14/10/2024
Hausa Traders in North West Cameroon from the 19 TH to the 20 TH Century a Historical Investigation
Gold and ivory were the products of old, West Africa that were
Desired above all else by the traders of North Africa. Trans
Saharan commerce in these items helped to build the comfort
And splendor of large North African cities. But the main expansion of the trans-Saharan long-distance trade came after the Muslim conquests of North Africa in the eighth century AD. It was from this time onwards
That the trade began to have important results for the Western
And Central Sudan.
The peoples of West Africa, among which the Hausas, had one great need which the people of the Sahara could help to supply, this was salt exchange for gold. Sahara Berbers sold the goods they bought from the Sudan to the Arab traders of North Africa, and the traders of North Africa sold them again to Europeans and Asians. European and Asian goods came down into West Africa by the same methods. The Hausas supplied ivory and kola nuts.
The Hausas are a people who traced their origin from the Baghdad area of the Middle East. From there, they started migrating, passing through Sudan and arriving the Kanem Bornu area around the 16 the and 17 the century. Taking into consideration that they were town dwellers who engaged in commercial activities, they continued their migration and arrived Nigeria in the 17 the century. During the 19 the century, when
Uthman Dan Fodio launched his jihad, the Hausas were also involved.
In the course of spreading the Islamic faith, the Hausas migrated to the Adamawa region of Cameroon. While in the Adamawa, many of the migrant traders continued their Southward March to the North West Region in the 1900. They established their settlements there. The Hausas were principally long distant traders who supplied kola nuts and ivory from the Bamenda Grass fields to merchants in the lower Benue and other areas of the Adamawa region. Each Hausa settlement in the Northwest was a market place for the nearby countryside.
Each Hausa settlement also became gradually a Centre for long distance trade. It became a place for the exchange not only of locally-produced goods but also of goods brought from Nigeria, North Africa and Egypt, from the rest of the Sudan. Not all Hausas in the Northwest engaged in long distant trade. Those who stayed back home traded with the different tribes in the Northwest region. Thanks to Hausa traders, the Northwest region greatly prospered to the extent that Bamenda grew up to become a cosmopolitan and commercial town. This article therefore set out to examine the commercial activities carried out by Hausa traders in the Northwest Region of Cameroon during the 19th and 20th century. We also intend to analyze how those commercial activities were organized and what were the benefits behind those trading transactions.
It is worthwhile noting here that the gains gotten from those
Businesses were enormous. Both Hausas and non-Hausas benefited so much from the prosperous long and short distant Hausa traders. To crown it all, the Northwest Region of Cameroon owed much of its developments to the commercial activities carried out by the Hausas resident in that region.
The Hausa community in North West Cameroon migrated to the area in the late 19th Century. The exact date of their arrival is not known. But according to reliable sources, the Hausas started their settlement in the area around 1900. The author in [1] noted that the Hausas are a community of people who live together and constituted a minority group anywhere they settled in the North West Region of Cameroon. The Hausa community in the Western Grass fields is ethnically heterogeneous. It is comprised of the descendants of early Hausa, Traders as well as Town Fulbe from Northern Cameroon and Nigeria, and Grass fields individuals who converted to Islam. The author in [2] noted that the Hausa constitute the main population of Northern Nigeria and Southern Niger.
Hausa immigrant communities are found throughout Western and Central Africa. Their main point of attraction to the Grass fields was trade. Others came for the purpose of spreading the Islamic religion. Majority of them migrated on foot while a handful came on horsebacks. With the increase in the number of Hausa population in the Grass fields, there was a need for a Hausa settlement as a result, the founding of the Abakpa-Mankon settlement area. The author in [3] concluded that with the passage of time, the Abakpa-Mankon settlement became very small to accommodate the ever-increasing Hausa population, thus, the founding of new Hausa settlements in other regions of the Bamenda Grass fields.
Southwest Region, to the South by the West region, to the east
By Adamawa Region, and to the North by the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The North West Region is one of the most populated Regions in Cameroon. It has one major metropolitan city: Bamenda. The Region saw an increase in population from about 1.2 million in 1987, to an estimated 1.8 million people in 2001. The population density, at 99.12 people per
Square Kilometer's is higher than the national average of 22.6 people per square kilometer. The region urban growth rate is 7.95%, while the rural growth rate at 1.16%. The North West Region is made up of administrative divisions. The region formally known as province was created in 1972 with five divisions. These were Mezam, Momo, Bui, Menchum and Donga and Mantung Divisions. The author in [5] noted that, today it has seven divisions, Boyo carved out of Donga-Mantung and Menchum and Ngo ketunjia carved out of Mezam. There are
Thirty-one Sub-division in the North West Region.
