Skilled labour in colonial economies. Recruitment, education and employment in construction companies in German colonial West Africa, c. 1902–1912

Abstract

The article offers new insights into the business-historical perspective of German colonial railway construction in West Africa. Two archival case studies of German colonial railroad construction in Cameroon and Togo reveal the relationship and character of training and work in specific colonial contexts at the turn of the century. The case studies demonstrate that skills on construction sites went beyond mere questions of unskilled manual work or education. This article argues that, from a business-historical perspective, not only was the general (mass) availability of unskilled labour power crucial to infrastructural projects in the former German colonies, but also that was a substantial element of skill involved, ranging from literacy to the (technical) pre- and initial training of workers and craftsmen. Moreover, firms struggled to retain (semi-)skilled workers on construction sites for longer periods.