THE ORIGINS AND EARLY YEARS OF THE SOUTH WEST AFRICA COMPANY, LTD., A STUDY OF A BRITISH CONCESSION COMPANY IN GERMAN SOUTH WEST AFRIC

In 1892, the German Colonial Department approved the transfer of the Damaraland Concession to the newly created South West Africa Company. Thus ended years of uncertainty about the fate of Damaraland. The territory remained German, but through extensive mineral and railway rights, the South West Africa Company, a British company, was to develop the territory. This study deals with the complex origins of this British concession company and its early years of operation in the German protectorate of South West Africa, focusing on the interrelationships between the company and German authorities both in Germany and in the protectorate. Because the South West Africa Company was the only company in South West Africa with adequate capital, it profoundly influenced the early economic history of the German colony. Yet it encountered special problems as a British company operating in German territory.;This study is based upon intensive research in the company records of the South West Africa Company located in London. These records have never before been consulted. Here, for the first time, the major activities of the company in South West Africa before 1914 are documented using the actual records and reports of the company.;The German government entered South West Africa with the goal of establishing a colony, while avoiding any large financial expenditures. Bismarck had hoped that the Deutsche Kolonial Gesellschaft fur Sudwest Afrika could accomplish this goal. But the German company was financially unable to carry out its expected duties, thus threatening the entire German colonial venture in South West Africa. The government of Cape Colony pointed to the lack of German rule in Damaraland as sufficient reason for the British government to approach Germany about possible withdrawal from the territory. Recognizing the need for capital that was not forthcoming in Germany, the German government hoped for the establishment of some Anglo-German company in South West Africa. The German aim was to keep political control, while securing much needed private investment capital. After complicated negotiations, German and British financiers created the South West Africa Company in 1892.;Because the company was British, fears arose in Germany that it intended to economically dominate the colony to the detriment of German national interests. But the British directors of the South West Africa Company did not pursue political goals. Still, the directors always had to take special care of the public image of the company in Germany. After 1900 the German government recognized the political necessity of having German companies reap the rewards of the economic development of South West Africa. German financial interests now became involved in the British company. Also, the vision of South West Africa as a settlement colony forced the German Colonial Department to doubt the wisdom of granting large areas of the colony to concession companies. By 1908 Germany had started to assume greater responsibility for the economic development of the protectorate. Through all these changes, the directors of the British South West Africa Company, while naturally pursuing policies beneficial to their company, always tried to cooperate with the wishes of German colonial authorities. As long as the German colonial empire existed in South West Africa, the well being of the company was firmly tied to the German colonial effort.