ABSTRACT
This chapter describes some of the main social and economic features of the Asian expatriate communities in East Africa and Fiji in a historical perspective. In Fiji, as the economic conditions of Indians improved they started desiring political rights. The analysis of the economic role of the South Asian Community is crucial to understand problems and prospects in East Africa, since most of the Asian settlement was a response to the economic opportunities in the region. The Asian economic role was an important one, since they extended the monetary economy into the subsistence areas and therefore provided the region with the necessary prerequisites for any economic development. Fiji-Indians had done a lot in the economic field to develop their host country, but the area where they achieved most success was not commerce, but in their strong political movement opposing British rule.
