African Entrepreneurship in Jos, Central Nigeria, 1902-1985

This book recognizes the historic roles of African/Nigerian entrepreneurs in the economic development of Jos, in Nigeria’s central region, from the colonial period to 1985. It provides a comparative analysis of African/Nigerian enterprises (private and public) and foreign enterprises. The book also analyzes entrepreneurship theories as an aspect of the history of economic thought and surveys African entrepreneurship in the context of scholarly research traditions. It is the first major study of the business history of Jos, which identifies general and specific business lines and their owners.

This book has six primary objectives:

(1) To demonstrate that the Jos Plateau in general and Jos metropolis in particular has a long business history with African/Nigerian participation, going back to the pre-colonial times and elaborating since colonial times;

(2) To explain the three broad areas of African/Nigerian entrepreneurship in Jos: agriculture, commerce, and industry;

(3) To illustrate the distinctive character of African/Nigerian entrepreneurship, including the private and public sectors, small, medium and large-scale, capitalist and non-capitalist enterprises;

(4) To show how public policy played vital roles in the development of African/Nigerian entrepreneurship in Jos; while colonial policies were unfavorable, post-colonial policies were the reverse;

(5) To identify the major businesses in Jos and those who own them; and

(6) To contribute to the history of economic thought.

The book uses historical methodology, and it consults a wide range of primary and secondary source materials. Fwatshak analyzes different sources using the multi-disciplinary research tradition.

Written in simple English and presented in a logical and chronological order, this book targets a wide readership that includes academics, economic policy makers and the general public who have interest in the theory and practice of African entrepreneurship.