Instilling the 'sterling tradition': Decolonization and the creation of a central bank in Ghana

Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History

Volumn 26, Issue 2, 1998, Pages 100-119

  Stockwell, S E ^a  

^a NONE

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EID: 0032349630     PISSN: 03086534     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/03086539808583027     Document Type: Review

References (108)

1. D.K. Fieldhouse, Black Africa 1945-1980: Economic Decolonization and Arrested Development (London, 1986); 'Arrested Development in Anglophone Black Africa?', in P. Gifford and W.R. Louis (eds.), Decolonization and African Independence: The Transfer of Power, 1960-1980 (New Haven and London, 1988); 'Decolonization, Development, and Dependence: A Survey of Changing Attitudes', in P. Gifford and W.R. Louis (eds.), The Transfer of Power in Africa: Decolonization, 1940-1960 (New Haven and London, 1982).
2. D.K. Fieldhouse, Black Africa 1945-1980: Economic Decolonization and Arrested Development (London, 1986); 'Arrested Development in Anglophone Black Africa?', in P. Gifford and W.R. Louis (eds.), Decolonization and African Independence: The Transfer of Power, 1960-1980 (New Haven and London, 1988); 'Decolonization, Development, and Dependence: A Survey of Changing Attitudes', in P. Gifford and W.R. Louis (eds.), The Transfer of Power in Africa: Decolonization, 1940-1960 (New Haven and London, 1982).
3. D.K. Fieldhouse, Black Africa 1945-1980: Economic Decolonization and Arrested Development (London, 1986); 'Arrested Development in Anglophone Black Africa?', in P. Gifford and W.R. Louis (eds.), Decolonization and African Independence: The Transfer of Power, 1960-1980 (New Haven and London, 1988); 'Decolonization, Development, and Dependence: A Survey of Changing Attitudes', in P. Gifford and W.R. Louis (eds.), The Transfer of Power in Africa: Decolonization, 1940-1960 (New Haven and London, 1982).
4. D.K. Fieldhouse, Merchant Capital and Economic Decolonization: The United Africa Company 1929-1987 (Oxford, 1994).
5. P.J. Cain and A.G. Hopkins, British Imperialism, II, Crisis and Deconstruction 1914-1990 (London, 1993), ch.11.
6. This article is based on research undertaken for S. Stockwell, 'British Business, Politics and Decolonisation in the Gold Coast c. 1945-1960' (University of Oxford D.Phil, 1993). There is a limited discussion of the creation of the Ghanaian central bank in Y. Bangura, Britain and Commonwealth Africa: The Politics of Economic Relations, 1951-75 (Manchester, 1983), 46-53, and a survey of colonial monetary and banking systems in post-war Africa in W.T. Newlyn and D.C. Rowan, Money and Banking in British Colonial Africa (Oxford, 1954). The relevant company histories, Sir J. Crossley and J. Blandford, The DCO Story: A History of Banking in Many Countries 1925-71 (London, 1975) and R. Fry, Bankers in West Africa: The Story of the Bank of British West Africa Ltd. (London, 1976), say little about the creation of the Bank of the Gold Coast or the Bank of Ghana. For other regions of the British colonial empire, see C. Schenk 'The Origins of a Central Bank in Malaya and the Transition to Independence, 1954-59', Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, XXI (1993), 409-31; and C. Ugochukwu Uche, 'Bank of England vs the IBRD: Did the Nigerian Colony Deserve a Central Bank?', Explorations in Economic History, 34 (1997), 220-41. Since this article was written a piece published by Ugochukwu Uche has been brought to my attention: 'From currency board to central banking: the Gold Coast experience', South African Journal of Economic History, 10, 2 (1955), 80-94. Although addressing the same subject, there are significant differences of scope and approach between our two articles.
7. This article is based on research undertaken for S. Stockwell, 'British Business, Politics and Decolonisation in the Gold Coast c. 1945-1960' (University of Oxford D.Phil, 1993). There is a limited discussion of the creation of the Ghanaian central bank in Y. Bangura, Britain and Commonwealth Africa: The Politics of Economic Relations, 1951-75 (Manchester, 1983), 46-53, and a survey of colonial monetary and banking systems in post-war Africa in W.T. Newlyn and D.C. Rowan, Money and Banking in British Colonial Africa (Oxford, 1954). The relevant company histories, Sir J. Crossley and J. Blandford, The DCO Story: A History of Banking in Many Countries 1925-71 (London, 1975) and R. Fry, Bankers in West Africa: The Story of the Bank of British West Africa Ltd. (London, 1976), say little about the creation of the Bank of the Gold Coast or the Bank of Ghana. For other regions of the British colonial empire, see C. Schenk 'The Origins of a Central Bank in Malaya and the Transition to Independence, 1954-59', Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, XXI (1993), 409-31; and C. Ugochukwu Uche, 'Bank of England vs the IBRD: Did the Nigerian Colony Deserve a Central Bank?', Explorations in Economic History, 34 (1997), 220-41. Since this article was written a piece published by Ugochukwu Uche has been brought to my attention: 'From currency board to central banking: the Gold Coast experience', South African Journal of Economic History, 10, 2 (1955), 80-94. Although addressing the same subject, there are significant differences of scope and approach between our two articles.
8. This article is based on research undertaken for S. Stockwell, 'British Business, Politics and Decolonisation in the Gold Coast c. 1945-1960' (University of Oxford D.Phil, 1993). There is a limited discussion of the creation of the Ghanaian central bank in Y. Bangura, Britain and Commonwealth Africa: The Politics of Economic Relations, 1951-75 (Manchester, 1983), 46-53, and a survey of colonial monetary and banking systems in post-war Africa in W.T. Newlyn and D.C. Rowan, Money and Banking in British Colonial Africa (Oxford, 1954). The relevant company histories, Sir J. Crossley and J. Blandford, The DCO Story: A History of Banking in Many Countries 1925-71 (London, 1975) and R. Fry, Bankers in West Africa: The Story of the Bank of British West Africa Ltd. (London, 1976), say little about the creation of the Bank of the Gold Coast or the Bank of Ghana. For other regions of the British colonial empire, see C. Schenk 'The Origins of a Central Bank in Malaya and the Transition to Independence, 1954-59', Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, XXI (1993), 409-31; and C. Ugochukwu Uche, 'Bank of England vs the IBRD: Did the Nigerian Colony Deserve a Central Bank?', Explorations in Economic History, 34 (1997), 220-41. Since this article was written a piece published by Ugochukwu Uche has been brought to my attention: 'From currency board to central banking: the Gold Coast experience', South African Journal of Economic History, 10, 2 (1955), 80-94. Although addressing the same subject, there are significant differences of scope and approach between our two articles.
9. This article is based on research undertaken for S. Stockwell, 'British Business, Politics and Decolonisation in the Gold Coast c. 1945-1960' (University of Oxford D.Phil, 1993). There is a limited discussion of the creation of the Ghanaian central bank in Y. Bangura, Britain and Commonwealth Africa: The Politics of Economic Relations, 1951-75 (Manchester, 1983), 46-53, and a survey of colonial monetary and banking systems in post-war Africa in W.T. Newlyn and D.C. Rowan, Money and Banking in British Colonial Africa (Oxford, 1954). The relevant company histories, Sir J. Crossley and J. Blandford, The DCO Story: A History of Banking in Many Countries 1925-71 (London, 1975) and R. Fry, Bankers in West Africa: The Story of the Bank of British West Africa Ltd. (London, 1976), say little about the creation of the Bank of the Gold Coast or the Bank of Ghana. For other regions of the British colonial empire, see C. Schenk 'The Origins of a Central Bank in Malaya and the Transition to Independence, 1954-59', Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, XXI (1993), 409-31; and C. Ugochukwu Uche, 'Bank of England vs the IBRD: Did the Nigerian Colony Deserve a Central Bank?', Explorations in Economic History, 34 (1997), 220-41. Since this article was written a piece published by Ugochukwu Uche has been brought to my attention: 'From currency board to central banking: the Gold Coast experience', South African Journal of Economic History, 10, 2 (1955), 80-94. Although addressing the same subject, there are significant differences of scope and approach between our two articles.
10. This article is based on research undertaken for S. Stockwell, 'British Business, Politics and Decolonisation in the Gold Coast c. 1945-1960' (University of Oxford D.Phil, 1993). There is a limited discussion of the creation of the Ghanaian central bank in Y. Bangura, Britain and Commonwealth Africa: The Politics of Economic Relations, 1951-75 (Manchester, 1983), 46-53, and a survey of colonial monetary and banking systems in post-war Africa in W.T. Newlyn and D.C. Rowan, Money and Banking in British Colonial Africa (Oxford, 1954). The relevant company histories, Sir J. Crossley and J. Blandford, The DCO Story: A History of Banking in Many Countries 1925-71 (London, 1975) and R. Fry, Bankers in West Africa: The Story of the Bank of British West Africa Ltd. (London, 1976), say little about the creation of the Bank of the Gold Coast or the Bank of Ghana. For other regions of the British colonial empire, see C. Schenk 'The Origins of a Central Bank in Malaya and the Transition to Independence, 1954-59', Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, XXI (1993), 409-31; and C. Ugochukwu Uche, 'Bank of England vs the IBRD: Did the Nigerian Colony Deserve a Central Bank?', Explorations in Economic History, 34 (1997), 220-41. Since this article was written a piece published by Ugochukwu Uche has been brought to my attention: 'From currency board to central banking: the Gold Coast experience', South African Journal of Economic History, 10, 2 (1955), 80-94. Although addressing the same subject, there are significant differences of scope and approach between our two articles.
11. This article is based on research undertaken for S. Stockwell, 'British Business, Politics and Decolonisation in the Gold Coast c. 1945-1960' (University of Oxford D.Phil, 1993). There is a limited discussion of the creation of the Ghanaian central bank in Y. Bangura, Britain and Commonwealth Africa: The Politics of Economic Relations, 1951-75 (Manchester, 1983), 46-53, and a survey of colonial monetary and banking systems in post-war Africa in W.T. Newlyn and D.C. Rowan, Money and Banking in British Colonial Africa (Oxford, 1954). The relevant company histories, Sir J. Crossley and J. Blandford, The DCO Story: A History of Banking in Many Countries 1925-71 (London, 1975) and R. Fry, Bankers in West Africa: The Story of the Bank of British West Africa Ltd. (London, 1976), say little about the creation of the Bank of the Gold Coast or the Bank of Ghana. For other regions of the British colonial empire, see C. Schenk 'The Origins of a Central Bank in Malaya and the Transition to Independence, 1954-59', Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, XXI (1993), 409-31; and C. Ugochukwu Uche, 'Bank of England vs the IBRD: Did the Nigerian Colony Deserve a Central Bank?', Explorations in Economic History, 34 (1997), 220-41. Since this article was written a piece published by Ugochukwu Uche has been brought to my attention: 'From currency board to central banking: the Gold Coast experience', South African Journal of Economic History, 10, 2 (1955), 80-94. Although addressing the same subject, there are significant differences of scope and approach between our two articles.
12. This article is based on research undertaken for S. Stockwell, 'British Business, Politics and Decolonisation in the Gold Coast c. 1945-1960' (University of Oxford D.Phil, 1993). There is a limited discussion of the creation of the Ghanaian central bank in Y. Bangura, Britain and Commonwealth Africa: The Politics of Economic Relations, 1951-75 (Manchester, 1983), 46-53, and a survey of colonial monetary and banking systems in post-war Africa in W.T. Newlyn and D.C. Rowan, Money and Banking in British Colonial Africa (Oxford, 1954). The relevant company histories, Sir J. Crossley and J. Blandford, The DCO Story: A History of Banking in Many Countries 1925-71 (London, 1975) and R. Fry, Bankers in West Africa: The Story of the Bank of British West Africa Ltd. (London, 1976), say little about the creation of the Bank of the Gold Coast or the Bank of Ghana. For other regions of the British colonial empire, see C. Schenk 'The Origins of a Central Bank in Malaya and the Transition to Independence, 1954-59', Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, XXI (1993), 409-31; and C. Ugochukwu Uche, 'Bank of England vs the IBRD: Did the Nigerian Colony Deserve a Central Bank?', Explorations in Economic History, 34 (1997), 220-41. Since this article was written a piece published by Ugochukwu Uche has been brought to my attention: 'From currency board to central banking: the Gold Coast experience', South African Journal of Economic History, 10, 2 (1955), 80-94. Although addressing the same subject, there are significant differences of scope and approach between our two articles.
13. This article is based on research undertaken for S. Stockwell, 'British Business, Politics and Decolonisation in the Gold Coast c. 1945-1960' (University of Oxford D.Phil, 1993). There is a limited discussion of the creation of the Ghanaian central bank in Y. Bangura, Britain and Commonwealth Africa: The Politics of Economic Relations, 1951-75 (Manchester, 1983), 46-53, and a survey of colonial monetary and banking systems in post-war Africa in W.T. Newlyn and D.C. Rowan, Money and Banking in British Colonial Africa (Oxford, 1954). The relevant company histories, Sir J. Crossley and J. Blandford, The DCO Story: A History of Banking in Many Countries 1925-71 (London, 1975) and R. Fry, Bankers in West Africa: The Story of the Bank of British West Africa Ltd. (London, 1976), say little about the creation of the Bank of the Gold Coast or the Bank of Ghana. For other regions of the British colonial empire, see C. Schenk 'The Origins of a Central Bank in Malaya and the Transition to Independence, 1954-59', Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, XXI (1993), 409-31; and C. Ugochukwu Uche, 'Bank of England vs the IBRD: Did the Nigerian Colony Deserve a Central Bank?', Explorations in Economic History, 34 (1997), 220-41. Since this article was written a piece published by Ugochukwu Uche has been brought to my attention: 'From currency board to central banking: the Gold Coast experience', South African Journal of Economic History, 10, 2 (1955), 80-94. Although addressing the same subject, there are significant differences of scope and approach between our two articles.
14. F. Teal, 'The Foreign Exchange Regime and Growth: A Comparison of Ghana and the Ivory Coast', African Affairs, 85 (1986), 267-82; D. Rimmer, Staying Poor: Ghana's Political Economy, 1950-1990 (Oxford, 1992), 205-6.
15. F. Teal, 'The Foreign Exchange Regime and Growth: A Comparison of Ghana and the Ivory Coast', African Affairs, 85 (1986), 267-82; D. Rimmer, Staying Poor: Ghana's Political Economy, 1950-1990 (Oxford, 1992), 205-6.
16. Although Gold Coast politicians argued that these arrangements were constraining the colony's development, as Schenk has shown the colonies in fact consistently underspent their allocation for dollar imports: C. Schenk, Britain and the Sterling Area: from Devaluation to Convertibility in the 1950s (London, 1994), 62, table 3.2.
17. G.D. Paton, Report on the Development and Control of Banking and Agricultural Credit Facilities in the Gold Coast (Accra, 1949), 4-5, paras. 16, 23.
18. See R. Scott, Gold Coast, to secretary of state for the colonies, 26 May 1948, Public Record Office (PRO), London, Colonial Office (CO), CO 852/767/6, no 1. See also Fry, Bankers, 182; and Newlyn and Rowan, Money and Banking, 211-12. It is debatable whether or not this was in fact the case. Newlyn and Rowan argued, ibid., 212, 'A frequent complaint is that the banks' advances policy is racially discriminatory. In our view this is not the case. The expatriate banks are not adapted to providing the type of finance (usually medium term) which Africans demand.' It is also interesting in this respect that the Bank of England commented that the Gold Coast Bank's first managing director believed that there were in fact few commercial grounds for establishing the Bank of the Gold Coast: Bank of England note on the Bank of the Gold Coast, 10 Sept. 1954, Bank of England (BoE), London, OV 69/3, no 35. It has also been argued recently that British overseas banks were not as conservative as has traditionally been assumed: F. Bostock, 'The British Overseas Banks and Development Finance in Africa after 1945', Business History, XXXVIII (1991), 157-76.
19. See R. Scott, Gold Coast, to secretary of state for the colonies, 26 May 1948, Public Record Office (PRO), London, Colonial Office (CO), CO 852/767/6, no 1. See also Fry, Bankers, 182; and Newlyn and Rowan, Money and Banking, 211-12. It is debatable whether or not this was in fact the case. Newlyn and Rowan argued, ibid., 212, 'A frequent complaint is that the banks' advances policy is racially discriminatory. In our view this is not the case. The expatriate banks are not adapted to providing the type of finance (usually medium term) which Africans demand.' It is also interesting in this respect that the Bank of England commented that the Gold Coast Bank's first managing director believed that there were in fact few commercial grounds for establishing the Bank of the Gold Coast: Bank of England note on the Bank of the Gold Coast, 10 Sept. 1954, Bank of England (BoE), London, OV 69/3, no 35. It has also been argued recently that British overseas banks were not as conservative as has traditionally been assumed: F. Bostock, 'The British Overseas Banks and Development Finance in Africa after 1945', Business History, XXXVIII (1991), 157-76.
20. See R. Scott, Gold Coast, to secretary of state for the colonies, 26 May 1948, Public Record Office (PRO), London, Colonial Office (CO), CO 852/767/6, no 1. See also Fry, Bankers, 182; and Newlyn and Rowan, Money and Banking, 211-12. It is debatable whether or not this was in fact the case. Newlyn and Rowan argued, ibid., 212, 'A frequent complaint is that the banks' advances policy is racially discriminatory. In our view this is not the case. The expatriate banks are not adapted to providing the type of finance (usually medium term) which Africans demand.' It is also interesting in this respect that the Bank of England commented that the Gold Coast Bank's first managing director believed that there were in fact few commercial grounds for establishing the Bank of the Gold Coast: Bank of England note on the Bank of the Gold Coast, 10 Sept. 1954, Bank of England (BoE), London, OV 69/3, no 35. It has also been argued recently that British overseas banks were not as conservative as has traditionally been assumed: F. Bostock, 'The British Overseas Banks and Development Finance in Africa after 1945', Business History, XXXVIII (1991), 157-76.
21. See R. Scott, Gold Coast, to secretary of state for the colonies, 26 May 1948, Public Record Office (PRO), London, Colonial Office (CO), CO 852/767/6, no 1. See also Fry, Bankers, 182; and Newlyn and Rowan, Money and Banking, 211-12. It is debatable whether or not this was in fact the case. Newlyn and Rowan argued, ibid., 212, 'A frequent complaint is that the banks' advances policy is racially discriminatory. In our view this is not the case. The expatriate banks are not adapted to providing the type of finance (usually medium term) which Africans demand.' It is also interesting in this respect that the Bank of England commented that the Gold Coast Bank's first managing director believed that there were in fact few commercial grounds for establishing the Bank of the Gold Coast: Bank of England note on the Bank of the Gold Coast, 10 Sept. 1954, Bank of England (BoE), London, OV 69/3, no 35. It has also been argued recently that British overseas banks were not as conservative as has traditionally been assumed: F. Bostock, 'The British Overseas Banks and Development Finance in Africa after 1945', Business History, XXXVIII (1991), 157-76.
22. See R. Scott, Gold Coast, to secretary of state for the colonies, 26 May 1948, Public Record Office (PRO), London, Colonial Office (CO), CO 852/767/6, no 1. See also Fry, Bankers, 182; and Newlyn and Rowan, Money and Banking, 211-12. It is debatable whether or not this was in fact the case. Newlyn and Rowan argued, ibid., 212, 'A frequent complaint is that the banks' advances policy is racially discriminatory. In our view this is not the case. The expatriate banks are not adapted to providing the type of finance (usually medium term) which Africans demand.' It is also interesting in this respect that the Bank of England commented that the Gold Coast Bank's first managing director believed that there were in fact few commercial grounds for establishing the Bank of the Gold Coast: Bank of England note on the Bank of the Gold Coast, 10 Sept. 1954, Bank of England (BoE), London, OV 69/3, no 35. It has also been argued recently that British overseas banks were not as conservative as has traditionally been assumed: F. Bostock, 'The British Overseas Banks and Development Finance in Africa after 1945', Business History, XXXVIII (1991), 157-76.
23. R. Scott to the secretary of state for the colonies, 26 May 1948, CO 852/767/6, no 1.
24. Paton, Report, 3, para. 12.
25. The report of the Watson Commission had not, for example, been published at the time of Scott's 26 May letter to the Colonial Office: Report of the Commission of Enquiry into Disturbances in the Gold Coast, 1948 (London, 1948).
26. A. Hinds, 'Imperial Policy and Colonial Sterling Balances 1943-56', Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, XIX (1991), 37. Schenk argues that the extent to which the balances constituted a threat to British financial stability has been exaggerated: Schenk, Britain, ch.2.
27. A. Hinds, 'Imperial Policy and Colonial Sterling Balances 1943-56', Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, XIX (1991), 37. Schenk argues that the extent to which the balances constituted a threat to British financial stability has been exaggerated: Schenk, Britain, ch.2.
28. Schenk, Britain, 22.
29. W.G. Boss to J.St.J. Rootham, 27 July 1948, BoE, OV 69/1, no 157.
30. 'Gold Coast, Draft Ordinance for the establishment of a state-aided bank - "The Gold Coast Bank"', 12 Aug. 1948, BoE, OV 69/1, no 63.
31. R. Scott to secretary of state for the colonies, 26 May 1948, CO 852/767/6, no 1.
32. R.P. Armitage to A. Cohen, 20 July 1948, CO 852/767/6, no 6.
33. Paton, Report, 3-5, paras. 14, 19, 23.
34. Secretary of state for the colonies to officer administering the government of the Gold Coast, 17 June 1949, CO 852/767/7, no 3.
35. R. Scott to secretary of state for the colonies, 3 Aug. 1949, CO 852/767/7, no 8.
36. R.P. Armitage to L.H. Gorsuch, CO, 16 Jan. 1951, enclosure to W.G. Hullard, CO, to W.J. Jackson, BoE, 2 Feb. 1951, BoE, OV 69/1, no 206B.
37. Convention People's Party, General Election Manifesto, 1951, reproduced in G.E. Metcalfe (ed.), Great Britain and Ghana: Documents of Ghana History 1807-1957 (Oxford, 1994 edn.), document 508.
38. 'Gold Coast Banking', 6 Feb. 1951, BoE, OV 69/1, no 210; 'Gold Coast', 29 March 1951, BoE OV 69/1, no 213. In this instance the evidence does not support Krozewski's suggestion that 'the change in British policy away from the "liberal" U.G.C.C. towards the "radical" C.P.P. was prompted in part by the latter's lenient position on matters which were of vital importance to the sterling area': G. Krozewski, 'Sterling, the 'minor'territories, and the end of formal empire, 1939-1958', Economic History Review, XLVI, 2 (1993), 257.
39. 'Gold Coast Banking', 6 Feb. 1951, BoE, OV 69/1, no 210; 'Gold Coast', 29 March 1951, BoE OV 69/1, no 213. In this instance the evidence does not support Krozewski's suggestion that 'the change in British policy away from the "liberal" U.G.C.C. towards the "radical" C.P.P. was prompted in part by the latter's lenient position on matters which were of vital importance to the sterling area': G. Krozewski, 'Sterling, the 'minor'territories, and the end of formal empire, 1939-1958', Economic History Review, XLVI, 2 (1993), 257.
40. S.W. Payton (accompanied Trevor during 1951 enquiry into Gold Coast banking) to O'Brien, 7 July 1951, BoE, OV 69/2, no 3.
41. See, for example, W.E. Ofori Atta, 2 April 1951, Gold Coast, Legislative Assembly Debates, 1951, no 1, 60.
42. 'Gold Coast', memo by H.C.B.M[ynors], 2 April 1951, BoE, OV 69/1, no 216.
43. C. Trevor, Banking Conditions in the Gold Coast and on the Question of Setting up a National Bank (Accra, 1952).
44. Minute by H.T. Bourdillon on Trevor report, 11 Sept. 1951, CO 537/6982.
45. 'Gold Coast Banking', 24 Aug. 1951, BoE, OV 69/2, no 13.
46. Minute by H.T. Bourdillon on Trevor report, 11 Sept. 1951, CO 537/6982.
47. BoE note on the Bank of the Gold Coast, 10 Sept. 1954, BoE, OV 69/3, no 35.
48. J.B. Danquah, 8 Oct. 1952, Gold Coast, Legislative Assembly Debates, 1952, no 3, 214-16.
49. E. Melville to governors of Nigeria and Gold Coast, 21 Nov. 1952 (copy), BoE, OV 67/2, no 29A.
50. 'Possible Changes in the West African Currency System', prepared by R.N. Kershaw, 17 Oct. 1952, BoE, OV 67/2, no 19.
51. E. Melville to governors of the Gold Coast and Nigeria, 21 Nov. 1952 (copy), BoE, OV 67/2, no 29A.
52. 'West Africa' memo by W. Jackson prepared for J.L. Fisher, adviser to the governors at the BoE, 18 May 1953, BoE, OV 67/2, no 29G.
53. A.K. Potter, Treasury, to E. Melville, 27 May 1953, CO 1025/5A, no 42.
54. J. Fisher to E. Melville, 19 May 1953, CO 1025/5A, no 41.
55. Personal secretary to the Gold Coast minister of finance to CO, cited in E. Melville to A.K. Potter, Treasury, 8 Aug. 1952, BoE, OV 67/2, no 11.
56. E. Melville to governors of Nigeria and the Gold Coast, 21 Nov. 1952 (copy), BoE, OV 67/2, no 29 A.
57. R. Saloway to E. Melville, 20 March 1953, CO 1025/5A, no 27.
58. Sir C. Arden-Clarke to E. Melville, 30 May 1953, CO 1025/5A, no 43.
59. Bangura, Britain, 47-8.
60. S. Caine, CO, to Lord Keynes, 14 May 1943, PRO, Treasury (T), T 236/4090. The CO, Treasury, and BoE were by 1945 largely agreed upon the need for colonies to be given access to their accumulated sterling balances for development purposes, but no firm decision was reached over this issue in view of continuing concern about the possibility of the balances being liquidated against imports from either Britain or the dollar area.
61. CPP election manifesto quoted in 'The Bank of the Gold Coast', BoE memo, 5 May 1954, BoE, OV 69/3, no 14.
62. K. Tours to E. Melville, 20 April 1954, CO 1025/39, no 4.
63. Officer administering the government of the Gold Coast to the secretary of state for the colonies, 15 May 1954, CO 1025/39, no 7.
64. R.J. Vile note for A.N. Galsworthy, 21 Dec. 1954, BoE, OV 69/3, no 4OD.
65. 'West Africa - Central Banking and Currency', 23 Nov. 1954, BoE, OV 69/3, no 39A.
66. Memo by D.M. Benuson-Butt to Miss Dalton, 3 May 1955, T 236/3983, no 24. It was thought that a Nigerian currency might be issued either by a board, banking commission (as an intermediate stage), or a bank of issue, and that Sierra Leone and the Gambia would share a common currency probably run by the remainder of the WACB.
67. 'Gold Coast', BoE memo, 30 Aug. 1955, BoE, OV 69/3 no 55a
68. Ibid.
69. 'Gold Coast', memo by J. Fisher, 6 Sept. 1955, BoE, OV 69/3, no 55c.
70. BoE minute of telephone call from the CO, 18 Nov. 1954, BoE, OV 69/3, no 38B.
71. 'Gold Coast Currency and Banking', CO notes prepared for a meeting with the Treasury and BoE, 14 Sept. 1955, CO 1025/42, no 29.
72. Minute by W.G. Wilson, 5 Sept. 1955, CO 1025/42.
73. 'Gold Coast Currency and Banking', CO memo for a meeting with the Treasury and BoE, 14 Sept. 1955, CO 1025/42, no 29.
74. Brief for the secretary of state for the colonies on his meeting with K. Gbedemah, 15 Sept. 1955, BoE, OV 69/3, no 55G.
75. See BoE, OV 69/4.
76. J.B. Loynes to Hawker, 7 March 1955 [should be 1956], BoE, OV 69/3, no 6IH.
77. J. Fisher to R.J. Vile, 16 Nov. 1956, BoE, OV 69/4, no 47c.
78. Deputy Master of Mint, Sir Lionel Thompson to A.N. Galsworthy, 11 July 1955, CO 1025/42, no 14.
79. 'Future of the Sterling Area', April 1957, Bodleian Library Oxford, Conservative Party Archive, CCO 507/3/1: CCC 103, 4.
80. See notes and correspondence on BoE, OV 69/8.
81. See, for instance, M.K. Apaloo, 13 Feb. 1957, Gold Coast, Legislative Assembly Debates Vol. 3, 850.
82. See Bostock, 'British Overseas Banks', 161-66.
83. 'West African banks remittance charges', memo by W. Jackson, BoE and sent to R.N. Kershaw, Nov. 1951, BoE, OV 67/1, no 199. Jackson stood in for Kershaw as BoE representative on the WACB when the latter was not available.
84. 'West African Currency', memo by R.N.K[ershaw] for the governor of the BoE, 19 Dec 1951, BoE, OV 67/1, no 202.
85. DCO claimed that they had made a net loss of income on their West African business in the five-year period ending 1940, and that it was only in the last two years that they had begun to make a reasonable return: R.N. Kershaw to Sir Harold Downie, Crown Agents for the Colonies, 3 Jan. 1952, CO 537/7624, no 1.
86. Fry, Bankers, 197.
87. 'West Africa: the British Banks', note by J.B. Loynes, 6 April 1956, BoE, OV 67/2, no 80/1; Fry, Bankers, 183, 186, 195.
88. A point made to me in three interviews conducted with former personnel of the Ghana National Bank and the two expatriate banks: Mr. T.E. Anin (formerly with the Ghana National Bank), London 9 A ug. 1991; Mr R. Mensah (formerly of DCO), Accra 1 Oct. 1991; Mr. C. Lamptey (formerly of BBWA), Accra 19 Sept. 1991.
89. R.P. Armitage to L.H. Gorsuch, CO, 16 Jan. 1951 (copy), BoE, OV 69/1, no 206B.
90. Minute by W.G. Wilson on his meeting with Hepburn Smith, Permanent Secretary to Ministry of Finance in the Gold Coast, A.N. Galsworthy, and D.M.B. Butt, Treasury, 26 Sept. 1955, CO 1025/42. This account may, however, be suspect in view of the ambitions British officials believed Eggleston had for the bank.
91. R. Rathbone, 'Businessmen in Politics: Party Struggle in Ghana, 1949-57', Journal of Development Studies, IX, 3 (1973), 391-401.
92. A point made to me by Richard Rathbone. On earlier campaigns for African banks see: A.G. Hopkins, 'Economic Aspects of Political Movements in Nigeria and in the Gold Coast 1918-1939', Journal of African History, VII, (1966), 133-52.
93. The governors of Sierra Leone and Gambia to CO, 5 Jan. 1953 and 28 Jan. 1953, CO 1025/5A, nos. 12 and 19. Minute by Sir H. Poynton, 20 April 1953, CO 1025/5A.
94. Ida Greaves, Colonial Monetary Conditions (Colonial Research Studies, no. 10, HMSO, 1953), 92.
95. See, for instance, the debate between Ida Greaves and Arthur Hazlewood: A. Hazlewood, 'Sterling Balances and the Colonial Currency System', Economic Journal, LXII (1952), 942-5; I. Greaves, 'Sterling Balances and the Colonial Currency System. A Comment', Economic Journal, LXIII (1953), 921-3.
96. See, for instance, the debate between Ida Greaves and Arthur Hazlewood: A. Hazlewood, 'Sterling Balances and the Colonial Currency System', Economic Journal, LXII (1952), 942-5; I. Greaves, 'Sterling Balances and the Colonial Currency System. A Comment', Economic Journal, LXIII (1953), 921-3.
97. 'Gold Coast Currency and Banking', CO notes for a meeting with the Treasury and Bank of England, 14 Sept. 1955, CO 1025/42, no 29.
98. See, for instance, Cain and Hopkins, British Imperialism, II, Crisis and Deconstruction, 281.
99. From 62.8 per cent to 39.7 per cent between 1939 and 1957: calculated from G.B. Kay, The Political Economy of Colonialism in Ghana (Cambridge, 1972), 341-2, table 22a.
100. Cain and Hopkins, British Imperialism, II. Crisis and Deconstruction, 288-89. Comparisons can also be made with the establishment of central banks in the Dominions in the interwar period: see ibid., 65-6, 91-2, and P.J. Cain, 'Gentlemanly Imperialism at Work: The Bank of England, Canada and the Sterling Area, 1932-1936', Economic History Review, XLIX, (1996), 336-57.
101. Cain and Hopkins, British Imperialism, II. Crisis and Deconstruction, 288-89. Comparisons can also be made with the establishment of central banks in the Dominions in the interwar period: see ibid., 65-6, 91-2, and P.J. Cain, 'Gentlemanly Imperialism at Work: The Bank of England, Canada and the Sterling Area, 1932-1936', Economic History Review, XLIX, (1996), 336-57.
102. Cain and Hopkins, British Imperialism, II. Crisis and Deconstruction, 288-89. Comparisons can also be made with the establishment of central banks in the Dominions in the interwar period: see ibid., 65-6, 91-2, and P.J. Cain, 'Gentlemanly Imperialism at Work: The Bank of England, Canada and the Sterling Area, 1932-1936', Economic History Review, XLIX, (1996), 336-57.
103. 'Gold Coast Currency and Banking', CO notes for a meeting with the Treasury and Bank of England, 1 Sept. 1955, CO 1025/42, no 29.
104. Memo by D.E.F.R., 16 Sept. 1960, BoE, OV 69/5, no 66.
105. Schenk, 'The Origins of a Central Bank in Malaya', 427-28.
106. Ugochukwu Uche, 'Bank of England vs the IBRD', passim.
107. Fieldhouse, 'Arrested Development', 141-2. For British expansion in the nineteenth century see, for instance, Economics and Empire 1830-1914 (London, 1973), 463-77.
108. Fieldhouse, 'Arrested Development', 141-2. For British expansion in the nineteenth century see, for instance, Economics and Empire 1830-1914 (London, 1973), 463-77.