Copper King in Central Africa offers a detailed account of the corporate history of the Rhokana/Rokana Corporation and its Nkana mine. Thematically and chronologically organised, it explores the discovery of viable ores on the Northern Rhodesian/Zambian Copperbelt in the late 1920s, which attracted foreign capital from South Africa, Britain and the USA, prompting the development of the Nkana mine and the formation of the Rhokana Corporation in the early 1930s. It follows through the evolution of the copper mining industry up to the re-privatisation of the Zambian mining sector in 1991. The book ties into a single narrative the disparate themes of corporate organisation, labour relations, and profitability of Rhokana, demonstrating how the firm was, for a time, the most important mining entity in the Northern Rhodesian/Zambian mining industry. Rhokana was both an investment firm on the Copperbelt and a mining company through Nkana mine. Thus, the Corporation was central to the development and profitability of the copper industry in Zambia. Its corporate and labour policies influenced the Copperbelt as a whole. Employing the largest labour force in the mining sector, Rhokana spearheaded the labour movement on the Copperbelt. Its Nkana mine was also the largest producer of copper in the Northern Rhodesian mining industry between 1940 and 1953, and contributed hugely to the war economies of Britain and the USA. Throughout its history, Nkana was also a major source of cobalt. After nationalisation of the mining sector in 1970, Rhokana surrendered its investments in the wider copper industry, but remained central to the Copperbelt’s smelting and refining operations, owning the biggest metallurgical facilities in the industry.

This study focuses on the study of metallurgy in pre-colonial Zambia to 1890. A general review of the literature on metallurgy in pre-colonial Zambia reveals that during the period our study (up to 1890), three metals were mined. Iron production was a widespread, important and significant phenomenon, responsible for producing utility toolshoes, axe, knives, weapons, spears, arrow heads and broad knives, and regalia for the political and religious office holderscopper, which was confine to few areas; and gold to even fewer areas. Metallurgy was an important economic activity in which all ethnic groups participated in different levels of intensity. From iron ore which was smelted in elaborate and complicated processes imbued in magic, song, dance, incantations, medicines, and taboos by members of exclusively male guilds, blacksmiths were able to produce the following: (a) tools used in agriculture: hoes, axes used to clear forestays or areas to be cultivated to grow food for subsistence, non-edible crops such as tobacco and hemp which were smoked as part of relaxation, cotton used to make blankets sand shawls, needles for mending clothes, and knives for a variety of uses; (b) hunting using varieties of spears to hunt game, seek protection from dangerous animals, for defence of resources or offence to capture desired resources; (c) various sizes of hooks used in fishing different varieties of fish; and (d) making of regalia used in chieftaincies and priesthood as symbols of authority. Copper was also smelted and put in ingots of varying sizes and rods of varying sizes and lengths, which were (a) used to make copper wires as wires, rods, vessels and other utensils, copper smiths produced jewellery and ornaments and cast art pieces such as statues and necklaces worn by men and women as status symbols; (b) used in exchange of goods and services as currency; and (c) used to produce regalia for the for those in authority. Gold was mined directly and processed into making as variety of items such as buttons and regalia. In its various forms of development and sophistication, metallurgy was responsible for the economic, social and political advances among the pre-colonial societies. A variety of skills was required for building furnaces, producing charcoal, smelting and forging iron into goods. Metallurgy and production of various items that were needed and necessary for an improved life were generally not an enclave activity but a process that satisfied the totality of socioeconomic needs. It also promoted the gender division of labour within community. Wealth from the Rocks is therefore a detailed study of the place, role, and function of metallurgy in pre-colonial Zambian societies.

In Zambia, the history of industrial and commercial mining is over 115 years. The earlier period, from 1900 to 1920, is least known. It is ignored, passed over, or referred to in passing by academics and non-academics. The earlier period forms the building blocks on which the later more successful mining enterprise in the mid-1920s was anchored. This study looks at this period and discusses the beginning of mining enterprises from the beginning. Colonial rule began with the British South Africa Company, administering the two territories acquiring mining the Barotse concessions in North-Western Rhodesia, followed by an assortment of treaties with a number African chiefs in North-Eastern Rhodesia. As the country did not have geological maps, mineral deposits had to be found by amateur prospectors employed by a number of mining companies. With this support, prospectors fanned parts of the country, looking for valuable and economically exploitable minerals deposits in various parts of the country. Copper deposits were dominant. Some deposits located on sites of ancient mines in the Kafue Hook, Kansanshi, and Bwana Mkubwa were pegged with the help of African chiefs and citizens as guides. Others, such as the zinc and lead found at Broken Hill mine and the Sassare gold in Petauke, were found by sheer luck and chance.

This handbook offers a comprehensive and authoritative account of the Zambian economy, including past and current trends. The Zambian economy has evolved from simple and fragmented agrarian activities at the turn of the 20th Century into a wide range of organized and regulated modern economic activities today. While the economy has largely revolved around the mining industry since the early 1920s when the extraction of copper and other mineral ores on the Copperbelt begun, there has been a gradual broadening of economic activities over time, with services now accounting for almost two-thirds of gross domestic product (GDP). This book shows that since colonial times, one of the persistent items on the economic development agenda in what is today known as Zambia has been the need to diversify the economy to reduce dependence on mining, in terms of foreign exchange earnings and public revenue. While the need to diversify the economy has been well-acknowledged by successive Zambia governments, including the current government, achieving this goal has proved to be elusive so far. By presenting a collection of well-researched and empirically supported chapters on the key areas of the Zambian economy, this volume gives readers a good sense of where the Zambian economy has come from, where it is at the moment, but also highlights the challenges and prospects for economic growth.

Identity Transformation and Politicization in Africa: Shifting Mobilization, edited by Toyin Falola and Céline A. Jacquemin, questions whether identity is providing and sustaining power for elites, or fueling oppression and conflicts, being mobilized for exclusionary movements versus inclusive societal changes, or educating in ways that foster progress and development. Do aspects of African identities and the challenges they present also hold prospects for more inclusive and peaceful democratic and representative futures? The contributors cover a wide spectrum of expertise on different African countries (Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Rwanda, Morocco, and Libya). They come from diverse disciplines (History, Political Science, Public Administration, Philosophy, Economics and Finance, Cultural Studies, Music, and International Relations), and use various methods and approaches in their research. Some contributors belong to the groups whose identity is being scrutinized and are participants in the efforts to politicize and mobilize, while others remain outside observers, who share some traits or interests with the African identities examined and provide different kinds of insights. Several chapters explore how innovative pedagogical projects studying African history and identity—facilitated by the internet and new social media—transform and connect with the African continent. Each author provides important insights on how mobilization around identity issues has been shifting with the internet and social media.

African Political Economy in the Twenty-First Century: Theories, Perspectives, and Issues edited by Emeka C. Iloh, Ernest T. Aniche, and Stephen N. Azom fills the gap in the discourses on African political economy from an African perspective. Since the end of colonialism in the second half of the twenty-first century, a wide-ranging debate has opened on the future of African development and the nature and character of its political economy, especially as it concerns its web of relationships in the international political and economic system. Two decades into the twenty-first21st century, the debate still rages on and is likely to continue for a long time. This book contributes to the debate by addressing the important question of how African countries can strategically and tactically approach global political economy at multilateral, continental, and regional levels in view of North-South versus South-South configurations. African Political Economy in the Twenty-First Century further suggests how African countries can effectively utilize global forces to Africa’s advantage in advancing domestic, regional, and continental development objectives.

In Citizenship and the Diaspora in the Digital Age: Farooq Kperogi and the Virtual Community, Toyin Falola examines how the members of the Nigerian diaspora create a virtual community and instrumentalize the digital age to speak about the nation and its failures, possibilities, and promises. This book depicts individuals' relationships with society and how the world's progressive shift toward technology and globalization does not disregard the concept of society and its members. As a result of this shift, people have been migrating to new places without giving up their citizenship in their home countries. This book explores how migrants are focused on the idea of a virtual community, examines how citizens' roles have evolved through time, and displays society's essential principles in this light. Furthermore, it evaluates social commentaries enhanced by the dynamics of the digital age, such as societal issues like education in Nigeria, the question of democracy, challenges facing the country, and the development of a national language. Many of these societal challenges are examined in this book from the perspective of Farooq Kperogi, who has conducted extensive studies and published on the above themes. This is balanced against emerging facts, Nigerians' positions, and disregarded realities. Kperogi's relentless writings on Nigeria make him a preeminent figure whose positions are valuable to the understanding of modern Nigeria.

"This book examines the history of community relations across the Kenya-Uganda border using the case of the Bukusu and the Bagisu. From this microcosmic level, the book explores the social, economic, and political relations that have evolved between the two communities and states over time"--

As late as the beginning of the nineteenth century, despite the many years of direct contact with European traders and the influx of European goods, most African societies still produced their own iron and its products, or obtained them from neighbouring communities through local trade. The quality of iron products was such that, despite competition from European imports, local iron production survived into the early twentieth century in some parts of the continent. The production process covered prospecting, mining, smelting, and forging. Different types of ore were available all over the continent and were extracted by shallow or alluvial mining. A variety of skills were required for building furnaces, producing charcoal, smelting, and forging iron into goods. Iron production was generally not an enclave activity but a process that fulfilled the totality of socio-economic needs. It also fit the gender division of labour within communities.

The classic history of copper working and use throughout Africa. Researched with a depth of scholarship that will leave future historians green with envy.