journal of Global History. He has also worked extensively on the condition and transmission of history of colonial archives, an expertise that is particularly valuable for the visiting professor with regard to teaching methods.
Prof. Olukoju contributed two new aspects to the guest chair. First, his research highlighted Africa’s contact areas with the global economy. Therefore, he offered a lecture on the history of ports and maritime trade in West Africa in the 19th and early 20th centuries, which was also partially integrated into the lecture "Foundations of Economic History II/III: Global Economy". Furthermore, Olukoju offered the seminar "The Political Economy of Decolonization and Nation Building in West Africa" for all three Master’s programme, which dealt with economic policy concepts and their advocates during the decolonization period. He also offered an introduction to African corporate history. Finally, by participating in the "Historical Methods in Economic History," Prof. Olukoju made his expertise in the field of African archiving available to interested students, especially in the History & Economics Master’s programme.
Prof. Grietjie Verhoef
Grietjie Verhoef (Johannesburg, South Africa) Winter Semester 2022/23
Prof. Verhoef is an expert in the field of African corporate history, in particular the history of African banking and insurance. Specifically, she has also published on historical saving and the history of saving and thrift. Her research is also concerned with the investigation and construction of economic statistics. In particular, Verhoef reconstructed South Africa's gross national product from 1850-1910. Her experience in this field is of great importance, especially for the students of the Master's degree in History & Economics.
Prof. Verhoef expanded the focus on "African Company History", which was developed by the third lecturer. In addition, she gave a lecture on the history of money and financial institutions in Africa, which was partially integrated into the compulsory course of the History & Economics course "Foundations of Economic History III: State and Institutions." In addition, she offered a seminar on the history of management, culture and internationalization of African companies, which was included as a section in the elective module "Advanced International Economy" of the Development Studies programme. In addition, the fourth visiting professor built on the preparatory work of the second one by teaching methods for analyzing African economic statistics. Thus, Verhoef offered her own Master’s seminar, which was partially integrated into the corresponding methods seminars of the History & Economics and Global History degrees.