Spatial inequality in living standards and the urban premium in late colonial French West Africa
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1344/rhiihr.44765Keywords:
spatial inequality, welfare ratios, African economic history, colonial Africa real wagesAbstract
Were colonial capitals islands of relative prosperity in West Africa, or did incomes in smaller cities keep up with income levels in major cities like Dakar? Though recent work has shown that by the 1950s real wages for unskilled workers in the major cities of West Africa were relatively high by developing world standards, less is known about income levels in the smaller urban settlements of the region. Using nominal wages and retail prices, this paper estimates welfare ratios in 49 urban centres in French colonial Dahomey, Niger, Soudan français, Haute-Volta and Guinée française for the dry season of 1948. It shows that there was considerable variation in nominal wages, real wages, and the price level across the territory of French West Africa. Coastal towns generally had higher real wages than the hinterland, though coastal Guinea was relatively poor. Real incomes tended to be higher in areas connected to a colonial railway and in areas with higher land productivity. There was an appreciable urban premium, with higher real wages in towns with larger populations.
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