ABSTRACT
Commonwealth Development Corporation's (CDC) initial area of operations was limited by its founding statute to those countries that were still British colonies in October 1948. As new investments were made, the size of CDC's portfolio grew steadily. The level of the annual surplus was also on a rising trend. Swaziland Irrigation Scheme was to demonstrate another feature displayed by a number of CDC projects. The controlling interest in Borneo Abaca Limited (BAL) was acquired by CDC in 1951 with Harrisons and Crosfield holding a minority interest and being appointed management agents. Eventually however, in 1996, CDC was able to sell BAL to Malaysian investors for £100 million, its largest single realisation up to that time. In Tanzania, by 1997, CDC had sixteen projects representing an investment of some £44 million. Physically, and from Tanzania's point of view, the rehabilitation has been a complete success.
