ABSTRACT
It was long held that economic man was not found among the indigenous populations of Africa. In the early years of colonisation. statements to this effect were common. A French governor of the Ivory Coast complained in 1911 that 'the indigenous populations are excessively lazy and will never devote themselves to regular work.' A mission sent to Africa by the Belgians in 1915 and 1916 to study prdblems of developing their colony concluded. after a visit to a number of African colonies in addition to the Belgian Congo. that Africans generally and the Congolese in particular had been in a state of indolence for centuries and that economic development was impossible without coercion to 'educate' them to appreciate the value of work. 2
The validity of these beliefs about African economic behaviour did not arouse much interest among scholars until well after World War II. Most of the literature on the subject dates from the late 1950s and has been increasingly critical of the accuracy of the early views as descriptions of current behaviour. But although there is mounting evidence that the economic response of Africans is not now peculiar. it is still commonly argued that this is a recent development-that at the beginning of colonial rule and for at least two or three decades thereafter Africans did not respond to economic stimuli as one would expect from economic theory.
