ILO_SR_NS 4 8_engl INTERNATIONAL LABOUR OFFICE AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY GENEVA 1958 STUDIES AND REPORTS New Series, No. 48 PRINTED BY " IMPRIMERIES RÉUNIES S. A.," LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND- CONTENTS Page SKETCH-MAP INTRODUCTION xv 1 I. Economic and Social Conditions General Geographic and Climatic Factors Demographic Factors Development of Relationships with Other Areas Basic Economic Patterns Duality of Social Patterns Economic Conditions Character of Production Levels of Production and National Income Agricultural Production Mineral Production Fuel and Power Secondary Industries National Income Transport Public Finance Trade Utilisation of Manpower Resources Social Conditions Education Health and Nutrition Housmg and the Social Problems of Urbanisation Problems of Economic Development Development Planning Industrialisation Conclusions 7 7 7 8 9 12 15 17 17 24 25 25 26 27 27 29 30 31 32 33 33 40 42 44 44 47 49 II. Land and Labour Land Tenure Indigenous Land Tenure Systems Developments in Land Tenure Land Utilisation The Agricultural Labourer in Peasant Farming Customary Labour Contractual Labour Women and Children Remuneration of Peasant Workers Labour Supply and Demand Plantations and Plantation Labour Importance of Plantation and Other Large-Scale Farming in Africa . . Types of Plantation and Farm Labour 51 51 51 54 60 64 65 66 68 70 72 74 74 78 CHAPTER CHAPTER IV AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Page Living and Working Conditions Labour Supply and Demand Conclusions 80 82 84 III. Community Development General Community Development in Practice British Territories Ghana French Territories Other Parts of Africa Conclusions 89 89 93 93 99 99 102 103 IV. Manpower and Employment Population and Manpower Total Populations Population Density Population Trends The Economically Active Population and Its Occupational Distribution African Population European Population Population of Asian Origin Structure of the Wage-Earning Sector Distribution by Sector of Activity Distribution by Occupations The Employment Market General Features Placement of Workers and Employment Exchanges Belgian Territories British Territories Ghana French Territories Portuguese Territories Sudan Union of South Africa Movements of Manpower General Features Movements of Manpower in Individual Territories Belgian Territories British Territories French Territories Portuguese Territories Union of South Africa Economic and Social Effects of Migratory Movements 105 105 105 106 107 110 110 112 113 114 114 115 118 118 120 122 122 124 125 126 126 126 127 127 129 129 130 133 135 136 137 V. The Productivity of Labour The Character of the African Worker The African's Work Performance The Instability of the African. Worker Absenteeism Punctuality Pride in Work 139 140 143 144 146 146 147 CHAPTER CHAPTER CHAPTER CONTENTS Page General Factors Affecting Work Performance in Africa Climatic Conditions Health and Nutrition Monetary Incentives in African Conditions General Types of Incentive Attendance Bonuses Extra Payments Based on Length of Service Output Bonuses and Piecework Systems Payment by the Task Incentives Based on the Structure of Wages Amenity Incentives Having Financial Implications Human Relations and Productivity Relations between Worker and Worker Relations between Workers and Supervisors and Management Joint Consultation Methods of Improving Output (in Quahty and Quantity) and the StabiUty of Labour Selection of Workers: Aptitude Tests Training Adaptation of the Worker to the Tool and the Task and of the Tool and the Task to the Worker Concluding Remarks 147 147 149 151 151 154 154 154 154 155 156 157 160 160 161 163 VI. Technical and Vocational Training The Immediate Prerequisites for Vocational Training Adjustment of Vocational Training Schemes to Requirements General Education and Preparation for Vocational Training Vocational Guidance and Selection Vocational Training Facihties for Juveniles Vocational Instruction Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi British Territories Ghana Ethiopia French Territories Somalia Liberia Portuguese Territories Union of South Africa Apprenticeship Belgian Territories British Territories French Territories Portuguese Territories Union of South Africa Training Facilities Abroad Vocational Training for Adults Vocational Training for Unskilled Adult Workers Vocational Training within the Industry Rapid Vocational Training Continuation Classes 170 175 175 177 179 182 183 184 185 188 188 188 190 190 190 191 191 193 193 195 195 196 197 197 197 198 198 200 CHAPTER 165 165 166 167 168 VI AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Page Training of Supervisors Vocational Training in Agriculture Mass Agricultural Instruction Training of Supervisors Skill Conclusions CHAPTER VII. Freedom of Association and Industrial Relations General Freedom of Association Belgian Territories British Territories Ghana Ethiopia French Territories Somalia Liberia Portuguese Territories Sudan Union of South Africa South-West Africa Employers' and Workers' Organisations Belgian Territories British Territories Ghana Ethiopia French Territories Somalia Liberia Portuguese Territories Sudan Union of South Africa South-West Africa Industrial Disputes and Conciliation and Arbitration Machinery Belgian Territories British Territories Ghana Ethiopia French Territories Somalia Liberia Portuguese Territories Sudan Union of South Africa South-West Africa Co-operation between the Public Authorities, Employers and Workers . . . Conclusions CHAPTER VIII. Wages and Wage Policy Factors Affecting Trends in Wages The Nature of Government Intervention Machinery for Wage Determination Belgian Territories British Territories 200 202 202 204 206 209 217 217 220 220 223 _227 227 227 228 228 229 229 229 231 231 231 232 234 235 235 237 237 237 239 239 239 240 240 241 246 247 247 249 249 250 250 251 252 252 255 259 259 260 261 262 263 CONTENTS VII Page Ghana Ethiopia French Territories Liberia Portuguese Territories Spanish West Africa Sudan Union of South Africa South-West Africa Protection of Wages 267 267 267 269 270 270 270 270 272 272 Wage Structures and Levels The Basis of the Minimum Wage Some Factors Affecting the Structure of Wages The General Wage Situation 274 274 278 287 The Objectives of Wage Policy 289 CHAPTER IX. Recruitment, Contracts of Employment and Conditions of Work . . Forced Labour International Standards on Forced Labour National Law and Practice Belgian Territories British Territories Ghana French Territories Liberia Portuguese Territories Union of South Africa 295 296 296 297 298 298 299 299 299 299 301 Recruitment and Engagement of Workers International Standards on Recruitment National Law and Practice Belgian Territories British Territories Ghana French Territories Portuguese Territories Union of South Africa and South-West Africa 301 301 304 304 306 310 310 311 314 Individual Contracts of Employment; Penal Sanctions 315 International Standards National Law and Practice Belgian Territories British Territories Ghana French Territories Portuguese Territories Union of South Africa South-West Africa General Conditions of Work Housing, Food and Medical Assistance Hours of Work, Rest and Holidays Belgian Territories British Territories 315 316 316 317 319 320 320 321 322 322 323 325 326 329 VIII AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Page Ghana French Territories Somalia Liberia Portuguese Territories Union of South Africa Children and Young Persons General The Support of Children and Young Persons Health and Welfare of Children Child Labour and Education National Law and Practice The Minimum Age for Admission to Employment General Industry Employment at Sea Mining Night Work Conditions of Work Hours of Work and Rest Prohibition of Certain Types of Work Carrying of Loads Medical Examination of Young Persons Other Special Regulations on the Employment of Young Workers Employment of Women CHAPTER X. Occupational Safety and Health General Disease Climate Nutrition Environmental Control Proneness to Accident and Disease Legislation Belgian Territories Statutory Provisions Enforcement British Territories Statutory Provisions Enforcement Ghana French Territories Statutory Provisions Enforcement Union of South Africa Statutory Provisions Enforcement Private Bodies concerned with the Prevention of Industrial Accidents and Occupational Diseases Conclusions 335 335 340 340 340 342 344 344 344 345 345 348 348 348 350 350 350 351 351 351 352 352 353 353 354 360 360 361 361 362 362 363 363 364 364 365 366 366 367 369 370 370 371 371 371 372 373 373 CONTENTS IX Page CHAPTER XI. Social Security Conditions Peculiar to Africa The Law and Its Application Compensation for Industrial Accidents and Occupational Diseases . . . Scope of Legislation Medical Treatment Temporary Incapacity Permanent Incapacity and Death Administration, Financing and Supervision Occupational Diseases Sickness and Invalidity Forms of Coverage for Workers Scope of Existing Schemes Medical Treatment Cash Benefits Safeguarding of the Job during Sickness Maternity Old Age Assistance to Indigent Aged Persons Non-Contributory Old-Age Pension Schemes for Workers .... Contributory Pension Schemes Death of the Breadwinner and Funeral Expenses Child Maintenance Scope of Legislation Nature and Amount of Benefit; Methods of Payment; Administration Unemployment Public Health Mutual Aid Conclusions Workmen's Compensation Invalidity Old Age Child Maintenance CHAPTER XII. Workers' Housing The Housing Problem Today General Main Causes of Bad Housing Conditions Responsibility for Housing Action by the Public Authorities Belgian Territories British Territories Ghana French Territories Somalia Portuguese Territories Sudan Union of South Africa Provision of Housing by the Employer General Problems Connected with the Provision of Housing Essentials of Housing Policy 375 376 377 377 378 381 381 382 385 388 389 389 390 391 391 392 392 394 394 395 395 399 399 400 401 404 405 407 408 408 410 410 410 412 412 412 413 415 416 417 418 422 422 425 425 426 426 427 427 429 430 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Page CHAPTER XIH. The Co-operative Movement Legislation on Co-operatives Development of Co-operative Movement in Africa Belgian Territories British Territories Ghana French Territories Somaha Portuguese Territories Union of South Africa Conclusions CHAPTER XIV. Labour Administration and Inspection The Role and Importance of Labour Administration The Structure and Development of Labour Departments Belgian Territories Machinery in Belgium Organisation at the Territorial Government Level Organisation at the Provincial and Regional Level Territories under British Administration Organisation in the United Kingdom Organisation Overseas French Territories Administrative and Advisory Bodies in France Administrative Machinery in the Overseas Territories Somalia Liberia Portuguese Territories Sudan Union of South Africa The Work of Labour Departments Information, Research and Studies on Labour Problems Enforcement of Legislation The Inspectors and Their Work Methods of Control Maintenance of Good Industrial Relations Relations with the Public Joint Consultation Machinery Relations with Workers' and Employers' Organisations Intervention in Collective Bargaining Prevention and Settlement of Labour Disputes Promotion of Full Employment Conclusions CHAPTER XV. Application of International Labour Standards I.L.O. Action on the Application of International Labour Standards .... Control of Application Ratification and Declarations of Application Evaluation of the Extent of Application Principal Aspects of the Application of International Labour Standards . . . Forced Labour, Penal Sanctions, Recruiting and Long-Term Contracts of Employment 434 435 442 442 442 451 452 456 458 459 461 464 465 466 466 466 467 468 468 468 469 470 470 470 472 472 473 473 474 475 475 476 476 480 485 486 486 487 487 487 490 492 496 496 496 498 499 500 501 CONTENTS XI Page Minimum Standards of Social Policy in Non-Metropolitan Territories . . Protection of Children, Young Persons and Women Social Security Standards concerning Hours of Work, Weekly Rest and Holidays with Pay Wage Fixing and the Protection of Wages Freedom of Association and Industrial Relations Labour Inspection XVI. CHAPTER Conclusions 503 503 505 507 509 510 512 515 Social Objectives of Economic Development Allocation of Resources Interrelationship of Social and Economic Problems Productivity Machinery for Attaining Social Objectives Freedom of Association and Industrial Relations Labour Departments The Application of I.L.O. Standards Manpower and Employment Technical and Vocational Training Wage Policy Conditions of Work Occupational Safety and Health Social Security Workers' Housing Co-operatives Discrimination The Future 516 516 517 517 518 519 520 521 523 524 524 526 528 528 530 531 532 534 APPENDICES APPENDIX I. Standards and Recommendations of the I.L.O. and Other Organisations A. Provisions of Conventions 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. B. Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) Recruiting of Indigenous Workers Convention, 1936 (No. 50) . . . Contracts of Employment (Indigenous Workers) Convention, 1939 (No. 64) Penal Sanctions (Indigenous Workers) Convention, 1939 (No. 65) . . Social Policy (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention, 1947 (No. 82) Labour Standards (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention, 1947 (No. 83) Right of Association (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention, 1947 (No. 84) Labour Inspectorates (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention, 1947 (No. 85) Contracts of Employment (Indigenous Workers) Convention, 1947 (No. 86) Abolition of Penal Sanctions (Indigenous Workers) Convention, 1955 (No. 104) Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105) 537 537 537 543 548 554 555 560 573 573 574 575 576 Provisions of Recommendations 576 1. 2. 3. 576 577 578 Forced Labour (Indirect Compulsion) Recommendation, 1930 (No. 35) Forced Labour (Regulation) Recommendation, 1930 (No. 36) ... . Elimination of Recruiting Recommendation, 1936 (No. 46) XII AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Page 4. Contracts of Employment (Indigenous Workers) Recommendation, 1939 (No. 58) 5. Social Policy in Dependent Territories Recommendation, 1944 (No. 70) 6. Social Policy in Dependent Territories (Supplementary Provisions) Recommendation, 1945 (No. 74) 7. Protection of Migrant Workers (Underdeveloped Countries) Recommendation, 1955 (No. 100) C. Conclusions of the I.L.O. Committee of Experts on Social Policy in NonMetropolitan Territories 1. Raising of Productivity in Non-Metropolitan Territories 2. Technical and Vocational Training in Non-Metropolitan Territories 3. Wages Systems and Policies 4. Housing 5. Social Security 6. Industrial Relations 7. Social and Economic Conditions in Rural Areas from Which Workers Migrate D. Conclusions Adopted by the Inter-African Labour Conference of the C.C.T.A 1. Final Resolution of First Session (Jos. 1948) 2. Free Public Employment Services 3. Organisation of Technical and Vocational Training 4. Efficiency of Workers 5. Preliminary Consideration of Methods of Initiating the Study of Productivity 6. Human Factors in Productivity 7. Productivity of Labour 8. Vocational Training, Vocational Guidance and Apprenticeship . . . 9. Advancement of African Workers and the Training of Supervisors . . 10. Wage-Fixing Machinery 11. Employment of Women 12. Housing of Workers 13. Improvement of the Welfare of Workers 14. Definition in and Application of Social Security 15. Family Allowances 16. Old-Age Pensions 17. Sickness Benefit 18. Accident Compensation 19. Prevention of Accidents and Occupational Diseases 20. Relations with Trade Unions in Africa 21. Settlement of Labour Disputes 22. Prevention and Settlement of Disputes 23. Organisation and Functions of Labour Departments 24. Stabilisation and Migration of Workers and " Floating " Urban Manpower APPENDIX II. Reference List of Labour Legislation Belgian Territories British Territories Ghana Ethiopia French Territories Somalia Liberia Portuguese Territories Spanish West Africa 578 579 588 594 602 602 603 605 608 611 617 618 619 620 620 622 622 624 626 628 628 631 632 632 633 634 635 636 638 638 638 640 642 642 643 643 644 647 647 649 653 653 654 661 661 661 662 CONTENTS XIII Page Sudan Union of South Africa South-West Africa APPENDIX 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. III. Additional Tables Population and Population Density Population and Labour Force Number of Wage Earners in the Main Branches of Economic Activity Production of Selected Agricultural Commodities in Africa, 1947-49 . Output of Selected Agricultural Commodities by Country and Territory Share of Africa in World Production of Selected Crops Before and After the Second World War Classification of Areas under African Cultivation in Selected African Countries and Territories Share of Africa in World Production of Selected Minerals Relative Importance of Mining Production in Selected African Countries and Territories, 1953 Output of Selected Minerals in African Countries Union of South Africa: Sales of Minerals Union of South Africa: Production in Selected Industries Length of Railway in Relation to Area and Population in Selected African Countries and Territories, 1949 Railway Freight Traffic in Selected African Countries and Territories in 1948 and 1949 Compared with Pre-War Traffic Length of Roadway in Selected African Countries and Territories After the Second World War Production of Electricity in Selected African Countries and Territories External Trade of Selected African Countries and Territories, 1956 . . . Shares of Metropolitan Countries in the Trade of the Non-Metropolitan Territories for Which They Are Responsible, 1950-53 Price Indices of Principal African Exports, 1954-56 Proportion of School-Age Population Enrolled in Primary, Secondary and Technical Schools, 1955 Number of Inhabitants per Hospital Bed in Selected Countries .... Structure of Current Expenditure in Selected British Territories, 1952 Structure of Current Expenditure in Selected French Territories, 1952 Hourly Wages of Adult Wage Earners in 41 Occupations in Five African Countries, October 1953 Hourly Wages of Adult Wage Earners in 41 Occupations in 12 African Countries, October 1956 Minimum Daily Wage Rates in the Belgian Congo on 1 January 1958. Minimum Hourly Wage Rates in French African Territories in June 1957 Minimum Wages for Selected Categories of Workers in Angola in 1956. Union of South Africa: Average Annual Wages of Workers in Private Industry, 1944-45 to 1953-54 Structure of Labour Administration in the Belgian Congo Labour Department Staiï in the Territories under British Administration Labour Administration in the Territories under French Administration, June 1957 Registered Employers' and Workers' Organisations in Selected British African Territories, 1951, 1955 and 1956 Industrial Disputes in Selected British African Territories, 1951-56 . . . Number of International Labour Conventions Ratified by African States Members, June 1958 Declarations of Application up to June 1958 and the Extent of Application of Conventions in April 1957 in Non-Metropolitan Territories in Africa. Ratifications of International Labour Conventions Affecting African Countries and Territories Facing page 662 663 663 664 665 666 667 668 669 670 670 671 671 672 673 673 674 674 675 676 676 677 677 678 679 680 680 681 682 686 686 687 687 688 689 690 691 692 692 693 694 XIV AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Page 38. Reports Received and Reports Not Received for the Years 1955, 1956 and 1957, in respect of Non-Metropolitan Territories in Africa .... APPENDIX IV. Bibliography 694 695 Official Publications of Governments International Labour Office Publications Publications of the United Nations, Specialised Agencies and Other International Organisations Other Publications (Official and Non-Official) Short List of Periodicals 695 696 697 698 706 V. Note on the Commission for Technical Co-operation in Africa South of the Sahara, the Inter-African Labour Institute and the Inter-African Labour Conference 709 APPENDIX INDEX OF REFERENCES TO COUNTRIES AND TERRITORIES 710 LIST OF TABLES IN THE TEXT I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. IX. X. XL XII. XIII. XIV. XV. XVI. XVII. XVIII. XIX. XX. Increase in the Population of the World by Regions, 1951-55 Estimated Money Income of African Indigenous Agricultural Economies, 1950 Southern Rhodesia: Census of Manufacturing Industries, 1949-52 ... Percentage Increases in Production of Selected Minerals, 1937-49 .... Coal Production in Selected Countries and Territories, 1937-56 .... Belgian Congo: Indices of Industrial Production, 1950-53 National Income in Selected African Countries, 1955 Indices of International Seaborne Shipping Freight Carried to and from Selected African Countries, 1948 and 1949 Comparative Expenditure of Selected Countries and Territories, 1936-37 and 1951-52 Development and Welfare Fund Allotments to East and West African Territories during the 11-year Period Ending 31 March 1957 F.I.D.E.S. Expenditure Authorised up to 31 December 1956 Membership of Workers' Organisations in French West Africa, 1953 . . Membership of Workers' Organisations in French Equatorial Africa, 1953. Membership of Workers' Organisations in French West Africa, 1956 . . Elections of Workers' Delegates in French Equatorial Africa : Results . Strikes and Lockouts in the Union of South Africa, 1952-56 Northern Rhodesia : Changes in Monthly Wage Rates in the Mining Industry 1949-54 Women Wage Earners in the Main Industries Union of South Africa : Old-Age Pensioners and Total Pensions Paid in 1954 Maternity and Family Allowances Payable in French Territories on 1 April 1957 9 14 21 26 27 28 28 29 31 46 47 236 237 238 238 252 280 355 394 404 N. B. This sketch-map is not intended to indicate or endorse precise boundaries. INTRODUCTION The African Labour Survey had its inception in the decision of the Governing Body of the International Labour Office at its 131st Session (Geneva, March 1956) to place on the agenda of the Fifth Session of the I.L.O. Committee of Experts on Social Policy in Non-Metropolitan Territories for its examination a survey of labour and social policy in Africa. This decision was based on a suggestion made by the Committee at its Fourth Session (Dakar, December 1955) that the time had come to attempt a comprehensive survey of labour and social policy in Africa, which would be based on the reports on particular subjects that had been submitted to the Committee at its first four sessions, supplemented by other information available to the I.L.O. from governments and from the Inter-African Labour Institute. At its First Session, held in London in 1947, the Committee studied problems of migratory labour and a number of questions related to the proposed international labour Conventions on social and labour policy in non-metropolitan territories which were subsequently adopted by the International Labour Conference in 1947. At its second meeting, held in Geneva in 1951, the Committee gave particular study to the problems of penal sanctions, technical and vocational training, and further aspects of migratory labour. At its Third Session (Lisbon, 1953) the subjects it examined were technical and vocational training, workers' housing and labour productivity. At Dakar in 1955 the Committee studied the subjects of industrial relations, initial aspects of social security, and wage systems and policies. The Committee at its various sessions also made proposals to the Governing Body regarding the programmes of work it might be desirable to undertake in respect of non-metropolitan territories. The composition of the Committee at the time of its Fifth Session was as follows : Mr. M. de COPPET (France), Honorary Counsellor of State ; Honorary GovernorGeneral of French Overseas Territories; former Governor-General of French West Africa and of Madagascar. Mr. Gaspar DA CUNHA LIMA (Angola), Director of the Companhia Angolana de Agricultura. Mr. Roger DUBLED (France), President, Federation of Coffee and Cocoa Producers' Associations in the Overseas Territories. Mr. K. D. FOEVIE (Ghana), General President, Ghana Mines Employees' Union. Mr. Benjamin GERIG (United States), Director of the Office of Dependent Area Affairs, Department of State, Washington; Deputy U.S. Representative, Trusteeship Council of the United Nations ; one-time member of the Mandates Section of the League of Nations. Mr. L. IGNACIO-PINTO (Dahomey), Minister of Commerce and Industry, Dahomey (French West Africa). Mr. Antoine LAWRENCE (French Guinea), Member of the Economic Council for French West Africa; Member of the Advisory Council of the Modernisation AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY and Equipment Plan for Overseas Territories; Professor at the Free College of Social and Economic Sciences. Mr. A. R. I. MELLOR, C.B.E., M.C. (United Kingdom), lately Director, the United Africa Co., Ltd.; Chairman, West Africa Committee; Deputy Chairman and former Chairman of the Overseas Employers' Federation; Member of the Secretary of State's Colonial Labour Advisory Committee. Professor J. Clyde MITCHELL (Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland), Professor of African Studies, University College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. Colonel A. E. NEVES DA FONTOURA (Portugal), Member of the Portuguese Overseas Council; former Governor of Timor; Professor at the School of Higher Overseas Studies, Lisbon. Mr. Bernard RAKOTONDRAZAKA (Madagascar), General Secretary, Federal Trade Union of Civil Servants, Employees and Assimilated Staff of the Public Services of Madagascar and its Dependencies. Mr. R. O. RAMAGE, C.M.G. (United Kingdom), Chairman of the Uganda Public Service Commission; formerly Colonial Secretary, Sierra Leone, Undersecretary, Gold Coast, Salaries Revision Commissioner, British Honduras, Mauritius, Aden, Gambia, Fiji, Western Pacific High Commission Territories; and Jamaica (special duty). Mr. Razafy RANDRETSA (Madagascar), Counsellor of the French Union. Rev. Dr. S. M. RENNER, O.B.E. (Sierra Leone), Chairman of the Sierra Leone Mining Wages Board. Mr. H. RIVIEREZ (French Equatorial Africa), Senator for Ubangi-Chari, French Equatorial Africa; Representative of the Council of the Republic on the Superior Labour Council for the Overseas Territories. Mr. A. SANTOS LIMA (Portuguese West Africa), Inspector of Overseas Provinces. Mr. David SOUMAH (French Guinea), Chairman, Confédération africaine des travailleurs croyants. Mr. H. W. SPRINGER (West Indies), Registrar of the University College of the West Indies, Jamaica. Mr. William VAN REMOORTEL (Belgium), Member of the Belgian Senate ; President of the Native Welfare Fund of the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi. At its Fifth Session the Committee examined and discussed the drafts of all the chapters of the survey and made a substantial number of criticisms and suggestions both in regard to questions of fact and emphasis and to matters of appreciation and judgment. All these suggestions were taken into careful consideration in revising the draft, though the responsibility for the final text of the survey as presented is that of the Director-General of the International Labour Office. The survey is designed to serve three related but distinct purposes. In the first place it is desirable to have, as the point of departure for the future work of the I.L.O. in Africa, as objective and authoritative a picture as possible of the existing situation. A wider measure of agreement will more readily be secured in such work and more positive and fruitful results are likely to be obtained if, when a more thorough and continuous examination of the labour and social problems of Africa is undertaken, it is possible to start from an agreed body of authoritative information. To provide such a point of departure for the future work of the I.L.O. in this field is the primary and overriding purpose of the survey. Secondly, there is an increasing need in Africa—among government departments and employers' and workers' organisations alike—^for fuller information INTRODUCTION concerning the manner in which problems of common concern are being dealt with in other parts of Africa. An African labour survey prepared for this purpose needs to draw on the knowledge of employers and workers as well as on governmental and unofficial experience and should be prepared with full regard to conditions which may be special to Africa, or which arise in an unusual or particularly acute form in Africa, but in the light of the experience gained in other parts of the world where the problems inherent in rapid economic development, which are now arising in certain parts of Africa, have long been familiar. Thirdly, there is now a world-wide interest in the economic and social problems of Africa, and it is desirable that the I.L.O. should contribute to making the problems within its purview which arise in Africa more fully understood throughout the world. For convenience and simplicity the term " Africa " has been used in the text of the survey to describe the countries and territories listed below, comprising an area which for the most part is generally designated " Africa south of the Sahara ". References to " Africa " in the survey are therefore to be taken to be references to " Africa south of the Sahara " unless a contrary intention is clearly shown. The countries and territories covered by the survey are the following: Belgian Territories : Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi British Territories1 : Basutoland Bechuanaland British Somaliland Cameroons under British Administration Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (Northern Rhodesia, Nyasaland, Southern Rhodesia) Gambia Kenya Mauritius Nigeria Sierra Leone Swaziland Tanganyika Uganda Zanzibar Ghana Ethiopia French Territories1 : Cameroons under French Administration Comoro Islands French Equatorial Africa French Somaliland French West Africa Madagascar Togoland under French Administration Somaliland under Italian Administration Liberia Portuguese Territories: Angola Cape Verde Islands Mozambique Portuguese Guinea Sao Tomé and Principe Spanish Territories: Spanish Guinea Spanish West Africa Sudan Union of South Africa and South- West Africa 1 These territories are treated in the body of the survey according to their geographical grouping (western, eastern, central, southern Africa). AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY A few comments on the status of some of the above countries and territories and on the names used to refer to them in the body of the survey are desirable at this stage. In regard to Ghana, it should be noted that there are a few references in the text to the name of this country prior to its becoming independent in March 1957 (the Gold Coast) where this was unavoidable, as in quotations. In view of the fact that the major part of the social legislation of Ghana derives from its period of common legislative history with other British African territories, while it appears separately, it is treated, for the sake of convenience, immediately after these other territories in the parts of the survey containing detailed comparative analyses. In regard to South-West Africa, it is to be noted that the General Assembly of the United Nations has endorsed the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice dated 11 July 1950 that the status of the territory of South-West Africa is still that of a territory held under the mandate accepted by the Government of the Union of South Africa and confirmed and defined by the Council of the League of Nations on 17 December 1920, while the view of the Government of the Union of South Africa is that the mandate over South-West Africa no longer exists, that the territory has become sovereign in that it shares the sovereignty of the Union on at least an equal basis and that the Union and South-West Africa have become one entity, and accordingly one territory and one nation. For convenience, the name " Somalia " has been utilised in this survey to designate " Somaliland under Italian administration ". Similarly the name " French Togoland " has been employed for the territory which is termed " Togoland under French Administration" by the United Nations and " the Autonomous Republic of Togoland " by the Government of France. The first three chapters of the survey (Chapter I : Economic and Social Conditions; Chapter II: Land and Labour; and Chapter III: Community Development) are of a more general character than the remaining chapters of the survey ; they have, nevertheless, been regarded as a necessary introduction to the subjects treated in detail in Chapters IV-XVI. The International Labour Office in preparing the survey has been fully aware that the United Nations and other specialised agencies are interested in, and in some cases primarily responsible for, the international treatment of some of the matters covered. It is believed, however, that an adequate presentation of the problems for consideration by the I.L.O. is possible only in the context of the general economic and social problems of Africa. It is also believed that there will be no difficulty in distinguishing between the questions treated as part of the general problems of Africa and those which internationally are the particular concern of the I.L.O. Chapters IV-XVI cover successively the following questions: manpower and employment; the productivity of labour; technical and vocational training; freedom of association and industrial relations; wages and wage policy; recruitment, contracts of employment and conditions of work; health and safety; social security; workers' housing; the co-operative movement; the application of international labour standards; and the conclusions of the Committee of Experts on Social Policy in Non-Metropolitan Territories at its Fifth Session. While the basis of the information contained in the survey is primarily documentary (a not inconsiderable part of which consists of the annual reports regularly supplied by governments on the application of international labour Conventions to African territories, which numbered 1,102 in 1955-56 and 1,337 in 1956-57), its INTRODUCTION preparation has been greatly facilitated by the personal visits to no fewer than 34 countries and territories in Africa south of the Sahara1 undertaken by officials of the International Labour Office in recent years with the full co-operation of the governments concerned. A number of the subjects dealt with in the survey (particularly in the first three chapters) fall within fields in which comparative studies on an international basis have already been carried out, for example by the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation, the United Nations and the other specialised agencies, in respect of Africa. These studies have been drawn upon in the preparation of the present volume to an extent which seems to warrant specific acknowledgment over and above that provided by footnotes and bibliography. Many studies of particular value may be mentioned: the three studies on the economic problems of Africa prepared by the United Nations (entitled respectively Review of Economic Conditions in Africa2, Review of Economic Activity in Africa, 1950 to 19543, and Economic Developments in Africa, 1955-56)* ; the Report of the World Social Situation^ in the preparation of which the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, the World Health Organisation and the International Labour Organisation collaborated ; the summaries of reports and special studies on economic, social and educational questions published by the United Nations in respect of non-selfgoverning territories; the reports and studies relating to Trust Territories also published by the United Nations; and the study on the African mind in health and disease8, published in 1953 by the World Health Organisation. A very great debt is owed to national sources of material, which have furnished much of the documentary information for this survey taken as a whole. Special reference in this respect needs to be made to the annual general reports and departmental reports published by various governments, as well as special reports on particular questions such as those in respect of development plans. Specific and separate acknowledgment should also be made here of the extent to which Lord Hailey's study, An African Survey7, has been drawn upon in the preparation of the present survey. The emphasis in the survey as a whole has been on the presentation of data to illustrate the existing situation rather than on data now of primarily historical significance. Because of the extent to which historical factors can serve to throw light on many of the problems examined in the survey, the present work should be read in conjunction with such earlier studies of African social problems as 1 These are: Angola, Belgian Congo, British Cameroons, Dahomey, French Cameroons, French Guinea, French Sudan, French Togoland, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Mauritania, Middle Congo, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Northern Rhodesia, Nyasaland, Portuguese Guinea, Ruanda-Urundi, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Southern Rhodesia, Sudan, Tanganyika, Uganda, Upper Volta, Union of South Africa. 2 United Nations, Department of Economic Affairs : Review of Economic Conditions in Africa (New York, 1951). 3 Idem, Department of Economic and Social Affairs: Review of Economic Activity in Africa, 1950 to 1954 (New York, 1955). 4 Idem : Economic Developments in Africa, 1955-56 (New York, 1957). 3 Idem, Bureau of Social Affairs: Report on the World Social Situation (New York, 1957). 6 World Health Organisation : The African Mind in Health and Disease, by J. C. CAROTHERS, Monograph Series, No. 17, Geneva, 1953. 7 Unless otherwise stated, references to this book are to the revised edition (Lord HAILEY : An African Survey. Rev. 1956. London, New York, Toronto, Oxford University Press, 1957.) AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY the works by Lord Lugard1, Lord Olivier2 and R. L. Buell3, as well as Lord Hailey's An African Survey. The Director-General of the International Labour Office, when requested by the Governing Body to prepare, for examination by the Committee, a comprehensive survey of labour and social policy in Africa, consulted representatives of the Governments of Belgium, France, Portugal, the United Kingdom and the Union of South Africa and requested their co-operation in the matter. They responded generously to this request and furnished information which has been invaluable for the preparation of the survey, but they have no responsibility for the presentation of this information or for the conclusions drawn from it. Responsibility for these matters rests entirely with the Director-General of the International Labour Office. In the course of preparing the survey the International Labour Office also secured the co-operation of the Inter-African Labour Institute of the Commission for Technical Co-operation in Africa south of the Sahara. The chapter of the survey dealing with the productivity of labour is in a substantial measure based upon the report on the human factors in productivity in Africa4 prepared by the Institute from material supplied by the various member governments. The I.L.O. has also consulted the United Nations, the Food and Agriculture Organisation, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, and the World Heath Organisation, in regard to parts of the survey dealing with subjects in respect of which these organisations have special responsibilities, and has received valuable co-operation from them. The Director-General would like to express the special gratitude of the International Labour Office for the assistance which has been provided by the governments and organisations mentioned. 1 Lord LUGARD: The Dual Mandate in British Tropical Africa (London, Blackwood, 1922). Lord OLIVIER: White Capital and Coloured Labour (London, Woolf, 1929). 3 R. L. BUELL: The Native Problem in Africa. 2 vols. (London, Macmillan, 1928). 4 Inter-African Labour Institute: The Human Factors of Productivity in Africa; a Preliminary Survey (Bamako, 1956). 2 CHAPTER I ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS GENERAL Geographic and Climatic Factors The present stage of economic and social development of Africa south of the Sahara, and, in particular, the vital question of the distribution of its population and manpower resources, are directly related to the basic facts of the physical geography of the area. The first basic fact to be noted is that nearly one-quarter of the continental area of Africa is composed of deserts and lakes and about one-quarter of forest land, while most of the remainder consists of savannah or grassland, of which not a little is comparatively arid. The general limiting effect of this situation on the amount of land available for cultivation and on the methods to be employed to that end is increased by the fact that over large parts of the area under consideration the soil is deficient in substances important to plant growth.1 Historically, the needs of soils requiring long periods for recovery and regeneration have been met to a very large extent by shifting cultivation—a method which population increase, economic change and the lowering of standards of cultivation through the indirect effect of migrant labour systems have rendered increasingly difficult to apply, apart from its intrinsically wasteful character. The above factors are fundamental to an understanding of many movements of population, both past and present, as well as of a wide variety of current social, economic and political issues in Africa. Secondly, the physical configuration of the area has unquestionably retarded its economic development because of the extent to which the lack of natural harbours renders access difficult from the outside, while internal transport has been made particularly arduous by the dense rain forests, the high plateaux and the fact that the rivers afford no easy access to the interior. Only the Congo has a deep estuary: the construction of artificial harbours, such as Takoradi or Monrovia, is very costly. The attraction of mineral wealth has been a major justification in a number of instances for the heavy capital expenditure required to build railways and roads: the recent example of the Bomi Hills railway—the first in Liberia—is an indication of the extent to which this pattern still holds good. Where railways have been built with the assistance and participation of governments, non-economic considerations have often been important and traffic has often for long periods been too small to cover the full cost of operation. Thus, while the plateaux of 1 Review of Economic Conditions in Africa, op. cit., p. 8. AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Africa contain most of the mineral wealth of the region and the rivers unquestionably have potentialities, notably in respect of power, the former represent an impediment, and the latter do not represent a major contribution, to the provision of the internal transport necessary for economic development. The above factors are generally agreed to have been decisive in retarding the development of economic relations between most parts of Africa and the outside world. The prevalence of tropical diseases has also been advanced as a contributory cause, but, on the other hand, it has been argued that a high prevalence of human and animal disease is itself the result of malnutrition associated with poverty of physical conditions and that the low density of population over many parts of Africa is a symptom of a physical configuration which is unfavourable to the rapid growth of the human race. Demographic Factors Detailed information regarding the population, population density and population trends in the countries and territories covered by the survey is contained in Chapter IV1, which also indicates the limitations of the statistics available in this regard. The following brief account is limited to commenting on some of the principal features of the demographic data available. The estimated total population of the area is some 142 million, representing the low average population density of approximately seven persons per square kilometre. While within particular countries and territories considerable variations exist, it seems worthy of note that low population densities are in particular to be found in parts of the dense rain forests of Central Africa (for example in French Equatorial Africa, with a population of less than two persons to the square kilometre), on the high plateaux toward the south (as in Angola and Northern Rhodesia, with populations of some three persons to the square kilometre) and, further to the south, in South-West Africa and Bechuanaland, with population densities of approximately one and less than one, respectively, to the square kilometre. On the other hand, over a substantial part of West Africa population densities are relatively high, ranging from 20 to 50 persons per square kilometre, while in the more favoured parts of East Africa important concentrations of population are to be found. It is important to note that population density figures relating to areas within which wide variations exist, as is the case with many of the countries and territories concerned, may tend to conceal many facts of economic and social significance. For example, there are in the coastal regions of West Africa areas with a very high population density; in Nyasaland the average population density in the mountain and plateau regions is of the order of four persons to the square kilometre, whereas the corresponding figure for some areas bordering Lake Nyasa is of the order of 80. It has, moreover, to be borne in mind that even low and intermediate population densities may, in local conditions, with existing techniques and fluctuating rainfall, represent considerable pressure on land resources. As the chapter on manpower questions indicates, the data regarding population trends in the area are very incomplete and are insufficient to enable an over-all picture to be established; nevertheless, it is clear that improved public health and 1 See also Appendix III, table 1. ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS sanitary measures are bringing about a decline in the death rate. It would be well to bear in mind that important changes in this respect may be taking place, even if at present they are not capable of measurement. In this connection it should be noted that estimates contained in a recent United Nations report covering the period 1951-55 support the view that the rate of population increase in Africa is relatively high. Much of the data on which this report is based admittedly is incomplete and fragmentary; moreover, unlike the present survey, the report covers North Africa as well. Subject to these qualifications, as well as the others contained in the report, it is noteworthy that these estimates indicate that Africa has one of the highest annual rates of population increase among the continents, only the rates for Oceania and for Central and South America being slightly higher. This is illustrated by table I. TABLE I. INCREASE IN THE POPULATION OF THE WORLD BY REGIONS, 1951-55 (In millions) Increase 1951-55 1951 World total Africa America North America Central and South America Asia Europe Oceania U.S.S.R 2,519 204 337 171 166 1,384 397 13.3 184 2,691 223 366 183 183 1,481 409 14.6 197 172 19 29 12 17 97 12 1.3 13 1 Annual rate of increase (per cent.) 1.6 2.2 2.1 1.7 2.4 1.7 0.7 2.3 1.7 Source: Report on the World Social Situation, op. cit., p. 5. Information regarding the increase of the non-African populations of the countries and territories under consideration, whether through immigration or natural increase, is more readily available and is provided in Chapter IV. The population of non-African origin, while of major political, economic and social significance, is a small percentage of the population of the area, and, if the Union of South Africa is left out of consideration, represents only 0.85 per cent, of the total population.1 Development of Relationships with Other Areas The connection between the physical configuration of Africa and the relatively late date at which, for most parts of Africa, real contact with external economic activities was established has been noted above in general terms; some account of the main stages of the development of relations of economic and social significance with other parts of the world, and with Europe in particular, must be given, for it forms an important part of the background to present economic and social conditions. Historically, in the first stage, trading activities were the dominant consideration in Europe's interest in Africa and her hegemony was limited to relatively small areas 1 See Appendix III, table 1. 10 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY of coastal Africa primarily for use as trading outposts and also as ports of call on the route to the East Indies. This period can, for most purposes, be regarded as extending into the second half of the nineteenth century. Traffic in African slaves was for most of the period the chief element in this commerce: there was as well a small trade in ivory and gold begun by the Portuguese. Such colonisation as took place was limited in the main to small areas in the immediate neighbourhood of the coastal forts. Only the European settlements in South Africa and in certain Portuguese colonies extended to any distance inland. In the former, climatic conditions and the relations of the Dutch colonists with the British authorities after British annexation led to relatively rapid penetration inland. Elsewhere the interior of the parts of Africa under consideration had virtually no contact with and was little known to Europeans other than missionaries and explorers. However, during the early decades of the second half of the nineteenth century the results of exploration and mapping of the interior began to give the outside world some knowledge of its potential and resources. The end of this period was marked by events such as the discovery of diamonds in the Cape Province in 1867, the discovery of gold in the Transvaal in 1875, the concrétisation of Belgium's interest in the Congo and the Berlin Conference of 1884-85. At this Conference it was agreed that all territorial claims should be announced to the other signatory powers and that they must be supported by evidence of occupation. But since occupation, in the sense of the presence of settlers, traders, mission stations, government offices, might not be immediately effective, "spheres of influence " were to be recognised. This process of division of Africa among the European powers was accompanied by various measures to develop the economic potential of the interior. In this connection only a few major points need here be mentioned. First of all should be noted the widely adopted procedure of seeking to promote development through powerful concessionary companies, which usually had monopoly rights and to which were also often accorded responsibilities for political administration. Examples of such companies are the Royal Niger Company, the Imperial East Africa Company and the Chartered Company of Nyasaland in the British territories and the Compagnie du Congo pour le Commerce et /'Industrie in the Belgian territories; similar companies were also created in the French, German and Portuguese territories. Secondly, while for a time in some areas development was conceived in terms of the rapid exploitation of easily accessible natural resources, for example the exhaustion of rubber or forest timber without proper replacement, it became clear that, if longterm economic development plans were to be pursued, proper transport facilities would be needed, involving expensive public works far too large to be financed from the limited resources locally available, except In a few areas. Thirdly, where valuable mineral resources were found, the financing of internal development was obviously greatly facilitated. Fourthly, in many areas the exploitation of available resources was hindered by a shortage of workers ready to accept wage-earning employment, and various forms of compulsion were employed to induce them to work. Fifthly, while in most areas climatic conditions were unfavourable for the settlement of peoples of non-African origin, in a few, conditions favoured such settlement with profound effects on the pace of economic development and on the organisation of society. Both the long-range character of the investments required for the economic development of Africa and the problems of reconciling political responsibilities ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS 11 with the rights of shareholders led to the fairly rapid disappearance of the chartered companies. The general patterns emerging from the interplay of the various factors noted above became clearer and are summarised in the following general assessment, which is applicable to the early years of economic penetration : As economic development proceeded, wide differences began to appear between the various territories. Where, as in the Union and Southern Rhodesia, a territory enjoyed both the advantages of a climate suited to white settlement and minerals ready to be worked, development came quickly. Where, as in Kenya, settlement was possible, but minerals were at first scarce or unprofitable, development was slower and more precarious. Where, again, as in Nigeria and the Gold Coast, the possibility of cultivating export crops existed, but white settlement was impossible, economic development took a substantially different form. Where, finally, as in French Equatorial Africa, in parts of the Belgian and Portuguese colonies, and of Northern Rhodesia and Tanganyika, none of these advantages existed, an economic backwater remained and native life followed its traditional forms with little change save that consequent upon the imposition of peace.1 The essential terms of the present relationships between Africa and other parts of the world have clearly for some time been undergoing significant changes; some of the principal characteristics which differentiate this period of change from the earlier ones noted above derive from the changes taking place within Africa itself, while others are primarily the result of changes in other parts of the world and of the climate of world opinion. The following seem to be the most important. Firstly, within Africa the economic impact of the outside world has reached the stage at which very few communities remain unaffected. Whereas at the beginning of the present century money and exchange, except in a limited number of cases, played little or no part in the lives of the indigenous populations, at present there are few indigenous communities whose members do not earn some money either by the sale of produce or by work for wages. A corresponding change in the extent of the influence of the social standards and cultural patterns of other parts of the world has taken place pari passu with this process. Secondly, the importance of the area in world production, both generally and in relation to a number of strategic materials, its assumed no less than its known potential, its geographical situation viewed in the light of present world tensions —all these have made Africa a region of the greatest strategic significance. Thirdly, the trend of world opinion on two questions has had and is having profound effects on Africa : on the one hand, the more positive conception of the functions of governmental action in promoting the improvement of economic and social conditions, which is characteristic of the modem State and is reflected in the development planning to be found in most parts of the area; on the other, in respect of non-metropolitan territories, the recognised ideal, still well short of full practical implementation, that " all policies designed to apply to non-metropolitan territories shall be primarily directed to the well-being and development of the peoples of such territories and to the promotion of the desire on their part for social progress ".2 Fourthly, while in previous periods the indigenous peoples of Africa had little say in determining the terms of the relationships to subsist between themselves and other parts of the world, even where those relationships were established 1 2 An African Survey, op. cit. (1945 edition), p. 1315. Social Policy (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention, 1947, Article 2 (1). 12 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY within the area itself, the present period has seen the emergence of new African States with political leaders of African origin, the progress of other African territories toward greater self-responsibility, or self-government and the development of African nationalism, factors which are bound to influence the pattern of relationships in the other countries and territories in the area. Finally, increased world recognition of the basic facts of world economic interdependence and of the practical value of financial and technical assistance for economic development being afforded underdeveloped areas is also beginning to have and promises to have for the future important consequences in Africa, whether such assistance is provided by metropolitan governments to the non-metropolitan territories for which they are responsible, through bilateral arrangements or through international co-operation. Basic Economic Patterns1 As a consequence of the above-noted historical circumstances attendant on the development of economic relations between Africa and the rest of the world, the economic organisation of the area is still predominantly based on largely selfsufficient tribal and village economies, both agricultural and pastoral; within this framework there is a wide variety of climatic conditions, systems of cultivation and land tenure and degrees of economic stabilisation and social custom. Considering the area as a whole, however, the indigenous inhabitants are in process of transition from almost complete dependence on subsistence activities to participation in various forms of money earning. The development of commercial agriculture, mining and, to a lesser extent, secondary industries, is exercising an increasing influence. In the Union of South Africa European capital, permanent European settlement and the presence of considerable mineral wealth have resulted in the concentration there of a major part of the modern economic development of the area; even there nevertheless, the necessity arises for an understanding of the indigenous sector of the economy. The relationship of the two aspects of the dual economy of the area as a whole—the subsistence and exchange economies— is vital alike to an appreciation of present economic and social conditions and to an assessment of the prospects and problems of economic development. In order to appraise the effect of non-indigenous business enterprise and government activities in bringing about economic change in the area " it is necessary to differentiate within each territory between the economic activities of the indigenous inhabitants carried on within the framework of the indigenous social organisation, and of other economic activities within the territory ".2 Most of the general economic data presented in the rest of this chapter are related to the exchange sector of the economy, a limitation constantly to be borne in mind. The principal distinctions to be made are between, on the one hand, the indigenous economy in which are to be found both production for subsistence and money-earning activities—mostly in the form of cash cropping and wage earning—and, on the other hand, the non-indigenous economy, in which three aspects need to be differentiated: non-indigenous agricultural activities; mining, 1 For a useful short account of the questions here covered cf. United Nations, Department of Economic Affairs: Enlargement of the Exchange Economy in Tropical Africa (New York, 1954). 2 Ibid, p. 1. ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS 13 industrial and commercial activities ; and the activities of Government, this last to be regarded alike as a large-scale employer, a purveyor of services and an initiator of economic policy. The general relationship between indigenous and non-indigenous activities may be described in the following terms. The major effect of non-indigenous enterprise has been to attract labour from indigenous agricultural economies; this demand has been of significance both in respect of business enterprises in mining, industry and agriculture and of government activities. While the latter are of importance everywhere, the importance of non-indigenous business enterprise varies significantly from one part of the area to another and is, for example, relatively unimportant in some parts of West Africa. Where non-indigenous elements in the territorial economy include agricultural settlers who acquire land, the land resources available to the indigenous agricultural economies are correspondingly reduced. A further consequence in some cases is that indigenous cultivators have to contend with competition in local markets from non-indigenous cultivators. An incidental result on the development of non-indigenous enterprise has, in a number of cases, been a great improvement in transport facilities, which have in some instances enabled these economies to produce for sale by bringing them within reach of export markets. Thus the main element in the commercialisation of the resources of the area lies in the transfer of resources of land and manpower from subsistence production to production for exchange. Where this transfer comes about through the engagement in outside wage employment of large proportions of the labour resources of the indigenous agricultural economy, adverse effects on indigenous agriculture are frequently found; these effects may include shortages of labour for food production. The relative importance of production for marketing and for subsistence varies widely in the different African countries and territories in the indigenous agricultural economy. In French Equatorial Africa, Uganda and Ghana, for example, the area under crops mainly for export is relatively high, whereas in Kenya, Southern Rhodesia and Tanganyika the indigenous agricultural economy is given over almost entirely to the production of crops intended mainly for local consumption.1 The United Nations report referred to provides the following general description of the character of employment in the indigenous agricultural economies generally : Labour in the indigenous agricultural economies is neither homogeneous nor highly specialised and is therefore difficult to classify. A great deal of the work is performed by women and some by children, though in this respect practices vary radically from region to region. Moreover, the further commercialisation of agricultural communities may bring about profound changes in the division of labour between men and women. Relatively few individuals within the indigenous agricultural economies are engaged solely in non-agricultural occupations, and in most cases agriculture is the main occupation. In Nigeria and in other parts of West Africa, for example, many individuals, particularly women, engage in trade and various forms of handicraft, while also playing an important part in agricultural production.2 The total of these non-agricultural activities may be substantial in terms of labour input. These matters are discussed in greater detail in Chapter II. 1 Enlargement of the Exchange Economy in Tropical Africa, op. cit., pp. 11, 12. Cf. also Appendix III, table 4. 2 Ibid., p. 14. 14 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Estimates established regarding the money income of the indigenous agricultural economies in 1950 in respect of a number of territories indicate that the money income per head derived from the sale of products and the wages of migrant labour, considered together, ranged at that date from some $45 for Ghana to $6 for French Equatorial Africa, as shown in table II. TABLE II. ESTIMATED MONEY INCOME OF AFRICAN INDIGENOUS AGRICULTURAL ECONOMIES, 19501 (In millions of U.S. dollars) Territory Income from sale of products Wages of migrant workers Belgian Congo .... French Equatorial Africa French West Africa . . Gold Coast Kenya Nigeria Northern Rhodesia . . Southern Rhodesia . . Tanganyika Uganda 75 16 186 170 12 345 1 6 34 31 94 20 25 22 33 33 20 S11 Total money income /¡„ m „!;/!„„, (,n ns Population Money income Per heac' (in dollars) 169 36 211 192 45 378 21 28 67 62 11.3 6.4 17.1 4.3 5.3 30.0 1.6 1.7 7.4 4.9 15 6 12 45 8 13 13 16 9 13 i '"'° ) Source : Enlargement of the Exchange Economy in Tropical Africa, op. cit., p. 26. The continued prevalence of subsistence societies has the consequence that responses to money incentives remain limited in scope. It has been considered that the problems to which this gives rise, in particular those relating to elasticity of supply, limit the pace of economic development to such an extent that the growth of incentives to adopt new forms of production and to utilise new resources is a necessity of economic policy— In tropical Africa as a whole the scope of money incentives is limited by the fact^that the livelihood of the greater part of the population is secured by subsistence production, and the need for money income is for the most part restricted to such purposes as the payment of taxes, the accumulation of a bride-price and the purchase of a limited range of consumer goods. Imposition of direct taxes by the central government provides the major compulsion to earn the cash income in the early stages of contacts between the indigenous agricultural economies and the outside world. Money income, however, also provides the means of obtaining consumer goods, for which tastes were rapidly acquired, so that the desire to earn money merely as a means of paying taxes was eventually overshadowed by the desire to improve standards of living through consumption of commodities which the subsistence economy did not produce. Increasing population pressures and the withdrawal of labour resources from subsistence food production have, in many cases, tended to bring about a decline in subsistence standards and serve to exert an additional pressure on the population to seek alternative sources of income, not merely as a means of improving the standard of living but also to compensate for déficiences in subsistence food production.1 The stage has been reached in a few territories, such as the Belgian Congo, where the demand for labour in the mining industry and non-indigenous agriculture periodically comes into serious competition with the labour requirements of the indigenous agricultural economy. In some parts of tropical Africa, for example 1 Enlargement of the Exchange Economy in Tropical Africa, op. cit., p. 34. For a discussion of the scope of monetary incentives in relation to wage-earning activities see Chapter V. ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS 15 Ghana, where market prices have been especially favourable, a large part of the population has already become almost completely dependent on money incomes. It is to be noted, however, that even where the incentive for the African to exchange his labour for wages is higher, as in the Union of South Africa, a homogeneous economic system has not emerged. In most parts of Africa in which there has been permanent European settlement " the development of a homogeneous economic society is restrained as a matter of policy and of institutional practice by the European settlers. In the Union of South Africa, in Southern Rhodesia, Northern Rhodesia and Kenya, the system of Native Reserves tends to perpetuate the dual nature of the economy by governmental policies which attempt to segregate the indigenous subsistence society from the impact of modern economic development."1 The principal characteristics of the non-indigenous sectors of the economy are described in a later section of this chapter dealing with levels of production, while other aspects of the indigenous economies are examined further on in the chapter in connection with problems of economic development. All that has been done here is to give some general information on the fundamental problems posed by the dual economy, especially since most of the economic data in the rest of the chapter do not take into account production for subsistence. Duality of Social Patterns A detailed analysis of patterns of social change in Africa would probably in its general lines correspond fairly closely to the broad patterns of economic change which have been outlined. Some communities in the area are still relatively little affected by increased contacts with other parts of the world and by awareness of the social standards and services obtaining and available elsewhere; nevertheless, it is clear that for the most part these standards and services are the objectives which are being and will be more and more widely sought throughout the area. The fact that Africa only recently entered into relations with the rest of the world, together with the fact that living levels and income per head are low, means that in respect of social development there is considerable leeway to be made up; the stage of economic development reached is in itself one of the major impediments in attaining acceptable standards. The impact of technical and technological changes on social patterns—a feature of all societies in which economic development is proceeding at a very rapid pace— is particularly visible in Africa at the present time. Inevitably the social implications of this impact vary greatly between different countries in the area and between different sectors of the economy ; basically, it is the rate of development of the exchange economy and of wage-earning employment which has the most marked influence on social change. In particular, the extension of wage-earning employment means for an ever-increasing number of Africans a new way of life in the widest possible sense : because of the fact that centres of employment and previously existing concentrations of population often do not coincide, wage-earning employment generally begins with a change of residence and involves not only the learning of new skills and habituation to work routine, but also adaptation to the multifarious aspects of a new form of social organisation—for example, new housing arrangements, new forms of joint action such as the trade union, work 1 Review of Economic Conditions in Africa, op. cit., p. 11 16 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY discipline and the conditions of work in organised industry, familiarisation in industry with machines presenting physical hazards, the utilisation of a money wage to satisfy a wide variety of needs including more direct family charges. The extent to which these changes are taking place in Africa is described in detail elsewhere in this survey; for the moment it seems above all desirable to emphasise that, with the changes in technology involved in the economic transformation of Africa which is at present taking place, the African worker is in many cases being called upon to alter fundamentally his pattern of living and habits of thought which were appropriate to his traditional environment, in order to fit into an industrialised society; side by side with the traditional economy, the most modern techniques have been introduced in certain sectors of employment without the intermediate technological stages of progress which have facilitated adjustment in a number of other communities. The gap between the two ways of life necessarily involves a great strain on the capacity of adaptation of the workers involved and must be regarded as providing a fundamental explanation of the position in regard to the output of many African workers—a question more fully examined in Chapter V. The problems of African communities in the process of adaptation to modern forms of social and economic organisation present some similarities with, as well as substantial differences from, the problem of the integration of tribal peoples in some other parts of the world.1 A further and separate aspect of the duality of social patterns is the fact that in a number of the countries and territories under consideration, where differing racial groups co-exist, expenditure per head on the social services and the social standards maintained vary considerably for different groups; moreover, in some cases this situation is specifically sanctioned by law and by the political authorities. Subsequent chapters deal in some detail with discriminatory arrangements in relation to various aspects of labour and social problems, for example, in the fields of employment opportunities, vocational training, industrial relations, wages, social security and other aspects of workers' protection and welfare. In many instances such arrangements are claimed to be justifiable in the light of the differing stages of social evolution reached by different racial groups and on the ground that it is desirable to preserve certain aspects of the cultures of the communities concerned and to avoid, in particular, rapid disintegration of the traditional communal way of life based on the subsistence economy and its related social patterns. As has been noted, however, the exchange economy is consistently expanding at the expense of the subsistence economy and the break-up of traditional social patterns is necessarily proceeding pari passu with this expansion. It seems clear that the process of peaceful assimilation by African communities of the techniques, ideas and forms of social organisation appropriate to their altering way of life must necessarily be prolonged by policies which deliberately limit the ways in which and the levels at which they participate in new forms of economic activity and the extent of their contacts with other elements of the community with greater experience of the requirements of the new order of things or which limit their participation in the framing of social and economic policies. 1 Those interested in this question may wish to consult the Convention (No. 107) and Recommendation (No. 104) concerning the protection and integration of indigenous and other tribal and semi-tribal populations, adopted by the International Labour Conference at its 40th (1957) Session. See also I.L.O. : Indigenous Peoples, Living and Working Conditions of Aboriginal Populations in Independent Countries, Studies and Reports, New Series, No. 35 (Geneva, 1953). ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS 17 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS The summary notes that follow are designed primarily to provide statistical and related information to enable a general impression to be formed of the significance in the world economy of the African countries and territories concerned and of the resources at their disposal for economic and social development. For purposes of comparison, information relating to other parts of the world is sometimes included. As has been previously mentioned a substantial proportion of the data presented do not include production for subsistence. In the first place, information concerning the character of production is given with notes designed to illustrate the stages of development reached in some territories. Next follows a summary of the information available on the levels of production and national income. Succeeding sections deal briefly with transport conditions, with certain aspects of public finance, with the volume of trade, and conclude with some general considerations on the utilisation of manpower resources. Character of Production While the development of mining and manufacturing has diversified the economies of some of the countries and territories under examination, and there is continuing expansion in the non-agricultural sectors of the countries concerned, the great majority of the population is dependent on the land for a living, and agriculture must inevitably be predominant in the African economy for a long time to come. A number of countries and territories depend heavily on a single crop to provide the income necessary for the purchase of essential consumer goods and capital goods for further economic development. Such is the case, for example, in respect of groundnuts in Gambia, Portuguese Guinea and French West Africa, of rubber in Liberia of, sisal in Tanganyika until recently, of cocoa in Ghana and the French Cameroons, of cotton in the Sudan, Uganda and French Equatorial Africa, of cereals and pulses in Ethiopia and of sugar cane in Mauritius. The Belgian Congo is one of the territories the economy of which includes very important non-agricultural sectors; important mineral and hydro-electric resources are available and progress in the direction of industrialisation is being made. In 1954, despite the fact that the trend of the economy is towards mining and local industry, subsistence farming represented 80 per cent, of agriculture and 42 per cent, of the whole of local production. During the five-year period 1950-54 there was a 57 per cent, increase in the value of production: in agriculture the increase was 41 per cent., in mining 81 per cent, and in industry 100 per cent. During the same period the value of cash crops grew by 250 per cent. ; the corresponding figure in respect of subsistence farming was 30 per cent. The money income accruing to Africans increased by over 300 per cent, during this period.1 The economy of the Belgian Congo received considerable impetus as a result of the Second World War; the chief products of the territory—copper, tea, palm oil, cotton, coffee and rubber—were in urgent demand. The general result has been a phenomenal increase in production and income in the post-war years. By 1953 1 Cf. Overseas Economic Surveys: Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi (London, H.M. Stationery Office, 1956), p. 16. The figures given here include Ruanda-Urundi. 18 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY industry, including the processing of agricultural products, accounted for over 10 per cent, of the gross national product. The principal limiting factor of continued expansion at present rates would seem to be labour shortages. While for many economic purposes Ruanda-Urundi and the Belgian Congo can be considered together, a few points may be made in regard to the particular characteristics of the economy of the former. Agriculture and stock-raising are, as compared with the Belgian Congo, of primary importance, but the exploitation of mineral resources is increasing. Coffee, tea, spices and hides and skins are the main products for export of the exchange sector of the agricultural and pastoral economy of the territory. The economy of the Cameroons under British administration is based almost exclusively on agriculture; plantations have assumed an important place alongside peasant farming in this regard. The main exports of the territory are bananas, rubber, cocoa, hides and skins, oil-palm produce, groundnuts and coffee; the production of cotton is also expanding. All the palm oil and most of the palm kernels, bananas and rubber come from plantations and most of the other exports from peasant producers.1 In Gambia, in which agriculture is equally predominant, groundnuts represent the only export crop of major financial significance: in 1955 the value of groundnuts exported was £2,356,000 and the value of all other exports (excluding re-exports) was £85,071. A wide variety of food crops are grown, of which rice is the most important. The principal feature of the economy of Nigeria—a feature shared by most of West Africa—is the extent to which the indigenous community has been the focus of economic development. In the absence of permanent European settlement, the main effect of external economic contacts has been to stimulate the growth of the exchange sector of the indigenous economy : non-African enterprise has been of significance primarily in the development of transportation, the stimulation of external trade by opening up the channels of intercourse with the world economy and in the development of mines and plantations; nevertheless, production for subsistence and for marketing by the indigenous community is predominant in the economy. Groundnuts, cocoa, palm kernels and palm oil are the major items of production for export; tin ore, columbite, cotton, timber, rubber, hides and skins and bananas are also important. Further diversification of the economy results from the large volume of services provided by petty dealers and traders. There is a very considerable volume of internal trade, for example, in cattle and foodstuffs for local consumption. In Sierra Leone, likewise, the pattern of production is that of primary dependence on agricultural production for both local consumption and for export markets with mineral resources representing nevertheless a significant part of the value of exports. Palm kernels, iron ore and diamonds represent, in terms of value, the major items of production for export; also of importance are cocoa, kola nuts, ginger, chromium ore, groundnuts and piassava. In Ghana the exchange sector of the agricultural economy is more highly developed than in other parts of West Africa and mining is sufficiently important to represent a proportion of domestic exports by value of the order of 20 to 30 per 1 Cf. Report by Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to the General Assembly of the United Nations on the Cameroons under United Kingdom Administration for the Year 1955 (London, H.M. Stationery Office, 1956), p. 77. ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS 19 cent, according to the year under consideration. Cocoa is nevertheless the dominant commodity in the economy; Ghana is the world's largest single producer, and rather more than one-third of the world's supplies of cocoa have come from this country in recent years; since the Second World War cocoa beans have by value made up an average of over 90 per cent, of agricultural exports. Apart from food crops, other relatively important agricultural products are palm kernels, palm oil, limes, coconut oil, copra and coffee. Gold, diamonds, manganese and bauxite are the principal minerals exploited: timber products are also of growing importance and in 1954 ranked after cocoa and gold as the third largest export in terms of value. Manufacturing industries are mainly concerned with the processing of agricultural and forest produce, with the exception of a brewery and small textile plants.1 The character of production in Kenya has been largely influenced by the fact that it is an area of substantial European and also of Asian settlement. Two major general consequences have ensued. Firstly, there has been a rapid expansion of the exchange sector of the economy at the expense of the subsistence economy; secondly, since European enterprise has been largely in the field of agriculture, even before the Second World War the pressure on the land resources of Kenya was a major problem. During the period 1947-53 the share in geographical income of Alrican agriculture fell from 34 per cent, to 26 per cent, while that of nonAfrican agriculture rose from 13.6 to 15.1 per cent. The degree of industrialisation may be judged from the fact that during the same period the share of manufacture rose from 8.5 to 11.6 per cent. The principal agricultural exports of the territory are coffee, sisal, tea, wattle extract, hides and skins, cotton, pyrethrum, and maize; of these coffee is by far the most important. The production of coffee, tea and sisal is largely concentrated on plantations ; it is to be noted in respect of most of the items of agricultural production for export that they are grown both on Europeanowned undertakings and as cash crops by Africans. The economy of Mauritius is characterised by the fact that it is almost wholly dependent on one crop, namely sugar cane; small quantities of three other crops (tea, tobacco and aloe fibre) are also exported. Small quantities of foodstuffs are produced locally, but Mauritius imports most of its food requirements. Only very minor local manufacturing industries exist. British Somaliland has an essentially pastoral economy in which the main domestic exports are livestock and skins. The limited agricultural production comprises principally sorghum and maize; food represents the principal import. In Tanganyika 2 the economy is based, apart from subsistence agriculture, mainly on the production and export of primary produce, in particular sisal, coffee, cotton and hides and skins as well as foodstuffs for local consumption. There is an expanding mining industry, the principal mineral exports being diamonds, gold, lead and mica. There has been some development of secondary and processing industries. Nevertheless, the majority of the African population is primarily engaged in subsistence cultivation. It is, however, significant that African producers account for almost the whole of the expanding cotton crop and by far the larger share of coffee exported and that the total value of their agricultural production for the exchange economy now probably exceeds that of the non-Africans. 1 Gold Coast, 1954 (London, H.M. Stationery Office, 1956), pp. 39 ff. Cf. Tanganyika under United Kingdom Administration, Report for the Year 1956 (London, H.M. Stationery Office, 1957), pp. 23 fF. 2 20 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY As in Tanganyika until recently, economic development in Uganda is based primarily on agriculture. In some respects there are resemblances to British West Africa inasmuch as, unlike Tanganyika, the exchange sector of the agricultural economy is primarily African; African subsistence incomes were estimated in 1953 to account for 31 per cent, of the incomes produced in the territory and African cash incomes (exclusive of salaries and wages) for a further 34 per cent.1 Cotton and coffee are the principal products exported ; also of importance are animal fodder, tea, hides and skins, maize and groundnuts. There has been some development of manufacturing industries, mainly for the processing of agricultural produce. Official policy is directed toward the development of the territory through African co-operative organisations. In Zanzibar the basis of the export trade of the territory centres on the produce of the clove and coconut trees, the principal items being cloves and oil of cloves, coconuts, coconut oil, oil cake and copra; tobacco is also a main crop. Local food-crop production is also of considerable importance, in particular rice and cassava. The economy of Northern Rhodesia is dominated by the importance of the mining industry and by the fact that it is an area of European settlement. Copper is by far the most important mineral; other valuable minerals mined include cobalt, lead, zinc and manganese. Maize and tobacco are the principal items of agricultural production, rice, cotton and groundnuts being also of some importance. Some of the major trends in the economy are clear from the following facts: between 1946 and 1952, national money income increased more than threefold; between 1946 and 1953 the European population increased nearly 21/2 times; the share of European individuals and companies in the national money income rose from less than 50 per cent, to more than 67 per cent, between 1946 and 1952, and during the same period the contribution of the mining industry to the domestic output of the money economy rose from 5514 to 65 per cent.2 By contrast, in the neighbouring territory of Nyasaland, subsistence production remains an important part of over-all economic activity, and African cash crops accounted for more than half of all exports in terms of value in 1952. Tobacco, maize, cotton and groundnuts are the principal items of agricultural production. In Southern Rhodesia, the third of the territories comprising the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, the patterns of economic growth have essentially been determined by the presence of important mineral resources, European settlement and the proximity of the Union of South Africa, with which there are strong economic and cultural ties and from which come a large proportion of new European immigrants and capital for development. One main difference between Southern and Northern Rhodesia is the importance of the place of European agriculture and of secondary industries in the economy of the former; in 1952 European agriculture accounted for 16.7 per cent, of domestic output and in 1951 output from secondary industries represented some 35 per cent, of total domestic output. The recent growth of secondary industries is illustrated in table III. In the mining industry of Southern Rhodesia the most important minerals extracted are asbestos and chrome. 1 2 An African Survey, op. cit., p. 1297. Ibid., p. 1292. ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS 21 TABLE III. SOUTHERN RHODESIA: CENSUS OF MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES, 1949-52 (In thousands of pounds sterling) Year 1949 1950 1951 1952 : Number of establishments ! 508 648 681 724 Gross output : | ! ] 31,076 42,414 51,011 55,557 Source: Compiled from Review of Economic Activity in Africa, 1950 to 1954, op. cit., p. 48. In the High Commission Territories of Basutoland, Bechuanaland and Swaziland economic activity is still based essentially on subsistence agriculture. In Basutoland there are virtually no industries and mineral wealth is still undeveloped ; the agricultural and livestock industries based on the African peasant farmer provide the small volume of export production, which consists principally of wool and mohair, livestock, grain, hide and skins.1 In Bechuanaland there is in addition mining activity on a very small scale (mainly asbestos chrysolite) and also some European farming.2 In Swaziland the exploitation of mineral resources represents, in relative terms, an important part of the money economy, asbestos being the principal item exported ; livestock and dairy products are of more consequence in trade than agricultural and forest products. Both Europeans and Africans participate in the exchange sector of the pastoral and agricultural economy.3 Agriculture and livestock represent the principal economic resources of Ethiopia, though mineral wealth is known to exist and is to some extent exploited. In 1954 coffee accounted for 62 per cent, of the total value of the country's exports ; nevertheless, the geography and climate of the country allow a wide variety of agricultural products to be grown. The very substantial quantity of livestock is important, not only for consumption and export but also as the basis of tannery and leather-goods industries. Gold-mining is one of the country's oldest industries, and platinum, iron, salt, saltpetre, sulphur and potash are produced commercially; gypsum, copper, manganese, coal and mica are among the other minerals known to be present. The beginnings of industrialisation can be seen, for example, in the establishment of textile, oil, soap, tannery, distillery and food processing industries. In the French Cameroons agriculture, the rearing of livestock and forest production form the basis of the economy, the pattern being very similar to most parts of West Africa; gold, diamond and tin mining are carried on to a limited extent and account for only an extremely small part of production for export. A very substantial proportion of the African population is still engaged in subsistence agriculture; the territory is essentially self-sufficient in respect of food, the small quantities of locally grown foodstuffs exported being counterbalanced by the importation of some foodstuffs not produced locally. Cocoa, coffee and bananas are the principal items exported 1 Cf. Basutoland, 1955 (Maseru, Government Printer, 1956), pp. 40, 41. Cf. Bechuanaland, 1955 (London, H.M. Stationery Office, 1956), pp. 28 ff. Cf. South African Institute of Race Relations: Swaziland, a General Survey (Johannesburg, 1955), passim. 2 3 22 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY and together represented, in 1955, 70 per cent, of the value of exports; forest products are also important in the export trade and cotton and rubber production are increasing in importance. In the exchange sector of the economy cocoa is grown exclusively by Africans, while the production of coffee is partly in the hands of Africans and partly in the hands of European companies and planters; stock-rearing is mainly carried on by Africans, while the timber and mining industries are based upon European capital and enterprise.1 French Equatorial Africa is one of the least developed of African territories, with subsistence production still of major importance and agricultural production predominant in the export sector to the extent of representing some 90 per cent, of the value of exports. Cocoa, cotton and rubber are among the principal agricultural commodities exported. A few local industries, mainly of a processing character, have been established in response to local demand for such commodities as soap, meal, footwear and cement. Although there are some exploited mineral resources in Madagascar and some development of secondary industries, agricultural and pastoral activities are predominant, the principal items of agricultural production being rice, coffee, sugar cane, manioc, groundnuts and cotton. The relatively small importance of mineral production is indicated by the fact that out of total exports to the value of 14,268 million francs (C.F.A.) in 1955 the value of mineral production—in which the principal element is graphite—was only 360 million francs.2 While French West Africa is a major producer of bauxite—in 1953 it provided 74 per cent, of total output in Africa—the general pattern of production is that which has been observed to be characteristic of the West African area : economic development is based very largely on the indigenous community with varying emphases on subsistence production and the growing of cash crops, non-African economic enterprise being on a relatively limited scale. Groundnuts and coffee are the two major items in the export trade of the territory; in 1950, for example, they accounted between them for two-thirds of exports. Secondary industries are beginning to assume importance. The structure of the economy of French Togoland is also essentially agricultural : the beginnings of mineral production for export, in the form of phosphates and chrome, date only from 1954. The character of production can be illustrated by the fact that, in 1954, over 80 per cent, of the land under cultivation was devoted to food crops, mainly for the subsistence economy. Of the agricultural products exported, cocoa is by far the most important; coffee, copra, palm products, groundnuts and cotton are also of major significance. The processing of items of local primary production is expanding. The economy of Somalia is still largely based on the indigenous agricultural and pastoral subsistence economy; there are no exploited mineral resources, and the exchange sector of the economy is relatively small and largely in the hands of immigrant European and Asian groups. Bananas, cotton and sugar-cane products are the principal items exported.3 1 Cf. Rapport Annuel sur VAdministration du Cameroun placé sous la Tutelle de la France, 1955 (Paris, Imprimerie Chaix, 1956), pp. 71 if. 2 Cf. Haut Commissariat de la République Française à Madagascar et Dépendances : Plan de Développement Economique et Social, Rapport 1er juillet 1955-30 juin 1956 (Tananarive, Imprimerie Officielle, 1957), pp. 23 «. 3 Rapport du Gouvernement italien de VAssemblée générale des Nations Unies sur l'administration de tutelle de la Somalie, 1955 (Rome, Ministère des Affaires Etrangères, 1956), pp. 43 ff. ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS 23 Liberia's economy is based largely on indigenous agriculture on a productionfor-subsistence basis ; the development of rubber plantations and rubber farms and the exploitation of mineral resources in the form of iron ore and, to a limited extent, of gold and diamonds are important features of the exchange economy. The subsistence economy is based on the raising of cassava, rice, eddoes and yams and the gathering of bananas and palm kernels, only a small proportion of which are brought to market to supply cash needs; the growth of cash crops is limited and includes cocoa, coffee, kola nuts and peanuts. There are extensive forest areas, but their exploitation is limited. Most of the African population of Angola is engaged in subsistence production. Sisal and coffee are of major importance in the exchange sector of the economy, and some 50,000 Africans grow cotton. There are a few small-scale industries, including fish canning and the production of cement, sugar and textiles. Mining is of minor importance in the economy of the territory, diamonds alone being of some consequence.1 The economy of Mozambique is very considerably influenced by the proximity of the territory to the areas of Southern Africa in which mining and industrial development are most important: on the one hand, a substantial migrant labour force goes from Mozambique to these areas, while the ports of Beira and Lourenço Marques have a heavy transit trade which constitutes a major source of finance for the imports of the territory and its economic development. As compared with other parts of South Central Africa, European immigrants and European capital, while of importance, play a relatively smaller part in Mozambique's economic activity. The principal agricultural items entering into the export trade of the territory include cotton, sisal, tea and sugar-cane products.2 In the Sudan the basis of the economy is agriculture and pastoral pursuits; mineral resources do not exist in any quantity, but secondary industries, mainly the processing of local products, are gradually expanding. Cotton is by far the largest item entering into the exchange economy; other exports of substantial significance are gum-arabic (of which the Sudan produces some three-quarters of the world's total needs) and hides and skins; of somewhat lesser importance are exports of livestock, maize, dates and groundnuts. Among industries worthy of note are the production of cement, vegetable oils, canned meat and unbleached cotton cloth. In the Union of South Africa a relatively long period of contact with the rest of the world, a large settled population of European descent and, above all, extremely valuable mineral resources which have attracted investment capital on a large scale have resulted in a level of economic and industrial development unique in Africa south of the Sahara. Before the discovery of gold and diamonds the economy of the Union was predominantly agricultural and pastoral, subsistence production was still of substantial significance and the contribution of mineral resources to the economy was small. Mining, and subsequently manufacturing industry, became of primary importance. A recent study 3 indicates that, from 1912 to 1952, the percentage contribution to the national income of agriculture diminished from 16.1 to 14.8 per cent, and 1 An African Survey, op. cit., pp. 1299-1300. Ibid. pp. 1242-43. Cf. Summary of the Report of the Commission for the Socio-Economic Development of the Bantu Areas within the Union of South Africa (Government Printer, Pretoria, 1955), p. 34. (Cited elsewhere in this survey as the Tomlinson Report.) 2 3 24 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY of mining from 27.6 to 13.2 per cent., while the contribution of manufacturing industry rose from 6.9 per cent, to 23.6 per cent.; the contribution of the tertiary sector varied little during the period, being 49.4 per cent, in 1912 and 48.4 per cent, in 1952. " The economic development of the Union is, therefore, characterised by the rapid rise of secondary industry from the least to the most important branch of industry in terms of output—truly an ' Industrial Revolution '."1 Between 1949-50 and 1953-54 the net geographical income rose from £1,019 million to £1,521 million. The principal agricultural exports of the Union are wool, fruit, maize and sugar. In respect of the production of minerals, gold is by far of the greatest consequence in terms of value.2 Industrial production is of an extremely varied character including electric power, pig-iron, crude steel, cement, bricks, metal and engineering products, textiles, clothing chemicals, soap, tyres, footwear and dairy products.3 Even the most cursory appraisal of the character of the economy of the Union of South Africa must emphasise some of the consequences and realities of its duality. The modem economic growth of the Union has been largely concentrated in the Southern Transvaal, the south-western part of the Cape Province and the areas around Durban and Port Elizabeth. The opening-up of the new gold field in the northern part of the Orange Free State is leading to rapid development in that region, and in recent years many new factories have been started in smaller towns throughout the country. On the other hand, there remain " vast underdeveloped expanses of territory in which the majority of the population have their homes, with only little evidence of economic progress or opportunity ".4 Lack of development in the Native Reserves and the maintenance of rigid racial barriers in respect of employment opportunities have tended to perpetuate major inequalities in the distribution of national income and of the benefits which economic development has brought to the different elements in the community. Labour shortages, in part an artificial consequence of discriminatory employment policies, have come to constitute an important brake on the rate of economic expansion. In South-West Africa a large proportion of the population still gains its livelihood from the subsistence economy. Nevertheless, mineral resources in the form of diamonds and lead account for a major part of production for export; zinc is also of some consequence and there is a small production of tin and vanadium ores. Livestock, hide and skins and dairy produce are the principal commodities other than mining products exported. The economic links with the Union of South Africa are very close, and the development of mining and European ranching is essentially an extension of the economy of the Union, being based on capital and management from the latter. Levels of Production and National Income With a view to indicating the scale of expansion of African economies since the period immediately preceding the Second World War, data are provided in this part of the survey dealing respectively with agricultural production, mineral production, fuel and power and secondary industries, and Appendix I contains 1 Summary of the Report of the Commission for the Socio-Economic Development of the Bantu Areas within the Union of South Africa, op cit., p. 34. 2 See Appendix III, table 11. s See Appendix III, table 12. 4 An African Survey, op. cit., p. 1291. ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS 25 related statistical tables. In a number of cases the information provided is not strictly comparable for different areas and sometimes includes countries and territories not covered by the present survey. Nevertheless this information gives some idea of the order of magnitude of the expansion which has taken place. The principal general factors which have militated in favour of the significant increases in production noted are as follows : firstly, a great impetus was given to production of strategic, agricultural and mineral export commodities by the general increase in demand during the Second World War; the fact that countries and territories in other parts of the world which were important producers of many of these commodities were under military occupation or hampered in exportation by lack of shipping, military operations, or otherwise, accentuated this impetus. Secondly, already in the war years and more particularly in the immediate post-war years planned programmes of economic development were initiated in a number of the countries and territories under consideration and, generally speaking, more capital was available for development from both internal and external sources. During the period since the end of the Second World War demand was also stimulated for some time by the Korean conflict. The varying effect on production in the different countries and territories concerned is largely the result of the fact that while some of them produced commodities of major strategic significance, others did not, and of the fact that the availability of capital and labour for the expansion of production varied widely from one area to another. Agricultural Production. As a result of the factors just noted, agricultural production was considerably expanded during the decade 1938-48 in the area as a whole. This increase related not only to actual production but also to Africa's share in world agricultural output. The general trend in post-war years has also been, on an over-all view, in the direction of expansion.1 Mineral Production. In the account which has already been given of the character of production in Africa, information has been included on the mineral exports of the different areas. The over-all position may be summarised in the following terms : the major mineralproducing areas are the Union of South Africa, South-West Africa, the Belgian Congo, Northern Rhodesia and Southern Rhodesia; there is also a significant production of certain minerals in British West Africa and Ghana. During the period 1937-53 the share of Africa in world production of the minerals and metals of importance in Africa underwent some considerable changes. There were substantial increases in the production of antimony, copper, manganese, iron, tin concentrates and coal, lesser decreases in respect of cobalt and phosphates and modest increases in respect of other minerals and metals. Diamonds, cobalt and gold are the items in respect of which Africa's share is largest.2 Between 1937 and 1949 there were impressive increases in the level of production of a number of minerals and metals, as illustrated in table IV. 1 The number of commodities and countries involved is so great that space would not permit a detailed analysis of the situation in this chapter; however, detailed statistics will be found in Appendix III, tables 4, 5 and 6. 2 Cf. Appendix III, table 8, for detailed statistical information. 26 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY TABLE IV. PERCENTAGE INCREASES IN PRODUCTION OF SELECTED MINERALS, 1937-49 Mineral Peak war-year production as percentage of 1937 production : 1949 production as percentage of 1937 production 1 j I Antimony Bauxite Chrome ore Lead ore Tungsten ore Zinc ore Phosphate rock 313 325 157 126 568 120 101 (1943) (1943) (1942) (1939) (1944) (1945) (1939) ! 1 ! 619 308 151 206 245 305 152 ; ! i Source: Based on Review of Economic Conditions in Africa, op. cit., p. 44. During the period 1950-53 the most important changes in the levels of production of the principal minerals extracted in the area were as follows : there were increases in the production of bauxite (131 per cent.), chrome (15 per cent.), cobalt (14 per cent.), copper (10 per cent.), iron (13 per cent.), nickel (31 per cent.), tungsten (21 per cent.) and zinc (22 per cent.); there were decreases in the production of antimony, vanadium, asbestos and manganese of 49 per cent., 19 per cent., 16 per cent., and 8 per cent, respectively.1 As has been noted in the statistics relating to mineral production in the Union of South Africa, uranium is now a major mineral product extracted in that country; detailed information is not available in regard to the level of production in the Belgian Congo which is, however, known to be also an important producer.2 Fuel and Power. There is in the area a general deficiency of developed energy resources and local supplies of fuel, particularly petroleum. In some parts there is an abundance of timber, which is used as fuel in small undertakings and in rail and water transport. Extensive coal deposits are known to exist in many parts of Africa but production is relatively small. Hydro-electric potential, while insufficient to offset wholly the absence of combustible fuel, is in process of development in some African countries. During the Second World War and the immediate post-war years the production of fuel and power increased very rapidly; production of coal was 57 per cent, above the pre-war level in 1948 and 68 per cent, in 1949. Production of electric power nearly doubled during the period. Nevertheless, and in spite of progress subsequently made, Africa occupies a low position as a producer and consumer of fuel and power. Table V provides more detailed information in respect of the expansion of coal production in Africa since 1937. Production of electric power has continued to expand rapidly in post-war years; for example, between 1950 and 1953 output increased in Uganda by 275 per cent., in Liberia by 142 per cent, and in French Equatorial Africa by 113 per cent.; corresponding increases of note were in Nyasaland 82 per cent.. 1 See Review of Economic Activity in Africa, 1950 to 1954, op. cit., p. 32. See also Appendix III, tables 9 and 10, for statistical information regarding African mineral production. 2 ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS TABLE V. 27 COAL PRODUCTION IN SELECTED COUNTRIES AND TERRITORIES, 1937-56 (In thousands of metric tons) Country Belgian Congo Mozambique Nigeria Southern Rhodesia Union of South Africa | i ! I 1937 1948 36 19 369 1,029 15,491 117 9 618 1,696 23,921 i 1953 : 315 162 711 2,618 28,459 1956 ' : ' I j 420 218 800 3,553 33,911 Source: Compiled from figures in: Review of Economic Conditions in Africa, op. cit., p. 55; Review of Economic Activity in Africa, 1950 to 1954, op. cit., p. 38; and Economic Developments in Africa, 1956-1957 (New York, 1958), p. 79. 1 Provisional Southern Rhodesia 80 per cent., the Belgian Congo 73 per cent., Kenya 70 per cent., and Ghana 63 per cent.1 Secondary Industries. Most secondary industries in Africa, as has been indicated in an earlier section of this chapter, dealing with the character of production, arise from the primary processing of agricultural raw materials ; the Union of South Africa, the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland and the Belgian Congo are exceptions in as much as a wide range of secondary industries has developed in these areas. Examples of secondary industries based on the primary processing of agricultural raw materials are the extraction of palm oil and the processing of sugar cane. The principal advantage of local processing is in respect of transport costs ; it would similarly be more economical in respect of mining to export the metal rather than the ore, but local processing in this case is normally economical only if fuel is also locally available. Thus, while in Nigeria and Ghana ore is normally exported, in the case of the Belgian Congo, the Rhodesias and the Union of South Africa, secondary industry based on the processing of mineral production is the rule rather than the exception. One of the reasons for the limited development of secondary industries in a number of African countries and territories is the small size of the domestic market. As levels of income are rising in many parts of the area this factor may be less important in the future. Some information has already been given in respect of the development of manufacturing industry in the Union of South Africa and Southern Rhodesia. In the Belgian Congo there has also been a remarkable development of secondary industries, which is reflected in indices of industrial production, as can be seen from table VI. National Income. Figures showing the national income of the African countries and territories under consideration are available only in relatively few cases and cannot be regarded as strictly comparable. Table VII contains a summary of the information See also Appendix III, table 16. 28 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY TABLE VI. BELGIAN CONGO: INDICES OF INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION, 1950-53 (Base: 1947-49=100) Year Food Textiles Chemicals Building materials Miscellaneous Total 1950 1951 1952 1953 123.5 146.4 158.3 185.7 160.1 327.4 390.2 442.6 144.6 153.7 196.1 344.8 201.2 244.3 283.3 463.8 146.6 175.2 218.0 267.2 147.4 179.4 206.9 301.2 Source: Review of Economic Activity in Africa, ¡950 to 1954, op. cit., p. 49. available; however, the figures given can be used as a guide to relative levels of national income only if the wide differentials which in some cases exist between various sectors of the community are borne in mind. TABLE VII. NATIONAL INCOME IN SELECTED AFRICAN COUNTRIES, 1955 Country Estimated population National income at factor cost (In millions of dollars) Approximate national income per head (In dollars) Belgian Congo Nigeria Kenya Mauritius Uganda Rhodesia and Nyasaland Ghana Union of South Africa . . 12,600,000 31,254,000 6,048,000 560,000 5,508,000 7,070,000 4,191,000 13,670,000 946.0 1,904.8» 354.5 » 124.7 311.9 865.5 653.8 4,328.0 75.0 60.9 58.6 222.7 56.6 122.4 156.0 316.6 Source: National income figures taken from Economic Developments in Africa, 1955-56, op. cit., p. 52. »Estimate for 1953. •> Estimate for 1954. In general terms, levels of national income in the area, in so far as ascertainable, reflect the general factors which have been noted above as conditioning the pace of economic development. In a comparison based on figures available in 1953 one authority has arrived at the following conclusions regarding the relative levels of income per head. The highest figures per head1 are those for countries in which mineral resources and industry have been developed and in which the European population is large enough for the high figures normally appertaining to that group to have an influence on general averages; the highest averages therefore were for the Union of South Africa (£97)2, Southern Rhodesia (£58) and Northern Rhodesia (£43). In the Belgian Congo, with a more predominantly African and rural population, but with important exploited mineral resources, the corresponding average was some £25. The estimates for Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika, where the degree of dependence on agriculture is far greater, were respectively £19, £18 and £13 per head; for Nyasaland it was £7. In the absence of comparable information it was assumed that the average level for the Portuguese and French territories in Central 1 2 Cf. An African Survey, op. cit., pp. 1274-75. For purposes of comparison, the United Kingdom average for the same year was over £290. 29 ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS and East Africa would be similar to that for Nyasaland. For Ghana, which has some developed mineral resources and a valuable export crop, the estimate was £36 and for Nigeria £21. Because of racial and institutional differences in a number of communities with a mixed racial composition, the estimated income per head for the African section of the population is clearly decidedly lower than the over-all average: it has been estimated at £8 in Kenya and £14 in the Belgian Congo and the Rhodesias, subject to the reservation that in these areas the subsistence incomes may have been estimated at a lower value than in West Africa. Transport The influence of transportation difficulties on economic development in Africa has been noted in general terms earlier in this chapter. Reference was made in particular to some of the problems connected with the development of railway systems.1 The available data in regard to the relative density of road networks in Africa, taken in conjunction with the figures available in regard to the number of persons per vehicle in the countries and territories concerned, gives an approximate idea of the relative volume of road traffic. In 1947 the number of persons per vehicle was particularly high in Madagascar (4,772), Liberia (2,285), Sierra Leone (2,500), Nigeria (1,841), French West Africa (1,616), French Equatorial Africa (1,281) and the Sudan (1,237); the lowest figures were found in the Union of South Africa (26), Southern Rhodesia (57), Mauritius (123) and Kenya (228).2 In a number of the countries and territories under consideration there was a considerable expansion in international seaborne shipping freight during the period immediately preceding the Second World War and in the early post-war years, as can be seen from table VIII. TABLE VIII. INDICES OF INTERNATIONAL SEABORNE SHIPPING FREIGHT CARRIED TO AND FROM SELECTED AFRICAN COUNTRIES, 1948 AND 1949 (Base pre-war year=100) Country Base year Total freight, expressed as percentage of base year, handled in 1948 Angola Belgian Congo . . . French Cameroons . . French Somaliland . . Kenya and Tanganyika Madagascar Mozambique .... Nigeria Union of South Africa 1939 1938 1938 1938 1938 1938 1939 1937 1937 208 157 141 209 191 162 247 114 120 247 159 317 236 220 128 120 Source: Review of Economic Conditions in Africa, op. cit., p. 70. The figures refer to combined freight loaded and unloaded in the external trade of the countries concerned. 1 See also Appendix III, tables 13 and 14, for statistical data regarding the length of railways in relation to total area and population served and on comparative figures of pre-war and postwar railway freight traffic. 2 See also Appendix III, table 15. 30 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY A very considerable increase in air transportation, in respect of both passenger and freight traffic, took place during the pre-war and early post-war years and has continued since. This expansion has in most cases been principally due to an increase in passenger and mail traffic. The disruption of the principal routes through Africa and to it by way of the Mediterranean Sea early in the war, coupled with military requirements, resulted in the opening of new routes and the introduction of additional facilities. Public Finance The principal trend to be noted in respect of public finance in the countries and territories under consideration is the increased extent to which, in recent years, their improved financial situations have made available additional resources for expenditure on economic and social development. This is probably the aspect of public finance problems relevant for the purposes of the present survey. The position of the Union of South Africa in this respect is quite different from that of the other parts of Africa considered here. The rapid expansion of the economy resulting from the exploitation of mineral resources and the development of industry has for several decades enabled the Government to meet its ordinary needs from taxation. Even in respect of public loan finance the Union is largely self-sufficient; although the gross public debt has been increasing, the percentage of it representing external debt is now very low. In 1937-38 public debt amounted to £262.6 million, of which 38Î4 per cent, had been raised outside the country; in March 1953, although the external debt had just been increased considerably, it accounted for no more than 5.7 per cent, of the gross public debt of £842.4 million.1 In most other parts of the region the situation is very diiferent. During the period between the First and Second World Wars, loan commitments incurred for the purpose of providing basic services and the framework of administrative capital equipment represented a serious burden of external indebtedness; in some territories during this period debt charges amounted to between 40 and 50 per cent, of public expenditure in some inter-war years, particularly during the depression of the 1930s, when the exports of primary products, on which so many parts of the area depended and depend, fell sharply both in volume and price. Schemes for capital development had to be curtailed and, in the case of the non-metropolitan territories, the metropolitan governments found it necessary, in a number of cases, to make direct contributions to territorial budgets through grants and interest-free loans. Only in a few areas, where a substantial public debt had not been created because basic development had been pursued at a slower pace, were exceptions to this general pattern found. The period of the Second World War and the post-war period have seen radical changes in this pattern. The expansion of demand for and production of African products has provided governments with increased taxable capacity to draw on and increased revenues; at the same time the continuing fall in the value of money meant a progressive lightening of the burden of public debt and resulted in altered patterns of expenditure.2 1 2 An African Survey, op. cit., p. 1307. See also Appendix III, tables 22 and 23. 31 ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS Table IX shows how the pattern of expenditure has changed since the Second World War in Nigeria, Northern Rhodesia, Nyasaland and the Gold Coast. TABLE IX. COMPARATIVE EXPENDITURE OF SELECTED COUNTRIES AND TERRITORIES, 1936-37 AND 1951-52 (Percentage of total expenditure) Debt charges Country Nigeria Northern Rhodesia Nyasaland . . . Gold Coast . . . Defence and administration Development and social services Other 1936-37 1951-52 1936-37 1951-52 1936-37 1951-52 1936-37 1951-52 21.4 16.2 15.8 3.7 3.5 2.9 5.1 2.0 35.9 43.4 40.3 35.4 14.2 18.5 17.4 27.8 29.3 31.3 32.2 44.3 34.7 37.2 66.9 62.6 13.4 9.1 11.7 16.6 47.6 41.4 10.6 7.6 Source: An African Survey, op. cit., p. 1309. Trade The following general points may perhaps be noted in regard to external trade and the balance of payments in the area. The visible trade in most areas fluctuates greatly from year to year, largely according to variations in world commodity prices. Since 1950 there has been an upward trend in imports, and while in 1955 these continued to rise, the exports of most countries have either declined or risen more slowly than imports. In Mozambique the visible trade balance is normally unfavourable, entrepôt trade and port facilities having an important part in making up the deficit ; the Union of South Africa normally has a large deficit compensated by gold output and net capital inflow. In a number of areas deficits are a reflection of development spending based on the entry of foreign capital.1 Because of the incidence of customs duties and taxes on exports, trends in exports and imports tend to be reflected in the revenues of most of the countries and territories. In tropical Africa, taken as a whole, the most important group of items imported is constituted by machinery and transport equipment: in 1955 this item represented 687.3 million dollars out of total imports of 2,113 million. In the same year other imports included textiles (328.9 million); metals and metal manufactured goods (254.0 million), other manufactured goods (311.6 million), food, beverages and tobacco (250.4 million), chemicals (122.8 million) and mineral fuels (54.7 million). In the Union of South Africa, with its completely different economy, out of total imports in 1955 amounting to 482.2 million dollars, the principal items were: metals and metal manufactured goods (180.8 million); fibres, yarns, textiles and apparel (89.1 million); mineral and vegetable oils, waxes and paints (47.2 million) and foods (21.4 million).2 The general pattern of the direction of the trade of Africa in recent years is summarised in the following statement: 1 See Appendix III, table 17. Economic Developments in Africa, 1955-56, pp. 67, 69. The figures for the Union of South Africa include South-West Africa. 2 32 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Four-fifths of the export trade of Africa and three-quarters of its import trade is conducted with countries in the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation and North America; trade with Japan and sterling countries outside Africa other than the United Kingdom accounts roughly for a further 6 to 7 per cent, of imports and 4 to 5 per cent, of exports. Recorded trade among African countries accounts for about 10 per cent, of total imports and 12 per cent, of exports; trade with Eastern Europe accounts for less than 1 per cent, of exports and imports. About one-third of Africa's export trade, and rather less of its import trade, is conducted with the sterling area, while trade with the dollar area accounts for about 10 per cent, of exports and 12 per cent, of imports.1 The shares of the respective metropolitan countries in the trade of the nonmetropolitan territories for which they are responsible vary considerably; the share of France is relatively higher than that of the other metropolitan countries.2 The volume of trade within Africa is limited for a variety of reasons, the most important being the difficulty of communications and the fact that most of the territories and countries concerned are exporters of primary products and importers of manufactures and have little industrial capacity of their own. Because of the growing industrialisation of the Union of South Africa, the share of this country in inter-African trade is important and expanding.3 One major problem facing most of the countries is the extent to which world market prices of the primary products which are at the basis of their exchange economy are subject to fluctuation. This question is examined in more detail at the end of this chapter.4 Utilisation of Manpower Resources Although most of the principal aspects of labour problems in Africa are dealt with later in this survey, it seems at the present stage appropriate to consider in the most general terms the broad question of the utilisation of manpower resources in the area, or in other words, labour as a factor in production. Production for subsistence is still the basis of a very large sector of the economy of Africa and is of consequence even where relatively advanced stages of economic development have been reached. Whatever the social advantages of the communal life which accompanies it and in spite of the problems of land tenure, of the difficulties of securing capital equipment for improving cultivation and farming methods and of altering a system of labour organisation profoundly associated with established patterns of social organisation, the fact has to be faced that the present basis of subsistence production represents one of the lowest levels of utilisation of human resources in the world and is at the root of the low standards of living of Africa. Until a greater quantity of food can be produced by a much smaller number of persons and a considerable proportion of those now engaged in subsistence production can be thereby released for more productive activity, this situation must remain basically unchanged. Where, as is often the case, the production of cash crops is effected by equally labour-wasting methods, this comment is also applicable. 1 Review of Economic Activity in Africa, 1950 to 1954, op. cit., p. 69. For detailed statistics in this regard see Appendix III, table 18. 3 For detailed information on the volume and direction of trade within Africa see Economic Developments in Africa, 1955-1956, op. cit., p. 65. 4 See also Appendix III, table 19, for statistical information in regard to price indices of the principal African exports from 1954 to 1956. 2 ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS 33 The continuing expansion of the exchange sector of the African economy is a fact, and a desirable fact if the premise of the desirability of raising living levels is accepted. The inelasticity of labour supply has led historically to various forms of compulsion to labour as well as to labour systems (notably the migrant labour system) in which the worker is assumed, even when the facts do not correspond with the assumption, to be engaged in wage earning only on a temporary basis. It is beyond question that the introduction of the African to wage earning in such conditions is necessarily a cause of low levels of labour efficiency. In a period in which the various forms of compulsion to labour that still exist have been generally condemned and are restricted in their incidence, when stabilisation of labour forces is gaining ground as an accepted principle and it is becoming clear that a considerable proportion of African wage earners have for all practical purposes permanently left the subsistence economy, new realities have to be faced. In particular, in the absence of indirect forms of compulsion to labour, the expansion of the wage-earning sector of the economy presupposes voluntary abandonment of the subsistence economy because the alternative is sufficiently attractive. It is in the light of these considerations that the urgency of generalising modern labour standards and securing their effective enforcement must be viewed. SOCIAL CONDITIONS The three topics dealt with under this heading are—(a) education; (b) health conditions, food and nutiition; and (c) housing and social problems of urbanisation. Succeeding chapters of the survey cover in detail a number of subjects which might otherwise have found a place here (for example, community development, the social aspects of agriculture and vocational training); numerous other subjects, such as the status of women and discrimination, receive attention in a number of places in the remainder of the survey, and one of the topics selected for general treatment here—housing—is the theme of a separate chapter. Even within the limits of the topics selected, however, only the barest treatment of problems and policies has been possible ; it is clear, for example, that a survey of the educational problems would be on a scale at least comparable to that of the whole of the present survey. It has on the whole, in the light of the above circumstances, been considered preferable in the present chapter to concentrate on the economic problems which condition the pace at which the improvement of social standards in all fields can be achieved. Education1 In general terms, the leeway that needs to be made up in the provision of educational facilities in Africa is a matter of common knowledge and is exemplified by the information available on such questions as the percentage of school enrolment of children between the ages of 5 and 14 in the area.2 While such statistics enable a general impression to be formed as to one aspect, and an important one, 1 Unless otherwise specifically stated, the information contained in this section of the chapter is taken from United Nations: Special Study on Educational Conditions in Non-Self-Governing Territories (New York, 1956), passim, and An African Survey, op. cit., pp. 1133 fF. 2 See Appendix III, table 20. 34 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY of educational problems in Africa, it does not in itself provide any real indication of the complexity of the problems involved and of the variety of solutions of policy available in theory and applied in practice in determining the methods of utilisation of the resources available for expenditure on education. Africa shares the problems of other underdeveloped areas in which efforts are being made to find the most rational means of employing exiguous material resources. Some of these problems are virtually of universal significance as problems of policy: the question of the relative emphasis to be given to primary, secondary and post-secondary education; the relative emphasis to be given to general education and to education of primarily vocational significance; the content of such education and training ; the relative importance to be attached to education of the young and to mass literacy programmes for adult illiterates; the relative importance of providing education conducive to the emergence of an élite and of providing a broad basis of literacy in the community; the extent of expenditure to be devoted to the capital equipment necessary for educational purposes, for example school buildings ; the resources to be utilised in the all-important sphere of teacher training; the extent of financial assistance to students; the extent to which schooling and training should be free to the pupil and trainee ; the extent to which voluntary agencies, the missions and the employer should be given responsibilities in respect of education and vocational training, and so on. Furthermore, a number of additional special problems exist in the countries and territories under consideration. A major one is the large variety of vernacular languages indigenous to Africa and the consequent difficult decisions which have to be made as to the language of instruction at different levels. A second significant problem is the coexistence in a number of territories of differing racial groups; major decisions of policy are necessary to determine the extent to which separate facilities are to be maintained for the different racial elements of the community. A third important factor, related to the preceding one, is the influence of political considerations in the determination of the forms of education most appropriate to given communities. Where the aim of policy is to afford the indigenous African communities the same opportunities as non-Africans and to prepare them for full responsibility in all fields, including self-responsibility in the political field, the framework of educational policy decisions is obviously different from that which obtains when different political considerations apply. Any detailed comparison of the relative merits of different emphases and policies is clearly out of place in the present summary account. All that can be done is to outline the nature of the policies being pursued in different parts of the area. In both the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi the Government has relied to a very considerable extent on the work of religious bodies as agencies of education. School organisation is largely based on the premise that the education and training of the Congolese should be directed primarily to equipping them to participate in the task of aiding in the development of the important economic resources of the territory. Technical training has for this reason received particular emphasis. The basis of the existing educational system is as follows : there is a two-year nursery course, preparatory to a primary course which can be completed in four years and which is regarded as a preparation of the African for life in his natural surroundings; selected children may, however, at the end of the second year of this course enter upon a further four-year course intended to lead on to secondary ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS 35 studies. Secondary schools are divided into modem and classical, specialisation in the former beginning in the fourth year, the fields being (i) administrative and commercial, (ii) surveying, (iii) science, and (iv) teacher training. Special provision is made for the education of girls. Advanced vocational training is provided for medical assistants and agricultural assistants, and a University Centre attached to the University of Louvain has recently been established. A number of commercial firms maintain schools for their employees, and some of the larger companies also run technical schools. The vernacular is employed exclusively as the language of instruction for pupils not going beyond the primary stage, French being the language of post-primary education. Separate schools for Europeans and Africans are usually operated, common facilities being shared, however, in some of the more advanced institutions devoted to specialised training. A few " adult " schools exist, most of them being organised by industrial companies for their employees. Because of the great variety of conditions existing in the large number of British territories in Africa and the considerable scope for decisions left to local departments of education, policies tend to vary widely from territory to territory, although general guiding lines have, from time to time, been laid down by the United Kingdom Government1, and Commissions sent to Africa for the purpose of advising on the educational problems of groups of territories have exercised a certain unifying influence on some aspects of policy. The systems under which schools are run by agencies other than the central government vary from territory to territory. In Uganda and Nyasaland missionary bodies are still largely responsible for the schools and in most other territories they play an important part in respect of primary teaching; on the other hand, schools run directly by the government predominate in Zanzibar and on the Tanganyika coast. Native authority schools make up an important proportion of primary schools in Sierra Leone and in the northern region of Nigeria. Technical education is provided by the government in most cases; in the rural areas of Northern Rhodesia, however, technical education is in the hands of the missions. In the territories with mixed populations special provision is made in a number of cases for the needs of different groups; very often different funds are allocated for African and non-African education and there are separate Advisory Councils for Education for the two groups as well as different schools, there being only a small number of primary or secondary schools open to students of more than one race. The general principle is for institutions at the post-secondary level to be open equally to all groups. A trend worthy of note is the increasing extent to which responsibility for primary education services is being transferred to African local authorities; these have in many instances levied special education rates and are authorised to build and maintain primary schools. Facilities for secondary education for Africans are of relatively long standing in West African territories, and their number is also increasing elsewhere. The extent to which post-primary education should be vocational in character rather than of a general type is a fundamental issue in this regard. The provision of facilities for education at the university level in local universities has become a principal aim of policy in the British territories, one of the 1 See Education Policy in British Tropical Africa (Cmd. 2374); Memorandum on the Education of African Communities (Colonial No. 103); Mass Education in African Society (Colonial No. 186) (London, H.M. Stationery Office, 1925, 1935 and 1943). 36 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY grounds on which it has been advocated being the necessity of such universities as part of a policy aiming at self-government.1 Financial assistance has been provided specifically for assisting in the establishment of such universities by the United Kingdom Government: grants were made, inter alia, to the University College, Ibadan, Nigeria, Makerere College, East Africa, the Nigerian College of Arts, Science and Technology, Fourah Bay College, Sierra Leone, the Royal Technical College of East Africa and the Central African University to help meet capital costs. Facilities for teacher training still fall far short of the demand for them, and a large number of the teachers in the British territories have had no vocational training. The development plans of all the territories contain provisions designed to bring about a rapid increase in the output of trained teachers. Teacher training has, at virtually all stages, been a direct responsibility of the governments and not of voluntary agencies or local authorities. The question of the language to be used as a medium of instruction and the stage at which any vernacular language should cease to be the language of instruction, as well as the stage at which the teaching of English should be introduced, are thorny questions with technical and political overtones ; here only an indication of the practice followed in some territories seems appropriate. In West Africa (apart from the Northern Region of Nigeria) and Northern Rhodesia English is introduced as a subject in the fourth year and as a medium in the fifth : the corresponding stages are the fifth and eighth years in Uganda and Tanganyika and the third and fourth years in Nyasaland. In Tanganyika the vernacular is used in the first year and Swahili subsequently as a medium. In Northern Nigeria English is only used as the medium from the secondary level onwards; in urban areas of Kenya it has, on an experimental basis, been utilised from the first year of schooling onwards. A few further points applicable to the British territories may briefly be noted. Firstly, apart from grants to the new African universities mentioned above, substantial grants for educational development have been made under the Development and Welfare Acts. Secondly, there is a marked tendency for the educational system to be dominated by British external examinations, though there has been revision of syllabuses to take into account the needs of African territories. Thirdly, the existing special provision for the education of girls is considered by expert opinion to be, in general, inadequate for their needs. Finally, much attention is being devoted to community and adult education, a subject which is dealt with more fully in the chapter of the survey dealing with community development. In French West Africa the policy in the early stages was to go no further than to grant assistance to missionary effort. Although lay schools were instituted at the beginning of the second half of the nineteenth century, by 1900 there were only 70 state schools with an enrolment of some 2,500 pupils. During the period from the beginning of the twentieth century to 1944 the main trends were a continuing expansion of facilities and the introduction of uniformity in the educational practices of the different parts of French West Africa. After the Brazzaville Conference of 1944, as part of the policy of integrating overseas territories in the French Union and the general acquisition of French citizenship by the inhabitants of 1 Cf. Report of the Commission on Higher Education in the Colonies (Cmd. 6647) and Report of the Commission on Higher Education in West Africa (Cmd. 6655) (London, H.M. Stationery Office, 1945). ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS 37 Overseas France, the accepted objective of policy became that of ensuring as far as possible the same educational standards as in metropolitan France, and curricula and examination standards have been adapted to that end. The creation of a local university1 similar in status to the university colleges in the British territories was a further step in the same direction. The main features of policy are the general use of French as the medium of instruction, the provision of higher education related to employment opportunities, strong emphasis on vocational training and, as has been noted above, the progressive assimilation of the curricula and examination standards to those of metropolitan France. Use of the vernacular is confined to " fundamental education " programmes reserved for adults not understanding French. Special attention has been given to encouraging education for girls. Teacher-training colleges are the most numerous among the institutions for vocational and professional training. Substantial funds have been provided from metropolitan France to assist in educational development; under the ten-year plan for the social and economic development of Africa, credits amounting to 8,500 million francs have been voted for education in French West Africa. In French Togoland the development of the educational system has been along similar lines to the patterns noted in respect of French West Africa. As a former mandated territory, however, greater freedom of access has been allowed to missionaries, with the result that the role of the missions in educational development has been greater; in 1953 the primary school population was divided approximately equally between government and non-government schools. In French Equatorial Africa educational development has been largely conditioned by the relative lack of resources of the territory; up to 1937 there was no separate education service, and missionary activity played a very important part in the provision of education. In 1939 government schools had in all 9,485 pupils and non-government schools 12,647: the corresponding figures in 1953 were 68,909 and 60,821, indicating the very important part the latter group of schools still play in the provision of education in the territory. Vocational and professional training receives considerable emphasis. While the objective remains that of bringing the standards of the educational institutions of French Equatorial Africa into line with those in metropolitan France, it is recognised that this must be regarded as a longterm policy. In the French Cameroons the missions have played, and still continue to play, a major role in the development of educational facilities; in 1953, in the field of primary education, the enrolment at state schools was 42,770 and at mission schools 113,381. The education of girls in the northern part of the territory has given rise to difficulties among the Muslim communities. As in the other French African territories, vocational and professional training are relatively important. In 1951 adult literacy classes were established and were attended by some 10,000 persons in that year. The Government of Somalia summarised the difficulties of educational development in the territory in the following terms.2 The absence of a written Somali 1 The Institut des hautes études established at Dakar in 1950 was reorganised by Decree No. 57240 of 24 Feb. 1957 into a university along metropolitan lines, with faculties of law, science, letters, medicine and pharmacy. 2 Rapport du gouvernement italien à l'Assemblée générale des Nations Unies sur l'administration de tutelle de la Somalie, 1955, op. cit., p. 117. 38 AFRrCAN LABOUR SURVEY language makes it impossible to instruct children in their mother tongue; so much time is spent by children learning a medium of instruction, which they soon forget, that little teaching of substantive matters is possible. The number of qualified Somali teachers is too small, though teacher-training programmes should result in an improvement as from 1956. The cost of foreign teachers is very high and their lack of knowledge of the country, people, and of the vernacular means that they cannot provide maximum service. The development of primary education is hampered by these difficulties. The programme envisaged for the development of secondary and vocational education cannot be pursued both for budgetary reasons and in view of the small number of pupils finishing their primary schooling. In Liberia, as in so many other parts of Africa, the missions were responsible for the establishment of the first schools. With the improvement in recent years of the financial position of the country, government expenditure on education has substantially increased. In 1952 there were 227 public elementary schools and five government high schools, with a total enrolment of 33,000. Liberia College was raised to the status of a university in 1950; only a small proportion of its students were, however, taking full degree courses at that date, diificulties arising from the limited number of students qualified to take university courses. English, as the official language, is the principal medium of instruction in the schools. Vocational and technical training is receiving increasing attention. The missions still play an important part in the provision of educational facilities. In the Portuguese territories the missions play a preponderant part in the provision of educational facilities. While grants of subsidies are limited to Portuguese Catholic missions, Protestant missions are also of importance in this respect. In the Portuguese territories of East and West Africa three grades of school exist, namely elementary, primary and secondary; Portuguese is the medium of instruction at all stages including the elementary. There are some differences in the curricula as between Africans and non-Africans at the elementary stage but none at the primary and secondary stages. The primary course leads either to a technical school or a lycée. There is no reservation, in Mozambique or Angola, of schools exclusively for Europeans or Africans, assimilation being one of the chief objectives of education. In Mozambique in particular, since 1938 only the children of Europeans, Asians and assimilated Africans have been eligible for entry to state schools ; the education of the African population as a whole is delegated to the Roman CathoUc missions. In 1952 there were 16 government primary schools (with 6,669 pupils), one secondary and ten technical schools; the number of Africans enrolled was 258. The missions at that date operated some 1,000 primary schools (with an African enrolment of 150,000), 44 technical schools and three teacher-training colleges. In the Spanish territories schools are provided partly by the Government and partly by the missions, only Catholic missions being eligible for grants-in-aid. Separate facilities are provided for Europeans and Africans. For Africans there is an elementary stage, in which training is largely practical; a primary stage; and a higher stage in which professional and vocational training is provided, inter alia, for auxiliary teachers, auxiliaries in health, public works and other services and for employment in commerce. It is to be noted that provision is made for the training of Africans only as auxiliaries, the higher levels of employment being reserved for Europeans. ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS 39 In the Union of South Africa the basis of educational policy is separate provision for different racial groups, even at the post-secondary level, in accordance with the general social and political organisation of the Union. The total expenditure on education in the year 1951-52 by the Central Government and by the provinces was £38,558,632, of which £6,637,553 was on African and £4,671,176 on Coloured1 and Asian education; in 1949 the cost of the education of Africans was calculated at £6.41 per head as compared with £41.99 per head for Europeans and £16.55 for Coloured and Asian pupils. In respect of European education, some serious problems are posed by the existence of two languages (Afrikaans and English) as media of instruction. The question of the relative responsibility of the Central Government and of the provinces of the Union in matters of education involves a number of other problems closely connected with the above. Enrolments at South African universities in 1954 comprised 19,651 European, 257 Coloured, 433 Asian and 514 African students; in addition, at the University of South Africa, which conducts classes mainly by correspondence, the corresponding figures in 1955 were respectively 3,305, 131, 282 and 555. Over the past few years proposals to provide separate university training facilities for non-Europeans have been under consideration; as the figures cited above indicate, however, the number of non-Europeans receiving university education has been proportionately as well as absolutely much smaller than the number of Europeans.2 In respect of the content of education for Africans the main issue has been whether it should be limited in scope in the light of the limited opportunities afforded them by official segregation policies. Until 1954, when the Bantu Education Act was adopted, only in Natal did government schools for Africans exist in any number ; government expenditure on African education was mainly in the form of grants-inaid to schools under the control of missions. The Act resulted in the transfer of African education administration to the Minister of Native Affairs and of the management of primary schools from the churches and missions to Bantu boards of control; teacher training and secondary and industrial schools were placed immediately under the Native Affairs Department. In September 1956 some 1,100,000 African children, or about 50 per cent, of those of school age, were attending school ; there had been an increase in enrolment of some 250,000 during the previous three years. The organisation of educational services in South-West Africa is basically similar to that in the Union of South Africa. The following additional points may, however, be noted. German is utilised in some cases as a medium of instruction. African education has not reached a level comparable to that of the Union; in the year 1952-53, 24,135 non-European children out of a total population of 322,179 were enrolled in the schools of the territory. The education of Africans is mainly in the hands of the missions, for the most part German Protestant missions with a small number of Roman Catholic missions. In a few urban centres night schools for promoting literacy among adult Africans have been established. 1 In the Union the Coloured group, representing about 9 per cent, of the total population, includes descendants of mixed unions (between Cape Malays, Whites and Hottentots, Bantu and Hottentots, Bantu and White, Asian and Coloured, etc.), descendants of the Malays originally brought to the Cape as slaves, and the remaining Hottentots and Bushmen. See Muriel HORRELL: South Africa's Non-White Workers, Johannesburg, South African Institute of Race Relations, 1956, pp. 14-15. 2 South African Institute of Race Relations: A Survey of Race Relations in South Africa, 1955-56 (Pietermaritzburg, Natal Witness Ltd.), pp. 187-209. 40 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Health and Nutrition1 Some indication of the leeway that needs to be made up in respect of public health services in most African countries and territories is indicated by the high ratio of inhabitants to hospital beds in Africa.2 The present account seeks to present very briefly some general information in regard to the development of public health services, the dietary levels of African populations and the diseases which in Africa present major problems. The establishment of public health services in Africa is of relatively recent date. Here, as was the case with so many other social services, the missions have played an important part in the development of medical-care services. It was perhaps above all the ravages of sleeping sickness that resulted in the creation of public health services in many areas. As with other social services, a serious general problem, which is by no means confined to Africa but which reaches major proportions there, is the paucity of material resources available for public health purposes. This has given rise to important questions of policy in regard to the allocation of resources, the most fundamental of which would seem to be the extent to which medical facilities should be concentrated in hospitals and centres with fully trained staff—an approach which limits severely the numbers of persons who can receive attention and implies that it will be principally urban centres that benefit ; or, alternatively, the merits of policies based on a wide extension of dispensaries and analogous facilities for which partly qualified medical assistants are responsible subject to such supervision as can be provided. In the Belgian Congo, where a medical service was established in 1909 and a separate public health service in 1922, there has been a considerable development of unofficial health organisations and extensive use of medical assistants. The missions still play an important part, and European enterprises are required to ensure that medical services are available to African employees. In Ruanda-Urundi the organisational basis is similar to that of the Belgian Congo: in 1952 expenditure on medical services amounted to 21 per cent, of the total expenditure of the territory. In the British territories the general pattern consists of a central department under a Director of Medical Services, with one or more senior medical officers, together with a body of provincial and district medical officers ; municipalities and other local authorities are in a number of cases assigned varying responsibilities in respect of public health. Missions, with government financial assistance, manage a number of hospitals, rural dispensaries and leper settlements, the extent of their responsibilities varying very much from one territory to another. Mobile field units are important in some areas and considerable use has been made of subordinate assistant local personnel. In a few cases, such as Southern Rhodesia, separate hospital accommodation is provided for different racial elements. In the French territories the hospitals are used as headquarters of field stations providing treatment and preventive services in rural areas. Mobile units form an important part of the medical system. Expenditure on medical services represented 11.4 per cent, of the budget of French West Africa in 1951 and 24 per cent, of that of French Togoland in 1952. 1 2 Cf. An African Survey, op. cit., pp. 1063 ff. See Appendix III, table 21. ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS 41 In Somalia expenditure on public health represented 14.5 per cent, of the ordinary budget in 1955.1 In addition to the government services, missions and other voluntary bodies assist in the provision and administration of medical facilities. The health programme of the Government is concerned principally with measures against malaria, tuberculosis and venereal diseases, the promotion of education in health matters, maternal and child welfare, improvement of equipment and training of staff. In each Portuguese territory, the health service comprises curative, preventive and laboratory branches as well as special services, for example for sleeping sickness and leprosy. The government is responsible for most hospitals, though in some territories (for example Angola) mission hospitals represent a substantial proportion of the total hospital facilities available. Medical services are also provided in a number of cases by mining and plantation companies. In the Union of South Africa the provision of hospital facilities is mainly the responsibility of the provinces. Of a total of 570 hospitals, 238, with 17,674 beds, are for Europeans, and 138, with 27,756 beds, for non-Europeans. The Rand gold mines have their own medical services and medical staff, and substantial numbers of hospitals are run by the missions. In regard to nutritional standards little precise recent information is available for the area as a whole2, although the general patterns are well known and have formed the subject of much study. Shortages of food have been a common occurrence in Africa through crop failures and locust invasions ; improvements in internal transport have tended to lessen the gravity of the impact of such shortages. It is also well known that over large parts of Africa, even where the average intake of calories may be regarded as sufficient, there are deficiencies in certain essential constituents such as proteins, vitamins and iodine. In recent years governments in the area have taken steps to secure fuller information in regard to existing problems of nutrition through nutrition surveys. International conferences for the area in regard to this problem were held under the auspices of the Commission for Technical Co-operation in Africa South of the Sahara in 1949 and 1952; the latter conference emphasised in particular the need for maximum utilisation of existing sources of protein, both vegetable and animal. Despite the limitations of the statistics available, the high incidence of disease in Africa is a matter of common knowledge. Available information indicates for the area under consideration as a whole that the diseases of major importance are malaria, helminthic diseases (for example filariasis), leprosy, tuberculosis, venereal diseases, trypanosomiasis and disorders of malnutrition; in more general terms, it can be said that both tropical diseases and many that are prevalent in temperate climates, as well as all infectious diseases, occur. In the countries and territories for which detailed information is available, a number of areas are known to exist in which blindness is severe in its incidence. It has been estimated at 2 per cent, in some parts of Nigeria, 7 per cent, in one onchocerciasis area in Ghana, in Uganda at over 1 per cent., and as high as 2 per cent, in some parts of the Union of South Africa; in respect of Kenya it has been estimated that 10 per cent, of all adults are without the sight of one eye. 1 Cf. Rapport du gouvernement italien à l'Assemblée générale des Nations Unies sur l'administration de tutelle de la Somalie, 1955, op. cit., pp. 99 ff. 2 For an account of problems of nutrition in African urban centres see Report on the World Social Situation, op. cit., pp. 160-162. 42 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Considerable progress has been made in the control and prophylactic treatment of human trypanosomiasis, but the opening up of some parts of Africa by improvements in internal transportation facilities has resulted in some spread of the disease and justifies further control measures. Both West Africa and East Africa are severely affected, though the carrier is a different insect in the two areas. It has been found that tuberculosis is growing in significance in Africa, a trend which is likely to continue with the increase in the number of centres of employment and with the increasing drift to urban centres. While in a limited number of cases tuberculosis in African countries and territories is bovine in origin, in general it has been found that overcrowded housing conditions, together with the fact that the diet of numbers of workers performing heavy manual labour is often inadequate, makes for the rapid spread of the disease. In addition the disease is carried by workers suffering from tuberculosis who return to their areas of origin. In 1947 it was estimated that in some industrial towns of South Africa the death rate from tuberculosis in Africans had almost doubled in eight years, reaching 10 per thousand per annum, a rate 30 times as high as among Europeans in the country. In the mining area of Southern Rhodesia in 1953 the incidence of tuberculosis was 141 per 100,000 of the population. Housing and the Social Problems of Urbanisation1 The growth of urban centres in the countries and territories covered by the present survey will be examined in its statistical aspects in the chapter dealing with manpower questions, and a separate chapter is also devoted to housing problems. It has nevertheless been thought appropriate, in view of the rapid pace and particular character of urbanisation and the social phenomena that accompany it, to give some attention at this stage to this important development of the structure of society in Africa, with special reference to the housing problems raised. While there were important concentrations of population before European penetration, urbanisation is for the most part a recent development to which the economic expansion of the years of the Second World War and the succeeding years has given considerable impetus. The data given in the chapter on manpower questions illustrate the rapid rate of development in the past 20 years, for example, of Leopoldville from 36,000 in 1938 to 301,000 in 1954, of Lourenço Marques from 47,000 in 1935 to 103,000 in 1954, of Lagos from 137,000 in 1936 to 267,000 in 1952. A number of smaller towns (for example Jadotville, Douala and Secondi-Takoradi) have also mushroomed in mining districts and in prosperous agricultural areas growing cash crops. The extent of urbanisation varies widely, however, from one part of the area to another; populations living in towns of over 20,000 inhabitants represent only a small fraction of the total population in Ethiopia, Liberia and parts of East Africa, while they represent some 30 per cent, in the Union of South Africa and some 40 per cent, in Western Nigeria. The principal causes of migration to urban centres include the need or desire to earn money for any one or more of a variety or purposes, the pressure of population on the land, the desire to break away from tribal life, the attraction of the 1 Unless otherwise stated, information contained in this section is taken from Report on the World Social Situation, op. cit., pp. 144 ñ: "Urbanisation in Africa South of the Sahara." ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS 43 amenities and assumed opportunities of city life, the influence of labour-recruiting agents and, in some communities, considerations of prestige. The character of housing in these new urban areas is largely a result of the way in which they have grown up. Many of the towns were intended originally for a small European population, and the housing of Africans tended usually to be physically separate from the administrative centre, commercial area and residential district, whether or not any segregation measures existed. Where the growth of a new concentration of population resulted from the development of mining, railways or plantations, the employer normally had responsibility for the provision of housing. With the recent rapid increase in urban population, urban centres have grown faster than housing and related facilities, and the town-planning schemes introduced have, quite apart from the special case of areas with segregation arrangements, resulted in zoning and a consequent reallocation of building land largely on an income basis. The general effect has been to force Africans not having the means to comply with the new building and maintenance standards either to find shelter outside the town or to set themselves up in already overcrowded areas within the town limits. The position of the vast mass of town-dwelling Africans has been described in the following terms : In recent years, further political, commercial and industrial development and the policy of stabilisation of African workers now followed in many areas ... have impelled the public authorities ... to intensify their practical efforts to supply the average African city dweller and his family with adequate housing and services, and even with access to land for family gardens. It is generally considered, however, that the majority of Africans are still not in a position to comply with even modest building standards or to pay rents sufficient to permit the financing and maintenance of modem housing and corresponding facilities.1 Urban Africans have been and still often are regarded, especially in Central and South Africa, not as full-fledged members of the urban communities, but as wards for whose needs employers, municipalities or central governments should provide.2 The problems noted above remain crucial even where municipal self-government—sometimes in the form of separate African townships—has been accompanied by an expansion of resources for the improvement of facilities; the rate of increase of the urban population tends to outstrip such expansion and building standards established often cannot in practice be enforced because of the lack of means of the existing occupants; housing shortages remain chronic, and much of the unsuitable housing has to be retained as the only means in existing conditions of providing cheap shelter for Africans who have none elsewhere. Some of the long-term and short-term approaches to the solution of these problems are indicated in the chapter on housing; clearly, however, at the root of the problem lies the fact that this largely fluctuating urban population has generally too low a level of income to be able to build, or rent at an economic rate, accommodation of an acceptable character by modern standards. Unquestionably the prevalent labour systems, the consequent low level of productivity of a large proportion of African workers, as well as the additional artificial impediments—including segregation—that are imposed, mean that the social and economic changes of which rapid urbanisation is a symptom are being brought about at a heavy cost in terms of human welfare. 1 Even for the most simple accommodation in government-built housing the rent is sometimes considered too high in relation to wages. 2 Report on the World Social Situation, p. 149. 44 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Mention has already been made in this chapter of the extent to which, inter alia, tuberculosis is becoming increasingly important, largely as a consequence of urban overcrowding. In more general terms, infectious diseases have much greater opportunities of spreading in the conditions which exist in these urban centres, for the most part. The present account has not touched on a number of important aspects of urbanisation in Africa, notably its effect on tribal and family ties.1 It should have sufficed to make clear, however, the urgent need for programmes of economic development designed to establish the necessary material basis for levels of living which will enable a more satisfactory solution than at present to be found for these and other problems. PROBLEMS OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Development Planning2 Since the Second World War there has been a change in the approach to problems of economic development in Africa, the principal characteristic of which has been the adoption of systematic development programmes in a number of African countries and territories. A number of factors have contributed to this change of approach. In the first place, wider recognition of the important role that governments can play in stimulating the pace and directing the trend of economic activity was facilitated by the extent to which, during the war years, governments were obliged by circumstances to accept greater responsibilities in this regard. Secondly, in respect of underdeveloped countries generally, such recognition necessarily took into account the fact that such countries could not provide out of their own limited resources the capital for their own development at a sufficiently rapid rate and that external private capital would not be forthcoming unless adequately planned public investment improved long-term economic prospects. The increase in the level of production in Africa has in many cases led to greater appreciation of the economic potentialities of the area; it also implied that the territories themselves were in a better position to make some contribution to the costs of development planning and to maintain, out of current expenditure, facilities and services established in the first instance by means of external financial and technical assistance. Before examining briefly the content of particular development programmes some of their general features may be noted. While in the first instance development planning in most parts of the area tended to give special emphasis to expenditure on the social services, in particular education and public health, there has subsequently been a change in emphasis resulting in relatively more attention's being given to the promotion of economic services designed to increase the productivity of the economies concerned; one reason for the change in emphasis was the high local expenditure necessary to maintain the capital equipment provided for projects in the field of the social services, for example, schools and hospitals. 1 2 For an analysis of these problems see Report on the World Social Situation, op. cit., pp. 162 if. Unless otherwise stated the information contained in this section of the present chapter is taken from An African Survey, op. cit., pp. 1316 if. ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS 45 The provision of economic services has in some instances included government activity in the field of direct production. In this regard, public corporations have played an important part. In the British territories, for example, the Overseas Food Corporation was set up to operate the East African Groundnut Scheme in Tanganyika and the Colonial Development Corporation, which was empowered to borrow £100 million from the Treasury, became the accredited agency for the stimulation of new forms of industrial or rural production. A number of local public corporations have also been created, such as the Cameroons Development Corporation and the Uganda Development Corporation.1 For the French territories similar public corporations have been created dealing with mining, the provision of electric power and the marketing of particular export commodities. In addition to public corporations, government activity in the economic field has included the establishment of credit institutions for agricultural and industrial purposes which assist approved private entrepreneurs to obtain additional funds. The principal sources of development capital are allocations from local budgets, grants-in-aid from metropolitan countries, loans made or guaranteed by metropolitan countries and loans issued by the African countries or territories themselves. Other sources include the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the United Nations Expanded Programme of Technical Assistance and such United States sources as the International Co-operation Administration. In the Belgian territories ten-year plans were established for the Belgian Congo in 1949 and Ruanda-Urundi in 1952. These plans are based on the principle that the territories themselves are to provide the financial resources needed; the capital required is derived from loans. Initially the cost of the Belgian Congo plan was estimated at 25,000 million francs and that for Ruanda-Urundi at some 3,500 million francs; the actual cost for the Belgian Congo was re-estimated at 48,000 million francs in 1956 owing to rising costs. Some 50 per cent, of total expenditure in the Belgian Congo is designed to improve transport and communications; another group of services on which emphasis is placed is the expansion of public utilities connected with urbanisation, notably housing, water supply and electrification. In Ruanda-Urundi an important part of the resources available is allocated to agricultural research and the resettlement of Africans from congested areas. The plans have been incorporated in the territorial budgets. Special institutions have been established to deal with development in specific sectors, notably the Fonds de Bien-être Indigène, which is responsible for promoting the social development of tribal communities, and the Institut de Recherches Scientifiques de l'Afrique Centrale, which has the task of co-ordinating and promoting scientific research. The general framework of development planning in the British territories is found in the Colonial Development and Welfare Acts, even though the funds provided thereunder constitute only a small part of the cost of the development plans of the territories and although the plan for each territory is a separate entity evolved from discussion of projects between the local government and the metropolitan authorities. Under the Colonial Development and Welfare Act of 1945 the United Kingdom Government allocated £120 million for development in British territories generally, an amount which was increased to £140 million by the 1950 Act. In 1955, provision was made for the fund, which was due to close in March 1956, 1 An African Survey, op. cit., p. 1327. 46 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY to be extended to March 1960; the total made available for the period 1955-60 is £120 million, which includes unexpended balances from the previous period. The grants made to the territories in East and West Africa up to the end of March 1957 are shown in table X. TABLE X. DEVELOPMENT AND WELFARE FUND ALLOTMENTS TO EAST AND WEST AFRICAN TERRITORIES DURING THE 11-YEAR PERIOD ENDING 31 MARCH 1957 .' . (In thousands of £) Development and welfare grants Development and welfare loans Research grants East Africa General . . Kenya . . Uganda . . Tanganyika 7,496 8,531 9,269 2,610 27 150 5,444 152 227 343 West Africa General . . Gambia Ghana . . Nigeria . . Sierra Leone 1,803 1,571 4,141 41,887 4,125 Territory 31 2,004 195 47 455 68 Compiled from Return of Schemes Made Under Colonial Development and Welfare Acts, 1956-57 (London, H.M. Stationery Office, 1957). It should be noted that, in addition to the above funds specifically allocated to particular territories and the East and West African regions, funds were also available under the head " General ", covering British territories as a whole. An analysis by the Colonial Office1 of major capital works (in terms of value) in progress in British Africa in 1951, whether undertaken by the Government or by private enterprise, showed that one-third of the expenditure related to railways, roads, harbours and communications generally; one-quarter to electricity, drainage or irrigation projects; a further third to industrial projects and housing, water supplies and sewerage, and less than 8 per cent, to the provision of medical and educational facilities. The equivalent for the French territories of the provision made under the British Colonial Development and Welfare Acts is Fonds d'Investissement pour le Développement Economique et Social (F.I.D.E.S.). This fund was established in 1946 for the purpose of financing development plans in all French Overseas Territories. Its resources are provided jointly by the metropolitan country and the territories; by far the greater part is contributed by France and most of the territorial contributions consist of loans made by the territories to the Caisse Centrale de la France d'Outre-Mer (C.C.F.O.M.), which provides credit to public authorities and private enterprise alike for development projects within the scope of the development programmes. The share of contributions of France, originally fixed at 55 per cent., was increased to 75 per cent, and later, in 1956, to 90 per cent. A notable 1 Major Capital Works in the Colonial Territories (Colonial No. 285) (London, H.M. Stationery Office, 1942), passim. 47 ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS difference from the British territories is that F.I.D.E.S. is designed to cover virtually the whole cost of development expenditure in the French territories. The ten-year development plan established in 1946 envisaged two stages of development; the period 1947-53 was to be devoted primarily to building up basic facilities and services, for example communications; in the second period (1953-57) more attention was to be given to revenue-earning activities. Table XI shows F.I.D.E.S. expenditure authorised up to the end of December 1956. TABLE XI. F.I.D.E.S. EXPENDITURE AUTHORISED UP TO 31 DECEMBER 1956 (In thousands of millions of francs) Local contributions Total General Section: Overseas Territories \ contribution Advances from C.C.F.O.M ! From territory's ' , own resources ! . . Territorial Section: French West Africa . . . Togoland Cameroons French Equatorial Africa 87.50 87.50 — — . 174.10 7.57 57.40 66.20 106.80 4.74 35.50 42.10 65.10 2.84 21.90 24.00 2.19 j ! 0.09 Source : Bulletin mensuel de statistique d'Outre-Mer (Paris, National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies), Vol. XIII, No. 3, May-June 1957, p. 62. In the Portuguese territories the aim of policy has been the development of economies complementary to that of the metropolitan country; there has been a series of development plans since 1938 financed from three principal sources, "namely loans from Portugal, local revenue surpluses and the proceeds of special taxes. Between 1946 and 1950 the equivalent of about £15 million in all was allocated to the African territories by Portugal, the loan of £1214 million to Mozambique in 1947 (designed primarily for the improvement of communications) representing the major part of this sum. A second development plan, covering the period 1951-55, overlapped the Portuguese National Development Plan covering the period 1953-58; it allocated £36 54 million to Angola and £2914 million to Mozambique. In the expenditure envisaged for these two territories, about half is destined to the improvement of railways, ports and aerodromes ; hydro-electric schemes represent about one-fifth of proposed expenditure, and other major projects relate to irrigation and agricultural resettlement. Industrialisation In a number of territories with more exiguous resources than the Belgian Congo, Southern Rhodesia and the Union of South Africa (the countries in which industrialisation has made the greatest progress), the possibilities of industrial development on a more modest scale represent a means of diversifying their economies and creating employment opportunities of a kind more likely than existing ones to provide incentives for an expansion of the exchange sector of the economy. For this reason, a detailed account follows of an analysis made of the possibilities 48 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY of industrial expansion in Ghana (then the Gold Coast)1, which may be helpful in assessing the extent to which, in other parts of the area, industrialisation may have prospects at present unrealised. The report indicates the three ways in which industrialisation usually begins: the processing for export of primary products which were previously exported in a crude state; manufacturing for an expanding home market; and the production for export of light manufactured goods, often based on imported raw materials. The general problems arising from the initiation of industrialisation in each of these three forms is analysed in detail. In regard to the processing of materials for export an undeveloped country relies usually on two advantages : low labour cost based on low wages, and a saving on transport cost if the material loses weight in the course of processing. In the Gold Coast operations performed mainly by machinery with only a small element of labour are certain to cost more than, for example, in the United Kingdom because the cost of building, erecting and maintaining machinery is higher in the Gold Coast than in an industrial country ; low labour costs were most helpful in industries where the amount of capital used per head was small. An example in the Gold Coast of a material losing weight in the course of processing which would result in saving on transport costs is bauxite, since 4 tons of bauxite are required to make 1 ton of aluminum; nevertheless, since fuel is a raw material which was always lost in the process of manufacture it often happens that bauxite is carried for processing to a place where fuel is available rather than the reverse. Local industries manufacturing for the home market are favoured in two cases. If the industry uses a heavy raw material which is available on the spot, local manufacture is protected against imports to the extent of the cost of transporting the raw material; examples are cement and beer. If the manufactured commodity is more bulky than the materials of which it is made there is a similar protection whether or not the materials themselves have to be imported; this is the case in respect of furniture and most assembly work. On the other hand, local industry is at a disadvantage if the raw material has to be imported and loses weight in the process of manufacture; the transport factor favours production in the country which has the raw material, for example, steel. It is also at a disadvantage if (as in the case of chemicals) fuel requirements are large and fuel is not available locally, the value of the fuel consumed in relation to the value of the completed product being sometimes the determining factor. Transport costs have little relevance if the raw materials have to be imported but do not lose weight or acquire bulk in the process of manufacture (as is the case with cigarettes and soap), or if fuel requirements are small. The factor of effective demand in the Gold Coast is analysed. The main conclusion reached is that industrialisation for the home market can make little progress unless agriculture is progressing vigorously at the same time to provide both the market for industry and industry's labour supply. While the countries best suited to capture export markets for finished commodities were those which possessed cheap fuel and weight-losing raw materials, a number of countries had built up industries without possessing these advantages 1 Professor W. A. LEWIS: Report on Industrialisation and the Gold Coast (Accra, Government Printing Department, 1953). ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS 49 (Japan, Hong Kong, Puerto Rico). These countries had concentrated on importing raw materials which were light in relation to their value, so that the transport cost was small, and which used little fuel in the process of manufacture; examples are textile fibres, rubber, leather and paper. In general, low labour costs were the basis for this form of competition, and this way of earning a livelihood therefore appealed essentially to countries where the population was so large in relation to natural resources that even the least remunerative occupations must be fostered. The Gold Coast was not in this position. On the basis of a detailed analysis based on the factors noted above the report concluded that favourable industries for the development of industrialisation were : vegetable oil extraction, canned food and vegetables, salt, beer, bricks and tiles, cement, glass, lime, industrial alcohol, miscellaneous chemicals and wood products. The following industries were considered as marginal: biscuit, soap, confectionery, cigarettes, boots and shoes, hats and caps, shirts, knitwear, weaving cotton and rayon, jute bags, foundry products, candles, paints and colours, travelling bags and rubberware. The report examined in detail the various forms of assistance which might be furnished by the Government with the object of promoting industriahsation; one aspect of particular importance was the government planning staff required. It was indicated that the Government would need to appoint officers with the following functions : (a) to perform or initiate research into the possibility of starting new industries; (b) to interest industrialists in these industries; (c) to advise industrialists who are starting new industries and help them to solve their problems ; (d) to recommend to the Government what forms of assistance new industries should receive; (e) to lend money and to administer the loans; (f) to administer industrial estates; and (g) to operate government-owned factories. Conclusions While industrial development can make, and in some parts of Africa is already making, a significant contribution to the diversification of employment opportunities and the raising of national income levels, the basic situation remains that the economic foundations for social progress still lie in the field of primary production, both agricultural and mineral. The world market prices of the products concerned are frequently subject to major fluctuations which have immediate reactions on public revenue levels, a situation which necessarily handicaps the governments concerned in the formulation of long-term programmes. At the same time the creation of the European Common Market, with which a number of African territories are associated, and proposals under consideration in regard to a European Free Trade Area will certainly influence the trade relations of the African Continent to an extent which is for the moment difficult to foresee.1 1 For an analysis of these questions see Council of Europe: The Development of Africa, Report of the Group of Experts presented to the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe (Strasbourg, 1957). 50 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY So far as the stabilisation of world prices is concerned, multilateral international agreements exist in respect of wheat, sugar and tin, while draft agreements are under examination by international study groups in respect of rubber, cotton, wool, rice and cocoa. An alternative policy in some respects may be found in longterm bilateral and regional agreements. At the national level, in addition to local organisation of the marketing of export products, stabilisation measures for prices paid to producers have been introduced: the caisses de stabilisation in the French territories and the Marketing Boards in the British territories are examples. While the funds accumulated by such bodies can be used only to a limited extent to finance development programmes, such arrangements have a stabilising effect on prices generally and on public finance planning. A number of African governments have established reserve funds and made other arrangements designed to secure directly some degree of stabihsation of public revenue. The concluding chapter of the survey examines in detail a number of the major problems of social and economic policy raised by the developments which have been briefly noted in this chapter. Meanwhile in Chapter II, the importance of the agricultural sector of African economies, as well as the social problems involved in agricultural development in the African context, receive special emphasis. CHAPTER II LAND AND LABOUR Some reference has already been made to the extent to which the peoples of Africa depend on agriculture for their existence and an attempt has been made to show the relative importance of subsistence agriculture, small-scale commercial farming and larger-scale enterprise in the form of plantations. The time has now come to look more closely at the present situation and to examine the changes that are taking place in the rural communities of Africa in the light of the general economic and social development of the area. This will involve some examination of the relationship between land and labour, since the systems of land tenure and utilisation and the rights and obligations that arise as between the various members of the rural community as a consequence of the utilisation of land largely determine the patterns of employment in agriculture, the extent to which manpower is available for work elsewhere and the conditions in which such work is sought. Income distribution and security are likewise largely influenced by the systems of land tenure. On all those scores an African labour survey cannot ignore such matters as land tenure and land utilisation. 1 LAND TENURE Indigenous Land Tenure Systems Indigenous land laws are part of the whole social and economic structure of the community concerned and involve a complex system of rights, titles, privileges and obligations of a religious, collective and personal character which are closely interwoven. The fundamental difference between the modem approach to land questions and the traditional African approach is that while the former recognises individual rights of ownership, use and transfer, the latter sees land as being at the disposal of the whole community. It is the source from which the whole community derives its means of livelihood and subsistence. Undisturbed tenure of a piece of land depends on the holder's using it. When he ceases to do so the land 1 For detailed studies on this subject see An African Survey, op. cit.. Chap. XI; C. K. MEEK: Land Law and Custom in the Colonies (London, Oxford University Press, 1949); Encyclopédie coloniale et maritime: Afrique occidentale française. Vol. 1 (Paris, 1949), pp. 299-308, and Afrique équatoriale française (Paris, 1950), pp. 233-237; Summary of the Report of the Commission for the Socio-Economic Development of the Bantu Areas within the Union of South Africa (cited subsequently as Summary of the Tomlinson Report) (Pretoria, Government Printer, 1955); Dr. A. DE SOUSA FRANKUN: " The Portuguese System of Protecting Native Landed Property", in Journal of African Administration (London, H.M. Stationery Office), Jan. 1957, pp. 16-22; and Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations : Communal Land Tenure, Agricultural Studies, No. 17, 1953. 52 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY reverts to the community and may be allocated to others by the authority empowered by the tribe concerned to do so, i.e. the chief, the clan or family head or the council of elders. The earlier systems under which each peasant cultivated the soil or grazed his livestock where he wished—without, of course, infringing the equal rights of other members of the same community—have to a great extent been supplanted by systems of controlled communal tenure, although they still survive among pastoral and hunting communities and in areas where the supply of land is abundant. Controlled communal tenure has many variants, based on local customs and circumstances, which it is not intended to discuss in detail here. At the origin of most of them, however, is the system of shifting cultivation, which is still very widely practised throughout Africa. The fundamental characteristic of this system is that at any given time only part of the available land is being farmed. Every year part is under cultivation and part is left to lie fallow. When the cultivated land shows signs of exhaustion it is allowed to revert to bush and another piece is cleared. The length of the cycle varies according to natural conditions and the pressure of population on the land. While, therefore, the area under cultivation may be fairly small, that over which the community (i.e. the tribe, clan or family, or in certain areas the individual farmer as a unit in it) claims rights of occupancy may be very extensive and may exceed any amount of land which the community or the individual, as the case may be, has ever farmed or could possibly farm. It is worth mentioning in passing that these shifting cultivation practices and the claims they have given rise to, added to traditional pastoral and hunting rights and the African's basic conception of a communal right over the land which lies at the root of all of them, have " made the African exceptionally sensitive about the attitude of Colonial Powers in respect of the appropriation of Native lands in the interests of non-Natives ".1 This sensitivity has, in turn, been largely responsible for the small amount of plantation-type agriculture practised in Africa today and the fact that allocation of lands not already alienated to non-Africans has been virtually at a standstill for some years. These questions will, however, be dealt with later. Land may be allocated by the authority competent in the matter in a variety of ways, according to local custom and circumstances. Sometimes the farmer is given, in more or less perpetual usufruct, enough land to support himself and his family and to enable him to practise the shifting cultivation system or a modified form of it called bush fallowing, which involves allowing individual blocks of land to lie fallow in rotation. Sometimes land is allocated in accordance with the labour force of each family at the moment of distribution, reallocation taking place when it becomes necessary to shift cultivation to another area. Sometimes the members of the same clan or sub-clan cultivate their lands in common. Considerable developments have, however, taken place in this general pattern, some of them so long ago that they have become firmly established customs. In some areas customary services to chiefs, of a more or less feudal character and involving payments in kind or the obligation to work a stipulated number of days on the chief's land (and amounting in some parts of Uganda, for instance, to as much as 52 days a year2), became part and parcel of the conditions of land 1 2 An African Survey, op. cit., p. 685. V. LIVERSAGE: Land Tenure in the Colonies (Cambridge University Press, 1945), p. 47. LAND AND LABOUR 53 occupancy; subsequently they were commuted for money payments of the nature of rent. In other areas the concept of individual ownership of land, with the corresponding concepts of sale, inheritance and mortgage, have been fully recognised. This is particularly so in urban areas in West Africa, but even in the countryside the pressures of a money economy, bringing with it commercial agriculture such as cocoa growing, have made necessary the recognition of various forms of land alienation which, in fact if not in theory, amount to transfer of ownership. In Kenya, Nyasaland and Uganda transfers of land on the basis of full individual ownership have taken place, accompanied in Uganda by registration of title. Various forms of tenancy of land have also developed to meet particular situations. Strangers settling within a community are sometimes given land on a tenancy basis, and they, or their children, may later be adopted as full members of the community with full land rights. Share tenancy has sprung up mainly in areas where land is in short supply and where agriculture has passed from a subsistence to a commercial basis, the tenant paying an agreed share of the crop to the landlord. Varieties of this form of tenancy are found among the more developed communities, e.g. in the Union of South Africa, Ghana (the Abusa system)1, Nigeria (the Isha Kole system)2, Mauritius (various forms of métayage), Senegal and the French Sudan (métayage). Tenant-labourer systems, under which the cultivator pays for the use of a plot of land by performing a specified amount of work on the landlord's estate or in his house, have also developed in certain areas. For example, " strange fanners " who come from the neighbouring French areas of Casamance in Senegal to grow groundnuts in Gambia enter into contractual labour relationships with the landlords, who grant them plots of land in return for various forms of personal services. The " strange farmer " is expected to work for a specified number of days (usually four per week) on the farm of his landlord. The landlord, in addition to land, usually supplies board and lodging. Cash payment is sometimes agreed on as well.3 The navétanes who migrate from the French Sudan to various areas in Senegal work under the same system. Leasing of land on a cash-rental basis is on the increase. Sometimes leases are for the cultivation of the land for a season, as in the case of the leases offered by Ganda farmers in Uganda to immigrants from Ruanda-Urundi. Long-term leases at fixed rentals are, however, encountered more and more frequently. A peculiar contractual system of obtaining land, which is found throughout the indigenous agricultural economy, is the system of pledging. Pledging of land is an important feature of land transfer in those areas where the simple peasant economy is rapidly breaking down and a money economy taking its place. Pledging is not sale; it consists of the acquisition of a liquid asset on loan (usually cash, seeds, livestock or food) by surrendering a portion of land as a security, redeemable when the debt is repaid. The crops which the pledgee raises on the plot of land are regarded as his interest. The pledgee obtains no permanent rights over the land; there is no right of foreclosure ; the land remains redeemable for all time, although it does not revert to its owner until the debt has been repaid in full. ¡Usually the 1 P. 2 HILL: The Gold Coast Cocoa Farmer (London, Oxford GALLETTI, BALDWIN and DINA: Nigerian Cocoa Farmers University Press, 1956), pp. 8-24. (Oxford University Press, 1956), pp. 117-118. ' J. H. PALMER: Notes on Strange Farmers (Bathurst, Government Printer, 1946); and Colonial Office: Report on the Gambia for the years 1952 and 1953 (London, H.M. Stationery Office, 1954), p. 21. 54 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY pledgee can require settlement of the debt at any time. Failing settlement by the borrower, the pledgee generally has the right, after notifying the pledger, to transfer the land or part of it to another person on pledge for an asset not exceeding the amount of the original debt in value. In many areas customary rules have developed to control pledging (especially double pledging) and to deal with malpractices, but it seems that statutory regulation has generally been opposed by the peasants.1 The subsistence nature of most systems of peasant farming has no doubt had something to do with the increasing popularity of the pledging system. Where farmers have to meet demands in cash, as for taxation, shop goods, the payment of certain types of labour and other expenditure incurred as a result of calamities, or of marriages or other social occasions, and where money resources are limited, they naturally try to meet the situation by pledging portions of their farming land. Pledging has both advantages and disadvantages. It may lead to fragmentation of holdings and the growth of a landless class. Moreover, as the land may be redeemed at any time, it is an insecure system of tenure and therefore militates against the development of the land. It is often an impediment to the adoption of improved methods of cultivation and is a fruitful source of litigation. It provides easy facilities for contracting debts. The pledger may, through slackness, keep postponing repayment and may ultimately lose his land altogether. Pledging, however, performs two interrelated economic functions in the interest of the African peasant farmer: it induces savings and provides an investment system. Where no saving facilities exist progressive farmers, instead of hoarding the proceeds of their enterprise or spending them on luxuries, may put out their money on loan and take farm land as a pledge. The system also enables those members of the farming community who are not entitled to hold land—for example, younger brothers, non-emancipated sons and " strangers "—or enterprising farmers who need more land and who cannot get it under existing systems of tenure to acquire farmland which they can use over a fairly long period of time. In the development of landlord-tenant relationships, the system enables farmers with more land than they need or land which they cannot till owing to shortage of money, personal debts, lack of skill or lack of workers to transfer portions to others who are able and ready to work it. At the same time, pledging is itself a step in the direction of the commercialisation of land, for, while giving the appearance of protecting the land from alienation, it is often, in fact, tantamount to sale. Developments in Land Tenure The systems just described, apart from their gradual and spontaneous development to meet changing conditions, have also been profoundly affected by the action of the State. In all countries and territories governments have, in various ways and for different purposes, acquired a certain control over lands and land rights. Rights based on conquest, on treaties or agreements with chiefs and on invocation of the legal principle that the government is entitled to ownership (including the right of disposal) of all " vacant " or unoccupied lands have all been used to appropriate lands and control rights.2 In the Union of South Africa some 89 per cent, of the total area has been alienated or reserved for European occupation. The 1 C. K. MEEK: Land Law and Custom in the Colonies, op. cit., pp. 256-265. * For a detailed history of the question see An African Survey, op. cit., pp. 685-774. LAND AND LABOUR 55 corresponding figure for Swaziland is 49 per cent., for Southern Rhodesia 49 per cent., for the Belgian Congo 9 per cent., for Kenya 7 per cent., for Bechuanaland 6 per cent., for South-West Africa 5 per cent., for Nyasaland 5 per cent, and for Ghana 5 per cent, (mainly mining concessions). In no other territory for which information is available has more than 5 per cent, of the land been alienated. In the Union of South Africa, Southern Rhodesia, Bechuanaland, South-West Africa and Kenya the policy of creating Native reserves, or of otherwise setting aside areas for exclusive occupation by Africans, was adopted. This policy has, in many areas, had a far-reaching effect on the availability of labour for work in European agricultural enterprises and in industry there and elsewhere and has largely determined the migratory nature of the labour force and its comings and goings between employment centres and Native reserves.1 In addition to taking steps to assume for themselves ownership or control of land, governments have frequently declared themselves trustees for the population in respect of land rights and as such or in other capacities have taken action, both administrative and legislative, to permit of the development of land-granting and land-tenure systems along lines which will facilitate improved agricultural techniques and growing urbanisation. Generally speaking, the purpose of these steps in most of the countries and territories concerned has been threefold : to ensure security of tenure for peasant farmers, to promote individual ownership of land and to encourage appropriate systems of tenancy. The relative emphasis on these three points varies, however, as between different administrations. The recognition and confirmation of indigenous forms of tenure and the protection of established usages and customs of land tenure may provide adequate security in areas where there is no great pressure of population on land and the attraction of cash incomes is not yet very great. Where, however, these pressures and attractions are increasing, measures have had to be taken to protect the indigenous population against loss of land and other forms of exploitation and to foster a more rational utilisation of agricultural resources. The problem has been to reconcile the customary rights of the indigenous populations in their land with the requirements of economic and social development. It is recognised that agricultural development is dependent upon a system of land tenure which will make available to the African farmer a unit of land and a system of farming which will give a yield suflficient to support his family at a level comparable with those attainable in other occupations. He must be provided with security of tenure through such an indefeasible title as will encourage him to invest his labour and profits in the development of his farm and enable him to offer it as security against such financial credits as he may wish to obtain from the sources open to him. In short, land may have to be held under such conditions as will enable it to be given as security against loans for agricultural development, with the possibility that it can be foreclosed and sold if the indigenous mortgager defaults. This would in effect involve a reversal of policy for those governments which up to now have set themselves the task of preventing alienation of land and in particular transfers as between persons of different races. However, some governments are feehng their way towards a solution of this problem; while they try as much as possible to recognise communal forms of tenure they are at the same time providing more and more facihties for the grant of individual tenure rights 1 See Chapters IV and V. 56 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY to farmers who cultivate their land according to generally accepted modem rules of good husbandry. In this way forms of individual ownership of land are being developed and promoted. In East Africa, for example, following on the recommendations of the Royal Commission1, several governments have recognised the desirability of the extension of a system of individual land holding. In Kenya a government investigator had already recommended the conscious development of a system of individual ownership enabling energetic or properous Africans to acquire more land at the expense of bad or poor farmers. Although such a policy might create a landed and a landless class, it was suggested that this is a normal step in the evolution of a country. In Southern Rhodesia there are Native Purchase Areas reserved for purchase by Africans indigenous to the territory who are " master farmers ". The area involved is about 5.5 million acres, of which about 700,000 acres have been divided into some 3,500 farms of an average area of approximately 200 acres each; these farms have been alienated to Africans at a purchase price of 5 to 10 shillings per acre on the condition that the land may be forfeited if not beneficially occupied. The purchase price is payable over a period normally not exceeding 15 years. For the first three years the farmer is on probation. These areas have been established with a view to replacing African subsistence agriculture with a system of farming which will not only preserve the land and increase production but also raise the standard of living of the farming class. The Native Land Husbandry Act of 1951 has supplemented this scheme by provisions which will eventually mean the compulsory reallocation of holdings in all African land areas on a basis of individual tenure. " Farming rights " granted on the basis of land at present cultivated by the applicant will be exchanged for rights in an equivalent area of land, organised so as to provide opportunities for mixed farming and rotation of crops. The land will be held on terms which permit of transfer or inheritance (subject to official approval) but not of mortgage. Farming rights will, however, be liable to forfeiture in the event of a breach of the good husbandry regulations, and fairly high standards will be set. The whole plan involves some 26.5 million acres of land and, while it is expected to result in better utilisation of the land and improvement of farming standards, will undoubtedly mean a considerable permanent exodus from the land areas in question. This, indeed, is being anticipated by plans to create a network of villages organised to meet the needs of the emigrants in the matter of handicrafts and the like and to provide dormitories for labour engaged in neighbouring large centres. In other British territories, developments, though not so definite in character, are also taking place, either on the initiative of the governments or the Native authorities. In 1956 the modernisation of systems of land tenure in Africa was considered at a conference of representatives of East and Central African territories held in Arusha (Tanganyika). The conference recommended that governments should encourage individual land tenure, particularly where one or more of the following conditions were fulfilled: (a) where the emergence of an exchange economy, particularly in areas where there is mounting pressure of population and consequent competition for land, has given, or is likely to give the land itself an economic value; 'East Africa Royal Commission, 1953-1955: Report, Cmd. 9475 (London, H.M. Stationery Office, 1955), pp. 290 ff, pp. 351 ff. LAND AND LABOUR 57 (b) where perennial crops are being, or could be, grown; (c) where immovable farm improvements or buildings are constructed in permanent and valuable materials; (d) where there is evidence that the establishment of new and more valuable crops, or the adoption of better farming methods, is being held up owing to insecurity of the individual farmer's tenure ; (e) where the land is or is likely to be used for residential or trading sites—i.e., in urban or peri-urban areas; (f) where the tribal customs governing the existing form of tenure are out of line with modern requirements ; and (g) where land has been developed for new settlement by, or with the assistance of the government or a government-financed body (such as the Tanganyika Agricultural Corporation). Both in Belgian and in French territories the trend of policy is towards individualisation of land tenure. The measures so far taken, however, have tended not so much to modify existing systems of land tenure by Africans as to place them on a firmer juridical basis. In the Belgian Congo, a decree of 10 February 1953 gives to all Congolese the right to hold land by any title recognised by the civil law, subject, however, to certain special conditions in the case of " non-immatriculated " persons, which means in effect the great majority of Africans. Mortgaging is permitted only with official sanction; inheritance is to be in accordance with Belgian and not customary laws; fragmentation is restricted; sale is subject to local judicial authorisation; and finally, tenancies for more than six years are not allowed. A second decree of the same date gives Africans the same rights as Europeans to be given lands for colonisation purposes free of charge. A third decree of 23 February 1953 in effect confirms the property rights of Africans in extra-tribal centres and permits allotment of building sites and garden or market-garden plots to Africans for their personal occupation and use on a " one person, one allotment " basis with right of reoccupation by the public authority if the land is not tilled.1 The main practical steps taken to improve traditional systems of agriculture have, however, been the organisation of the paysannats indigènes. The aim is to secure the cultivation of areas of land by peasant groups on a permanent basis and in a systematic and rational manner. The paysannats, which are now numerous throughout the territory, will be referred to again in connection with land utilisation. The important point as regards land tenure is that they are based on the communal system. The area to be devoted to the paysannat may be divided up in different ways as may be appropriate. Plots may be allocated once and for all to individuals, or the area may be entrusted to the family or clan concerned, which must allocate each year a plot to each individual in the group. In either case, however, the occupier does not acquire ownership rights but merely a right of usufruct.2 In the French territories legislation was adopted in 1955 to promote the granting of state lands to the indigenous communities and to give the farmer recognition of a customary right of ownership in the land he tills. Expropriation of land 1 G. MALENOREAU: " L'accession des indigènes à la propriété foncière individuelle", in Zaïre (Brussels, Editions Universitaires), Vol. VII, June 1953, pp. 607-612. 2 P. STANER: "Les paysannats indigènes du Congo belge et du Ruanda-Urundi", in Bulletin agricole du Congo belge (Brussels), Vol. XLVI (1955), No. 3, pp. 467-558. 58 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY has been limited to what has been required for public purposes, and even then fair compensation has been paid. The method of granting concessions has been modified in the sense that the previous occupiers must first freely surrender their rights in the land in favour of the person seeking the concession. Here again, however, practical developments have dominated the scene, the most spectacular being the creation of the Office du Niger, a semi-public organisation whose aim is to develop the vast areas of the Niger territory for the cultivation of cotton and rice on irrigated lands. It has arranged for the settlement of Africans in villages of about 300 inhabitants ; the settlers are assigned allotments of land over which they have a right of usufruct. This scheme will be described in detail later. In the Portuguese territories the recognition of the African's ownership (with right of transfer to other Africans) of the land he occupies, superimposed upon existing guarantees of his possession and usufruct of that land, is regarded as a natural step along the path of progress. It is believed that respect for the existing forms of property based on customary law, coupled with careful development of the idea of progress towards individual ownership by successive stages appropriate to the African's environment, level of civilisation and social and economic system, will instil in the African " the consciousness of the soil " and will lead to the stabilisation of African society.1 In the Union of South Africa the Tomlinson Report envisaged the grouping together of all Africans in geographically complete units. Within these units it was suggested that, where the Africans so desire, freehold titles should be granted in properly planned and laid out settlement areas and that existing forms of tenure should be superseded by such titles. The conditions under which these titles should be granted were specified in respect both of town or village plots and agricultural units (subdivided into mixed farming, pastoral farming and irrigation farming).2 The Government has, however, rejected these recommendations as tending to undermine the whole tribal structure ; it proposes instead to obtain more stability by allowing Native authorities to grant to individuals a registered right of occupation of plots which would not afiect the tribal ownership of the land. The purchase of farming land by individual Africans, whether in tribal areas or elsewhere, is being discouraged. In the Sudan the Gezira Scheme is the best example of adaptation of existing land tenure systems to large-scale planned agriculture under irrigation. But in this case the change as regards actual existing occupiers of the land was from full ownership to tenancy. As owners, however, they continue to maintain a right of mortgage and sale to relatives or cultivating residents of the neighbourhood and of sale to the Government (at 32 shillings per acre) and to receive a yearly rent of 2 shillings per acre. The scheme, which provides for the cultivation under irrigation of some 1.5 million acres of fertile plain lying between the Blue Nile and the White Nile, now nationalised, was originally organised on a partnership basis, the three partners being the Government, the tenant farmers and the management. The Government installed the dam on the Blue Nile and the main irrigation canals and operated them; the land was redivided into family-size units among cultivating tenants; and the management (a private company) cleared and levelled the land, 1 A. DE SOUSA FRANKLIN: " The Portuguese System of Protecting Native Landed Property ' op. cit., p. 22. 2 Summary of the Tomlinson Report, op. cit., p. 152. LAND AND LABOUR 59 installed ginning facilities, supervised the growing of cotton (the main cash crop) and generally organised and ran the scheme. The profits were shared in agreed proportions between the three partners. The management's role has now been assumed by a board of government nominees. From the social point of view, the most interesting feature was the transition process from customary ownership to tenancy. Owners of more than 30 (later 40) acres became entitled to yearly cultivating tenancies of as much land as they themselves were, in the opinion of the Government, competent to cultivate. The tenancies were in the same area as the plots they had owned, but they could not obtain the same plot as before, since it was necessary to reallocate the land in ordered holdings of uniform size to meet irrigation requirements. As long as the tenants performed and observed the conditions, they were entitled to renewal of their leases. In fact, owners got one (or at most two) holdings and were also given the right to nominate future heirs for tenancies and also to suggest others, e.g. former slaves or landless villagers who actually cultivated the owner's original land. Thereafter owners of less than 30 (or 40) acres were given full tenancies of at least half of a holding on the same yearly basis and finally the local landless cultivators were given land to the extent possible. This aspect of the scheme shows all signs of having been a complete success in spite of occasional evictions for failure to maintain the high standards of cultivation insisted on and in spite of the fact that tenants have no legal security of tenure and that their rights are not registered in the land register.1 Reference has already been made to various forms of labour tenancy which have developed under customary arrangements. In several areas, however, for example in the Union of South Africa, Nyasaland and Kenya, large numbers of Africans have settled on land owned by non-Africans as servants, labour tenants or squatters under informal rent-paying or métayage arrangements. In Kenya in 1932 it was estimated that some 150,000 tenant-labourers were living on estates with their families and livestock. While this number has been considerably reduced as a result of the policy of creating villages in the Kikuyu areas following on the Mau Mau troubles, the extent of the problem in all three territories was such that it was necessary to introduce legislation to regulate the relations between the tenantlabourer and his employer. In effect this meant that reciprocal obligations were imposed. In Kenya, for example, the resident labourer and all male resident members of his family have to work for not less than 180 days a year, the employer guaranteeing work for the agreed period at stipulated wage rates. The employer has to provide material for hut-building and sufficient land suitable for the cultivation of food crops. Certain specified crops are not to be grown and the labourer is not to encroach on further land. Agreements are for a minimum of one year and a maximum of five. Variants of these conditions are found in Nyasaland and in South Africa. The whole question of tenancy arrangements would seem to deserve much more careful examination than it has yet received in its African context. While the security of the tenant may be adequately assured in large-scale schemes, such as the Gezira Scheme and others which have been launched with government sponsorship, it cannot be assumed that tenancy and share-farming practices developing 1 S. R. SIMPSON: " Land Tenure Aspects of the Gezira Scheme in the Sudan", in Journal of African Administration (London, H.M. Stationery Office), Vol. IX, No. 2, Apr. 1957, pp. 92-95. 60 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY around customary systems of land holding will be fair both to the owner or holder of the land and the cultivating tenant. The fact is that tenancy arrangements are springing up in many circumstances where there is pressure on the land or where the evolution of customary land-holding practices is resulting in the creation of a landless class. The number of squatters in some areas suggests that existing arrangements are either too inflexible or are unsuitable for actual needs. The precarious nature of the tenures involved, the lack of assurance of extension and of arrangements for compensation for soil improvement are disincentives to good farming and positively create instability. Evidence of the conditions which may result from uncontrolled developments of this kind is to be found in studies on tenant farming in Latin America1 and in Asiaz pubhshed by the I.L.0.3 LAND UTILISATION The traditional systems of land utilisation—products of centuries of adaptation to environment—had much in their favour. Under conditions of scarcity or absence of capital goods they represented, at a given level of organisational skill, as good a social combination of land and labour as was then possible. These systems, and particularly shifting cultivation and nomadic pastoralism, made allowance for the annual regeneration of the soil in areas where population pressure was not too great.4 Their main drawback was that they could only be efficiently followed in areas of relatively small population density, where the fallow period, which is the essence of the shifting cultivation process, could last long enough to permit the land to regain its fertility. But this is no longer possible in many parts of Africa, and the fallow period has become shorter and shorter until it is now often wholly inadequate. The results have been falling yields and a corresponding reduction in farm incomes. Shifting cultivation is most frequently found in conjunction with subsistence agriculture, that is to say farming systems wherein the farmer limits his efforts to providing just sufficient for his family's immediate needs. The primitive methods and techniques developed within these systems are still being practised by the great majority of African farmers. While these methods and techniques vary from territory to territory, the hand hoe and the cutlass remain the principal agricultural implements. In its most elementary form cultivation amounts to little more than a scratching of the soil after the land has been cleared. Nevertheless, there are, in most parts of Africa, signs of a gradual process of transition from traditional patterns of shifting cultivation to settled forms of crop and animal husbandry and from nomadic pastoralism towards restricted and controlled grazing. The hand labour upon which primitive agriculture wholly 'I.L.O.: The Landless Farmer in Latin America, Studies and Reports, New Series, No. 47 (Geneva, 1957); and idem: Indigenous Peoples : Living and Working Conditions of Aboriginal Populations in Independent Countries, Studies and Reports, New Series, No. 35 (Geneva, 1953). 2 Idem : Conditions of Life and Work of Share-Croppers, Tenant Farmers and Similar Categories of Semi-Independent and Independent Workers in Agriculture, Asian Regional Conference, Fourth Session, New Delhi, 1957, Report III (mimeographed) 3 The Permanent Agricultural Committee of the I.L.O. has given consideration to the whole question of the working and living conditions of share-croppers, tenant farmers and similar categories of semi-independent or self-employed agricultural workers and in 1955 adopted a resolution on the subject. 4 C. D. FORDE and R. Scorr: Native Economies in Nigeria (London, Faber & Faber, 1946), p. 42. LAND AND LABOUR 61 depended is being supplemented—where climate, disease and other conditions render this possible—by the labour of draught animals. Over large areas of Southern Africa, for example, the plough is displacing the hand hoe. Machinery is being introduced for cultivation, harvesting and processing, though its use is yet far from widespread. These changes have social implications which are profoundly affecting relationships within the rural communities. The division of labour between the sexes, for example, is changing both with the transition from shifting to settled forms of agriculture and with the introduction of animal or mechanical aids to labour. Moreover, the introduction of cash crops may also aifect considerably the allocation of tasks and traditional rights in the proceeds from various types of cultivation. These matters will be discussed later in this chapter. It may be stressed here, however, that the labour factor often proves the greatest obstacle to modernisation. This is only natural, since the alterations in agricultural techniques involved in a change-over from shifting cultivation to settled agriculture, or from subsistence to commercialised forms of agriculture, may be quite impracticable because of the extra work called for at already busy seasons of the year. Moreover, these alterations in techniques, with their challenge to abandon outdated methods, often encounter strong opposition from communities which are neither technically nor psychologically prepared for them. The task of improving the standards of economic crop production and of ensuring a steady improvement of farming practices is largely in the hands of the agricultural departments of the various countries and territories. Through their extension services efforts are being made to bring improved techniques to the individual farmer. While it is not proposed to discuss the methods used for this purpose, it is desirable to stress the importance of adequate study of background factors and of the creation and maintenance of good human relations between all concerned. The deep social implications which land—and cattle in areas where they are raised—have for Africans mean that resistance to reforms, which is often stigmatised as conservatism, laziness or stupidity, in fact springs from complex social and cultural factors linked to existing customary systems of agriculture. It is evident also that governments have a part to play in assisting agricultural development by the expansion of services such as communications and transport. Their role in connection with the improvement of existing rural institutional arrangements is discussed later in this chapter and in that deahng with the co-operative movement. The action taken by the governments in the sphere of land utilisation includes measures of what may be called soil conservation, i.e. action directly to improve soil fertiUty and also measures to prevent or repair damage caused by natural forces or human agency. Measures such as control and development of water supphes, contour cultivation, terracing, contour grass stripping, rotational grazing, prevention of overstocking, demarcation of forest reserves, control of bush burning and encouragement of mixed farming have all been adopted to prevent soil erosion or improve the fertility of the land. In some countries, e.g. in Northern Rhodesia, Nyasaland, Kenya, Tanganyika and in the Union of South Africa, authority to take measures of this kind is based on comprehensive legislation on the conservation of natural resources. In others, such as the Belgian, French and Portuguese territories, the main basis of authority has been forest protection legislation supplemented by practical action on the 62 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY part of the agricultural and veterinary services to tackle soil-erosion problems and rehabilitate land. But almost everywhere it has been recognised that at the heart of the matter lies the problem of securing African co-operation in applying methods of using land which are not in accordance with traditional practices. It is partly to meet this problem that governments have been moved to initiate various schemes involving extensive resettlement of indigenous cultivators, sometimes coupled with modifications of existing tenure systems. Reference has already been made to the Native Land Husbandry Act, 1951, of Southern Rhodesia and the schemes which are proceeding in pursuance of it. In Northern Rhodesia the Peasant Farming Scheme, which covers the entire territory, provides capital for the establishment of small-scale commercial farmers on condition that they agree to accept guidance from the Agricultural Department in such matters as limitation of acreage, crop rotation, manuring methods and so on; they are also required to sign an agreement with the Native authority for repayment of loans, in return for which security of title to the holding is guaranteed.1 In the absence of any general study it may be of interest to mention certain settlement schemes in Nigeria. The general principle followed is to map out settlement areas and individual holdings in accordance with sound land-utilisation principles and with ample provision for grazing and fuel requirements, and also to provide roads of access, and water supplies. The principle of self-help is largely relied on, although credit facilities, as well as subsistence until the harvesting of the first crops, may be provided. No attempt is made to introduce revolutionary changes in farm practice at the start, though care is taken to see that rules of good husbandry " are followed, and improvements in agricultural practice follow as the organisation of the settlement develops. This is regarded as sound policy and a practical approach to organised settlement of really large numbers of settlers; it has the additional advantage of requiring only a small supervisory staff.2 A settlement scheme is being prepared in Sierra Leone for the time when cattle of improved strains from the Veterinary Department's farm at Musaia are available for the neighbourhood. By tradition Fula cattle-owners are nomadic in the northern areas, but in the rare places where they have been allowed to settle they show a high degree of farming ability, making permanent farms, utilising the manure from their cattle for fertiliser and showing evidence in their buildings and technique of a higher standard than is usual in West Africa. In 1951, therefore, it was decided to encourage them to settle permanently, a small number at a time, in the Koinadugu District, with the goodwill and co-operation of the local people. By 1953 the groundwork for the establishment of selected grazing areas, each one square mile in extent supporting one Fula and his herd, had been laid. Each area includes a stream which is dammed at intervals; swamp rice or Yanni grass is grown in the irrigated areas, whilst improved types of grass seed provided by the Department are given to the Fulas to scatter in the upland to give a permanent leguminous feed. Barbed wire for fencing is provided, as are ox-ploughs and cattle, and the men are trained to ox-ploughing. In 1953, 17 settlement areas were 1 Department of Agriculture, Northern Rhodesia: Annual Report 1956 (Lusaka, Government Printer), 1957, p. 9. 2 Legislative Council, Nigeria: Annual Report on the Agricultural Department for the Year 1949-50 (Kaduna, Government Printer, 1952), pp. 24-25. LAND AND LABOUR 63 delineated and registered and 14 allocated. The scheme is run by the District Council under the supervision of the Agricultural Department.1 The system of paysannats indigènes, already mentioned in connection with land tenure in the Belgian Congo, provides another example of organised settlement in peasant conditions. The ten-year plan for the Belgian Congo aims at the establishment of some 385,000 small holdings. Already some 6 million hectares have been surveyed and some 150,000 plots of land allotted, of which about 100,000 are occupied. While the original purpose was one of securing the soil against erosion and of settling the rural population on land cultivated in accordance with good farming practices, the paysannats have provided ideal conditions in which to carry out experiments in community development (including co-operatives, marketing facilities, dispensaries and schools) with a meeting-house as the centre of communal activities. Rather different in nature are the large-scale group farming schemes which have been initiated in recent years, usually involving co-operation between the government, an operating agency and the local inhabitants (or settlers brought from elsewhere). The government is usually responsible for furnishing the basic capital equipment, including irrigation works where the land is to be irrigated; the agency is responsible for the management of the scheme and often for group services (such as cultivation by mechanical means); and the farmer provides the labour needed, in return for which he gets his share of the crops and a more or less permanent right of usufruct over, or sometimes even ownership of, the land and a village community life not unlike his customary milieu. In many cases the government has also acted as the operating agency. Examples of such schemes are the Office du Niger in French West Africa, the Gezira Scheme in the Sudan (already referred to), the Niari Valley Scheme in the Middle Congo, the Niger Agricultural Project at Mokwa in Northern Nigeria, the Gonja Development Scheme in Ghana and the Caconda and Chiumbe Land-Settlement Schemes in Angola. The Office du Niger in French West Africa is a striking example of a development scheme of this kind. It was created in 1932 with the aim of developing the vast area of the Niger watershed for the cultivation and irrigation of cotton and rice. Its ten-year programme involves the acquisition, irrigation and cultivation of 50,000 hectares of land to be put under cotton and of a similar area to be put under rice, and aims at increasing exportable cotton production from 360 to 10,000 tons and rice production from 8,000 to 90,000 tons per year. African settlers, mainly from the heavily populated central Sudan region of French West Africa, are settled in villages of about 300 inhabitants and given allotments of land over which they have the right of usufruct. The Office du Niger provides health and veterinary services. Under their contract with it the settlers are expected to join the local farming association, a sort of friendly society which acts as a link between them and it, particularly with regard to supplies of seed and equipment and the sale of crops. From the social point of view the results obtained by the Office du Niger have been encouraging, and the farmers are reported to be satisfied with their new life in circumstances which, although little different from what they have known in the past, oner them much healthier conditions. Finally, some reference should be made to certain developments in farming by public corporations. These are in effect large-scale plantation-type farming enter1 Sierra Leone: Report of the Department of Agriculture for the Year 1953 (Freetown, Government Printer, 1955), p. 28. 64 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY prises financed not by private capital but out of public funds. The most publicised of these, because of its spectacular failure to overcome the problems of mechanised cultivation posed in the particular soil and rainfall conditions which it encountered, was the British Overseas Food Corporation's East African groundnuts scheme, which immediately after the Second World War attempted to produce large quantities of groundnuts to meet the then existing shortage of oils and fats. This has now been dissolved, though part of the land is being used by the Tanganyika Government on a group farming basis for African tenant farmers operating fairly large units. The Cameroons Development Corporation, also founded after the Second World War, was set up to take over a number of estates (largely planted with bananas) which had been mainly in German hands. The Corporation is run on ordinary plantation lines, the profits being devoted to the general development of the territory. The Colonial Development Corporation operates a number of schemes in various African territories—wattle-growing in Tanganyika, cattle-ranching in Bechuanaland, tobacco-growing and tung-oil production in Nyasaland and irrigation and forestry schemes in Swaziland. Various governments in Africa have also launched similar schemes, including the Uganda Government (food crops), Nyasaland (maize), Northern Rhodesia (groundnuts), Nigeria (oil-palm, cocoa and citrus-growing and cattle-ranching through various Regional Production Development Boards). The two main experiments of this kind outside the territories administered by the United Kingdom are both in French West Africa. At Richard-Toll on the Senegal River a rice-growing scheme, involving building a dam across the river and the irrigation of some 1 million acres, has been undertaken by the Mission d'Aménagement du Sénégal. In Casamance the Compagnie Générale des Oléagineux Tropicaux has launched a scheme for growing groundnuts to some extent on lines similar to those followed by the Overseas Food Corporation's groundnut scheme but on a more modest scale. The scheme also includes a peasant farming experiment in which 50 famiües have been settled, each on ten acres, five of which are under groundnuts, two-and-a-half under millet and two-and-a-half under a green manure crop. Incidentally, this project has proved more productive than the mechanised portion of the scheme. No specific reference has been made here to plantations and other forms of large-scale farming on the European pattern. It should, however, be noted that in most territories, the general measures, legislative and practical, taken to prevent soil erosion, to conserve soil fertility and generally to ensure good land utilisation apply equally to all types of cultivation, whether carried on by Africans or members of other races. Where, however, Native reserves exist, special measures may apply to them, as is the case in Southern Rhodesia and the Union of South Africa. It will be more convenient to give a short general description of the plantation economy in Africa when dealing with labour problems in plantations, which, of course, are completely different in character from those in the peasant agricultural economy, with which the next section deals. THE AGRICULTURAL LABOURER IN PEASANT FARMING In the primitive agricultural economies of Africa, as elsewhere, labour is by far the most important factor in agricultural production. Land is usually held as of right, no rent being paid; farm equipment is negligible; seeds are normally LAND AND LABOUR 65 conserved from previous crops; money as such may be little needed and, indeed, cash incomes are often ridiculously small. It is labour that really counts in the last analysis. Every task must be done by hand, so the availability of labour is allimportant. Moreover, traditions concerning the division of labour make work patterns even more rigid than they would otherwise be and thus often discourage intrinsically desirable developments in farming practices. Customary Labour Before the adoption of a money exchange economy peasant farming involved only customary forms of labour; and even today a considerable portion of all agricultural services in Africa are rendered in this way. Customary labour includes all those forms of services which tradition has ordained or sanctioned to be given. Its most important source is the farm family, which consists of the farmer, his wife or wives, children and such other persons who stay in his house or houses and depend upon him or work with him; but there are also forms involving organised groups of workers. The following description of a farm family described in the report on cocoa farming in Nigeria1 may be considered as fairly typical. In Yorubaland (Western Nigeria) the simple farm family consists of a man, his wife and their children. Since polygamy prevails, the most common farming unit is the " compound " family, consisting of a man, two or more wives and the children of all the wives. In certain cases the farming unit is the " extended " family, consisting of several simple or compound families who live together in one home. Sometimes the members of an extended family may live in separate homes, and the basic tie is generally one of blood. The able-bodied members of the unit are essentially workers who assist the family head in his farming enterprise, while children and other kin are likely to be dependants requiring maintenance and education without contributing much, if anything, to the family income. Polygamy is practised in certain parts because wives contribute much more to the family income than the value of their keep, not necessarily directly by their labour on the farm but by petty trading and similar activities, and also because the dignity and standing of the family is enhanced by a large number of children.2 The members of the family do not receive direct cash payments for their work. The farmer provides them with food throughout the year, with clothing and, during local festivals as well as at harvest time, with a few luxuries. He relieves them when they are distressed and in general takes care of them throughout the farming year. In certain areas, depending on the type of agriculture followed, the head of the family may allocate to more senior members plots of land on which they can cultivate their own crops. In return for these services the members of the family have duties to the farmer. Their entire services are more or less at his disposal. They may not only be required to work on his farm or farms but to perform other subsidiary services such as building or renovating the houses. In the savannah areas the women sometimes secure additional earnings by making cloth, baskets, etc. The family type of labour continues to be used mainly in those areas where a cash economy has not been fully adopted. As the peasants begin to cultivate cash 1 2 GALLETTI, BALDWIN and DINA: Nigerian Cocoa Farmers, op. cit., pp. 67-84 and 193-215. See also on this subject Sister MARIE-ANDRé DU SACRé-CœUR: "Tribal Labour and Social Legislation in French Tropical Africa ", in International Labour Review (Geneva, I.L.O.), Vol. LXVIII, No. 6, Dec. 1953, p. 493. 66 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY crops and to use money increasingly, so the purely customary family arrangement begins to disintegrate and to be replaced by arrangements on an individual basis. One of the first signs of the change is often the growing unwillingness of the younger members of the family to work on the farm. Other able-bodied members may leave the farm in search of work outside the area in order to augment their cash resources. In areas where wage-paying enterprises are established the family worker may even demand money wages from the farmer for his services. Another form of customary labour is that performed by organised groups, and is encountered frequently throughout rural communities in Africa (particularly West Africa) in one form or another. Within the system of family labour a number of farmers may help one another on a sort of relay system. Formerly no money passed between them for such reciprocal services; each farmer merely supplied his friends and their families with food when they visited his farm. This is probably the origin of group or society labour. In Yorubaland (Nigeria), notably around Ilaro, such a group is called the aro or owe and is used not only for farming but also for housebuilding. A similar but slightly different system is found in the Owo district of Ondo Province, Western Region, where members of an age group {egbe or otu) work in turn, according to a roster fixed by a meeting of the age group, on the farms of other members. As an age group may contain from 90 to 200 members, this system of mutual aid provides much more labour and imposes greater obligations on individuals than the aro, which is usually a small group.1 In Sierra Leone this mutual-aid group is known as ankoomp; this form of labour has been highly developed and now admits many contractual elements. From mutual co-operation to help their friends, the farmers in the Scarcies area developed organised societies to help not only their members but outsiders as well, and many farming labour " societies " have developed as a result. They range from the ankofone, which comprises only able-bodied men, who perform the arduous and dangerous farming operations, to the yamama labour " society ", which is made up mainly of boys and youths who help with the light work on farms, such as clearing brushwood and harvesting rice. Contractual Labour In the peasant economies of Africa labour systems under which the worker enters into contractual arrangements with the farmer are still in a formative stage. These arrangements vary according to area and the stage of development reached and may or may not involve payments in cash. Casual labour for farm work is almost indistinguishable from group labour such as the aro or ankoomp already mentioned, but whereas group labour is more or less organised and the participants help one another in turn, casual labour is entirely temporary and no reciprocal aid is expected. The peasant farmer in need of workers to perform an operation approaches a few farmers (usually friends or acquaintances, though not necessarily so) and requests their assistance. If they agree and can find the time they come to work with him on his farm. When this system began no money bargain was made, although the farmer was expected to provide his helpers with food and to give further customary rewards at harvest time. 1 GALLETTI, BALDWIN and DINA: Nigerian Cocoa Farmers, op. cit., p. 80. LAND AND LABOUR 67 As the system developed, however, the farmers began to recompense the helpers with some cash payments in addition. The existence of piece workers usually indicates that the next stage in the development of contractual systems has been reached. They are mainly employed when farmers cannot find enough help under the group-labour system to perform extensive operations, such as clearing, digging and otherwise preparing their land. The farmer engages a piece worker to perform a specific operation on a certain farm and a contract price is struck. The individual approached may work alone or call in his family and friends to help. The farmer is required to pay for the job on completion and also to provide food for the worker and his helpers (if any) during such days as they actually work on the job. The rates for piece-work for different operations on a farm soon become established according to the bargaining powers of the parties, the length of the operation, the number of helpers who are fed and the arduous or perilous nature of the operation. So long as land remains available which the peasants can cultivate there is no inevitable compulsion towards wage earning. In many parts of Africa, however, the rapid growth of population is already beginning to cause scarcity of land which can be cultivated by traditional African methods, and this tendency is likely to increase. As a result a class of landless Africans who depend upon wage earning for their existence is springing up. Moreover, the growing need for money in a developing cash economy provides a further impetus to Africans to seek wage-paid employment. In the initial stages of development of a wage-earning economy Africans may work on the farms of other individual Africans in order to obtain money needed for some particular purpose, such as payment of taxes or the purchase of clothes or some other article such as a bicycle. Peasants in need of cash begin by hiring out their services to wealthier fellow-farmers. In isolated cases the peasant farmer who has an extensive acreage under cash crops may be found to keep a more or less permanent labour force on a cash-wage basis. The tendency, especially in Central Africa, is for wage-paid labour to increase as peasant agriculture is economically developed. In Uganda, for example, there is widespread employment of wage-labourers by Africans farming no more than a few acres of land. Thus some 50,000 migrant labourers are employed in Buganda, many of them in ones, twos and threes. A large proportion of immigrants to Uganda prefer to work for African farmers at slightly lower wages than they can earn on large estates where wages are high but where they will be under closer supervision; the continued shortage of labourers in many of the non-African plantations is directly attributable to this preference. The hiring of labour is, of course, not universal. A large proportion of all peasant farmers cultivate such small areas of land for both food and cash crops that they can handle even the peak load of work without hired labour, but hiring has in some areas for a long time been a matter of course and has had its influence on family labour, which is beginning to be paid for in cash or rewarded with a share of the crop. Migrant workers are an important source of hired labour for African farmers in the West African cocoa areas. The workers may move from village to village or establish themselves in one place for the season and accept engagements by the day at daily rates or task rates or even contract singly or in groups for jobs which may extend over a period. The contracts are generally oral, but a few written contracts are entered into. Many farmers try to induce workers who have proved 68 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY satisfactory to return to them season after season by adding to the stipulated wages presents of money or clothing or both when the labourers leave. There exist in a few localities systems of share cropping. These have been fairly highly developed in the cocoa areas of Ghana, for example, under what is known as the abusa system.1 This Twi word means division into three parts, and the abusa labourer is paid one-third of the value of the cocoa he picks for the farmer-employer, who is sometimes referred to, or regards himself, as the landowner. The abusa labourer is frequently assisted by members of his family, who then live with him as though he were an independent farmer. He undertakes the fermenting and drying of the cocoa and frequently markets the cocoa as well. He has to weed the cocoa farm at least once a year, and as he does nearly all the work it is to a large extent he, not the farmer, who determines how much cocoa is produced in any one season. The abusa system is not unique to Ghana; it certainly exists in the Ivory Coast, although neither it nor any other share-cropping system has been reported from the cocoa areas of Nigeria. It probably originated as a convenient means by which the Stool (customary tribal authority) granted cocoa-farming rights to strangers: the advantages of the system soon became clear to private farmers, who exploited it to their own advantage. In earlier days the employment of abusa men was always associated with the establishment of new farms. Nowadays many of them are employed solely to tend existing farms. More often than not the farmer and the labourer are working more or less together. The abusa man may have a duty to assist his master in non-cocoa farming work as required, even working without additional remuneration. Women and Children2, A description of labour factors in peasant agriculture would be incomplete without some specific reference to the role of women and children in the economy. Before the period of European penetration into Africa, the division of work between the sexes was fairly simple. In general, the men were responsible for performing the arduous tasks, which were to a large extent destructive, and the women were responsible for all those operations conducive to physical growth, economic progress, improvement of living standards—in short, for creative work. The men were thus responsible for inter-tribal warfare, hunting, fishing in dangerous waters, tree-felling, bush clearing and other arduous occupations, such as the heavy labour in housebuilding. The women were responsible for the routine time-absorbing agricultural tasks, cooking, wood and water carrying, and for productive and creative enterprises such as the rearing of children, the cultivation of food crops, some of the lighter operations entailed in housebuilding and much of the weaving, pottery and other crafts which were practised. The ending of inter-tribal warfare and developments in farming techniques, particularly the change from shifting cultivation to settled agriculture, have largely deprived the men of their traditional occupations. Hunting is no longer a major 1 2 P. HILL: The Gold Coast Cocoa Farmer, op. cit., pp. 8-24. For a detailed examination of the activities of women in subsistence agriculture (at Bamenda, in the British Cameroons) see Phyllis N. íCABERRY: Women of the Grassfields, Colonial Research Publication No. 14 (London, H.M. Stationery Office, 1952). See also the various sections of Ethnographic Survey of Africa (published by the International African Institute, London), various dates. LAND AND LABOUR 69 preoccupation. In some societies the fencing of pastures has dispensed with the necessity for cattle-herding. Nevertheless, it is true to say that men have largely turned to other pursuits. Generally speaking, where cash-crop economies are developing, the growing and marketing of these crops is largely undertaken by men; where ploughing has replaced hand cultivation it has come to be regarded as men's work. It is difficult, however, to generalise, since customs vary very considerably from area to area. A description of division of labour in Nigerian cocoaproducing areas1 may be taken as largely valid for wide areas of rural West Africa. In every area, nearly every male works on the farms and nearly every female spends much of her time on household tasks. In every area the majority of the women engage in the processing of palm oil, palm kernels, gari, or other products, and most of them also trade in the processed products; others trade in imported goods and other commodities which they themselves have not prepared. The number of men trading is comparatively small, but the number of women who give some help on the farms is large in all areas and particularly so in Ondo, Abeokuta and Ijebu, where nearly 80 per cent, of the female workers were recorded as doing some work on the farms. A fair proportion of the men spend some time on building and repairing houses; about a fifth practice some craft or home industry; and nearly one-sixth are engaged in public administration, teaching or some other service. Nearly one woman in seven engages in laundry work, hairdressing or some other service. This description not only shows the division of labour between the sexes but also indicates the diversity of secondary occupations in which the rural family, whose primary work is tending the farm, engages. In East and Central Africa the general picture in rural areas in developing cash economies is that the wife remains primarily responsible for the food supply while the husband is responsible for the cultivation and marketing of cash crops. Most of the income is in the control of the men, but wives tend to claim—and sometimes receive—some control over household finance. In some areas women cultivate minor crops such as groundnuts, maize or cassava and keep livestock, such as pigs, cattle and chickens, or brew beer, and regard the proceeds as theirs to do as they please with.2 The position in areas where polygamy is practised has already been referred to. It may simply be stressed here that where labour is in short supply additional wives are generally an asset to the farmer. On the other hand, marriage payments are increasing and, where hired labourers are available, the farmer may find it cheaper to make use of them. Other factors also affect the situation, for example, the liability, in some areas, to make payment in cattle which could otherwise be sold, and the cost of educating children, against which must be set the prestige value of having more than one wife. There can be no doubt that the women's role in subsistence agriculture in Africa was, and still is, one of hard, unrelenting toil. Not only are they responsible for the greater part of all agricultural activities but they have also to carry water (often for long distances), for every household use, cut and carry firewood, grind maize or other cereals and prepare food for the family, do all household chores and rear children. In areas where able-bodied males are largely absent in employment, 1 GALLETTI, BALDWIN 2 and DINA: Nigerian Cocoa Fanners, op. cit. p. 295. Merran MCCULLOCH : " The Social Impact of Economic Development on Rural Areas in East and Central Africa ", in Informations (Paris, International Social Science Council), No. XIV, Oct. 1957, pp. 7-9. 70 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY the extra tasks added to the already crowded schedule of daily jobs must make a woman's life one of perpetual drudgery. Where children help on the farm they perform light tasks such as herding cattle, weeding, clearing brushwood and moving produce. There is no indication that within the family they are called upon to do tasks which either occupy them for long hours or are beyond their strength. The spread of education, however, is acting as a brake on the employment of young people in peasant agriculture. Even boys and girls who have had only rudimentary education are most unwilling to return to the primitive farming methods of their ancestors and prefer to search for non-farming employment rather than work on the farms of their parents. The farmers themselves, although they sometimes bewail the influences of education and westernisation, are coming to realise that it is in their interests to have their children educated and so equipped for securing better incomes, even if this involves leaving the family circle. Remuneration of Peasant Workers As has already been said, workers engaged in peasant farming are remunerated mainly in kind. The farm family is, of course, housed, clothed and fed. Even when a farmer employs non-family labour he supplies them with some sort of accommodation if they are not natives of the district. For example, " strange farmers " who come from Upper Senegal and Casamance into Gambia are supplied with board, lodging and land by the " landlord " for whom they work. In Western Nigeria farmers customarily provide their permanent labourers with a room and food, and, where labour gangs are employed, they may be housed in labour camps.1 Persons engaging in customary forms of labour are therefore almost always fed while they are doing farming work. Where no contractual elements have as yet been adopted, this is the usual rule. Even when farmers employ wagepaid labour they sometimes continue the old custom and give them food, which is often the same as that which the farmer and his family eat. During harvest time it is also usual for the farmer to provide his customary labour with drink, tobacco and other forms of payment in kind. In a few areas well-to-do peasants occasionally supply their farm workers with clothing. An important system under which payment is made in kind is share-cropping, under which the worker agrees to cultivate of otherwise take charge of a definite crop area in return for either the crop from a specified section of the farm or an agreed percentage of the total yield. The abusa system of Ghana, which has already been described, ensures that the labourer receives one-third of the produce which he has helped to bring into being. Where payment is made in kind it has to be adequate, taking into consideration levels of living in the area. It is in the interest of the farm operator to make large payments in kind in order to encourage his workers to work hard and conscientiously, to foster good " employer-employee relationships " and so convince temporary workers who offer their services in accordance with custom that it is worth their while to offer them again when required in the future. It is not uncommon for farmers to make elaborate presents in kind to their workers at harvest time as an inducement to them to return during the following farming 1 GALLETTI, BALDWIN and DINA: Nigerian Cocoa Farmers, op. cit., pp. 209, 211. LAND AND LABOUR 71 season. Further, it should not be forgotten that in the simple rural economies of Africa, opportunities for ostentation are few. Well-to-do farmers may therefore be lavish with payments in kind merely for the purposes of social prestige. Providing gangs of workers with extraordinarily bountiful meals and gifts is one of the few ways of impressing their fellow peasants that things are going well with them. It is in areas where there is pressure of population on the land that the hiring of workers for cash wages is beginning to become general. One would expect that, in areas where labour is employed on a customary basis, the greater the supply of labour the cheaper would be its remuneration in form and amount, and that consequently, where the supply is plentiful, customary labour would continue to be remunerated in kind (a cheaper form) rather than in cash, which in any case is scarce in these localities. But, precisely because the growing pressure of population on land forces the customary labour force to seek wage-paid employment away from the farming areas, those peasants who remain behind also begin to think of services in money terms and to demand remuneration in cash. Thus, although mainly customary forms of labour are employed on the food farms of the peasants of Western Nigeria, for example, the practice has developed of employing wage-paid workers during the times when there is a high demand for labour. The rates paid per hour during these peak periods are usually high. In Sierra Leone " society " workers are now remunerated partly in cash and partly in kind; the payment in cash has been observed to be less than the value of the payment in kind. Where peasants cultivate cash crops in addition to their subsistence food crops, the hiring of workers for cash wages is becoming increasingly prevalent. This is the situation, for example, in the tea and sisal areas of Kenya and the coffee, cotton and tobacco areas of Uganda and Nyasaland. In some cases where large numbers of men are absent in employment elsewhere, part of the remittances they send home may be used to hire labourers to carry out male occupations such as house building in the village.1 The payment of wages in cash in the peasant subsistence economies involves many problems. In the areas of peasant production, where money is only just being adopted as a medium of exchange, it is itself a scarce commodity and commands a prestige value far higher than its real value as a means of exchange. As a result, the value of a unit of currency is higher in the eyes of the peasant farmer than the value of the same unit is in the eyes of the town dweller or industrial worker accustomed to the use of money. Besides, the total quantity of money which a peasant farmer has at any given time usually falls far short of his actual requirements. Out of such cash as he has in hand he has to pay taxes, buy implements and odd household utensils and make other disbursements. Therefore the amount which he can pay out to his workers is necessarily limited ; and in fact, in terms of actual units of currency, the cash wages paid by peasant proprietors in peasant agriculture are everywhere much less than those earned in the mines or similar industries in rural areas. In any case, the wages paid by peasant farmers to their workers are low, whether such wages are in cash or kind or both. The reasons are not far to seek. In the first place, as has already been observed above, the prestige value of money is higher in the peasant farming areas than in urban and industrial centres; a smaller amount of money may give just as much satisfaction in a rural commun1 Merran MCCULLOCH: "The Social Impact of Economic Development on Rural Areas in East and Central Africa ", op. cit., p. 6. 72 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY ity as a larger amount elsewhere. Secondly, the gross money return per worker employed received by the farm operator is much less than that in mines, plantations or urban enterprises generally. Thirdly, there is the influence of habit and tradition. The amounts of remuneration in cash and kind may remain unchanged for a very long time, since the idea of adapting wages to changing economic conditions is found mainly in urban areas, and it is not surprising that this idea is not easily accepted by largely subsistence farmers. Moreover, agricultural workers, in the peasant sector at least, are wholly unorganised and have little, if any, effective bargaining power. Those who are hired by the day are in the worst position in this regard, especially in areas where there are many candidates for each job owing to the pressure of population on the land and the growing demand for cash. The " society " and other organised groups of agricultural workers hardly fare any better, as their organisation is of a very temporary nature. Permanent workers employed on fixed contracts are in a better bargaining position, at least theoretically. Against all this must be set the fact that standards of living in essentially rural communities are much the same for farmers and for those who help them, whether by custom or by contract. Wage regulation at this level is likely to be meaningless and certainly impossible to enforce. Hours of work have equally little meaning. Jobs are done largely as inclination and immediate necessities dictate. The rhythm of work may be now fast, now slow. This is not to suggest that on the whole workers do not furnish a good day's work, but the organisation of tasks is so completely urdike that in other types of employment that standards normally applicable to the latter are far from appropriate to the organisation of African peasant farming. Labour Supply and Demand It is still true to say that peasant agriculture is the main source from which plantation agriculture, industry and even commerce and government draw their supplies of labour. While urbanisation is developing rapidly and while second and third generations of townspeople are growing up with few or no links with the rural communities from which they sprang and who supply, to the extent that their numbers permit, the manpower for the economic activities being pursued in their area, nevertheless it is to the countryside that employers still largely look to meet expanding demands for labour. This fundamental fact must constantly be borne in mind in considering not only labour problems in peasant agriculture as such but the wider problems relating to the economic and social welfare of the rural populations in general. Its repercussions will be examined elsewhere1, but it is convenient to examine here the effects on peasant agriculture. It is evident that the effects vary very considerably according to the actual state of population pressure on the land, the type of agriculture carried on, the opportunities for combining wage-paid labour with farm work, and the like. No two areas of Africa are the same in these respects. There are regions such as Ethiopia and the Sudan and the territories on the Horn of Africa (British and French Somaliland and Somalia), where shifting cultivation, or in some places sedentary agriculture and in others nomadic pastoralism, are pursued with virtually 1 Reference will be made in Chapter IV to the migratory movements to which these wageearning opportunities outside the subsistence agriculture sector have given rise, and in Chapter IX to the terms on which workers are recruited or otherwise engaged. LAND AND LABOUR 73 no competition for labour from wage-paying sectors of employment. There are regions, such as the coastal areas in British and French West Africa and in Ghana, where, even if the percentage of the total active population engaged in wageearning activities is not high, the " pull " of the towns exercises a strong influence on agricultural patterns over large areas in the hinterland. There are others again, such as the French Cameroons, where pressures are still relatively slight; out of a total active population of some 1,200,000 in 1955, 1,075,700 were engaged in agriculture; 700 of these were employers, only 25,000 were wage-paid workers, 400,000 were farming on their own account and 650,000 were " family " workers who received no remuneration.1 On the other hand, there are territories where, while the information available is differently presented, the extent to which agriculture as the main means of livelihood has been renounced in favour of other forms of activity is shown by the following figures of the percentages of the active male population who are wage earners and as such are presumably not engaged in any form of cash-crop peasant agriculture at least: Belgian Congo 38 per cent., Angola 37.4 per cent., Mozambique 38 per cent., Northern Rhodesia 60.1 per cent., Southern Rhodesia 55.5 per cent, and Nyasaland 32.9 per cent.2 This does not mean that such workers have all definitely broken their links with their rural communities. Indeed, a considerable proportion still have their lands, which are being worked by their wives or by other members of the family. The result is, however, that the agricultural areas in which there is no overpopulation problem, depleted of adult males, become dependent for their survival as such on the relatively ineffective efforts of children and old men, combined with the work of women, whose burdens, already heavy, become even more crushing. This is mitigated in some areas by the return of wage earners during the busy seasons in agriculture. When this is practicable, an uneasy balance may be established between the calls of the two economies, and agricultural practices may improve because of the availability of money for necessary purchases of improved equipment through the wage-earning activities of those who have been temporarily absent. In other circumstances this money may be used to hire labour from tribes which do not normally seek wage-paid employment outside agriculture. In areas where there are problems of overpopulation, the movement of workers towards wage-earning employment has, of course, eased the immediate pressure on available land, but it has not brought a complete solution. Since it is usually the young adult males who migrate, the balance of manpower has been adversely affected with corresponding disturbance of normal agricultural work patterns. Since migrants still largely regard their village as their home and return from time to time in order to maintain land rights, the permanent reorganisation of land holdings on the basis of which more effective farming techniques based on a smaller but permanently stabilised working force could be developed poses difficult questions of policy which must be and indeed are being tackled. Effective action, however, presupposes the creation of a stable working force separated from the land for good and living with their families in industrial centres. This stabilised class of wage earners will, of course, help in the rehabihtation of the countryside by providing a developing outlet for agricultural produce. 1 Rapport annuel du Gouvernement français à F Assemblée générale des Nations Unies sur radministration du Cameroun placé sous la tutelle de la France, 1955, op. cit. p. 356. 2 See Appendix III, table 3. 74 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY It is within these general patterns, then, that the problems of supply and demand for labour in peasant agriculture are posed. On a more purely local basis, developments outside the agricultural sector have led to changes in the organisation of agricultural occupations themselves with resultant effects on the demand for labour. Some of these have already been referred to, such as the changes in the duties and responsibilities of women, the new duties which men have assumed (particularly in relation to the cultivation of cash crops), and the need for hired labour in certain circumstances. Changes are taking place in the duties of the organised working groups that are a feature of life in the rural communities almost everywhere in Africa. In some areas the introduction of the plough has more or less dispensed with the need for them; elsewhere some farmers own items of equipment and others—usually the younger men—do not, and equipment and labour are pooled and work is carried out for all the group members concerned on a customary non-cash basis. In wider though localised situations, the bias in favour of or against work in peasant agriculture, as opposed, for example, to work on plantations or in industry, may vary considerably according to circumstances. In Nyasaland, for example, men who work in tea and tobacco plantations prefer to cultivate their own food gardens at the appropriate season rather than continue working on the plantations, even though this coincides with the busy season in the latter.1 In Tanganyika the availability of labour for work in the sisal plantations depends largely on current prices for peasant cash crops. If these are favourable, there is a marked disinclination to go and seek paid employment; if prices are low labour will be plentiful.2 The corollary of this is, of course, that in times of depression peasant agriculture is likely to find itself with a surplus of manpower which cannot be absorbed in wagepaid employment elsewhere, just as it is recognised to be the support of workers who return to their native villages in their old age. It is not proposed to discuss at this point the various factors which condition the undoubted drift to the towns and other employment centres and which exert a slow but steady pressure on the labour supply in peasant agriculture. There is no doubt, however, that they are such that the exodus from the countryside is likely to be progressive as long as wage-earning opportunities are maintained or developed. Whether this will in fact mean that peasant agriculture will have to provide a means of livelihood for a greater or smaller number of people will depend on the degree of development of other sectors of the economy in relation to the increase in population. What is certain, however, is that greater output per unit of labour utilised is essential if greater productivity among peasant producers is to be achieved and higher standards of living are to be attained. 5. PLANTATIONS AND PLANTATION LABOUR Importance of Plantation and Other Large Scale Farming in Africa So far we have concentrated on African peasant agricultural systems and their problems, including both subsistence agriculture and cash-crop production, 1 Nyasaland Protectorate: Annual Report of the Labour Department for the Year Ending 31st December, 1952 (Zomba, Government Printer). 2 Tanganyika: Annual Report of the Labour Department, 1949 (Dar-es-Salaam, Government Printer, 1951), p. 5 ; and Annual Report of the Labour Department, 1950 (Dar-es-Salaam, Government Printer, 1952), p. 89. LAND AND LABOUR 75 which is absorbed mainly by local consumption although some produce is exported, e.g. cocoa, groundnuts and palm oil in West Africa, cotton and coffee in Uganda, cloves in Zanzibar and coffee in Ethiopia. In addition, however, large areas are cultivated under the plantation system, in which large tracts of land are devoted to the production of commercial crops mainly for sale in the world market. These plantations are largely, though not invariably, owned by overseas capital or by publicly owned or controlled bodies. Moreover (and particularly in East, Central and South Africa) there are considerable numbers of settler-farmers, almost all of them European, who concentrate on the production of grains, foodstuffs and livestock for local consumption or crops such as bananas, coffee, tobacco, tea, sisal, sugar, pyrethrum, palm oil, rubber, citrus and other fruits for export. The sizes of their farms vary from a few to several thousand acres. For the purpose of this survey plantations and settler-farms can be grouped together and distinguished from African subsistence farming and cash-crop agriculture by the fact that they depend on hired labour, whereas the former are family, or at any rate small-scale, units where the element of hired labour, although in some places it is beginning to be used, is not an important factor. It is recognised, however, that this distinction is a rather arbitrary one in view of the extent to which outside labour is employed, for example, in the cocoa-producing areas in Ghana and elsewhere in West Africa. The labour arrangements in these areas are, however, of a very special nature, as has already been noted, and are often comphcated by share-cropping agreements or squatter or other cultivation rights which tend to obscure the purely employer-worker relationship. The resident labour system, operating on European-owned estates in Kenya and elsewhere in East Africa as well as in the Union of South Africa, and already referred to in connection with tenure, clearly involves the employer-worker relationship in that the employer exercises effective control over the working hours and activities of the labourer. Having made these distinctions, however, it should not be forgotten that, particularly in West Africa and to some extent in East Africa, there are African-owned agricultural undertakings which clearly come within the general definition of plantations. African farming predominates very heavily in all West African territories, the British and French Cameroons, French Equatorial Africa, the Belgian Congo, Uganda, Ethiopia, the Sudan, British and French Somaliland and Somalia. Basutoland and Bechuanaland are mainly occupied by African pastoralists. In some of these areas, however, there are plantations and in others settler-farmers. Liberia, for example, has large American-controlled rubber plantations and smaller ones owned by local residents. French West Africa has very largely been developed on the basis of subsistence cultivation and small-scale African cash crops, but on the Ivory Coast and in Dahomey in particular there are large French banana plantations and smaller coffee, sisal, cola and rice estates. Plantations as such are virtually non-existent in Ghana and in British and Portuguese West African territories, although in the British Cameroons there are the well-known Colonial Development Corporation plantations and a few smaller plantation enterprises. In Nigeria also there are a few privately owned palm-oil and rubber plantations, while the recently created Regional Production Development Boards have started a series of plantation-type farms. In addition, throughout British West Africa and in Ghana there are large numbers of African-owned cocoa, cotton and palm-oil estates, some of which can be said to be run on plantation lines. The French Cameroons and French Equa- 76 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY torial Africa have only small plantation enterprises. The Belgian Congo, while still predominantly occupied by African subsistence and small-scale cash-crop agriculture, has large palm-oil plantations, the most important being the Huileries du Congo belge. Other plantation products include coffee, cocoa, rubber and sugar, and there is some mixed farming by settlers, mainly in the Kivu area. The situation in the other territories is rather more complex. In Uganda a considerable number of African-owned estates have developed which habitually employ labour although their contribution to the total agricultural output is relatively small. They do, however, produce most of the cotton and tobacco exported and a large part of the coffee. Tea, sugar and sisal are almost exclusively grown on non-African—mainly European, but sometimes Indian-owned—estates. In Kenya there are many European settlements; sisal, wheat, maize, coffee, pyrethrum, tea and sugar are the main crops produced. On the basis of such production estimates as exist, it may tentatively be said that while the value of African subsistence agriculture in Uganda may be as much as one-and-a-half times that of all other crops produced, in Kenya African subsistence agriculture may produce as little as a quarter of total agricultural output. In Tanganyika, tractor-cultivated holdings of 200 to 300 acres owned by African farmers are beginning to appear. In fact, African farmers monopolise cotton growing, are major producers of coffee and copra and grow some tobacco. Plantation-type farms produce most of the sisal, while settler-farmers grow tea, sugar, tobacco, pyrethrum, coffee, wheat and copra. Production by non-Africans of the three commodities which make up the greater part of agricultural production in the territory—sisal, cotton and coffee—in terms of value amounted to £12,300,000 out of a total production of some £26 million in 1956} In the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland the patterns of agricultural production are also complicated. As elsewhere, Africans cultivate mainly for subsistence purposes but are showing an increasing tendency to grow crops for sale. Nyasaland is almost entirely an agricultural country. Plantations, largely overseas-owned, produce a small proportion of the total production of tea, tung and tobacco. Africans produce cotton, some tobacco and the main cash food crop, maize. In Northern Rhodesia there are numbers of settler-farmers, growing mainly tobacco and maize and producing some livestock, but their activities are dwarfed by the mining industry. In Southern Rhodesia, however, settler-farmers are a most important element in the economy as regards output, the amount of land held and the labour employed. In 1952 there were fewer African cultivators than there were Africans employed in the money economy, but of the latter over a third were employed on European-owned farms. The main crops grown are tobacco, maize, wheat, groundnuts and cotton. Stock-rearing is also important. African production in some of these sectors is, however, far from insignificant: in 1951-52 African-owned farms produced 33 per cent, of the maize sold, 64 per cent. of the groundnuts, 38 per cent, of the beans and 29 per cent, of the cotton sold and owned about three-fifths of all cattle.2 1 Colonial Office: Report by Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to the General Assembly of the United Nations on the Administration of Tanganyika under United Kingdom Trusteeship for the Year 1956 (London, H.M. Stationery Office, 1957), p. 124. 2 United Kingdom: The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, Board of Trade, Overseas Economic Surveys (London, H.M. Stationery Office, 1955), pp. 87-97. LAND AND LABOUR 77 The main commercial crop of Mauritius is sugar, the bulk of which is produced on a plantation scale by companies also owning sugar factories. In addition there are cane-farmers employing large numbers of workers and Indo-Mauritian peasant farmers working largely on a family scale and obtaining outside assistance at peak periods. These peasant farmers hold about 25 per cent, of available lands. In Madagascar, where the amount of cultivable land is very limited in relation to the population, European farmers grow about a third of all coffee grown, which is the main export crop. Sugar-growing on a plantation scale has in recent years been introduced in the north-west of the island. In Zanzibar, Arab, Indian and African farmers grow cloves and coconuts extensively on a plantation basis and employ hired African labour from the island or from the mainland for weeding and picking. In the Portuguese territories of Angola and Mozambique a great deal of plantation agriculture and Europeantype farming is carried on. In Mozambique plantation crops include copra, bananas, citrus, sugar and sisal and other fibres. The smaller-scale European settler-farmers concentrate largely on food crops, such as maize, vegetables and fruit. The pattern is similar in Angola, where sugar, sisal and coffee are the main plantation crops while cereals, fruit and vegetables are the main crops grown by the increasing numbers of European colonatos. In neither territory, however, is there as yet any shortage of land. The Union of South Africa, in the magnitude and diversity of its Europeantype agriculture, stands apart from all other countries and territories in Africa. Settler-farmers in the strict sense of the term are not encountered here, since the European farming population has been established in the country for many years, in some areas for longer than the present African populations. The relative importance of European-type (as opposed to African) agriculture in the Union is shown by the fact that in 1946 there were 644,739 male and 1,428,617 female African peasants and small farmers while there were 1,058,407 African agricultural workers, almost all working on European-type farms.1 This rapid survey of plantation and settler-farmer agriculture in Africa will have given a general idea of its importance in the various countries and territories ; the statistical information available is so deficient that nothing more can be hoped for. Some indication of the importance of wage earning in agriculture and (with some reservations, particularly as regards West African territories) the consequent importance of plantation and settler-farming in the various countries and territories will be gained from the table showing the distribution of wage earners by principal branches of activity.2 It seems that about one-quarter of the total wageearning population of the region is occupied in wage-earning activities in agriculture; consequently, if one considers the problems of wage-paid labour in terms purely of the numbers of persons involved, it is upon occupations other than agriculture that attention must principally be concentrated. Nevertheless, wage-earning employment in agriculture in certain countries and territories where it is widespread, and the rather special environment in which the work is carried out, merit some special attention. 1 Summary 2 of the Tomlinson Report, op. cit., p. 35. Appendix III, table 3. 78 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Types of Plantation and Farm Labour There are three main types of plantation and farm labour—permanent, seasonal and casual—but each of these groups comprise workers engaged on very different terms and conditions, according to local circumstances and practices.1 Permanent workers are normally resident on the farm or plantation. Many of them are recruited at a considerable distance from the plantation (as in the case of plantation workers in the Belgian Congo, French Equatorial Africa and Liberia), sometimes outside the territory concerned (as, for example, workers in the sisal plantations in Tanganyika and in sugar and sisal plantations in Angola). But there are others who simply present themselves for engagement at the plantation or farm. The circumstances of recruitment and the terms of the contracts of employment of recruited workers do not differ substantially from those of workers recruited for other types of employment.2 However, the great majority of paid agricultural workers, whether permanent, seasonal or casual, simply present themselves for work at the place of employment and are engaged on terms which vary according to circumstances. This does not mean, however, that the workers who offer their services in this way do not sometimes come considerable distances —indeed, sometimes they come from as far afield as recruited workers; they simply prefer the greater liberty of choice of employer and not to have to enter into the long-term engagements normally associated with the recruitment of workers. The territorial authorities in areas where there are clearly defined migratory movements of workers, whether to agriculture or industry, have frequently taken steps to facilitate their movement in reasonable conditions by providing transport along the main routes followed, together with transit camps. To give only two examples, the Uganda Labour Department provides nine such camps, for the free use of travellers on the main labour routes, which in 1955 were used by 201,000 people (mainly agricultural workers and their families3); while the Government of Southern Rhodesia has organised an African Migrant Labour Free Transport Service, known as " Ulere ", which also provides free rations and accommodation along labour routes for migrants coining from outside the territory, many of whom are eventually employed by farmers.4 The forms of contract into which agricultural workers enter vary considerably. In some territories, for example in Tanganyika, men recruited for work in plantations may be engaged on contract for as long as three years (those coming from Ruanda-Urundi accompanied by their families), others may be taken on for 20, 12 or, more frequently, for nine " labour cards ", i.e. periods of 30 days' work. In Uganda recruited workers are engaged on six or sometimes 12 months' contracts. In Angola contracts for plantation work normally run for 12 months. In East African territories where workers are not recruited (as is the usual practice) a favourite system of engagement is the " ticket contract " under which the worker 1 For further information on this question see I.L.O. : Basic Problems of Plantation Agriculture, Committee on Work on Plantations, First Session (Bandung, 1950), First Item on the Agenda (Geneva, 1950). 2 See Chapter VIII. 3 Uganda Protectorate: Annual Report of the Labour Department for the Year Ended 31st December, 1955 (Entebbe, Government Printer, 1956), p. 6. 4 High Commissioner for Southern Rhodesia: The African in Southern Rhodesia: Industry (London, 1952), pp. 13-14. LAND AND LABOUR 79 undertakes to perform 30 tasks or days' work within a specified period (usually 42 and sometimes 36 days), bonus payments being sometimes given for quick completion of the contract. A similar form of contract is frequently encountered on Nyasaland plantations. Also prevalent, both in Kenya and in the Union of South Africa, is the monthly contract. Reference has already been made in connection with land tenure to the various forms of resident and squatter and tenant labour, which make up a considerable portion of all agricultural labour in Kenya, Nyasaland and the Union of South Africa. The great majority of workers employed on farms and plantations are, however, not linked by any durable contractual ties to the employer. They live sometimes in villages near the estate, where they have themselves rights to lands, sometimes in housing provided by the employer and sometimes in housing which they themselves have built. They work regularly or irregularly, as work offers or they themselves wish, by the day or by the piece or task. In some cases they may remain associated in this way with a farm or plantation for years at a stretch, in others their link with the employer may be strictly seasonal in character. At the end of the season they may return to their homes, which may be elsewhere in the territory or even in another territory. Finally, their employment may be even more casual in character; they may merely work for a few days or weeks in order to get cash for a specific purpose. A few examples will suffice to illustrate some of the varieties of workers involved and of terms on which they are engaged. Large numbers of migrants come to Ghana from adjoining French territories to work in agriculture during the slack season in their own areas. They enter of their own accord and, usually with the aid of fellow tribesmen, find agricultural or other work. The majority work in cash-crop agriculture for African farmers by the task or by the half-season. They are paid wages and given food; free lodging is found by one means or another. Others work on cocoa farms by the day or task or as " managers " or " caretakers " under a share-cropping system ; food and housing is provided in all cases. In Zanzibar, in addition to local labour which moves from plantation to plantation to weed or pick cloves and coconuts, itinerant workers come on their own account from Tanganyika for the same purpose. Wages are invariably paid on a piece or task basis. Resident workers on estates usually build their own housing on estate land and in return for this privilege and for cultivation rights are expected to work on the estate when work is available. The more casual workers do " the best they can for accommodation ".1 In the plantations of the Middle Congo recruiting operations for workers are carried on both locally and further afield, but workers frequently present themselves on the spot asking for work. There are rarely any formal contracts, neither employer nor worker wishing to be bound. Work is normally on a task basis with a guaranteed daily time rate and with bonuses for regularity of attendance. The number of workers presenting themselves for work varies according to the season. In the dry season it drops because the workers are clearing their own lands and hunting; at the beginning of the year it goes up 1 Labour Department, Zanzibar: Labour Report for the Year 1956 (Government Printer, Zanzibar, 1957), p. 7. 80 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY because taxes have to be paid.1 This indeed is a situation very characteristic of plantation labour throughout wide areas of Africa. Work at peak periods is often carried out on a more casual basis. Much of the harvesting of such crops as coffee, pyrethrum, cotton, tea and a large proportion of all weeding operations is done by labour casually picked up. These workers may be subsistence farmers in the vicinity or they may come from considerable distances away, but they rely on this limited amount of wage-earning employment to supplement their meagre cash resources. Women and children are engaged in this type of work in considerable numbers, mainly on a casual basis. This is very largely so where they form part of the families of workers already employed on the estate or plantation, whether resident on it—as squatters, tenant-labourers or otherwise—or in villages nearby. In this case the agreement or understanding permitting residence on the estate provides for occasional or sometimes regular work by members of the family. Thus a wide variety of arrangements exists for the engagement of workers on estates and plantations, and an equally wide range of contractual arrangements is encountered. This is only to be expected in view of the differences in the size of enterprises and in their organisation and also in the needs and desires of those who seek employment in them. For many, work on a plantation is not regarded as having any permanency. It serves a limited purpose ; it lasts for a limited time ; and once the end has been achieved it can be abandoned. Alternatively, it is a permanent source of cash revenue to supplement and finance subsistence agriculture.2 Living and Working Conditions Plantation workers are normally housed and fed at the expense of their employers, who sometimes also provide a blanket and some clothing. Medical attention, meeting prescribed standards which vary according to the territory, the number of workers employed and the presence or absence of government-provided facilities, is also provided in most cases.3 As regards housing, standards vary enormously. In territories where large plantations exist, labour is reasonably stable and standards of accommodation are prescribed by law, conditions are often good and sometimes very good, although the minimum floor space required to be provided is often very restricted by any standard and quite insufficient for family living. Standards are, in fact, laid down in Belgian, French and Portuguese territories and in those United Kingdom territories in East and Central Africa in which a considerable amount of plantation and settler farming is carried on, as well as in plantation areas in Nigeria and the Cameroons. Where the workers are not required to reside on the estate or are not bound by any written contract, employer-provided accommodation, where it exists, is often less satisfactory, and where it is built by the labourer himself—either on land provided by the employer or wherever he can establish squatters' rights—it is often primitive in the extreme, as is to be expected because of the precarious nature of the tenure of the land on which it is built, the limited period during which the worker considers he may stay and his slender resources. The main general reproach, however, is that 1 André HAUSER : " Les exploitations mécanisées au Moyen-Congo français ", in Africa (London, Oxford University Press), Vol. XXIV, 1954, pp. 114-129. 3 See also Chapter V. 3 See also Chapters IX and XL LAND AND LABOUR 81 plantation accommodation and other facilities only rarely provide conditions in which a life analogous to that of the typical African village can be carried on; nor is advantage taken of the fact that numbers of people are concentrated in the area, which is often in an isolated situation, to create community facilities which would tend to stabilise labour. The difficulties to which employer-provided housing gives rise, such as the question of vacating the premises when employment ceases, or in case of sickness or death of the breadwinner, and access to the housing area for social or trade union purposes, are particularly delicate on farms and plantations and are examined in Chapter XII. The main questions relating to food rations concern their adequacy and balance and the advisability or otherwise of continuing to give food rather than to pay higher wages in lieu thereof. In some cases ration scales are prescribed by law, particularly in the case of recruited workers. Normally they are given in respect of the worker only and not his family and are issued in uncooked form.1 Complications arise, particularly in plantation areas, because facilities for purchasing a proper range of articles are restricted and the workers may be exploited by dealers, or by plantation owners who themselves operate commissariats, unless suitable controls are imposed. Since work on plantations is largely organised on a piece or task basis, the question of hours of work is not a serious one and there are no indications that abuses are prevalent in this respect. Where hours of work are regulated by law the latter also applies to agricultural work, except that in French territories, for example, the elasticity necessary to enable longer hours to be worked at periods of seasonal pressure, such as harvest time, is provided by prescribing a maximum number of hours of 2,400 per year, instead of the normal 40 per week which applies in other branches of activity. Within this limit hours per day, per week or per month are fixed to suit territorial conditions.2 However, the question is largely academic in view of the generally seasonal or casual nature of employment, just as questions such as holidays with pay have less importance in plantation conditions for the same reason. Wages, as already stated, are largely fixed on a piece or task work basis, particularly for field work. There are, however, many jobs of a general nature, particularly in settler-farming conditions, which must be remunerated on a time basis. The factors which contribute to the predominance of systems of payment by results include the casual nature of the labour employed and the labourers' desire to be free to start and stop work when they wish and to earn as much as possible during the period of work, however short; the seasonal character of many operations which, particularly during the harvest, require more intensive work and a certain elasticity in working hours and other conditions of work; the desire to control costs by simple methods of work measurement; and the limited amount of supervision required. Without entering into a detailed discussion, it may be said that the task-work system, though widely used, has tended to fall into disrepute. The tendency has been to reduce the size of tasks in order to attract labour, and from representing around six hours' work to the average worker they have often fallen to four or five. Far from being an incentive to increased productivity, task 1 For details see Chapter IX. Code du Travail des territoires et territoires associés relevant du Ministère de la France d'Outre-mer; Act No. 52-1322 dated 15 December 1952 (hereafter called the French Labour Code for Overseas Territories). See also Chapter IX. 2 82 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY work has become a positive deterrent by the premium which it places on leisure. The relation of a task to the conception of a fair day's work needs re-examination in the light of actual conditions in many territories. Such an examination would, however, need to be conducted as part of a review of the much larger question of the adequacy of the basic minimum wage to which the task is related. Reference is made more particularly to this matter in Chapter VIII, which discusses wage questions. The various aspects of conditions of life and work on plantations have been discussed in detail at three sessions of the I.L.O. Committee on Work on Plantations held in 1950, 1953 and 1955 and resolutions covering them adopted.1 The International Labour Conference adopted at its 42nd Session, in 1958, texts of a proposed Convention and Recommendation providing for the application to plantation workers of certain provisions of existing Conventions and Recommendations and making applicable to them certain provisions not at present applicable and for certain other matters of special importance to them. Labour Supply and Demand The availability of labour for work on farms and plantations is conditioned by a number of factors. It has already been stressed, in discussing peasant agriculture, that this is the source from which supplies of labour are mainly drawn and that the maintenance of a continued link with African land units means that in the worker's mind there is a continual weighing of the relative advantages, financial and other, of staying in the employment centre, be it the town or the plantation, and returning to his rural community. The situation of the plantation employer seeking workers is an unenviable one. While the fact that he is in the country and often within easy reach of considerable supplies of agricultural labour, which is underemployed in the existing circumstances of the subsistence or small-cash-crop enonomy, means that there is a constant, if variable, supply of labour theoretically available, there are a number of factors which militate against that labour presenting itself on any permanent basis for work on the plantation. In the first place, as has already been pointed out, in periods of favourable prices for African-grown cash crops men who would otherwise be supplementing cash resources with outside work will tend either to remain on their own holdings or to return to them. Secondly, the peak periods of work, both in plantations and in peasant agriculture, often clash and result in local labour at least being unavailable at those times, although this is sometimes compensated for by arrivals of seasonal workers from other areas, e.g. workers from the interior of French West Africa who come to work on farms and plantations in coastal districts and in Ghana. Thirdly, economic, social and technical developments in the rural communities have resulted in various forms of co-operative and other communal methods being introduced into peasant agriculture which, coupled with the development of small undertakings in the area, provide sufficient opportunities to earn enough cash to meet conventional wants and quench the desire to go further afield in search of adventure. Fourthly, the fact that the bulk of jobs on farms or 1 See Official Bulletin (Geneva, I.L.O.), Vol. XXXIII, No. 4, 1950; Vol. XXXVI, No. 2, 1953; and Vol. XXXVIII, No. 6, 1955. LAND AND LABOUR 83 plantations as at present organised are largely a continuance of the same type of work as the rural African has always known and which, in the traditional setting, was mainly done by women, deprives them of any prestige value. To the young man who has decided to seek wage-earning employment and to " see the world ", therefore, plantation work is merely a stop-gap until circumstances aliow him to move to the mine or the city. In particular local situations other factors play their part in the availability of labour. A particularly interesting situation has arisen in the Tshuapa province in the Belgian Congo, where workers' wives no longer wish to assist in the harvesting of the coffee crop since the introduction of family allowances, which they find enough for them. On the other hand, on plantations where the wives receive family allowances direct, there is less absenteeism on the part of their husbands. Since allowances are paid only for days on which wages are earned, there is strong pressure by wives to see that their husbands maintain the income from family allowances, which the wives regard as a private perquisite.1 Farmers are not, of course, without means of meeting some of these situations and of improving the supply of labour. There is widespread evidence that, even in areas where there are general complaints of labour shortages, the existence of better-than-average working and living conditions, combined with a congenial atmosphere, has its effect in attracting workers. In some areas continuance of recruitment on the basis of long-term engagements, though costly in terms of transport, has enabled plantation employers to meet their labour requirements. In other areas, such as Kenya and the Union of South Africa, resident labour forces have been built up by such devices as employment of resident labourers (or " squatters ") and tenant-labourers. The resident labour system in Kenya, under which an African contracts to work for a stipulated number of days in the year in return for a cash wage plus certain rights in regard to the cultivation of, and the grazing of stock on, his employer's land and under which his family, if living with him, often works for the employer as well, has already been described. The system has been sharply criticised on account of the lack of control which the employer has over the worker, the effect on land fertility of the latter's cultivation and grazing practices and the low levels of the cash wages paid. It is, however, declining in importance and the trend is now towards a cottage-labourer system under which the worker will be almost wholly dependent on wage earning but be free to supplement his wage by produce from a small vegetable plot.2 In the Union of South Africa, where the system of Native reserves exists, labour for farms in the European areas is largely provided by the excess population of these reserves, where conditions of life have been rendered precarious by inefficient fanning methods, overstocking and lack of suitable land. Apart from the ordinary wage-paid labour force, resident and non-resident, which comes not only from the Union itself but also includes considerable numbers of Africans who have entered the country illegally in search of work and have been directed to farm labour as a condition of being allowed to stay, there are tenant-labourers and squatters. The tenant-labourers work on terms similar to resident labourers in Kenya, that is to say, they are obliged to furnish their services (and often those of various members of their family) to the estate for a specified period not exceeding three years in return for the right to live on the land with certain cultivation 1 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation: Social Implications of Industrialisation and Urbanisation in Africa South of the Sahara (Paris, 1956), p. 687. 2 Colony and Protectorate of Kenya : Labour Department Annual Report, 1954 (Government Printer, Nairobi), p. 18, and ibid., 1956, pp. 11-12. 84 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY and grazing rights. Squatters simply pay rent for the right to remain on the land occupied. Any services they or their families provide to the estate are paid for. Efforts are being made, however, to control and reduce the numbers of tenantlabourers and squatters living on European-owned estates and to develop wagepaid agricultural labour on the western pattern. The labour-supply position in plantations throughout Africa may well become more difficult in the future owing to the steady increase in the number of other wage-earning opportunities and of the steps that are being taken in many countries and territories to raise productivity and living standards in peasant agriculture. Over-abundant supplies of cheap labour in the past have, however, discouraged stabilisation measures and have positively encouraged the continued use of outdated methods and techniques and have given rise to excessive rigidity in patterns of work organisation. It is to be hoped that these will gradually break down as the labour-supply situation changes. CONCLUSIONS The picture which has emerged from the foregoing review of land and labour in Africa is largely that of a society still predominantly peasant in character but in a stage of transition, presenting in the process an extremely varied pattern of development. This pattern at present embraces tribal groups who continue to practise a purely subsistence economy, largely based on shifting agriculture or nomadic pastoralism, intermediary forms in which, though cultivation for subsistence still predominates, cash-crop agriculture is increasing in importance, and areas in which a highly commercialised rural economy has taken shape carrying on a wide range of activities other than primary production, such as processing and preparation for the market, trading and small rural industries. In the first stage are numerous tribal groups—still found in most territories—among which the lack of communications or of plantation or mining development discourage the growth of a market economy and keep cash incomes at a minimum. In the second stage are those areas in which economic development has given rise to demands for locally produced foodstuffs. This is the stage reached in districts near town and other employment centres over wide areas in East, Central and South Africa. In the third stage circumstances favourable to the cultivation on a peasant basis of one or more export crops have developed, and African farmers have been quick to adapt their cultivation patterns and other factors in their social and economic organisation to the needs of commercial farming on this basis. The huge West African cocoa industry, which is almost entirely in the hands of African growers, the groundnut industry in Gambia, Nigeria and French West Africa and the cotton industry of Uganda are only three examples. The development of plantations and other forms of farming by Europeans and the growth of other economic activities, such as mining, industry and commerce, have at the same time created considerable opportunities for wage earning outside the peasant agricultural sector. The result has been an exodus of manpower from the rural areas, sometimes for short periods but often on a permanent basis. This shift of the rural population to wage employment, together with the increasing commercialisation of agriculture, has led to a considerable expansion of the money economy, the relative amounts attributable to income from wage earning and from cash-crop agriculture varying, of course, according to the region. LAND AND LABOUR 85 The effects on the rural society of the migrations of its members to employment centres are varied and complex. Balandier1 suggests that the family-controlled migrations of young men, e.g. of the Ba-Kongo of French Equatorial Africa to Brazzaville, have not caused the upheavals which migration has given rise to in some other parts of Central Africa, for the organic unity of the family group is maintained in spite of the separation between its urban and rural elements, the town members make themselves responsible for the education and training of the young people from the country, and those working in the town, whether working for wages or on their own account, maintain their links with the family group. These links take the practical form of sending money from wages or other earnings to the family " home " in the country, in order to ensure continuance within the group and to provide against an eventual return home. Moreover, when the services of young men who have been working in town are considered to be more useful in the village, they are recalled and they accept these orders. These movements between the country and the town have resulted in considerable development and diversification of activities in the rural areas, and the increased possibilities of marketing agricultural products have meant rises in land values, thus encouraging those who have gone to town to return to take up their land rights. No doubt this state of equilibrium, and at the same time of adaptation to changing circumstances, is to be found elsewhere in Africa, but the situation is often very different. Where large-scale labour migrations to industrial and other employment centres take place the effects on rural society, as already indicated, are often extremely serious. The traditional division of labour between the sexes is upset as a result of the prolonged absences of a large proportion of the able-bodied men; tillage and clearing work is neglected and the area cultivated may have to be reduced; crops, the proceeds of which normally accrued to the women, may have to be abandoned with the result that the women lose part of their perquisites ; in any case the burden on them increases and the adoption of improved techniques is retarded. The more general social consequences are equally serious. Decay of marriage ties, relaxation of control over children, the general loosening of tribal discipline, lack of respect for the elders of the tribe, the breakdown of conventional tribal obligations, including that of caring for the aged, the infirm and the orphaned children, have all followed upon the departure of large numbers of young men to employment centres. These, attracted by town life and its freedom from the restraints, the duties and the sanctions of tribal life, have decided either to remain there permanently or to throw off the shackles that linked them to their tribal group by refusing to accept the authority of its chief or to observe the obligations of mutual aid and economic co-operation associated with the traditional structure of African society. Be that as it may, the growth of urban areas and other employment centres is inevitable if the economic development of Africa is to proceed, and this may well mean the permanent loss to the rural scene of considerably greater amounts of manpower than at present. The problems invoked by this situation have been summed up by the East Africa Royal Commission 2 as follows : 1 Georges BALANDIER : Sociologie actuelle de VAfrique noire (Paris, Presses universitaires de France, 1955), pp. 364-375. 2 Report, op. cit., p. 154. 86 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY In the existing situation the migrant labour system appears to be the only one through which a considerable section of the African population can meet its needs, because the economic opportunities for more effective specialisation have either been absent or have been seriously circumscribed by legal and customary restrictions. For many Africans it is not now possible to attain to a higher income level for the support of their families without working both on the land and in urban employment. This means that, given the present productivity of Africans over large parts of the rural and urban sectors of the economy, the migrant labour system appears as the most economic choice which the African can make, however socially deleterious or otherwise undesirable it may be. Notwithstanding these disadvantages the system brings about an improvement in the economic condition of those who go out in search of paid employment. It follows that, if it is desired to curtail the system, it is necessary that the production opportunities in agriculture and in industry should be such that they can yield an income in cash and in kind which will be sufficient to enable the majority who work in either sphere to avoid working temporarily in the other. The replacement of the migrant labour system cannot be effectively accomplished merely by the introduction of special devices in the urban areas, but only as the result of a successful long-term policy which includes both agricultural and non-agricultural improvement. Briefly, long-term stabilisation of labour in its working environment involves on the one hand measures directly affecting the wage-paid employee, such as an increase in real wages sufficient to enable him to settle with his family at or near his place of employment, improved amenities by way of housing, health and education services and social security measures to protect him against sickness, infirmity and unemployment and to insure him against want in his old age without the necessity of his having recourse to his tribal affiliations. On the other hand, it demands a whole series of measures directed towards improving farm incomes in conditions which respect traditional social values while at the same time endeavouring to associate with them institutional arrangements favourable to economic expansion on more modern lines. It is with the solution of these two problems that most governments in Africa are concerned today, and it is with developments in the agricultural sector and with their imphcations in terms of social policy that this chapter must concern itself in conclusion. Reference has already been made to measures taken or contemplated in this regard. Developments in land tenure systems have been discussed and the contribution of the technical services of the departments of agriculture described. Various rural development schemes, such as the paysannats indigènes in the Belgian Congo, the Office du Niger and the Richard-Toll Scheme in French West Africa, the Niari Valley Scheme in the Middle Congo, the Gezira Scheme in the Sudan, the Native Land Husbandry Schemes in Southern Rhodesia, the Peasant Farming Scheme in Northern Rhodesia, the Niger Agriculture Project at Mokwa in Northern Nigeria, the Gonja Development Scheme in Ghana and the land settlement schemes in Angola have been cited to illustrate particular aspects of development policy. It is important to emphasise, however, that these are merely illustrations and that no attempt has been made here even to summarise the policies being pursued in each and every country and territory. What is important in any case is not so much the form which particular measures have assumed but what has happened as a result, and of that it is too early yet to judge. It is a truism to say that the various forms of organisation which have been introduced will not of themselves ensure good farming and rising standards of living. What they must do, however, is to create the conditions in which good farming is possible; and their particular contribution, in general, has been to plan these conditions in circumstances which will be conducive to the stabilisation and healthy devel- LAND AND LABOUR 87 opment of the rural society into which they are introduced. This is true whether the measures introduced or contemplated have been directed towards consolidation of holdings, development of forms of secure individual tenure and sound land use, or to group farming systems or resettlement schemes. Some may have the effect of confirming the peasant in his existing plot of land in conditions of tenure in which sound farming techniques can be adopted. Others may involve substantial reorganisation of existing holdings, such as the system of paysannats indigènes in the Belgian Congo, to enable permanent cultivation to be carried on in a systematic and rational manner. Others again may entail continuous central control of irrigation, coordinated cultivation by mechanical means with the peasant's being responsible for providing the labour required in return for which he has security of tenure of his holding, a share of the crops grown and a village community life on familiar lines. Finally, there are schemes in which the peasant has no land rights but has opportunities to carry on agricultural work in better conditions than he could have hoped for under the traditional farming systems of the district. None are universal panaceas and much remains to be done, since the immense majority of all African peasants still carry on agriculture in primitive conditions. Whatever the attractions, for example, of mechanisation of agriculture, it is unlikely that in African conditions it can be rapidly generalised; in many regions it has already been proved that cultivation can still be done more cheaply by hand methods. Naturally there will be a tendency for it to extend with the rise in wage levels, and certainly there are agricultural processing operations in which the introduction of machinery might even now be profitable. But even profitability in the sense of saving labour is not the only consideration. For example, the introduction of Pioneer oil mills in Nigeria raised efficiency and nearly quadrupled the palm-oil yield from a given weight of fruit as compared with the traditional hand-press methods, yet their introduction was violently opposed by the women because of the consequential changes in the economic organisation of the family group. The women lost their traditional right to sell the kernels, the proceeds of which they used for their own purposes. The children began to find small sources of paid employment in the developing cash economy which resulted from the increased palm-oil trade, and thus their dependence on the family was lessened.1 The possibility that the introduction of new techniques will give rise to social conflicts and changes in the traditional basis of authority must constantly be borne in mind. To the extent that rural institutions which have their roots firmly fixed in family and kinship relationships and solidarity are being transformed to meet new economic situations, so must new and durable foundations be laid on which to place them. The increasing individualism which is everywhere becoming apparent calls for new methods of financing agricultural development. In the traditional system land, capital goods and cattle were owned, and labour contributed, on a group basis. While this system was an obstacle to individual initiative and to capital formation on an individual or indeed on a group basis, it at least ensured economic and social security. With the development of individual systems of land tenure and of forms of agricultural organisation based not on the family group but upon other forms of association, there is a widespread need for the provision of agricultural credit in suitable forms. Appropriate systems of land tenure on an individual basis will of 1 Pius OKIGO: " Social Consequences of Economic Development in Africa", in The Colonial Review (published by the University of London Institute of Education), Sep. 1956, pp. 203-205. AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY course provide solid foundations for the advancing of credits against the security of the land and for chattel-mortage and crop liens. Various methods of providing credit facilities for African farmers have already been introduced in several territories. Organised financial aid through special banks or other agencies operating with government or other funds is sometimes already available. Co-operatives can be of great value in providing short-term (and, in appropriate conditions, long-term) loans. Savings and credit unions can be created.1 When all is said and done, however, it is to the Africans themselves that one must mainly look for progress. In such matters as improved housing in rural areas, village organisation and planning, rural water supplies, installations for communal storage or processing of produce, community enterprises, such as simple irrigation projects, grinding mills and the like, the ideas and the initiative must largely come from the rural communities themselves, stimulated as desirable by official encouragement. It is here that the movements now grouped under the generic term " community development " can do much to develop the capacities of the rural populations effectively to participate in action designed to adapt traditional institutions and practices to the exigencies of progress and for carrying through important projects of value to the community concerned. This question is fully treated in the next chapter. It is perhaps appropriate to conclude this chapter by stressing one point which is of prime importance, yet is often lost sight of. It is that African agriculture will never prosper without the full and enthusiastic co-operation of African women, for not only do they play a very important part in agricultural work, but they are " the driving force, the spur and the incentive behind man's best endeavours and achievements ".2 To secure that support means in the first place that women must be educated to want a better home and a better life for their children. If they do they will see to it that the sustained effort necessary on the part of their husbands is forthcoming. Not only general education is required of the same standard as that provided for males, but instruction in domestic science and in new agricultural techniques and practices must also be given. Reference is made in Chapter VI on vocational and technical training to the desirability of training women as local agricultural instructors and field assistants, and a start has been made, for example, in Kenya. While there are difficulties in introducing radical changes of this kind, it is obvious that the possible advantages to be gained warrant bold experiments, for not only do women usually have to take the final decision as to changes in cultivation practice but women agricultural instructors can themselves better appreciate the factors of a traditional and social character which often underlie resistance to change. The energy which the women of certain parts of Africa devote to petty trading is well known. If some of that energy can be canalised, under improved conditions, into activities for improvement of agricultural practices and for schemes for rural betterment which will remove from their own shoulders some of the burdens of toil that they at present bear, an agricultural revolution will have been achieved. " Women must make the new Africa; if they do not, the new Africa will never be achieved. " 3 1 See Chapter XIII. G. M. RODDAN: "The Key is Women", in Corona (London, H.M. Stationery Office), Vol. X, No. 2, Feb. 1958, pp. 57-59. 3 R. DELàVIGNETTE: " L'organisation communale villageoise ", in Rythmes du Monde (Paris), 1954, Vol. II, No. 2, p. 93. s CHAPTER III COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT GENERAL It was suggested at the close of Chapter 11 that community development, as it is generally called today, could do much to develop the capacity of the rural populations of Africa to participate effectively in action designed to adapt traditional institutions and practices to the exigencies of progress and for carrying through important projects of value to the community concerned. It is recognised throughout Africa that governments must play an active role in economic development. Reference has already been made to the extent to which funds coming from metropolitan sources have been used to supplement the funds available locally in order to provide the necessary infrastructure and to finance economic and social development. In addition, private capital has been invested in industry, mines and plantations, and funds have been raised by levies on exports to finance development and to provide reserves for the stabilisation of the prices of the products exported. Funds have also been made available by such institutions as the World Bank. The greater part of these funds has, naturally enough, been used directly to finance, or indirectly to promote, economic development. Nevertheless, they have also served a social purpose in so far as they have provided an incentive to efforts made on a local basis to improve amenities, to develop new techniques and generally to raise living standards. To some extent they have been devoted directly to social purposes in such fields as education, health and housing. In certain cases they have directly served the cause of community development; in Ghana, for instance, grants for community development have largely come from funds available from the Cocoa Marketing Board. In others, for example in the case of the Fund for Rural Equipment and Economic and Social Development (F.E.R.D.E.S.) which operates in French West Africa, there has been a clear-cut decision that the federal Government will provide funds only where the local community concerned—be it the village, the provident society, the agricultural co-operative or the mutual society for production—submits a detailed project to implement which it seeks assistance from the Fund and accepts responsibility for at least one-third of the cost of the project in cash or in labour and materials, the other two-thirds being paid by the federal and the territorial Governments in equal shares. Schemes involving a total expenditure of 3,273,400,000 C.F.A. francs were approved under the F.E.R.D.E.S. programme between 1949 and 1955 in French West Africa; they included improvements to the land (drainage, irrigation, etc.), the construction of rural buildings of communal interest, installations for the communal preparation of produce and rural roads, and works designed to raise standards of living (such as dams, village water supphes, sterilisation of water supplies, malaria eradi- 90 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY cation work, improvement of rural dwellings, establishment of new villages, installation of electricity supply lines and the like).1 In some British territories grants are available from territorial funds for similar purposes, provided local initiative and help is forthcoming. Apart, however, from any conscious link with community development in the narrower sense, the development programmes of the various governments have at least established a starting-point for community effort. It is important to stress this point now, since, as will be seen later, the term " community development " has so far been taken into current usage in only a few of the countries and territories of Africa. What is more, there is much work going on at the local and district levels which could well be called community development except that it does not form part of an integrated approach to the problems of improvement of conditions in the African communities which is an essential feature of the technique of community development. At the outset it is desirable to distinguish between the term " community development " and two other terms which have also come into current use in recent years to describe techniques used in connection with efforts to raise living standards, namely " fundamental education " and " mass education ". The Administrative Committee on Co-ordination of the United Nations and the specialised agencies defined community development and fundamental education and the relations between them as follows : The term " community development " has come into international usage to connote the processes by which the efforts of the people themselves are united with those of the governmental authorities to improve the economic, social and cultural conditions of communities, to integrate these communities into the life of the nation, and to enable them to contribute fully to national progress. This complex of processes is then made up of two essential elements: the participation of the people themselves in efforts to improve their level of living with as much reliance as possible on their own initiative; and the provision of technical and other services in ways which encourage initiative, self-help and mutual help and make these 2 more effective Fundamental education aims to help people who have not obtained such help from established educational institutions to understand the problems of their environment and their rights and duties as citizens and individuals, to acquire basic knowledge and skill for the progressive improvement of their living conditions and to participate effectively in the economic and social development of their community, making full use of facilities and techniques brought to the community from outside. The term is generally synonymous with " social education ", " mass education " and " community education ". It is not coincident with community development, but is to be regarded as an essential component of community development. Community development may sometimes be initiated by a broad programme of popular fundamental education, perhaps with a focus on the problem of adult illiteracy. In this case, fundamental education is a first phase of community development, which should lead as soon as possible to a composite programme involving other technical services. 1 " The F.E.R.D.E.S. in French West Africa " (Bulletin statistique et économique mensuel de l'A.O.F., No. 12, 1955) reproduced in Bulletin of the Inter-African Centre for Information and Liaison in Rural Welfare (C.C.T.A., London), No. 2, Mar. 1956, pp. 19-22. 2 United Nations, Economic and Social Council: Twentieth Report of the Administrative Committee on Co-ordination to the Economic and Social Council, Document E/2931, 18 Oct. 1956 (mimeographed), Annex III, paragraphs 1-2. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT 91 Where a composite community development project already exists, fundamental education will take its place among other technical services, in a narrower and more specialised role. It then operates in such fields of activity as adult literacy, the organisation of library services for literates, of dramatic or recreational activities, or of educational programmes through the cinema and radio. It provides educational support to other technical services, for example by helping the agents of these services to prepare the community for the acceptance of new ideas, to make their technical knowledge accessible to the population or to test and utilise audio-visual aids.1 These definitions show sufficiently clearly the distinction that must be drawn between " community development " and " fundamental education ". However, the words " mass education " and " fundamental education " have been used in Ghana and French West Africa respectively in place of the term " community development ". This is due to historical factors, for it was through the gradual extension of the concept of mass education that the conception of community development was reached. With the clarification of concepts at the international level, however, it may be expected that the term " community development " will gradually come to be accepted as denoting the processes mentioned above. The movement that has been going on in recent years in various African territories whereby the economic and social progress of local communities is more and more being achieved through their own initiative and action now forms an important element in the social policies of the governments concerned. In others, however, the initiative and direction of social and economic services are still primarily official in origin. The communities themselves have not been caught up in the efforts undertaken for their benefit. The movement appears to have begun in the British-administered territories, and it is there that it has achieved its widest expansion in Africa. In certain French territories in Africa experiments in " basic education ", similar in character to the British schemes, have recently been carried out with varying success. Elsewhere there have been only a certain number of pilot experiments. However, these attempts at community development must not be confused with the various programmes carried out on the direct initiative of the government or of the Native authorities. As already stressed, it is the active and voluntary participation of the community that distinguishes the results achieved by the community development movement from the results of all other social reforms. As a United Nations publication states: "the territorial or local government and voluntary agencies may be undertaking similar social and economic activities with considerable resources, as in the Belgian Congo. But there can hardly be said to be a movement in which the emphasis is on techniques for arousing and stimulating the initiative of the population in order to promote better living for the whole community through the exercise and expansion of that initiative. "3 The development of the African communities forms an integral part of the general evolution at present taking place, and the fact that many of these communities feel a strong urge to raise their standards of living and adopt methods inspired 1 United Nations, Economic and Social Council: Twentieth Report of the Administrative Committee on Co-ordination to the Economic and Social Council, Document E/2931, 18 Oct. 1956 (mimeographed). Annex III, paragraphs 68-71. 2 United Nations : Fifteenth Report of the Administrative Committee on Co-ordination to the Economic and Social Council, Economic and Social Council, Seventeenth Session, Official Records, Document E/2512 (New York, 1954), p. 7. 3 United Nations: Community Development Policy and Administration in Non-Self-Governing Territories (Document A/AC.35/L.188, 1 Mar. 1955), p. 11. 92 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY by Western techniques for the purpose of furthering education, improving farming methods, reforming housing conditions and applying new norms of health, just at a time when these same peoples have become aware of their collective personality and desire political recognition of their aspirations, cannot be described as a mere coincidence. The transformation of local government by the granting of representation to a larger number of individuals in the government organisations, and the building up of a new economic structure based essentially upon the initiative of the people themselves, are part and parcel of one and the same movement. It has very rightly been said that community development without local government support merely covers the countryside with badly constructed and unmaintained roads and a collection of ramshackle buildings that will soon become useless, while conversely, local government without the support of the community development movement would merely fill official publications with regulations concerning public health or proposed farming methods which can never find practical expression.1 In any case, it is certain that the raising of African living standards by means of government pressure is becoming less and less practicable on account of the evolution in ideas and customs that is now taking place. In these circumstances it is essential to find some other method. The term " government persuasion " has an unpleasant connotation because it has frequently served to camouflage more or less disguised compulsion. But persuasion may still have its part to play in the future if it confines itself to stimulating and encouraging popular initiative to obtain active and enthusiastic support for a genuine development movement. This technique of persuasion is most opportune, not only on account of the political situation but also on account of the economic and social crisis at present besetting the rural population of Africa. The migration of peasant farmers towards the urban centres has merely accentuated the contrast, which is found throughout most of Africa, between the industrialisation of the towns and the stagnation and the inadequate productivity of the country regions. The danger is that this situation may be self-perpetuating, for migration from the country results in a decline in agricultural productivity which tends in its turn to bring about further migrations. In the social field the traditional forms of rural society are in constant danger of disintegration on account of the departure of the younger and more dynamic elements of the population, and perhaps to an even greater extent on account of the discrediting of traditional beliefs, combined with the declining power of customary authority and the loosening of social ties.2 The community development movement can, to a certain extent, remedy these evils and is most widespread in the rural sector of the population, where the right sort of environment, together with a fund of potential energy, is more frequently found. The very nature of its action enables it to enlist a form of labour-capital that makes up for the lack of monetary capital among rural populations. The application of Western techniques renders this capital highly effective ; while, by showing Africans the results that they themselves can obtain by pooling their efforts, the exponents of the movement restore to the communities their long-lost self-confidence, vitality, enthusiasm and energy. Having shown the strength and the timeliness of the community development movement at the present moment, a description of the means by which it carries out its work may be given. In this respect it must be noted that subtle distinctions 1 I. C. JACKSON: Advance in Africa (London, Oxford University Press, 1956), p. 104. See also Chapter II. 2 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT 93 exist between the way in which the words " community development " are interpreted by the governments of the different countries where this technique is practised. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IN PRACTICE British Territories Although the ideas underlying what came to be called community development had been officially discussed as early as 1925 ^ the effective starting-point of the movement in the United Kingdom territories was the conference organised at Cambridge in the summer of 1948 by the Colonial Office to further the development of a spirit of initiative in African society. Both the theme and the tone of the conference were set by the Secretary of State for the Colonies in his opening address. His main point was that it was less important that there should be a village school than that the people should actually build and run it by their own efforts. It was less important that a productive industry should be created than that the people should acquire the practical knowledge of how to cultivate their own land efficiently and without ruining the soil. Finally, it was less important that any particular territory should be supplied with a progressive constitution than that there should exist in the territory a considerable group of people capable of effective political action. After a careful study of the conclusions reached by the conference, the Secretary of State incorporated a certain number of them in a dispatch on community development addressed to the governors of the African territories. The circular explained that community development (which was still referred to as " mass education ") was neither an inferior substitute for education in the formal sense nor a completely new system of administration. It was the intensification of past plans for development by means of new techniques ; its main novel feature lay in the great emphasis which it placed on the stimulation of popular initiative. The dispatch defined this process as " a movement designed to promote better living for the whole community, with the active participation and, if possible, on the initiative of the community; but if this initiative is not forthcoming spontaneously, it should be aroused and stimulated by special techniques designed to secure the active and enthusiastic response of the community".2 During a conference organised by the Colonial Office at Ashridge in 1954 the definition of community development as " a movement designed to promote better living for the whole community, with the active participation and, if possible, on the initiative of the community " was confirmed.3 From then onwards the term " mass education " tends to be less frequently used. The 1948 dispatch had further recommended that community development be placed in the forefront of each colony's development policy along with the development of local government. It also listed the objectives to be reached in a number of fields. These included the adoption of improved means of soil conservation, of more efficient methods of farming and of anima'l husbandry and of measures to 1 United Nations : Methods and Techniques of Community Development in the United Kingdom Dependent and Trust Territories (New York, 1954), pp. 4-5. 2 Ibid., p. 24. 3 Colonial Office : Social Development in the British Colonial Territories. Report of the Ashridge Conference on Social Development (London, H.M. Stationery Office), p. 14. 94 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY improve sanitation and water supplies, to safeguard the health of the community, to protect mothers and children, to eliminate illiteracy, to educate the adult population, to improve existing schools and to build new ones. The following is an outline of the administrative organisation through which the community development movement operates. In the United Kingdom the Advisory Committee on Social Development advises the Government on social services in the colonies, the promotion of community development, the means of fostering co-operation with local voluntary agencies and the training of skilled staff. Similar advisory councils also exist in certain African territories. There would appear to be considerable variety in the forms of administrative machinery set up in the different territories, although the underlying principles are the same everywhere. In certain territories there are specialised administrative services forming distinct departments whose staff receives special training, as is the case in Kenya and Uganda, for example. Staff members are recruited or trained by the community development department but are subsequently posted to the various districts and placed under the orders of the District Commissioners. In other territories the role of community development specialists is less important, and the administrative organisation relies essentially upon the co-operation of private individuals and voluntary agencies with the general administrative services already in existence at district or provincial levels. In Nigeria, for example, no specialised administrative service has so far been set up. The agents and officials responsible for community development are members of the provincial or district administration. In order to give a clear picture of the administrative organisation of the scheme in the British territories it is advisable to begin at the lowest level, where the administration is in direct contact with the local communities and where the need for assisting or co-ordinating their action is most in evidence. In certain respects this is the most important level. It is felt that the organisation should develop upwards, beginning from the local level, and that particular emphasis should be laid upon the work of organisation at the district level. The authorities act at the local level through district teams. These consist of the District Commissioner and the members of the technical services of the administration (such as education, health, agriculture and public works) which operate in the region. A district team is an executive organ with a flexible role to perform. It is responsible for carrying out general studies and investigations as well as for planning, teaching, encouraging and controlling everything that concerns community development in the region concerned. Within this team—at least in Nigeria, Kenya and Northern Rhodesia—the District Commissioner has the key role. It is he who is responsible for preparing the people for self-government, developing the local administration and for initiating action designed to raise standards of living. Community development is regarded as relevant to his work, ... because, in encouraging people to think for themselves and to do for themselves, community development is bound to result in spreading the sense of responsibility downwards, in developing the feeling of community and in building up the spirit of service to the community in particular and to the country in general.1 1 F. D. WEBBER: "Community Development—Some Reminders", in Community Development Bulletin (London, Colonial Office), Vol. Ill, No. 3, June 1952, p. 46. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT 95 It is considered essential that action by the communities be preceded and accompanied by consultation between their representatives and the authorities. The district teams, therefore, consisting predominantly of officials, collaborate closely with advisory or planning committees, which include representatives of the communities as well as of the local administrative councils. The existence of conservative Native authorities hostile to change may, however, constitute an obstacle to this collaboration. If the latter authorities cannot adapt themselves to the new requirements of the population progress may be impaired. In such cases widespread reform, with the object of setting up effective representative institutions capable of creating and maintaining the services that the population demands, is the course usually adopted. In the United Kingdom territories a policy of community development is considered impossible without local administrative machinery of this kind. The third stage in the administrative organisation of community development is the provincial machinery. At this level too there are teams, but their task is one of planning and co-ordination. The composition of these teams may vary. In Nigeria they consist of groups of officials from the provincial administration convened by the head of the provincial administration. All the officials in charge of provincial subdivisions and all the heads of technical departments in the region take part in this work. In Northern Rhodesia these teams also include non-officials, for example representatives of the Farmers' Association or of the Chamber of Commerce, as well as African representatives from districts and urban areas. In Sierra Leone the provincial community-development committees consist of local technical experts—some of them officials, others not—selected from the districts. The committees work out a general concept of development suited to the particular conditions in each province, study plans put forward by the districts and put into effect those which receive approval. Great importance is attached to the stimulation and working out of ideas for district development at the district level in consultation with the District Councils. The object is that no scheme shall be excluded from consideration which has popular support, is calculated to improve village life, and is feasible.1 Finally, there is a higher administrative level which determines the over-all policy to be followed by the territory concerned, taking into account private initiative. The training of administrative staff for the community-development services constitutes a problem of some difficulty. In fact, if community development is to be undertaken on a nation-wide scale, and if the collaboration of the greater part of the administrative services is to be enrolled, the question of training staff assumes particular importance. The London School of Economics is running two-year courses for students from territories administered by the United Kingdom to form trained personnel and organisers for the social services and local government organisations. Furthermore, to popularise the spirit and techniques of community development in the different local government services, special courses of instruction have been organised in the United Kingdom which are attended by social service and local government staff selected by territorial governments. The Ashridge Conference, after examining the methods used to train specialists and responsible staff, suggested that basic courses be organised, first in the United Kingdom and 1 Colonial Office: The Colonial Territories (1950-51), Cmd. 8243 (London, H.M. Stationery Office, 1951), p. 115. 96 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY then in the overseas territories, for officials in charge of social services and community development. The Conference also recommended that a rural centre be set up in the United Kingdom where students could reside and where they could be taught the principles and techniques of community development. However, it stressed that attendance at these courses should not be a prerequisite for appointment as officers or assistants. " We are anxious to continue and expand the present practice of welcoming into this work men and women from the Administration, from the technical departments such as agriculture, education and health and from among the leaders of the people."1 In the United Kingdom students and specialists can now study the principles and methods of community development by following the courses, lasting from three to nine months, given by the Institute of Education of London University. The Community Development Clearing House of the Institute allows advanced students to undertake research on almost every aspect of community development in different parts of the world. There are several methods of recruiting junior specialist staff, and almost everywhere the tendency is to organise permanent centres for each region or territory. Centres of this kind have been set up in Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Kenya, Uganda and Northern Rhodesia to provide a local supply of trained personnel and village social workers. The Jeanes School at Kabeta (Kenya) deserves special mention. Its annual attendance is estimated to be 2,000 adult students per year. Certain of its programmes provide for the training of local leaders to take part in community development as for that of local government officials. The same applies to Nigeria, where the community development training centre at Awgu trains both local councillors and junior officials. Community-development movements of this kind are not found in all territories in Africa. In some (for example, British Somaliland and the High Commission territories of Bechuanaland, Basutoland and Swaziland) there are obvious difficulties in initiating and maintaining such a movement owing to the scattered and nomadic nature of the population in Somaliland and to the absence of a large proportion of the adult male population working as labourers in the Union of South Africa or in a different territory (in the case of the High Commission territories). Nevertheless, community development work is being pursued in Gambia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanganyika, Uganda, Zanzibar, Mauritius, Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesia, as well as in Southern Rhodesia. In some of these territories, such as Nigeria and Kenya, the movement has assumed quite remarkable importance, particularly in rural areas. In Kenya the movement suffered a set-back owing to the Mau Mau troubles of 1954-56, but is once again operating with success in its chosen fields. A Ministry of Community Development has been set up and emphasis is being placed on the advancement of women. This is being done through a special section of the Ministry staffed by women officers whose duty it is to organise women throughout the countryside into clubs and organisations for thejpurpose of training them in the arts of child welfare, home management, needlecraft and cooking. While it is perhaps invidious to choose one territory to illustrate how the British conception of community development is being worked out in African conditions, such a procedure will clearly illustrate the avowed aims and purposes of the movement and show the nature of the practical work being done in terms which Colonial Office: Social Development in the British Colonial Territories, op. cit., p. 26. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT 97 have a far wider validity. It happens that a review of community development policy was recently made in Uganda which does both these things in an admirable way, and the account which follows is based on it.1 In Uganda community development is seen as having a fourfold contribution to make to economic and social betterment and the development of political consciousness. It should— (a) spread among the people the vision of a new and better kind of life and stimulate them to take an active part in schemes for their own betterment over the widest possible field so that they are enabled to derive the fullest advantage from improving material conditions ; (b) encourage them to take a pride in their country and its achievements so that they will want to make the maximum contribution to its economic development; (c) help the rural population to meet the problem of adjustment in changing social conditions; and (d) stimulate them to take an intelligent and active interest in their own local affairs and in the institutions through which they are governed. The means through which these aims are to be pursued include in the first place the development of informal adult education. This is to be done partly through existing groups and partly through others to be formed, and to achieve this end a good deal of reliance will have to be placed on voluntary group leaders and part-time workers. Mass literacy campaigns, a literature distribution service and audio-visual aids will also be of assistance. Special emphasis is to be laid upon intensive and sustained work with the women of the territory, including the development of homecraft and mothercraft activities through the fostering of the Women's Club movement and its co-ordination with appropriate health, welfare and educational services. Rural training centres—at least one in each district—are considered essential for the implementation of a vigorous policy of adult education, and provision is to be made for their establishment in every part of the territory, before 1960 if possible. The purpose of these centres, which will each have an Assistant Community Development Officer as Warden, is to provide a practical demonstration of a new and improved way of life for those who pass through them as students. Courses of dififerent kinds and of varying duration will be arranged for members of the community who are actual or potential leaders or who exercise special influence in their own localities. These courses will include general courses on citizenship, special courses for particular groups such as officials of co-operative societies, or courses on specific subjects such as rural hygiene, housing, agriculture, mothercraft and home economics (the last two being intended for women). It is also hoped to use these centres as demonstration models of such things as better housing, sanitation, diet, water supply, agricultural and horticultural methods and animal husbandry. Thus it should be possible for the people passing through them to acquire simple skills which have hitherto been beyond their reach, e.g. housebuilding techniques. It is hoped that these centres will awaken in those who attend them a practical desire for change in their daily Hves which they will carry back to their own localities, where they will be potential leaders of community development schemes. 1 Uganda Protectorate: A Review of Community Development Policy. Sessional Paper No. 2 of 1957-58 (Government Printer, Entebbe, 1957). 98 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY The adult education proposals are not, however, to be regarded in isolation but rather as complementary to the proposals for practical community development, to which they must be directly related; these will continue, as they have since 1953. They will be financed from an annual grant of £100,000 from central government funds. Local allocations of money for particular purposes will continue to be made by the District Commissioner in consultation with the community-development team for the district. To qualify for a grant a scheme must meet three essential criteria : first, it must be aimed at relieving the most acutely felt strains of day-to-day living on the part of the people concerned; secondly, it must be recognisable to the people as the articulation of their own desires ; and thirdly, the people whom it will benefit must be prepared to participate in it by means of voluntary labour or contributions. Intensified programmes of community development work are to be launched in selected areas called Project Areas, and it is hoped that the achievements in these areas will act as a spur to the rest of the country, stimulating interest in and enthusiasm for community development in general. In these Project Areas special attention will be given, according to local conditions, to such matters of daily concern as water supply, rural health, communications, animal husbandry and dairying, poultry breeding and vegetable and fruit growing, fish culture, co-operation (including co-operative house building), improved agricultural methods and the development of cottage industries. Project Areas will be located near rural training centres and new centres will be created in the selected areas if none already exist, since it is regarded as essential to organise intensive training for local leaders in parallel with the practical schemes of community development if lasting results are to be obtained. In the initial stages work in the Project Areas will be in the hands of Community Development Assistants, but it is hoped that local voluntary or part-time paid leaders may eventually be able and willing to take over the functions of ascertaining local needs and wishes and passing these on to the Community Development Officers or technical departments concerned, and of organising the local people for voluntary work. It is recognised that the only sound foundation for community development activities is a live local opinion. Just how to stimulate this opinion and get the people to show an increasing and more lively interest in their own advancement is one of the problems with which all community development movements are faced. In Uganda this problem is being tackled by securing local representation on the community-development committee of the district. Even this, however, is regarded as insufficient to give people at the village level the sense of association with schemes evolved in their interest, and steps are being taken by the committee to encourage suggestions for schemes right down to the village level. While it is natural that community development activities in their African setting should be predominantly concerned with rural betterment, in Uganda, as elsewhere, the problems created by the rapid development of urban areas are also being tackled, though their solution demands a greater degree of welfare work in the form of governmental action to assist the destitute, the morally delinquent and the sick than is envisaged in true community development. Attempts are, however, being made to encourage voluntary agencies and to foster clubs and other groups through which a sense of civic responsibility and community spirit can be developed. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT 99 Ghana Mass education, as the community development movement was originally called in what was then the Gold Coast, dates from 1948. It was first experimented with in Togoland, where a mobile team carried out a campaign against illiteracy, and has now grown so much that a Department of Social Welfare and Community Development with an annual budget of some £500,000 (mainly spent on staff) has been formed, covering the whole country—though some areas are less well served than others. There are two main sections in the Department. The first deals with formal welfare matters, including those relating to juvenile delinquency, assistance to persons in distress and work with groups, which is run on mass-education lines. This section operates mainly in urban areas. The second section, which is much larger and is known as the Mass Education Section, operates primarily in the rural areas and deals with adult literacy, work among women on " home economics " lines, assistance in self-help construction work, such as schools, latrines, roads and water supplies, and extension work for other Departments, for instance, organising cocoa and maize campaigns for the Department of Agriculture, campaigns in environmental sanitation for the Ministry of Health and " pay-your-rates " campaigns for the Ministry of Local Government. The cost of these special educational campaigns is paid by the Department concerned. To these two main sections are attached specialist sections handling training in the Department's delinquency institutions, vocational training for boys in urban areas and builders' courses for young people in the Department's rural training centres. There are also a number of mechanical field units in the cocoagrowing areas. These consist of foremen and technicians with simple construction equipment—including a small bulldozer for each unit; they assist in the completion of self-help construction projects in which the unskilled labour is provided by the villagers. These units are financed by the Cocoa Marketing Board under specially flexible arrangements. In two regions technical advice centres have been installed to provide advice and simple type plans for village communities and local authorities. A visual-aids section prepares films and other material for audiences throughout the country. Over 16,000 persons now attend the special classes for women; over 118,000 people have been taught to lead and write since 1952; about 7,000 voluntary leaders give their assistance every year; and some 1,000 self-help village betterment construction projects have been completed in recent years. The total staff of the Department is now over 1,000. All this indicates the extent to which the community development movement in Ghana has proved a successful example of practical action in the field of community service and deserves to be regarded as the most significant of its kind in Africa today.1 French Territories In the French territories the emphasis in the past has been on " fundamental education ", in which special emphasis was laid on the fight against ilhteracy. This "^P. DU SAUTOY: "The Community Goes Ahead in Ghana", in H.M. Stationery Office), Vol. IX, No. 12, Dec. 1957, pp. 461-462. Corona (London, 100 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY latter task was performed mainly by teams—usually consisting of a schoolmaster, a farmer, a master craftsman and a medical orderly—sent to particular areas to organise short campaigns of intensive education. This approach has now been recognised to be too limited in character and the method of the short intensive campaign too ephemeral to bring lasting results, particularly as no provision was made for sustained follow-up activity in a district after the team had left.1 Consequently a completely new approach to the problem has been adopted. The definition of community development as being a process tending to create conditions favourable to the economic and social progress of the whole community with the active participation of the community and, as far as possible, on its initiative has now been accepted as well as its implications, namely that community development is perforce the product of the combined efforts of the community itself and of the authorities. The community must organise itself and adjust its life to new circumstances, which implies on the part of its members a realisation of their responsibilities and a readiness to make the necessary effort, whilst the authorities for their part provide the community with the technical and financial resources it lacks. This approach is regarded as equally valid for urban and for rural communities. It is recognised that the part to be played by the government, whether dominant or not, must vary with local circumstances and that the solutions adopted must equally be in keeping with local conditions, on which will also depend the decision whether to give priority to economic or to social questions. While government action in the forms of technical and financial assistance to local communities is accepted as necessary, the dangers of giving such assistance have to be guarded against. Nothing should be done to encourage communities to lay the whole burden of planning on the administration or to refuse to make that effort without which the concept of community development loses its true meaning. Assistance is therefore given only to the extent that the community in question agrees to make its own contribution, though the administration may well take the initiative in order to inspire and guide personal effort as local circumstances warrant. In the light of these general considerations of policy, action has been taken along various lines. In the first place communities which were disintegrating under the impact of outside influences have been given a new legal framework which, while allowing for customary values, will enable them to develop and adjust themselves to new circumstances. Thus legislation has been adopted in the Cameroons, in French West Africa, in Togoland and in Madagascar to establish or group together rural communities, to give them a corporate existence and financial autonomy, and to allow them to administer their own property and services through their own elected representatives, with the assistance of the authorities. This formula not only enables communities to adapt themselves to current needs but also leads directly to the control of local administration by the people themselves. In the economic field various measures have been taken in which, however, the role of the administration has been preponderant. These consist, first, of the estabUshment oî paysannats and modernisation units (secteurs de modernisation), involving the settlement of peasants in a new environment; the Government 1 The information given here is taken from a statement made by Mr. H. Hauck (France) at a meeting of the Social Commission of the United Nations Economic and Social Council on 17 May 1957. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT 101 establishes the agricultural infrastructure and social institutions, provides accommodation and apportions the land, while the peasants' part is limited to accepting the opportunity of achieving a better life thus afforded and to making voluntary and sustained efforts to improve their economic and social condition. The Office du Niger1, the East Mono Colonisation Scheme in Togoland and the agricultural experimental and modernisation zones in the Cameroons are organised on these lines. Obviously, such schemes lack the necessary element of local initiative which would make them ideal examples of community development. While excellent in themselves, like similar schemes in the Belgian Congo, they provide the starting-point from which local initiatives to improve the living conditions of the communities concerned can be developed rather than being themselves examples of them. The second type of measure is the formation of indigenous provident societies2; these were of great value in an earlier period, as they provided training in co-operation and eased the transition from a subsistence to an export economy, but they too tend to be controlled too closely by the Government. The third type of measure is the formation of indigenous production societies in the Cameroons. These are somewhat similar in character to the provident societies but are more advanced in that they are based on co-operative principles and the community itself plays a larger part. They are proving especially useful in improving rural housing, in training rural artisans and in developing fisheries, which are particularly valuable in a territory where the diet of the population is lacking in proteins. A different approach has been adopted in Madagascar, where the economic and social betterment of the rural populations through their own efforts has been encouraged by the organisation of rural indigenous communities and a " modernised " variant thereof; there are now 176 in all. These are adaptations of existing institutions which have been given co-operative status; they are financed by the contributions of their members and themselves fix their programmes of work, including the partition of lands and the raising of loans for the purchase of equipment by the community or by individual members. The Government merely supervises financial transactions and gives technical advice and financial assistance from a central fund for mechanising and modernising agriculture. Since 1950 some 700 million C.F.A. francs have been lent to these institutions. Finally, there are the rural production societies (S.M.P.R.) organised on a mutual basis and financed by the voluntary subscriptions of their members; these are probably the most advanced forms of economic development of the rural communities involving the initiative and personal efforts of the peasants themselves. These were launched in 1951 in French West Africa. The rural mutual production society of Sikasso, which covers the administrative cercle of that name, is a typical example; it has now 30,000 members scattered over 120 villages. The society is controlled by an assembly elected by the members, which in turn elects a board of 32 members to be responsible for carrying out the yearly programme decided on by the assembly. There is a director and a deputy director, elected by the assembly, who work under the supervision of the chairman of the board. The society prepares 1 2 For a description see Chapter II. See Chapter XIII. 102 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY production programmes for various crops (so far mainly mechanised rice cultivation), sees that they are applied, co-ordinates irrigation and certain field activities and organises the processing, standardisation and marketing of the crops. It is not itself a co-operative, but co-operative societies can be formed within the ambit of its activities and can themselves become collective members of it. Moreover there is plenty of scope for self-help activities of various kinds. The Sikasso society has been immensely popular and very successful. Societies of this type certainly have very much in common with the principles of community development and their future in this field seems to be distinctly promising. In the social field, cultural centres have proved a great success in French Equatorial and French West Africa. The premises have been built by the administration, but the communities themselves often put up their own buildings. The centres are run by the local people and give the more advanced elements a place for recreation and relaxation and opportunities for improving their knowledge; they encourage contacts between Europeans and Africans and are the starting-point for the social education of the masses through the agency of the elite. Other forms of action include the fundamental education experiments already referred to, in regard to which experiments in the Ivory Coast with " social affairs teams " are interesting, even if no final judgment can yet be passed on them. These teams visit the villages, find out what the people themselves want and organise committees on which are men, women and young people. Projects to be undertaken in public works, education, health, housing, etc., are decided upon in common and the local population contributes with both money and labour. The team advises, supplies technical equipment and trains craftsmen, then, when the work is going ahead, moves on to another village. This experiment seems to be on all fours with many of the community development projects to be found throughout Africa. Yet another form of action is to be found in the forest areas of the Gabon and in parts of the Tchad where the populations are scattered and unable to organise themselves in communities. Here the Government, after ascertaining the wishes of the local population, and with its help, has set up at particular points basic services around which village communities may grow and common action develop. In urban areas steps have been taken to develop municipal councils on a representative basis with a view to giving local people real responsibility in public affairs. A considerable effort has been made to improve housing. Community restaurants have been set up as well as control shops (magasins-témoins) and consumer co-operatives. In addition there has been considerable activity designed to facilitate social cohesion or strengthen family life. This has mamfested itself in tribal groupings in particular areas of the towns and in the formation of associations such as trade unions, occupational groups and mutual benefit societies, all of which are conceived as stimulating community development, by providing new units, more suited to modern life, between the various elements of the urban community. On the family side, efforts have centred on the social education of women, largely through the agency of social centres run by teams of women social workers, specialists in different fields, including household management and child welfare. Other Parts of Africa It would be interesting to examine to what extent the activities now going on in other parts of Africa could be regarded as meeting the criteria already indicated COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT 103 and thus coming within the definition of community development schemes. In this connection mention might be made, purely by way of illustration, of the Agricultural Councils in Liberia. These are voluntary organisations financed by the contributions of their members; with technical help from government agricultural specialists and from locally trained agricultural assistants they carry out programmes of agricultural improvement, distribution of seedlings, improving strains of poultry and the like. Apart from such services, however, some educational propaganda work is undertaken on health and sanitary matters. The paysannats in the Belgian Congo and in Ruanda-Urundi have already been referred to. While they are not themselves schemes in which the emphasis is laid on techniques for arousing and stimulating the initiative of the people, they form a suitable basis upon which that initiative can be exercised and expanded. There is abundant evidence also, in such matters as the development of more democratic organs of local government, the transformation of farming practices, the creation of villages and the co-ordinated educational programme, that the bases upon which a community development movement could be grafted already exist. In the Union of South Africa, while there is little positive achievement that could be attributed to the community development movement, the Tomlinson Commission seems clearly to have recognised the validity of the principle that the development of the Bantu areas should be undertaken in co-operation with the Bantu and as far as possible by the Bantu themselves. Initially, Europeans would have to provide in large measure the entrepreneurial skill, capital and technical knowledge required, but simultaneously the Bantu should be assisted to acquire these themselves. Only in this manner can the people themselves be developed and thereby rapid and lasting development be achieved as was shown, inter alia, by the success achieved by the Tennessee Valley Authority with its " grass roots " policy. Its chairman also declared that " development envisaged in its entirety could become a reality if and only if the people of the region did much of the planning, and participated in most of the decisions ". Such participation is also itself a contribution to well-being.1 CONCLUSIONS The general picture of the community development movement in Africa as it has been presented suggests promise rather than performance, the main achievements so far being in certain British territories and in Ghana. The developments taking place indicate, however, that the basic problems of the relationship between the community development movement, the evolution of traditional forms of tribal organisation and of statutory local government and the administrative and technical services of the government are being seriously tackled and that tentative solutions involving a series of different approaches are being worked out in accordance with the different degrees of evolution of the communities concerned. The latest developments in French territories are excellent examples of such approaches, and while a proper equilibrium between the various elements of traditional and imposed authority and voluntary effort and initiative may not always have been reached, progress has undoubtedly been made. To end this account it may be appropriate to recall the list of points that the Secretary-General of the United Nations submitted to the Social Commission in 1955 as being essential for the success of community development schemes: Summary of the Tomlinson Report, op. cit., p. 112. 104 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY (a) Activities undertaken must correspond to the basic needs of the community; the first projects should be initiated in response to the expressed needs of people. (b) While local improvements may be achieved through unrelated efforts in each substantive field, full and balanced community development requires concerted action and the estabUshment of multi-purpose programmes. . (c) Changed attitudes in people are more important than the material achievements of community development projects. (d) Community development aims at increased and better participation of the people in community affairs, revitalisation of existing forms of local government and transition towards effective local administration where it is not yet functioning. (e) The identification, encouragement and training of local leadership should be a basic objective in any programme. (f) Greater reliance on the participation of women and youth in community projects invigorates development programmes, establishes them on a wide basis and secures longrange expansion. (g) To be fully effective, communities' self-help projects require both intensive and extensive assistance by the government. (h) Implementation of a community development programme on a national scale requires: adoption of consistent policies, specific administrative arrangements, recruitment and training of personnel, mobilisation of local and national resources and organisation of research, experimentation and evaluation. (i) The resources of voluntary and non-governmental organisations should be fully utilised in community development programmes at the local, national and international level. (j) Economic and social progress at the local level necessitates parallel development on a wider national scale.1 There is, perhaps, only one more point that need be stressed. Community development by its very nature extends to and concerns all sections of the community. In Africa it is particularly essential that women and young persons should participate fully in community development planning and work and should in this way both learn and contribute to these efforts of self-improvement. It is no exaggeration to say that without the participation of these groups community development schemes will have only a superficial impact. Particularly in the villages and rural areas, where women play such an important role in the economy as well as in the home, the key to success is the gaining of the understanding, co-operation and whole-hearted participation of women : changes in their attitudes are essential to progress in all fields and in particular to the raising of living standards, which are, after all, the standards of the home. Special programmes, societies, institutes and activities for women, and measures to enlist their co-operation in the programme as a whole, are thus an integral part of all community development. The co-operation and participation of youth is equally important to the success of community development programmes. It is not only a question of harnessing their energies and giving the schemes greater vitality. It is a question of continuity of policy and action, a need to attach the younger generation to the problems of their local communities and to interest it in their solution, a means of preparing it to accept larger responsibilities in the wider community as a whole and of educating it for the future. Thus programmes and activities for youth also form an essential part of all community development work. 1 United Nations: Report of the Committee on Information from Non-Self-Governing Territories, General Assembly: 10th Session, Official Records, Supplement No. 16 (New York, 1955), p. 25. CHAPTER IV MANPOWER AND EMPLOYMENT The first three chapters have been mainly devoted to filling in the background against which the labour and social problems of special interest to the student of African conditions could be more fully examined, although some of the particular problems of rural Africa have been discussed in detail in Chapters II and III. The time has now come to complete the picture by giving some account of the demographic situation and population trends, the density of population in particular areas and the ensuing economic and social consequences, the economically active population and its occupational distribution and the structure by age and sex of the wage-earning sector. With these figures in mind it will then be appropriate to examine the general features of the employment market, the question of placement of workers and the introduction of employment exchanges. Finally, in view of the important migratory movements which occur in Africa, some indication will be given of their extent and direction and of the conditions under which they take place. POPULATION AND MANPOWER Total Populations The difficulties arising from geographical, cultural and administrative factors in African territories have so far made the preparation of satisfactory population statistics an impossibility. Most administrations for many years failed to realise the value of such statistics in the shaping of economic and social policy. Until recently they were mainly concerned with making registers of persons liable to poll tax or hut tax, and these in fact served as the only numerical bases for nearly all estimates of population. Consequently, in the years before the Second World War the figures for the populations of the different African territories supplied by the governments concerned and published in the Statistical Yearbook of the League of Nations were little more than estimates of varying accuracy. Except for the Union of South Africa and a very small number of other territories, where a certain amount of statistical work had been carried out, it may be said that no real population census had been made anywhere in Africa. The position has improved appreciably since 1945. Complete censuses of the African population, described as reliable by the United Nations Demographic Yearbook, were made for the first time, by means of questionnaires on a family or group basis or by sampling, in the territories of British East Africa (Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika) and in Southern Rhodesia in 1948, in Northern Rhodesia in 1950 and in Angola and Mozambique in 1940 and 1950. In the Belgian 106 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Congo and Ruanda-Urundi a system of regular registration of the population on a card-index system, coupled with demographic investigations based on sampling, does not seem to have produced completely satisfactory results. The administrations of these territories therefore decided in 1954 to make certain alterations in the methods of taking population censuses ; among other changes they introduced a system of random sampling, a system widely recommended by statisticians. For the French territories the United Nations Demographic Yearbook only gives figures for the European population; apparently the figures for Africans are estimates. However, censuses based on modern principles have in recent years been taken in several urban centres. For instance, in 1955 a census was eifected in Dakar and Abidjan. In the same year a socio-demographic investigation using sampling techniques was carried out in French Guinea.1 Despite the recent advances which seem to be going on in many parts of Africa, the statistical information at present available—whether mere estimates or the results of censuses considered to be reliable—is still far from satisfactory and can only give a rough guide to the relative size of the various African populations. It is with this reservation in mind that the figures given in table 1 of Appendix III must be examined. According to these figures, which give the breakdown by territories, the total population of Africa south of the Sahara is estimated to be about 150 million. If the Union of South Africa, with its 13,669,000 inhabitants, is excluded there are 137 million persons in all in what is known as tropical Africa. When compared with the over-all totals, the groups of non-African origin, except in the case of South Africa, make up, from the quantitative point of view, a very small percentage of the total population. In fact, it is estimated that the number of Europeans living in Africa south of the Sahara (excluding the Union of South Africa) is 820,000, or 0.65 per cent, of the total population. Of Indians, who form the next largest non-African group after the Europeans, there are 320,000. In the Union of South Africa there were, in 1955, 2,856,000 Europeans, 1,242,000 Coloured persons and 410,000 Asiatics. Population Density Consideration of the over-all figures of the population of Africa in relation to its area will show a very low average population density (about seven per square kilometre). This is a basic feature of the hot and rainy areas of Africa, and the same feature can be found in those parts of the American Continent where similar physical conditions occur. The density of population is very uneven from one territory to another.3 Moreover, the distribution of population within each territory is also very uneven. Consequently problems related to demographic conditions, such as the availability of manpower, can vary greatly between different areas. Over a vast area of West Africa (including the coastal areas of Dahomey, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ghana, Togoland, Nigeria and the British Cameroons) the population density is comparatively high (between 20 and 50 per square kilometre); in Nigeria it even exceeds 100 per square kilometre in some places. However, there are also in this part of Africa vast areas which are very thinly popu1 See " Les recensements démographiques dans les pays d'outre-mer ", in Bulletin mensuel de Statistique d'Outre-Mer (Paris, I.N.S.E.E.), Supplement No. 35, Jan. 1957. 2 See Appendix III, table 1, column 4. MANPOWER AND EMPLOYMENT 107 lated. The average density of population in Western Africa is put by Gourou at 13.3 per square kilometre.1 In East Africa, although the average density of population is not much higher than that of tropical Africa as a whole, certain areas are heavily populated. This applies to those parts of Uganda lying round Lake Victoria and to Ruanda-Urundi, where the average density is as high as 79 per square kilometre. The high plateau areas of Kenya also support a large population; in the territories inhabited by the Kikuyu, for instance, the population density is 160 per square kilometre. Further south, in Nyasaland, the regions bordering on Lake Nyasa have a population density of 80 per square kilometre, while the average in the mountains and in the high plateau districts is only four per square kilometre. Mozambique is, on the average, more thinly populated than the other East African territories, having eight inhabitants per square kilometre. The lowest densities are found in Central Africa, particularly in the equatorial forest areas near the Congo. French Equatorial Africa has less than two inhabitants per square kilometre, the Belgian Congo five. Further south there is a vast area of high plateau with a dry climate; this area is very sparsely populated. We find average populations of three per square kilometre in Angola and in Northern Rhodesia and of six per square kilometre in Southern Rhodesia (where, incidentally, large numbers of people are concentrated in the Native reserves). Still further south, South-West Africa has a population density of about one per square kilometre, and the average density in Bechuanaland is less than one. This brief review of population densities in African territories brings out both the low over-all density and the uneven distribution of the population, with thickly populated centres adjacent to almost completely uninhabited areas. It should be added that the figures showing the number of inhabitants per square kilometre have significance only when related to natural resources, production techniques and the social structures. It can, indeed, be claimed that the populations of Africa, although small, are still too large in relation to the means of subsistence obtained from the soil; this may cease to be true when methods of cultivation have progressed and if social structures can be adapted and transformed in ways which will permit modernisation of the economy. The very difficult problem of the balance between population and local resources depends as much on demographic and geographic factors as on sociological and economic development.2 None the less, the fullest possible information on the density of the population in the various territories is essential to the shaping of social policy, especially in relation to questions of manpower and employment. Population Trends As with the information on population density, data available on quantitative population trends are of great importance in the field of social policy. The basic question in this connection is whether or not to assume that the population of Africa is entering a period of rapid expansion like that which occurred 1 2 See P. GOUROU: Les Pays tropicaux (Paris, Presses universitaires de France, 1953). On the subject of the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi see P. GOUROU: La densité de la population au Ruanda-Urundi (Brussels, Institut royal colonial beige, 1953); and La densité de la population rurale au Congo belge (Brussels, Académie royale des sciences coloniales, 1955). 108 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY in Europe in the nineteenth century. Such a development seems to be taking place today in North Africa, and many observers think that it will inevitably spread in the near future to the rest of Africa.1 It is generally accepted that in the pre-colonial era the populations of Africa were stationary or even falling on account of the frequent tribal wars, the epidemic and endemic diseases and the famines that ravaged many territories, and the slave trade. Although the intensification of European colonial activity towards the end of the nineteenth century may to some extent have contributed to the depopulation of these territories because of the many revolts and their repression by military force, a trend in the opposite direction appears to have set in later and led to a fairly substantial increase in population. This positive trend has become more marked in the current century, thanks to the growing use of new methods of hygiene and medical care. Obviously, the various theories concerning the earlier evolution of the African peoples are not based on confirmed data; they are hypotheses whose real value is very questionable. In recent times there has certainly been an increase in population in most territories2, but again the results of censuses, particularly the comparability of successive censuses, can only be accepted with the greatest reserve. In fact, the United Nations Demographic Yearbook gives rates of increase or decrease in indigenous populations only for a very few of the African territories. Furthermore, vital statistics are in nearly all territories most uncertain and irregular. Most of these statistics fail to provide the evidence on which a scientific assessment could be made of the rate of growth of the populations. Finally, the relative importance of the different age groups in the composition of the populations is known in only a very approximate way, although this is an essential factor in the consideration of population problems. It is known, however, that the proportion of " young people " is very much higher in African populations than in those of European countries. It was recently stated, on the basis of a United Nations estimate, that in Africa " there are almost twice as many ' children ' and only a third as many ' old people ' as there are in typical Western countries ".3 However, several investigations on a limited scale have been undertaken in this field in Africa. For some territories the results of demographic investigations, made by the use of sampling techniques, are available and have been extrapolated in order to calculate the birth rate and death rate of the population as a whole. There are, however, risks in using these extrapolations since they are based on too small a number of samples. In the Belgian Congo sampling surveys carried out in 1952 and 1953 (covering about 3 per cent, of the total population) showed birth rates of respectively 33.1 and 34.3 per thousand inhabitants. The mortality rates for the same years were worked out at 21.7 and 21.6 per thousand. The natural rate of increase would therefore be about 11.4 per thousand in 1952 and 12.7 per thousand in 1953. In French Guinea, according to the results of a demographic investigation on the sampling method made in 1954-55, the rate of increase of the population appears to be about 2 per cent, per annum. 1 See, amongst other writers, L. T. BADENHORST: "Population Distribution and Growth in Africa ", in Population Studies (London, New York, Cambridge University Press), Vol. V, No. 1, July 1951, p. 23. 2 See Appendix III, table 1. 3 See " Problèmes de la population en Afrique ", in Etudes et Conjonctures (Paris, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques), 10th Year, No. 8, Aug. 1955, p. 727. MANPOWER AND EMPLOYMENT 109 In Southern Rhodesia the first census made on the sampling system was taken in 1948 and showed a rate of natural increase for the active population of about 28.1 per thousand. This means that the population should double in the next 25 years. In British East Africa the only usable vital statistics seem to be those of Uganda. Working on these statistics, and on the basis of fertility studies made in Uganda and Tanganyika, C. J. Martin has shown that the rate of natural increase in the population of these two territories must be at least 1.5 per cent, per annum. As for Kenya, the same author thinks, despite the lack of available information, that the rate may be as high as 2 per cent, per annum.1 For Angola and Mozambique the United Nations Demographic Yearbook, 1955, puts the rate of increase in the population at 1.04 and 1.20 per cent, per annum respectively. In Madagascar, although the statistical material available is still very poor, a drop is reported in the mortality rate; this drop is probably considerable and suggests that there will be a rapid rise in the population.2 Finally, in the Union of South Africa the death rate and the birth rate of the African population are estimated at from 27 to 32 per thousand and from 43 to 47 per thousand respectively, which would give a rate of natural increase of about 15 per thousand. The yearly rate of increase among Europeans and Coloured persons was 16.9 and 25 per thousand respectively during the period 1936-52. These figures, however uncertain the data on which they are based, seem to confirm certain demographic features widely attributed to the African populations : on the one hand, a very high birth rate and, on the other hand, a death rate that is also very high but is falling as a result of improvement in hygiene and in disease prevention and treatment. Although, then, it is still impossible on the statistical information available to check the various hypotheses put forward concerning the evolution of the African populations, we can at least accept in broad terms as valid for Africa in general the statement made in a United Nations study on Tanganyika 3 that " without doubt a large potential growth is inherent in the existing demographic situation, and economic advancement linked with extensive social welfare activities would bring about a specific increase". This is a phenomenon which will give rise to serious problems in the employment field. The non-African groups—that is, the Europeans and Asians—have grown considerably during the post-war period.4 European migration has expanded, particularly in the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, Kenya, Tanganyika and the Portuguese territories. However, the increase in the European population in the Rhodesias is largely due to white immigration from the Union of South Africa (in 1956, of a total of 26,201 immigrants, 12,165 were South Africans). In the Union of South Africa, on the other hand, the total number of new European immigrants in 1956 was 14,919, a figure which little more than compensated for South African migration to the Rhodesias. 1 See C. J. MARTIN: " Some Estimates of the General Age Distribution, Fertility and Rate of Natural Increase of the African Population of British East Africa ", in Population Studies, Vol. VII, No. 2, Nov. 1953, p. 181. 2 See Louis CHEVALIER : Madagascar—Population et Ressources (Paris, Presses universitaires de France, 1952). 3 United Nations, Department of Social Affairs: The Population of Tanganyika (New York, 1949).4 See Appendix III, table 1. 110 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Although communities of European origin of considerable size have been permanently established, sometimes for several generations, particularly in Southern Rhodesia, Kenya and Angola, as well as in the Union of South Africa, a large proportion of the immigrants (other than Indians) do not settle in Africa permanently. A few attempts have been made to bring in European settlers on a permanent basis in large numbers and with official support; mention should be made of the schemes now in process on the plateaux of Angola and in the valley of the Limpopo in Mozambique.1 The population of Asian origin concentrated in the East African territories (Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika) has been increasing rapidly in the last few decades. This has been due not only to immigration but also to the very high rate of natural increase, which has been estimated at between 2.5 and 3.5 per cent, per annum. The immigration of Indians is, in fact, strictly controlled in all three territories. It has averaged about 7,000 persons per year in the last few years. On the basis of immigration on this scale, it has been estimated that the Asian population of British East Africa will reach about 313,000 in 1958. Assuming that this increase continues at the rate of 2.5 per cent, per annum, the total Asian population will rise to 425,000 in 1970, excluding any possible increases due to immigration. In the Union of South Africa the population of Asian origin was estimated in 1955 to be 410,000 strong; as has already been indicated, the natural increase of the Asian population was 25 per thousand during the period 1936-52. On the basis of this rate of increase the number of Asians living in the Union of South Africa towards the end of this century would be around 1,120,000. The Economically Active Population and Its Occupational Distribution African Population. In the economy of the African population three major groups of activity may be distinguished: production within the framework of the traditional or subsistence economy; commerciahsed cash cropping, which is in the hands of independent farmers and is intended primarily for export; and work in return for wages in modern undertakings which are generally managed by Europeans. Between these three sectors it is not, of course, possible to make clear lines of demarcation. In fact, many Africans are engaged in cash cropping or employed as wage earners in modern industrial undertakings while continuing to take a more or less regular part in the subsistence activities that are typical of the traditional African economy. Africans do not by any means confine themselves to these three types of activity. An important part of the active population, especially in the urban centres, which are today expanding at increasing speed, consists of men and women working on their own account in commerce, in handicrafts and in independent minor industries. A great many of these workers are small traders or pedlars trying to supply the needs of an ever-growing urban population; others follow a great variety 'The number of settlers already installed in the Cela district of Angola was around 1,500. No figures are available as to the number of European settlers who have been settled in Mozambique. (See Jornal do Comercio (Lisbon), 28 Sep. 1955.) In addition, in September 1957 the Governor-General of Angola announced a scheme for the settlement of 2,000 families, comprising some 10,000 people, during the next six years (see Boletim Geral do Ultramar, No. 390, Dec. 1957), while in Mozambique 103 European families had been settled by the end of 1957 and 3,000 more families were to be settled there later (ibid., No. 391, Jan. 1958). MANPOWER AND EMPLOYMENT 111 of callings, such as tailors, joiners and mechanics. This is an economic group about which little is as yet known, but which is definitely of importance as it can help considerably in the establishment of a " middle class " in African society.1 The information available, although insufficient and unreliable, suggests that most of the independent workers in the African towns are engaged mainly on work connected with small trading, with distribution and the transport of a variety of imported or locally produced articles. This feature is common to the populations in all territories but is particularly marked in West Africa2, especially in Nigeria, where a large part of the population is to be found in townships of over 5,000 inhabitants. The situation in East Africa is different in that there the Indians play a dominant part in commerce, especially in the distribution of imported articles and in the purchase of African products intended for export. In Angola the position of Europeans, even in small trading, is very important, and in the Rhodesias also European organisations are to a large extent in control of trade in agricultural products. It can be more or less accepted that the growth of independent activities among Africans in trade, industry and the crafts is still precarious even though the statistics available give little precise information on the subject. Such activities, which by their very nature tend to be irregular, are as a rule not shown in statistical records. One thing, however, appears certain: a large number of Africans are engaged in a great variety of activities, particularly those connected with small trading, even though for spells of varying duration they form part of the category of wage earners or continue to share in agricultural work in the guise of independent farmers. As the lack of specialisation in any one calling is a basic feature of the working population in Africa, employment statistics can only show the number of workers occupied at a given moment in definite occupations. This reservation must be kept in mind when studying the figures shown in tables 2 and 3 of Appendix III. Owing to the lack of over-all figures it is impossible to make any estimate of the distribution of non-wage-earning manpower employed in agriculture between cash cropping and subsistence agriculture. A recent study, which takes as its basis the distribution of land used for the different types of cultivation, estimated that on the average 27 per cent, of men over 15 years of age were engaged in cash-crop agriculture, while 60 per cent, were still at work in subsistence agriculture and 13 per cent, were wage earners.3 This estimate refers to nine territories in tropical Africa in which conditions vary greatly; it is not a very reliable pointer and it cannot be considered to hold good for all territories. Moreover it totally neglects the fact that an important part of all work in agriculture is done by women. In view of the character of the statistical and other information at present available, it seems preferable not to attempt to do more than to make a distinction between wage earners and independent workers. Even so, it must be pointed out that the figures dealing with workers in receipt of wages are also far from exact 1 For the situation in the Belgian Congo see A. VAN CAUWENBERGH : " Le développement du commerce et de l'artisanat indigènes à Léopoldville", in Zaire, Vol. X, No. 6, June 1956, p. 637; J. GHILAIN: " Pourquoi encadrer l'économie indigène au Congo Belge? ", in Revue de l'Institut de Sociologie (Université libre de Bruxelles), 1954, No. 3, p. 609; and G. BALANDIER: " Le travail non salarié dans les Brazzaville noires ", in Zaïre, Vol. VI, No. 7, July-Aug. 1952, p. 675. 2 See P. T. BAUER and B. S. YAMEY: " Economie Progress and Professional Distribution ", in The Economie Journal (London, Royal Economie Society), Dec. 1951. See also, on the cocoa-producing areas of Western Nigeria, GALLETTI, BALDWIN and DINA: Nigerian Cocoa Farmers, op. cit. 3 United Nations: Enlargement of the Exchange Economy in Tropical Africa, op. cit., p. 17. 112 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY and that it is extremely difficult to compare them between one territory and another because of the diversity of methods used in Africa in calculating the total number of workers. Appendix III, table 2, shows, on the basis of available data, the numbers of wage earners in the different territories and the relationship between these figures and the total numbers of able-bodied adult men. An examination of this table reveals that the number of wage earners has gone up in the last few decades much faster than the population.1 It can also be seen that the proportion of wage earners to the total of able-bodied men varies greatly from one territory to another. These differences in the structure of the working population are obviously due mainly to the economic conditions peculiar to each territory. In the countries of West Africa, such as French West Africa, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Ghana, the economy is marked by a great preponderance of cash-crop agriculture, which is in the hands of independent indigenous farmers, and the percentages of wage earners are accordingly among the lowest encountered. On the other hand, in territories where European undertakings dominate agriculture, and also in the mining and manufacturing industries, the economy naturally requires much larger numbers of wage earners. As the relative importance of the different economic sectors varies greatly between one territory and another, sharp variations are bound to occur in the percentages of wage earners; in fact these percentages vary between 4 per cent, in Nigeria and nearly 50 per cent, in the Rhodesias.2 In certain territories the increase in the number of wage earners is closely bound up with the internal or external migrations of African workers.3 It should also be noted that a number of Africans, mainly in Nigeria, Ghana and Uganda, themselves employ other Africans regularly on their plantations in return for payment.4 Similarly Africans are found, though less frequently, as employers in commerce and in the minor industries of the urban centres. In countries where the liberal professions are more and more opening their doors to Africans there are lawyers, doctors and teachers, most of whom have received their university training abroad. European Population. Unlike the African population, the economically active European population includes numerous groups of employers and independent members of the professions, such as lawyers and doctors. In view of their relatively small number compared with the total population, the Europeans form only a small fraction of the wageearning group. Moreover, a large proportion of European employees are civil servants. Of those occupied in the private sector of the economy, a large number are engaged in office work as directors or managers of undertakings or as office employees. Lastly, there is a minority who work as overseers or skilled workmen. Obviously the situation in the Union of South Africa is quite different, since there is a community of European origin more than 2.5 million strong. The number of European wage earners in the Union is in fact very considerable, whether looked at in relation to the total economically active European population or in relation to the total number of wage earners. In manufacturing and in transport and com1 2 3 4 For a further discussion of the problem see p. 114. See Appendix III, table 2. See also Chapter IX. No statistics on the number of persons involved exist. MANPOWER AND EMPLOYMENT 113 munications the proportion of workers of European origin in the total labour force engaged in these branches was respectively 32 per cent. (1952-53) and 50 per cent. (1956). The proportion of wage earners and salaried employees of European origin to the total number of wage earners is about 9 per cent, in Southern Rhodesia and in French West Africa, 7 per cent, in Madagascar, 6 per cent, in Northern Rhodesia and 3 per cent, in Kenya. In all the other territories the percentage of European workers is lower.1 However, the figures just given are averages for the territories concerned and obviously do not indicate the special position in certain localities, such as the various urban areas, in which the percentage of European workers is often much higher than the average for the territories under consideration. Dakar, in French West Africa, or the mining area of the Copper Belt in Northern Rhodesia, where European workers form 13 per cent, of the total manpower, are examples. Since the Second World War the increase in the number of European workers has been accompanied in several territories by a great expansion in the total number of African workers. This was no doubt largely due to the shortage of skilled Africans. It is, however, difficult to forecast the probable trend in the use within Africa of manpower of European origin. These workers cost much more than the Africans and their adaptation to local conditions gives rise to many problems. It is claimed that these disadvantages are counterbalanced by the fact that their output is far higher than that of the African worker. Be that as it may, the African, as he develops the habit of work and grows accustomed to modern methods, will be increasingly able to replace Europeans in the tasks for which Europeans are at present used. It is true that there are still considerable difficulties in the way of the advancement of African workers. The shortcomings in their technical training and certain discriminatory practices which make it difficult if not impossible for Africans to hold positions as technical speciahsts may be cited as examples. These questions are examined elsewhere in the survey. Population of Asian Origin. As already indicated, there are important nuclei of Indians and Pakistanis in the East African territories; they are concentrated mainly in the urban centres, where they own relatively more trading establishments and small industrial undertakings than the Africans. At the same time, more and more Indians and Pakistanis are taking wage-earning employment in the various branches of industry (except agriculture) as technicians or skilled workers. Indian and Pakistani manpower in fact makes up 6 per cent, of the total number of wage earners in Kenya and 5 per cent, in Uganda and Tanganyika. In Mozambique there were in 1950 some 3,000 Indian and Pakistani wage earners. In view of the rapid rise in their number and the comparatively high percentages already working on their own account in commerce and industry it can be assumed that the number of Asian wage earners is likely to increase. In the Union of South Africa, Indians and Pakistanis show the same preference for commerce (29 per cent, of the active Asian population). None the less, industry employs a considerable proportion (25 per cent.), as does agriculture (19 per cent.).2 1 Angola may be an exception, but the census of population in this territory gives no information on the occupational distribution of the European working population. 2 These figures refer to 1946. 114 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Structure of the Wage-Earning Sector An examination of Appendix III, table 2, shows that there has been a rapid increase in the total number of wage earners in most African territories. This expansion is one of the most characteristic features of the social evolution of the area during the period since the last war; although considerable differences exist between individual territories, as has been pointed out above, the percentages of wage earners in relation to the total of adult able-bodied men confirm strikingly the magnitude and widespread character of this phenomenon. The figures show that the increase in the number of wage earners has in general been more rapid than the increase in population. This situation is evidently closely bound up with the process of economic development which has occurred to a varying degree in the various African territories, favoured as they have been by the volume of demand for the goods which they could export and by the supply of capital from abroad, which has made it possible to keep both public and private investment at a fairly high level. Distribution by Sector of Activity. The statistical information available on the distribution of wage earners by major divisions of economic activity applies in most cases to the last few years only. It must also be borne in mind that the criteria used in classifying these types of work vary not only from country to country, but even in some cases from year to year. Consequently the data in Appendix III, table 2, are not an adequate basis for exact deductions on developments in the manpower situation. It seems, however, justifiable to use it to obtain some general pointers. First, it must be remembered that agriculture is still the sector which gives employment to the greatest number of wage earners. There seems to be no sign of a fall in the level of employment in this sector, even in territories such as the Belgian Congo, the Rhodesias and British East Africa, where other branches such as manufacturing, building and construction have in recent years undergone very rapid expansion. There is nothing surprising in this, in view of the fact that agriculture is still by far the most important branch of the economy in practically every territory. The mining industry, despite the great rise in the output of minerals in the post-war period, has not in the last few years increased the amount of manpower it employs except in Northern Rhodesia. There has, in several territories, even been a certain falling off of employment in this sector. This situation can be explained, especially in the Belgian Congo1, by increased rationalisation of working methods, which appears to have raised the output of the African worker and so made it possible to reduce the numbers employed. On the other hand, the rise in the total number of workers employed in the manufacturing industries and in building and construction, appears to be very large. This is without doubt the most important structural change to be borne in mind when considering wage-earning trends in Africa during the last ten years, for many groups of workers now tend, unlike the African workers of tradition whose basic 1 " Main-d'œuvre, salaires et productivité au Congo belge et au Ruanda-Urundi ", in Bulletin de la Banque centrale du Congo belge et du Ruanda-Urundi, Fourth Year, No. 11, Nov. 1955. MANPOWER AND EMPLOYMENT 115 characteristics were that they were migrants without any special occupational skills, to settle more and more in the urban centres and adapt themselves to the new tasks set by modern industry. Also to be noted is the growth of employment in transport, commerce, public utilities and public administration. These sectors contain very different activities, which are often grouped on the basis of criteria varying appreciably from one territory to another. Public administration in particular generally includes not only the administrative civil servants but also the industrial employees of the State, or those in undertakings working under concessions and workers engaged on public works. It seems, however, that the increased opportunities for employment offered by many of these different activities are largely responsible for the expansion of the new forms of wage-earning employment on the European pattern which are gradually taking root in Africa. The resulting changes in the social and economic structure affect not only the wage earners but also the whole of African society, for these urban workers, depending more and more on their wages and their technical skill for the maintenance of their standards of living, together with the traders and other individuals working on their own account, form the basic elements of the new social class that is coming into being in Africa. In this connection attention should be drawn to the special importance of the increasingly numerous groups of African civil servants and administrative employees which make up a large part of the modern intellectual élite in the different territories. It therefore seems most desirable that further investigation should be made into these various aspects of employment in Africa in order to improve both quantitatively and qualitatively the information at present available. Distribution by Occupations. The shortcomings of the statistical data available are particularly noticeable when we come to look at the distribution of workers by occupational grading. Here it is difficult to judge the strength of skilled workers and of specialists in relation to unskilled workers. The diversity of classification adopted in this connection also makes any comparison between one territory and another extremely risky. Nevertheless, there can be no doubt that one of the most characteristic features of the African labour force in its present stage of development is the very low level of technical skill as yet attained by the large majority of workers. This situation is fully confirmed by the results of investigations made recently in a number of African centres which are considered to be amongst those most highly developed from the economic standpoint. In French West Africa, for instance, a study by A. Hauser1 on manpower in the processing industries, in the engineering workshops and on the mechanised farms of the Dakar area shows that the proportion of labourers was 75 per cent, of the African labour force, while the skilled (ouvriers) and semi-skilled (aide-ouvriers) men, i.e. those possessing a minimum of skill, made up 25 per cent. There were very few Africans in the foreman class. On the other hand the same author found that among the European staff, which made up about one-tenth of the industrial manpower of Dakar, foremen accounted for the largest single group (about 30 per cent.), skilled men up to 20 per cent., and 1 A. HAUSER : " Quelques relations des travailleurs de l'industrie à leur travail en Afrique occidentale française (Sénégal, Soudan, Guinée) ", in Bulletin de iInstitut Français d'Afrique Noire (Dakar), Vol. XVII, Series B, Nos. 1 and 2, 1955. 116 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY supervisory staff and engineers some 5 per cent. It would seem that the rest of the European wage earners belong for the most part to the salaried-employee group, as there are few Europeans in the labourer group. In the Belgian Congo it can be said that supervisory posts are held almost exclusively by European employees, although in certain cases, particularly in the mines, Africans are used as gang leaders under the supervision of European employees. On the other hand there are, in the Belgian Congo, important groups of skilled or semi-skilled Africans, especially in the urban centres. Recently a U.N.E.S.C.O. team examined the situation of workers in the urban centre of Stanleyville. Its conclusions show that the percentages of unskilled workers and of skilled and semi-skilled workers respectively were 36.7 and 42.5. It must, however, be remembered that special definitions were used for the different occupation gradings when this study was made.1 In the Portuguese territories there is no exact information on this subject. However, it would seem that the technical skill of the African workers is at the most modest of levels, for these territories are in a relatively low stage of economic development; moreover, there are large numbers of European wage earners, especially in Angola, where Europeans make up about 10 per cent, of the total industrial labour force. These workers certainly hold a very strong position in the foreman class and also among the skilled workers. The policy followed by the public authorities in the Portuguese territories is, incidentally, intended to ensure that maximum use is made of European employees in all branches of the economy. In Angola, for instance, Ordinance No. 7869 of 25 June 19522 lays down that farmers, traders and industrialists who employ indigenous workers must take on European or assimilated foremen and skilled workers. Under this Ordinance employers who take on Native craftsmen such as masons, carpenters, joiners, blacksmiths, mechanics, etc., are required to employ one European or assimilated workman for every five Africans. The numerical data available concerning the British territories are also very limited. Tanganyika and Uganda are the only two countries which have published statistical analyses dealing with the distribution of manpower by occupational gradings. In Tanganyika the result of the 1952 census of African wage earners shows that 43 per cent, of all workers in private employment and 19.6 per cent, of all workers in the public service were unskilled. Furthermore, the agricultural labour force working regularly on sisal, tea, coffee, tobacco and mixed plantations includes on the average 81 per cent, of unskilled workers.3 In Uganda, of a total of 194,319 adult men employed as wage earners, 141,278 or 73 per cent, were in 1952 considered as unskilled.4 The report of the committee which studied African wages in Kenya in 1954 contains information which indicates the comparative numbers of skilled and unskilled workers. It appears that African workers earning less than 100 shillings per month were considered as being unskilled labourers and that such workers made 1 Social Implications of Industrialisation and Urbanisation in Africa South of the Sahara, op. cit., p. 268. 2 See Industry and Labour (Geneva, I.L.O.), Vol. VIII, No. 8, 15 Oct. 1952, p. 344. 3 East African Statistical Department : Report on the Enumeration of African Employees in Tanganyika, 31st July 1952 (Nairobi, Sep. 1953; mimeographed), pp. 12-16. 4 Idem: Report on the Enumeration of African Employees in Uganda, September 1952 (Nairobi, June 1953; mimeographed), p. 6. MANPOWER AND EMPLOYMENT 117 up 72 per cent, of the total labour force in private employment in urban centres and 52 per cent, in the public service.1 In practice all wage earners of Asian origin working in Kenya are, like the Europeans, considered to be skilled workers. In fact, in all territories African workers considered to be skilled or semi-skilled are as a rule put under the supervision of European or Asian specialists, who are given work which calls for more precision and greater responsibility. As has been pointed out above. Southern Rhodesia is, next to South Africa, the territory with the largest number of Europeans in Africa south of the Sahara. The presence of large groups of wage earners of European origin, coupled with various agreements reached between employers and trade union organisations under the provisions of the Industrial Conciliation Act of 1945 2, has had the effect in certain industries and certain parts of the country of restricting the chances of Africans of obtaining skilled employment. However, outside these industries and localities the employment of Africans in work which requires a certain degree of technical skill is becoming more and more widespread as a result of the very rapid industrial expansion that has been occurring in Southern Rhodesia since the Second World War. In the Union of South Africa certain statutory provisions restrict the engagement of Africans as skilled workers, and there are other obstacles to the acquisition of skills by Africans and to their employment in skilled occupations. Twenty years ago hardly any Africans were employed in skilled work. Under pressure of wartime conditions and the post-war shortage of skilled labour, however, opportunities for Africans have increased in number. Africans are still virtually excluded from work for which apprenticeship is required, but elsewhere increasing numbers of skilled Africans are now to be found, and the number of semi-skilled Africans employed in industry has grown rapidly with the industrial development of recent years. The engagement of African workers in posts previously held by white workers was described by the Minister of Labour of the Union, addressing the Union Parliament on 7 June 1955, as a " process of infiltration " which the Government hoped to be able to check and even to reverse. In fact, section 77 of the Industrial Conciliation Act, 19563, which came into force at the beginning of 1957, gives power to the Minister of Labour, after following a prescribed procedure, to reserve certain occupations for certain races.4 The policy of the South African Government on this question reflects the principle of separate development of the different racial communities, as is illustrated by the following statement made by the Minister of Labour: What I am in favour of is this, that when industries are established in the Native areas and Native reserves, those Natives should then have the opportunity of becoming skilled workers in their own industries in their own areas.6 It may be doubted, however, whether it will be possible to keep up the present pace of economic expansion in the Union of South Africa without the co-operation 1 Colony and Protectorate of Kenya: Report of the Committee on African Wages (Nairobi, Government Printer, 1954), pp. 25-28. 2 No. 21 of 1945. 3 No. 28 of 1956. See I.L.O. Legislative Series, 1956—S.A. 1. 4 This has been done in respect of a prescribed series of occupations in the clothing industry, hitherto largely occupied by non-White workers. Following widespread protests from the industry, while maintaining his Order, the Minister has in fact allowed resumption for an indefinite period of the status quo ante. 5 See Union of South Africa, House of Assembly Debates, 30 April-2 May 1957, cols. 5868-5870. 118 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY of ever-increasing numbers of skilled African workers in the present industrial centres, even allowing for the possibilities provided by mechanisation and rationalisation and by the immigration of more people of European origin. THE EMPLOYMENT MARKET General Features The shortage of labour in relation to demand is still frequently considered to be an essential feature of the African employment market. Such a view must not, however, be taken to be valid everywhere, for it obviously does not make allowances for the very varied conditions found in the diflferent territories. As early as 1938 Lord Hailey wrote that the shortage of manpower, which had had a great influence on the policy followed by administrators in labour questions, had become a problem of local rather than of general importance.1 Even today this appreciation seems to fit the true situation of the employment market in Africa. In fact there are many indications of shortages of workers, but at the same time there are indications which point to the sufficiency of the supply. These contrasts only go to confirm the diversity of conditions met in the various regions and the various branches of economic activity. For example, in British East Africa " shortages of labour are not commonly reported and where they occur are generally attributed to special circumstances ".2 The annual reports of the Department of Labour in Kenya point in fact to a shortage in the supply of workers for the sisal and sugar-cane plantations and also for some of the more arduous forms of labour in construction work, but otherwise there does not seem to be any shortage of manpower, particularly in the vicinity of urban centres. In the words of the report for 1955, " workers generally appeared to be more attracted to urban employment, with its ' all-in ' cash wage and generally greater remuneration, despite accommodation problems and higher costs of living ".3 In Uganda there are no reports of shortages of manpower in the major industries or on the larger plantations. However, the volume of seasonal employment offered by the ginning industry varies greatly from year to year, and it is reported that " a number of smaller estates are chronically short of labour and poor labour utilisation exaggerates their difficulties ".4 In Tanganyika the availability of manpower varies from one province to another and from one year to another; it was in general satisfactory in 1955. Apparently the greater or lesser success with their harvests obtained by Africans is the major factor controlling the supply of manpower. According to the Labour Department's Annual Report for 1955 " the reluctance of African workers to come forward for paid employment is thought to be probably attributable to the success of peasant cash crops ".5 Examination of the available information from the Rhodesias and Nyasaland shows analogous situations. In the great Northern Rhodesian mining centres of 1 2 3 An African Survey, op. cit. (1949 edition), p. 693. East Africa Royal Commission, 1953-1955: Report, op. cit., p. 146. Labour Department: Annual Report 1955, op. cit., p. 6. 'East Africa Royal Commission, 1953-1955: Report, op. cit., p. 147. 6 Annual Report of the Labour Department, 1955 (Dar-es-Salaam, Government Printer, 1956), p. 4. MANPOWER AND EMPLOYMENT 119 the Copper Belt the supply of unskilled African manpower is not only sufficient but usually exceeds the demand. On the other hand agricultural undertakings at times suffer from shortages of labour. The cause of this difficulty is that most Africans themselves cultivate land in the reserves, which are usually quite close to the European plantations; when the rainy season begins—just when the demand for labour rises—many of them go home to look after their own land. Similar difficulties are encountered on the plantations in Nyasaland which employ African labour. To contend with these difficulties many employers offer an " attendance bonus " during the period November to January and try to stabilise the workers by giving them suitable accommodation and offering economic incentives large enough to enable them to leave their own land in the reserves. According to the 1955 report of the Department of Labour in Nyasaland, a cry is raised each year that there is a shortage of labour, but " there is never any shortage of available manpower; if sufficient inducements are offered to lure villagers away from their customary existence, labour requirements on estates could be satisfied ".1 These are but a few of many examples typical of the situation found in many African regions. The Annual Report of the Department of Labour for 1953-54 in the Federation of Nigeria also observes that although there are millions of people whose strength and capability are largely unused there are still occasional acute labour shortages. This view of the situation no doubt holds good to a greater or lesser degree for most African territories. It is in fact quite obvious that the problem of availability of labour in Africa must be considered in relation not merely to the demographic and economic structure of the area but also to other circumstances such as the level of wages, the conditions of work and the policy followed by the authorities responsible for economic and social advancement—factors which it is by no means impossible to alter. It must first of all be recalled that the population of working age is divided between two main types of activity: wage-earning employment in the modern sectors of the economy and independent work in cash-crop agriculture or in the so-called subsistence economy. This being so, the number of workers who can be put into wage-earning work will depend on the policy which the authorities adopt. If they seek to maintain the forms of traditional rural life or to encourage cashcrop agriculture among independent African farmers and returns are favourable, then the number of workers available for employment as wage earners will inevitably tend to fall. On the other hand, the available demographic information shows that despite the low average density of population in Africa, areas can be found where there are very heavy concentrations of population. This is particularly true of RuandaUrundi and the Native reserves of Kenya, Southern Rhodesia and the Union of South Africa. There can be no doubt that, at least in these areas, a large part of the population of working age is in a typical situation of underemployment. This means that vast movements of manpower to other sectors of the economy would, from the economic point of view, be not only possible but eminently desirable. No serious studies are yet available of the problem of underemployment in the form in which it is generally found in Africa, and it would certainly be very difficult 1 Annual Report of the Labour Department for the Year Ended 31st December 1955 (Zomba, Government Printer, 1956), p. 7. 120 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY at the present time to pick out the basic elements to be used if a quantitative estimate of underemployment in the African territories were to be worked out. However, if it is accepted that a state of underemployment exists in a general economic sense when there is a " difference between the actual employment of labour resources and the full employment of such labour resources as might be made available under certain conditions "1, it would seem that underemployment does in fact exist in large areas of Africa. Whether the underemployment is seasonal or chronic, the phenomenon is typical of vast sectors of African agriculture and, it would seem, of certain urban sectors which have expanded very rapidly during the last ten years. It should also be pointed out that underemployment in Africa exists not only in visible form but also in a latent or "disguised" form, since the introduction of fresh capital, modernisation of plant and of methods of production, rationalisation of work and changes in the agrarian structure could release considerable quantities of manpower from various sectors of the economy without any ensuing reduction in total output. Moreover, it should not be forgotten that the level of wages, conditions of work and all the various measures dealing with the welfare of workers and their adaptation to the new forms of society can also exert great influence on the availability of manpower. One may then draw the conclusion that the shortage of manpower in Africa should not be looked on as a permanent, unchangeable factor, but rather as the result of a set of basic conditions which it is possible to change. The fact remains, however, that the employment market in Africa still shows a lack of flexibility and organisation in the modern sense which is very striking when compared with that found in economically more advanced countries. In many cases workers undoubtedly still react sluggishly to the stimulants characteristic of a money economy; in addition, their freedom of movement is restricted by the lack of means of transport and by various restrictions arising from custom or from the law. In many territories the old system of recruitment is in the process of giving way to employment services organised on modem lines. These services, which exist largely to produce a balance between labour supply and demand, are very recent creations in most territories, and their influence on the employment market is still small. Placement of Workers and Employment Exchanges In certain countries which have attained a high degree of economic and social development, systems of labour exchanges whose chief task is to put employers and workers in touch with each other so as to correlate offers of and requests for employment, have considerably widened the scope of their activities and now pursue objectives at once vast and complex. Indeed, the employment services of some of these countries are playing a significant role in implementing policies of full employment and are also ensuring a better organisation of the employment market, leading to a more efficient and scientific use of the available manpower resources. The attainment of such ends necessarily involves the allocations of specific functions to the employment services. Some of these functions have been laid down and defined by the Employment Service Convention (No. 88), adopted by the International 1 See " The Measurement of Underemployment ", in International Labour Vol. LXXVI, No. 4, Oct. 1957, p. 354. Review, MANPOWER AND EMPLOYMENT 121 Labour Conference in 1948. This Convention clearly states that the task of the service involves more than just registering requests for and oners of employment; it is equally essential that the professional qualifications and abilities of workers should also be recorded so that candidates can be directed towards jobs for which they possess the required qualifications. The Convention also states that the employment services should find ways of increasing the mobihty of the labour force. In fact, the measure of the efficiency of the employment services lies in the degree of facility with which workers are enabled to move easily between one region and another or one centre of work and another. In this connection the Convention calls for measures to— (i) facilitate occupational mobility with a view to adjusting the supply of labour to employment opportunities in the various occupations, (ii) facilitate geographical mobility with a view to assisting the movement of workers to areas with suitable employment opportunities, (iii) facilitate temporary transfers of workers from one area to another as a means of meeting temporary local maladjustments in supply of or demand for workers. It is clear that the general nature of the employment market in African countries is such as to make difficult the creation and development of employment services there. Everywhere in Africa the mechanism of supply and demand operates badly, and this is the result of several factors. It should be remembered, first of all, that the great majority of African wage earners are unstable and unskilled workers, for whom a wage merely represents an ancillary income for paying taxes and meeting other urgent needs. Africans usually enjoy only limited freedom of movement, either because of difficulties of transport or, in certain territories, because of statutory restrictions or customs which hinder their movements. Traditional methods of recruitment and engagement of workers, where they are still practised, as well as long-term contracts of employment, are among the other factors which prevent greater mobility of the labour force. It should also be borne in mind that in Africa it is difficult to measure unemployment as the term is understood in the more developed industrial countries. It is not easy to make any distinction, in the conditions which prevail in most of the African territories, between voluntary and involuntary unemployment or between unemployment and underemployment. It should be recognised, however, that it is underemployment rather than unemployment which is one of the dominant elements in the social structure of African countries. Nevertheless, it would seem that unemployment in the strict sense of the word does exist in a number of the urban centres, although these centres are sometimes situated in territories where these is a shortage of manpower in the agricultural sectors. Such is the case with Brazzaville and Conakry. According to a recent inquiry in Conakry, unemployment was especially noticeable in certain occupations, such as building, although it was practically impossible to distinguish between cases of unemployment and underemployment.1 In Dakar unemployment appears to have attained serious proportions, especially among young persons between the ages of 17 and 25.2 In the Cameroons, and especially in Douala, unemployment 1 Ministère de la France d'Outre-Mer, Mission démographique de Guinée, Etudes démographiques. Résultats provisoires. Vol. II: Documents et Statistiques (Paris, June 1956). 2 Le problème de l'emploi à Dakar. Report of proceedings of the first seminar on social problems, held in Dakar on 26 and 27 June 1956 (special number of Savoir pour agir. Editions du Secrétariat social, Dakar, 1956). 122 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY is high; this is partly due to the temporary slowing up of certain activities and may, therefore, be of a temporary character. In the Portuguese territories of Angola and Mozambique, where European elements have been immigrating in large numbers during recent years, a certain degree of unemployment is found among the more unskilled European workers. Finally, in British territories—although, according to the available information, unemployment does not constitute, generally speaking, an acute problem—there are always a certain number of unemployed in the principal towns, especially among young persons just out of school seeking non-manual jobs. It may thus be concluded that the establishment of a service dealing especially with the placing of workers without jobs is even now fully justified in most of the African territories. There can also be little doubt that employment services have an indispensable part to play in the general field of labour policy. Their studies and inquiries into the availability and distribution of the labour force, both from the quantitative and qualitative points of view, should constitute basic elements in the economic development plans of the various territories. Belgian Territories. In the Belgian Congo the decree of 30 June 1954 on the recruitment and acclimatisation of indigenous workers authorises the setting up of public agencies for immigration and placement and of private agencies for dealing with spontaneous offers of services at places other than the place of work. These agencies must be authorised by the authorities on the conditions laid down in Ordinances No. 21/413 of 8 December 1954 and No. 21/105 of 18 April 1957. The cost of the services rendered by these agencies must not be borne by the workers, either directly or indirectly, the agencies being permitted to recover their administrative costs from the employers who use their services. They must also make annual reports to the District Commissioner on their activities during the previous year, and they must keep records of requests for and offers of employment. Finally, the agencies may not direct persons who come to offer their services to places of employment situated more than 25 kilometres from their offices unless they are satisfied that the applicants possess the necessary physical and professional quahfications and are furnished with a written promise of an engagement. A public employment agency was set up at Leopoldville in 1956. As well as registering requests for and offers of employment the agency keeps an occupational register of workers and is planning the setting up of " qualification juries " to assess the abilities of workers to perform their duties. Other qualifications being equal, priority of employment is given to male Congolese permanently settled in Leopoldville.1 It should also be noted that the decree of 6 April 1957 dealing with the maintenance of unemployed non-indigenous workers provides for the setting up of a placement service for their benefit. British Territories. There has been considerable development of employment services in territories under British administration in the course of the last decade. 1 1956. Quarterly Bulletin of the Centre d'étude des problèmes sociaux indigènes (C.E.P.S.I.), No. 35, MANPOWER AND EMPLOYMENT 123 At the end of the Second World War a certain number of employment exchanges were set up in these territories in order to facilitate the employment of ex-servicemen. Some of these exchanges have only enjoyed a limited activity; others, however, have rendered considerable service and have since been transformed into employment services open to all workers. The duties of employment exchanges include, in some of the territories, registration—compulsory or voluntary, according to the circumstances—of workers in general, and not merely of the unemployed. As explained below, the placement of unemployed workers has not been the only objective of these exchanges. It is also clear, from the available figures of the number of workers who have been found jobs by the employment services, that the importance of the services, although it varies from one territory to another, is nevertheless limited. In fact, the total number of workers who obtain employment with the help of these services represents a tiny proportion of the total number of wage earners in each territory. In Sierra Leone under Ordinance No. 8 of 1956 and in Gambia under Ordinance No. 10 of 1951 there are systems of compulsory registration of workers, which are operated by the employment exchanges. Only the Colony proper is covered in Gambia, but in the case of Sierra Leone the system has been extended in part to the Protectorate. Employers are forbidden to engage a worker who does not possess a certificate of registration. This system of compulsory registration of workers is also of use in preventing an influx to employment centres of excessive numbers of workers, this being one of the aims of the administrations of the two territories. In Sierra Leone a Central Employment Exchange has been set up at Freetown, and four more have been established in other localities. In 1954 a total of 4,342 vacant posts were filled by these exchanges. In addition, certificates of qualifications are granted to workers and a special section has been opened at the Freetown exchange with the objective of finding work for young persons leaving school. In Gambia a labour exchange was established at Bathurst in 1952. During the year 1953 a total of 2,743 workers without employment were registered, 246 of whom were found work by the exchange. In Nigeria there existed until 1952 a system of compulsory registration of all workers having their usual place of residence at Lagos or in its suburbs and belonging to certain trades. Employers were forbidden to engage unregistered persons. As was also the case with the two territories previously mentioned, the object of this system was to prevent the influx of Africans from the countryside to the urban centre of Lagos. In 1951, however, a commission was specially appointed to study the best policy to follow in developing the functions of the employment exchanges. This commission found that these bodies had virtually failed in their efforts to prevent the migration of workers towards the town, and that, consequently, the system of registration in operation at the Lagos exchange was no longer justified. A new regulation came into force in December 1952 under which all workers, without exception, could be registered voluntarily at the employment exchanges and employers could freely engage workers even if they were not registered.1 In addition to the Lagos exchange, four other exchanges are in operation. Two of them, set up at Ibadan and at Enugu respectively, are principally concerned with the placing of young persons leaving school. According to the available information, it 1 Federation of Nigeria: Annual Report of the Department of Labour for the Year 1952-53 (Lagos, Federal Government Printer, 1953), p. 14. 124 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY would appear that the various exchanges operate, as a whole, on a very limited scale since the number of skilled workers is always insufficient in relation to the demand and the latter are rarely without employment, while unskilled labour is generally abundant throughout the country. As regards British East Africa, there has been a considerable expansion of the employment services in Kenya and Tanganyika, though there is less activity in Uganda employment exchanges. For example, three new employment exchanges for Africans were estabhshed in Kenya in 1955, bringing the total number to 21.1 In addition, a special exchange for the placing of African women and four exchanges for Asiatic workers, as well as an exchange for Europeans, have been set up. The number of workers placed by means of these exchanges in 1955 was 67,642 (an increase of 36 per cent, over the previous year); 85,205 Africans applied for employment, and employers reported 85,434 vacancies. In Tanganyika there were 16 employment exchanges in 1955; their activities were co-ordinated by a central exchange established at Dar-es-Salaam, a total of 10,018 Africans being placed during that year. In Uganda there existed in 1955 seven exchanges. The number of workers who were found employment, however, was only 3,748. The system of registering workers and providing them with " employment books " in Kenya is independent of the employment services. In Uganda, on the other hand, it is the employment exchanges which provide " employment books " for all workers who ask for them. A system of registration and work cards—also of a voluntary character—operates in Tanganyika in the towns of Dar-es-Salaam and Tanga for domestic workers, as well as for a certain number of other occupations. In the territories of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, the available information shows that up to the present time the employment services have had only a relatively limited development. In Northern Rhodesia a total of ten employment exchanges operate on behalf of Africans in various districts under the control of labour officers. The registration of workers is entirely voluntary. The data covering the period 1953-54 indicate that the number of Africans registered was 6,986, of whom 3,283 found posts through the exchanges, while the number of vacancies notified by employers was 10,182. In addition there is a Central Employment Registry for Europeans which has the special responsibility of placing European workers. The number of persons who applied there for employment during the year 1954 was 244. In Southern Rhodesia the Natives (Urban Areas) Accommodation and Registration Act, 1946, empowers the local authorities to set up employment exchanges for Africans. The registration of workers by these exchanges may be declared compulsory by a decision of the Administration. However, according to the last available information, only a very small number of municipalities have undertaken to establish employment exchanges, and registration at these is not yet compulsory. Finally, in Nyasaland a certain number of Labour Registry Offices were set up at the end of the Second World War, chiefly to facilitate the placing of ex-servicemen. These exchanges have so far been used only to a very limited extent. Ghana. The employment services inaugurated in 1945 by the Department of Labour with a view to finding work for ex-servicemen were transformed in 1950 into Public 1 Labour Department: Annual Report, 1955, op. cit., p. 7. MANPOWER AND EMPLOYMENT 125 Employment Exchanges and Labour Advice Centres, which are open to all workers. There exist today ten employment exchanges, of which three are central exchanges and seven regional exchanges. These services have shown considerable development; during the period 1955-56 they received 67,060 demands for employment, while the number of vacancies reached 12,997 and placings 9,706. The Government also set up regional employment committees, as well as an executive committee for the placing of young persons. Similarly, a system of voluntary registration of workers was instituted in 1947 and was favourably welcomed by the wage earners. In fact, up to 31 March 1954 a total of 277,840 persons had presented themselves for registration. Workers who register receive a certificate of registration, giving details of the jobs which they have held, their professional qualifications, and other details of a personal nature. French Territories. The Labour Code established by the law of 15 December 1952 deals, in articles 174-178, with the organisation of the employment services in the French territories and the duties which are allotted to them. A " Central Employment Office " was first of all established in the Labour Department of the Ministry for Overseas Territories in Paris and was charged with the general implementation of labour and social legislation. This Office is responsible for the placing of metropolitan workers going to overseas territories. The Code also lays down that employment offices with a territorial competence shall be established in various territories. These offices are under the control of labour inspectors and are responsible for the placing of workers and, in a general way, for handling all questions relating to the utilisation and allocation of manpower. They have also to keep the files on the workers and provide work cards for those for whom they have a file. Each office is to have a committee of management on which both employers and workers will be represented. During recent years a certain number of employment offices have been set up in the French territories. Owing to the recent date of their creation they have, however, had only a relatively limited activity. In French West Africa there were in 1957 seven such offices (one for each of the territories). In French Equatorial Africa there are four, including one at Brazzaville and another at Bangui (UbangiChari). The Brazzaville office received, during the period September 1955-June 1956, 1,862 applications for and 669 offers of employment, 263 placings being made.1 There is a Regional Employment Office functioning in the Cameroons and another in French Somaliland. In Togoland the Minister of Labour has just set up an Employment Service. Finally, in Madagascar, although the territorial employment office authorised by the Labour Code has not yet been established, an employment exchange has existed at Tananarive since 1949. During the period July 1955-June 1956 this exchange received 1,353 offers of and 5,732 requests for employment and 1,200 workers were found jobs. Advisory committees set up to guide persons holding certificates towards suitable careers have been established under an order dated 31 May 1955 so as to ensure openings for students and to secure suitable personnel for the various branches of activity. 1 The general organisation of employment offices is regulated in French Equatorial Africa by the General Order No. 4095 of 26 December 1953 and in French West Africa by the General Order No. 9020 of 9 December 1953. 126 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Portuguese Territories. The corporative system, which is in force for Europeans and assimilated groups in Portuguese territories, provides for the organisation by the workers' unions of employment services for unemployed workers in the trades covered by each union. Thus in Angola employment services are attached, by Order No. 6622 of 12 January 1949, to the Union of Commercial and Industrial Employees and to the Chauffeurs' and Drivers' Union. Included in the order is a provision whereby the engagement of workers belonging to the occupations represented by the unions is forbidden within the territory except through the unions. The managements of the unions must themselves undertake the organisation and the management of the employment services. An instrument identical to that in force in Angola has been approved in Mozambique by Order No. 7468, of 19 August 1948. In the Cape Verde Islands an employment service, attached to the Union of Commercial Employees, was established by Order No. 4636 of 23 October 1954. In addition, Commissions of Labour Co-ordination, set up by Order No. 1242 of 14 May 1955, fulfil some of the functions of employment offices, as they keep registers of all unemployed workers. Sudan. The setting up of employment exchanges is provided for by Ordinance No. 6 of 31 March 1955.1 As a result of this legislation no employer may engage, except in special cases, an unemployed person unless the latter is registered at an employment exchange. However, only certain categories of workers are as yet covered by the provisions of the Ordinance in question. Union of South Africa. Networks of free public employment exchanges operate in the Union of South Africa both for European and Native workers. The Department of Labour controls the exchanges dealing with Europeans. In June 1955 there were 49 of these exchanges—nine regional exchanges, 22 exchanges in the main urban centres and 18 in the important rural centres. There also are 18 exchanges dealing especially with juveniles and 377 free part-time employment exchanges manned by officials who have other duties. During the period July 1955 to July 1956 these exchanges received 213,491 applications for employment from adults and 25,429 from juveniles. Positions for 72,484 adults and 17,390 juveniles were found. As regards Native workers, a system of Labour Bureaux was set up in pursuance of the Native Laws Amendment Act (No. 54 of 1952) modifying article 23 of Law No. 15 of 1911. Regulations relating to the establishment and administration of Native Labour Bureaux were approved by Government Order No. 2495 of 31 October 1952. These regulations provided for the establishment of a bureau in each district, co-ordinated by seven regional bureaux, whose operations were in their turn co-ordinated by a central bureau under the Secretary of State for Native Affairs. Bureaux can also be created in localities situated in urban districts. Native workers seeking employment must register at these bureaux, and employers are invited to approach them with their vacancies. The role played by the Native Labour Bureaux in the employment market of that country is of considerable importance since they control and direct to a very l See I.L.O. Legislative Series, 1955—Sud. 1. MANPOWER AND EMPLOYMENT 127 large extent the movements of workers. The scale of their activities is illustrated by the fact that during the period July 1955-June 1956 they received 1,270,088 requests for employment and made 1,026,378 placings. 1 MOVEMENTS OF MANPOWER General Features Migratory movements, which from early times appear to have been one of the normal aspects of the life of African peoples, have altered in both extent and character following the establishment of Europeans and of their economic undertakings in the various African territories. In fact, from the beginning of the development of plantations and mining operations under European management in Africa, employers have had resort to a labour force made up of Africans whom they have employed in a temporary capacity, providing them with lodging and food at their places of work and paying them wages considered as just sufficient for single men. Thus these workers were not able, except in rare instances, to bring their families with them; they always returned to their places of origin at the end of each period of work. This system, which still prevails, necessarily results in vast labour movements, since workers are compelled to move around frequently and sometimes over immense distances. More recently, and especially since the Second World War, the development of urbanisation, although still very uneven, and the continual enlargement of the modern economic sectors—due partly to the growth of manufacturing industries, building, and public works—have served only to intensify these migratory movements and bring new types of migration into being. It should first be pointed out that, in certain regions, the migration of workers has operated within the system of recruitment and labour contracts controlled by the authorities and has thus involved the taking of various measures of protection for the workers at the places of recruitment, during their journey and at their places of employment. Nevertheless, in the majority of cases, and taking Africa as a whole, these migratory movements are outside any form of control and, in fact, are the result of individuals moving on their own initiative, without previous engagement and for a variety of motives. Moreover, whether they are controlled or not by the authorities, and whether they take place within a given territory or between different territories, these population movements have different characteristics in different areas. Therefore, as will be shown later in regard to each territory, the duration of the absences of the migrants from their places of origin varies a great deal. In some cases migration involves an absence of three or six months, while in others the men do not return for a year or more and may even establish themselves permanently in their new places of residence. The distances covered by the migrant workers also vary since the places of work they are seeking are sometimes relatively close to their villages of origin and at other times thousands of miles away. It should also be noted that a large number of the migrants move into the modern sectors of the economy to work as wage earners in undertakings managed by Europeans, while others are workers going to work on the farms of indigenous 1 See also: " Inter-Territorial Migrations of Africans South of the Sahara ", in International Labour Review, Vol. LXXVI, No. 3, Sep. 1957, pp. 292-310. 128 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY owners or to undertake agricultural work on their own account. Examples of migration of the latter types are to be found, respectively, in French West Africa (the navetane migration to Senegal) and in certain regions of Uganda. Finally, in certain urban areas there are many migrants who remain for more or less lengthy periods who often take up a variety of independent activities, particularly petty trading; or they can be regarded simply as visitors without fixed occupation, living at the expense of their town relatives. It is clear that migrations which have so variable a character cannot be studied in a general way from the point of view of their economic or sociological consequences. Only special inquiries and studies into individual migratory movements can throw light on their special features.1 The reasons behind the African migratory movements are, nevertheless, basically the same. In the regions of origin of the migrants some common factors can be seen, such as the deterioration of the traditional subsistence agriculture (partly on account of the exhaustion of the soil), the lack of balance between population and available resources (often the result of very rapid population increases), the development among Africans of new habits and needs as they come into ever closer contact with the modem sectors of a money economy and, finally, the psychological attraction of the more active life in the urban centres and the wish to break loose from the traditional rules and disciplines of tribal society. The influence of these factors which induce Africans to leave their rural places of origin and seek new forms of life and additional income in urban and other centres of economic development has grown since the Second World War. For this reason urbanisation has rapidly developed, as is shown by the considerable growth of population in many African towns.2 Moreover, the increase of production in most branches of economic activity, caused by the favourable world economic situation, has resulted in an urgent demand for labour and has accelerated the development of the migratory movements. In fact, the information available—even if only of relative value as a guide—supports the view that the proportion of men who regularly absent themselves from their homes has been steadily growing in many territories during the last few years. However, even if there is general agreement on the need to overcome the baneful effects of the migrations and the evils which they bring in their train both in the migrants' places of origin and the areas where manpower is employed, it is also true that there are wide differences in the policies pursued by the various governments in this field. For example, certain governments encourage the workers to settle permanently in their places of work, while other governments do not seem to be willing to accept all the consequences of such a policy. Moreover, the influx of Africans to urban areas and other centres of economic development has been the subject of very severe measures of control, especially in the Union of South Africa and in the Rhodesias, while in other territories such measures have either been non-existent or of a much more liberal character. 1 See, for example, R. B. DAVISON: Migrant Labour in the Gold Coast (Achimota, University College of the Gold Coast, 1954); Audrey L. RICHARDS: Economic Development and Tribal Change, A Study of Immigrant Labour in Buganda (Cambridge, W. Heffer and Sons, Ltd.); and I. SCHAPERA: Migrant Labour and Tribal Life. A Study of Conditions in the Bechuanaland Protectorate (New York, London, Oxford University Press, 1947). 2 See Report on the World Social Situation, op. cit., p. 145. MANPOWER AND EMPLOYMENT 129 The question of control is regarded from very different points of view. For some administrations it is essential, while for others it is " undesirable on economic grounds, for it restricts mobility and therefore inhibits the development of the exchange economy, and is impracticable".1 Movements of Manpower in Individual Territories Belgian Territories. In the Belgian Congo movements of workers take place mainly within the territory between the country and the centres of modern economic development. The magnitude of these movements can be seen from the extremely rapid increase in the number of Africans living, either permanently or during more or less lengthy periods, away from their tribal areas. Between 1938 and 1956 the proportion of these Africans, in relation to the total population of the Congo, increased from 9.83 per cent, to 22.87 per cent. (1,017,889 inhabitants to 2,937,108). During the same period, the African population of Leopoldville rose from 39,721 inhabitants to 282,919. In Elisabethville the population of the extra-tribal centre, which amounted to 36,500 in 1948, had reached nearly 100,000 by the early months of 1957.2 The Administration tries to control the movements of Africans by various means. For example, no indigenous person can leave the district to which he belongs unless he obtains a transfer pass. These passes must, however, be given to all individuals who enter the service of the State or of a European undertaking. However, a new decree dealing with the indigenous districts, which is expected to come into force shortly, appears to be of a more liberal character. Many provisions in the present legislation relating to the movement of the indigenous persons are to be withdrawn, and the new text simply provides, in article 15, that the Governor-General can " make regulations controlling movements inside the country". The Belgian Colonial Council, when discussing this article, hoped that the new system would be very similar to, if not completely identical in spirit with, that which now applies to non-indigenous persons.3 The provincial governors can of course limit, or even prohibit, the recruitment and engagement of workers in certain defined areas. Furthermore, the settlement or temporary residence of Africans in extra-tribal centres or in urban areas is subject to regulations providing, inter alia, for residence permits. As regards more particularly the control of wage earners, various orders made by the provincial governors make the use of work cards compulsory. Employers cannot legally engage a person who is not in possession of such a card, which must have recorded on it information regarding the worker, such as dates of employment and discharge. Employment control offices have been set up in the chief provincial centres under the control of the provincial administrations. These offices are specially charged with the issue and validation of the work cards and the organisation of a card-index system for checking the workers' records. Ruanda-Urundi is the African territory with the highest population density.4 Large numbers of workers migrate to neighbouring territories, especially Uganda 1 East Africa Royal Commission, 1953-1955: Report, op. cit., p. 240. Paul MINON: " Quelques aspects de l'évolution récente du centre extra-coutumier d'Elisabethville ", in Bulletin trimestriel du Centre d'étude des problèmes sociaux indigènes. No. 36, Mar. 3 1957, p. 5. Bulletin officiel du Congo belge (Brussels, Ministry for the Colonies), Part I, 50th Year, No. 10, 15 May 1957. 4 See Appendix III, table 1. 2 10 130 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY and Tanganyika. The emigration to the Belgian Congo is equally important, but in this particular case it results mainly in the permanent establishment of the excess population of Ruanda-Urundi in the less populated rural areas of the Congo.1 Migrations to British territories, on the other hand, are in general seasonal in character. It would seem that the total number of migrants amounts to about 60,000 a year, of whom the greater part go to Uganda. A tiny proportion of these migrants (about 3 per cent.) are recruited and engaged on contracts of three years' duration, the remainder being made up of workers who emigrate spontaneously without prior engagement. Although no formal agreement operates between the territories concerned, the Ruanda-Urundi, Uganda and Tanganyika authorities hold, as a rule, annual conferences to discuss the various questions arising out of these migrations. British Territories. In British West Africa, especially Nigeria, migratory movements of workers occur nearly everywhere, although their nature and extent is still but little known. It appears, however, that they are primarily seasonal migrations which take place during the dry season, at which time agricultural work is interrupted and men look for other employment. These movements are entirely spontaneous in character and are not subject to any control by the authorities. The Nigerian Department of Statistics undertook during the dry season of 1951-52 (October to March) a systematic inquiry into the migration of workers in the province of Sokoto, situated in the north of Nigeria. It recorded the passage of 250,000 migrants, of whom three-quarters originated in the province, while the others came from the neighbouring regions in the north of Nigeria, as well as from the French territory of Niger. The majority were going to other parts of Nigeria, such as the mining region of Jos and the western cocoa-producing areas, or even to Ghana.2 Likewise, the eastern region of Nigeria, which has a high population density, is the departure point for many migrants looking for work in the western regions, either as small traders or wage earners. Some of these migrants are recruited under official supervision for work in the island of Fernando Poo and in the Gabon under agreements made with the Spanish and French authorities. In British East Africa, as well as in the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, migratory movements are both larger and better known, for, in contrast to West Africa, the economic development of these countries is largely due to the establishment of European undertakings which, except in the case of Uganda, employ nearly all the wage earners. As has been pointed out above, substantial migrations of workers take place regularly from Ruanda-Urundi towards Uganda and Tanganyika. Tanganyika and Kenya workers, in smaller numbers, also migrate each year to Uganda. Moreover, considerable internal movements take place in the last-named territory, originating mainly in certain districts in the northern and western provinces, where between 40 and 50 per cent, of adult tax-paying males are normally absent from 1 See, on this subject, Gaspard KAJIGA : " Cette émigration séculaire des Ruandais au Congo ", in Bulletin trimestriel du Centre d'études des problèmes sociaux indigènes, No. 32, Mar. 1956, p. 7. 2 See R. Mansell PROTHERO : " Migratory Labour from North-Western Nigeria ", in Africa (London, Oxford University Press), Vol. XXVII, No. 3, June 1957. MANPOWER AND EMPLOYMENT 131 their homes.1 A large proportion of these migrants, instead of working for wages, lease land from African owners in order to cultivate cotton on their own account. They usually stay away from home for about six months. The Department of Labour in Uganda has established transit camps along the principal routes used by the migrants. In 1955 the number of persons who used these camps reached 201,000. The situation in Tanganyika is different from that in Uganda in that the migrant workers work rather as wage earners in European undertakings, especially in the large sisal plantations. This undoubtedly explains the fact that the number of workers recruited under official supervision is generally higher than in Uganda. That does not, however, prevent many migrants moving spontaneously in search of work. In fact, the transit camps placed at the disposal of these workers registered in 1955 the passage of 224,240 persons. These movements are not restricted, for the system of permits provided for by legislation is of a voluntary character. The authorities have, nevertheless, legal authority to force persons discovered in the towns without regular employment or means of support to return to their homes. It is to be noted also that large contingents of workers from Tanganyika regularly go south to find employment in the mines of Northern Rhodesia, Southern Rhodesia and the Union of South Africa. According to an inquiry undertaken by the Government, the number of these migrants in 1954 was 21,350, and the duration of their stay abroad was about 18 months. These were spontaneous movements not supervised by the administration. In Kenya, migrations to and from outside the territory are not very important. On the other hand, manpower movements within the territory are greater, since the Native reserves are overpopulated and are relatively near to the employment centres. As a general rule these movements are seasonal, the Africans leaving the reserves at the end of the harvest and returning to do the sowing at the beginning of the rainy season. There exists in Kenya a system of compulsory registration for the whole population. In addition, workers may, under the Employment Ordinance of 1938, obtain a record of employment on application to the Labour Department. Employers must report to the Department of Labour all engagements and discharges of workers, and they must also keep a register of all persons whom they employ under contract. In addition, a system of voluntary registration of domestic workers has been in force since the Ordinance of 25 October 1948 came into effect. Some of the most important of the migratory movements in Africa are found in the three territories which compose the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. These movements are centred on Southern Rhodesia, where almost half of the wage earners come from neighbouring territories. Nyasaland furnishes most of the labour, 46,072 workers going to Southern Rhodesia and 5,624 going to Northern Rhodesia in 1955. In addition, 11,219 migrants entered Southern Rhodesia in 1954 from Northern Rhodesia, while this latter territory received 12,487 workers originating from Southern Rhodesia. These migrations are closely related to the establishment and development of European undertakings in these territories and the employment of migrant workers in the mines, in the manufacturing industries and in the European plantations. The migrants are primarily drawn to Southern Rhodesia owing to the higher levels of wages in that territory. It should also be observed that a certain 1 Uganda Protectorate: Annual Report of the Labour Department for the Year Ended 31st December, 1955, op. cit., p. 31. 132 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY number of Africans originating in Northern Rhodesia, Southern Rhodesia and Nyasaland, regularly emigrate to the Union of South Africa in order to work in the mines, Nyasaland providing the biggest contingent (14,023 workers in 1955). An agreement between the three Governments of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, which came into force in 1949, prescribed various measures with regard to the migration of workers. As a result of this agreement workers are not admitted into any of the territories unless they possess a certificate of identity, and they must not stay more than two years unless they are accompanied by their families. The agreement also provides for a system of deferred pay for migrant workers as well as for monthly remittances, deductible from their wages, to their families. Medical services, lodging and suitable food and appropriate inspection services are also provided. Legislation has been adopted in each of the three territories to put into operation the provisions of this agreement. A very large proportion of the migrant workers employed in Southern Rhodesia and Northern Rhodesia are neither recruited nor engaged under contract. In fact, all Nyasaland workers going to Northern Rhodesia in 1955 were independent migrants, and only 8,096 among the 46,072 who entered Southern Rhodesia were recruited. No restriction is imposed in Nyasaland on the movement of independent migrants. Each migrant must, however, possess, in addition to a certificate of identity, a work book in which are recorded the amounts kept back from his wages and the amounts sent to his family, as is stipulated in the agreement among the three countries. Finally, it should be noted that the movements of workers inside each territory of the Federation are regulated by different legislative measures. The registration of adult indigenous males is always compulsory. In Nyasaland, however, Africans need not carry certificates of registration unless they are going abroad and no travel pass is needed within the territory. On the other hand, in Southern Rhodesia a recent Act provides that all male Africans over 16 years of age must be in possession either of a registration book (which replaces the old registration certificate) or of an identity card. Employers must note in the registration books of Africans whom they employ the dates on which the employment began and ended and the wages paid. No such details need be entered on the identity cards, however. These are issued by the Chief Native Commissioner to Africans over 25 years of age whom he considers suitable to receive them by reason of their character or personal standing. Africans holding identity cards are exempted from certain provisions restricting freedom of movement.1 A document of the certificate of registration type is also obligatory in Northern Rhodesia for all indigenous persons who live in or visit certain regions where the greater part of the Europeans reside. Both in Northern and Southern Rhodesia, moreover, any indigenous person who goes to specified urban centres in search of employment must obtain a pass-to-seek-work. In addition, Africans employed in certain "proclaimed" areas must possess service certificates, on which are recorded particulars of their contracts of employment. A large number of Africans from the territories of Bechuanaland, Basutoland and Swaziland emigrate regularly to the Union of South Africa, where they are principally employed in the mines. Most of these migrants are recruited through the medium of recruitment organisations of the South African mining undertakings. 1 Natives (Registration and Identification) Act No. 27 of 1957. At the time that this survey was prepared this Act had not yet been promulgated. MANPOWER AND EMPLOYMENT 133 Whether recruited or going as independent migrants, all Africans wishing to leave the territories must obtain a pass, which, however, is not necessary for movements inside the territories. Emigration permits are generally given without restriction, except in the case of Africans, who under the laws of that country are not permitted to enter the Union of South Africa. There is no doubt, however, that considerable numbers of persons do go to the Union of South Africa without having obtained permits. Professor Schapera, who has studied in detail migration from Bechuanaland, has expressed the view that any restrictions of a coercive nature on migration would be both undesirable and impracticable. The same author emphasises that the best way to avoid " excessive emigrations " is to counteract, so far as possible, the influences which induce men to leave their country, by changing their conditions of life so that they do not see any purpose in forsaking their homeland.1 French Territories. In French West Africa there are three strong currents of migration: that of the navetanes, that is to say, workers from French Sudan and from the north of Guinea, who arrive each year in Senegal to take part in the groundnut harvest in the service of African farmers; the migrations of Mossi from the Upper Volta, as well as Sudanese and Guineans, to the Ivory Coast, where they are employed on plantations and in manufacturing industries belonging to Europeans; and, finally, migrations to Ghana of Africans originating in the Upper Volta, the French Sudan and Niger. It is always the Upper Volta country, which is poor and highly populated, which produces the largest contingents of migrants. All these migrations are essentially of a seasonal character. Thus, the navetanes move during the rainy season to Senegal, where they are employed in the harvesting of groundnuts by the African farmers, who feed and house them. The number of these migrants, although varying, is about 50,000 each year. Similarly, the 50,000 workers who obtain employment in the European undertakings in the Ivory Coast every year remain absent from their homes, generally speaking, only for periods of six months. The percentage of migrants who are accompanied by their families is insignificant ; the great majority of them are young unmarried men. Finally, the migrations to Ghana generally begin in the month of September, after the harvest, and the workers return home at the beginning of the rainy season (April-May) for the sowing. The number of these migrants is very considerable and has grown rapidly in the course of recent years: during the period 1953-54, 253,610 persons entered Ghana from French territories, while 273,897 left the country.2 It should also be noted that a seasonal migration, similar to that of the navetanes, takes place each year between Senegal and Gambia. The Senegalese migrants, known in Gambia under the name of " strange fanners", are employed in the production of groundnuts on behalf of the African owners and they remain during the rainy season, which lasts nearly six months.3 Movements of manpower having their origin in French West Africa are almost entirely spontaneous in character. The only cases where recruitment and engagement are still used to a certain extent are those of workers from the Upper Volta going 1 I. SCHAPERA: Migrant Labour and Tribal Life, op. cit., p. 213. See Gold Coast: Report on the Ministry of Labour for the Year 1953-54 (Accra, Government Printer, 1955), p. 14. See also Jean ROUCH: Notes sur les migrations en Gold Coast (Paris, Musée de l'Homme). 3 J. H. PALMER: Notes on Strange Farmers, op. cit. 2 134 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY to European undertakings in the Ivory Coast. The authorities merely require the worker to undergo a medical examination prior to departure. The transport of the latter is undertaken hy the S.I.A.M.O., an organisation set up by the Ivory Coast employers.1 In the case of the navetanes, transport is free and is facilitated by the authorities. In addition to the main migratory currents described above, there is also in French West Africa to-and-fro movement of population between the countryside and the urban centres. The considerable growth in the number of inhabitants of these centres, especially Dakar and Bamako, testifies to the significance of this movement. Movements of the same type are to be found—as is the case nearly everywhere in the African Continent—in French Equatorial Africa (especially towards Brazzaville) and in the Cameroons (particularly towards Douala), as well as in Madagascar. On the other hand, at least in French Equatorial Africa and the Cameroons, transfers of workers over great distances are relatively less frequent or regular. In French Equatorial Africa, however, it should be noted that oldestablished migratory movements between Tchad and the Republic of Sudan have risen to an average of some four to five thousand workers a year. As a general rule, the legislation in force in French territories does not contain restrictive provisions either as concerns the transfer of workers or their taking up residence in the towns. However, the measures of control over labour authorised in the 1952 Labour Code for Overseas Territories (articles 170 to 173) have been enforced in the different territories by territorial orders. In the first place all undertakings must, on their establishment, make a declaration to the Inspectorate of Labour and Social Legislation which must include information as to the number of paid workers engaged. In addition, undertakings must furnish once a year particulars regarding their labour force, including the number of workers, as well as other information such as the average hours of work and the wages paid. However, in some territories employers are excused from making this declaration for certain occupations. Such is the case in French West Africa, for instance, with regard to unskilled workers as well as servants and domestic employees. The employer's register in each undertaking, the form of which is determined by an order of the government of the territory concerned, must always be kept up to date. This register includes various particulars of each worker's contract (wages, holidays, etc.) and must be available for examination by the labour inspector. Finally, the employer must make a declaration to the labour inspectorate in respect of every newly engaged worker, which the inspectorate passes on to the territorial employment office. Each change in the situation of the worker must also be reported, as well as the termination of employment. The obligation to make these declarations may be waived provisionally in respect of unskilled workers in all branches of activity, as well as house servants and domestic employees. Employment offices must keep files containing all relevant information concerning each employee. A work card is provided for every worker for whom a file has been opened.2 3 The S.I.A.M.O. at present brings to the lower coast a large contingent of labour (about 50,000 workers). See A. HäUSER: "Processing Industries in the Ivory Coast ", in Bulletin (InterAfrican Labour Institute, London), Vol. Ill, No. 6, 1 Nov. 1956, p. 14. 2 The application of the various measures of control over labour in French West Africa is governed by the following texts: General Order No. 6554 of 3 September 1953 setting up a register called the " Employers' Register "; General Order No. 6555 of 3 September 1953 waiving the use MANPOWER AND EMPLOYMENT 135 Portuguese Territories. According to the available statistical data, Mozambique is the African territory where migration abroad attains the highest proportions. Essentially there are two main migratory currents, one to the Union of South Africa and the other to Southern Rhodesia. In 1953 these two countries received respectively, according to the official figures, 87,693 and 23,387 workers coming from Mozambique.1 In addition, a certain number of migrants move to Tanganyika, 17,780 being employed there in 1954.2 Others again, although fewer in number, emigrate to Northern Rhodesia. According to the terms of an agreement between the Portuguese Government and the Government of the Union of South Africa, migration to the mining areas of the Union must be organised solely through the Witwatersrand Native Labour Association, which is the only recruiting organisation approved by the Mozambique authorities. All migrants must be in possession of a passport delivered by the Portuguese authorities and they must be repatriated at the end of their period of work, the maximum duration of which is fixed at 18 months. The payment of part of the wages of these workers is deferred until their return to Mozambique. The wives of the migrants can go to the Union of South Africa only in the most exceptional cases. The most recent official statistics (for the year 1953) show that only 87,693 migrants entered the Union of South Africa by means of the Witwatersrand Native Labour Association. However, spontaneous migration, although illegal, would appear to have reached considerable proportions. In 1953 there were in fact 53,781 workers from Mozambique employed in the Union of South Africa in various jobs other than mining.3 It is also of interest to mention an important migratory movement affecting a tribal group from Mozambique, the Makua-Momwe (Lomwe in Nyasaland), who began to move to Nyasaland at the beginning of the century. In this case a veritable transfer of populations has taken place, for these migrants have established themselves permanently in Nyasaland. According to certain estimates there were 235,000 of them in 1931, and their number in 19454 reached a total of 380,000. No exact information is available on migration abroad from Angola. It seems, however, that considerable numbers of Africans coming from this territory regularly move either to the Belgian Congo, the Rhodesias, South-West Africa or the Union of South Africa.5 Finally, the islands of Sao Tomé and Principé receive migrant workers from the Cape Verde Islands and Mozambique. These workers, who number at the of the " Employer's Register "; General Order No. 1604 of 4 March 1954 relating to the declaration to be made by undertakings; General Order No. 2126 of 22 March 1954 laying down the procedures for the periodic declaration on the labour position; Order No. 5488 of 13 July 1955, laying down the procedures for the declaration on the movements of workers; Local Order No. 942 of 14 February 1956 indicating the occupations in which declarations on movements of workers are provisionally waived. 1 Provincia de Moçambique, Repartiçào Técnica de Estatística : Annuário Estatistico, 1953 (Lourenço Marques, 1954), p. 117. 2 Tanganyika: Annual Report of the Labour Department, 1955, op. cit. 3 Provincia de Moçambique, Repartiçào Técnica de Estatistica: Annuário Estatistico, 1953, op. cit., p. 117. 4 See, on the causes and the consequences of this migratory movement, A. GARON : " The Lomwe Immigration into Nyasaland ", in the bulletin of the Agenzia Intemazionale Fides (Rome), Vol. Ill, No. 27, 18 Nov. 1956. 5 See Marcello CAETANO: Oí Nativos na Economía Africana (Coimbra Editora, Limitada, 1954), p. 34. 136 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY present time about 20,000, are all recruited under the direction of the authorities and under conditions which have already been described. Movements of workers inside the Portuguese territories are subject to regulations regarding recruitment prescribed in the Native Labour Code, 1928.1 It is specifically laid down that Stationmasters must refuse to transport indigenous workers who present themselves without travelling papers (article 175). Moreover regulations exist in Mozambique and Angola concerning identification of indigenous persons under which Africans are compelled to carry a card (caderneta indígena), which serves at the same time as an identity document and a work card.2 This card is necessary for every journey. In Mozambique, if an indigenous worker wishes to leave the district where he belongs, he must request leave to do so from the local administrative authority. Moreover, special provisions ensure an even stricter control over indigenous workers in the towns.3 In Angola, under the provisions of Ordinance No. 2797 of 31 December 1956, indigenous workers authorised to proceed to a work centre must return to their tribal lands if at the end of two weeks' stay they have not found employment. Union of South Africa. It is acknowledged that the Union of South Africa is the African country which enjoys the highest degree of economic development. This enables the Union to pay wages and provide labour conditions which attract large numbers of workers from distant parts of the Continent. The gold-mining industry and, to a lesser extent, other South African industries have always employed an African labour force made up for the most part of migrant workers. The Union is also the centre of the largest movements of manpower to be found in Africa. It has been estimated that the number of Africans residing in the Union originating from other territories was 650,000 in 1951, two-thirds of them being migrant workers. As regards internal movements of labour, the percentage of Africans residing in urban areas, in relation to the total African population of the Union, increased from 12.5 per cent, in 1921 to 27.2 per cent, in 1951. A considerable proportion of this population consisted of migrants who had temporarily left their homes in the Native reserves. It has been estimated that the number of persons temporarily absent from the areas reserved for Africans was 569,000 in 1951. This figure corresponds to about 45 per cent, of the able-bodied adult males whose homes were in those areas.4 Although the number of Africans permanently living in the towns has steadily risen in the Union of South Africa, it is the view of the authorities that migrant labour will continue to play a major role in the economy of the Union for many years. For a long time laws and regulations have been in force whose object is to ensure strict control over the movements of the indigenous labour force. Generally speaking such provisions apply to all African workers, whatever their origin. At the present time all Africans over 16 years of age must be in possession of a " reference book ", which serves at the same time as an identity document 1 1.L.O. Legislative Series, 1928—Por. 2 See Order No. 6490 of 15 June 1946 3 3. and Order No. 6224 of 21 February 1948. See Colonia de Moçambique: Regulamento dos Serviçais Indígenas (Lourenço Marques, Imprensa Nacional de Moçambique, 1949). 4 See Summary of the Tomlinson Report, op. cit., pp. 25 and 53. MANPOWER AND EMPLOYMENT 137 and travel pass. This document replaces a number of documents which were formerly necessary under the Pass Laws.1 The influx of Africans to urban areas is regulated by the Natives (Urban Areas) Act of 1945, as well as by various supplementary texts. Africans must not remain in an urban area for a longer period than 72 hours unless they obtain a permit authorising them to look for work; these permits, however, are not valid for more than 15 days. The admission to urban areas of Africans coming from territories outside the Union has been defined by the Natives (Urban Areas) Amendment Act, 1955. Their entry into such areas is absolutely forbidden unless they obtain a written authorisation from the Secretary of State for Native Affairs. This prohibition does not apply to mineworkers, for all of them are migrants under contract and they must return to their countries of origin at the expiry of their period of work.2 The Native Labour Bureaux may direct labour towards particular areas. In fact the 1952 regulations for the establishment of Native Labour Bureaux provide that workers in search of employment may not enter certain areas (" prescribed areas "), which are the subject of special jurisdiction unless they are authorised to do so by the bureau nearest to their normal places of residence. These bureaux therefore prevent to a certain extent the influx of migrant manpower to urban centres and guide workers more towards the rural areas. Economic and Social Effects of Migratory Movements Having studied the nature and extent of the migratory movements in Africa and of the conditions under which employment is available to and accepted by migrant workers, a few general remarks on their effects and consequences may now be made as a prelude to the examination in subsequent chapters of some of the questions of policy involved. The main characteristics of the labour situation are impermanence and instability in employment, low output and low wages. Clearly these three features are interconnected. It is desirable, however, to give priority to the first factor, namely impermanence and instability in employment, since the other two factors largely flow from it, though this does not mean that it is wholly attributable to the worker. The fact is that while impermanence and instability in employment spring largely from the circumstances in which the African leaves his traditional environment to seek work, it is equally true that in many territories little has been done to develop positive employment and social policies which would tend to change the attitude of workers towards wage labour and accelerate the emergence of a permanent stabilised labour force. Indeed, in some areas restrictions of a legal or customary nature have done much to perpetuate the migrant labour system and to circumscribe the opportunities open to Africans to become members of a settled labour force. Nevertheless, the fact does remain that over large areas of Africa the African who seeks wage-paid work in an urban or other employment centre does so with very considerable reservations. On the one hand he may do so because he needs cash 1 See Natives (Abolition of Pass and Co-ordination of Documents) Act, No. 67 of 1952. As from 1 February 1958 it is illegal to employ any African male over 16 years of age without a reference book. All employers must now also report the engagement and discharge of all male African employees and must see to it that particulars of service are entered in their reference books. 3 South African Institute of Race Relations : A Survey of Race Relations in South Africa, 1954-1955 (Johannesburg, 1955) p. 69. 138 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY for a particular purpose and therefore seeks paid employment to earn the necessary amount of money, which he cannot acquire within his traditional agricultural environment ; on the other, while prepared to adopt work for wages as a more or less permanent means of subsistence he is not prepared, at least under the conditions now prevailing, to give up contact with the village from which he has come, since he considers that there alone lies security for him in old age and in periods of sickness or unemployment. His services as a worker are, therefore, not continuously available, particularly if, in addition to lacking long-term security, he receives wages which are not sufficient to enable him to maintain his family in urban conditions or if the conditions under which employment is available prevent him from having his family with him. The social consequences of all this are far-reaching. The countryside is temporarily or more or less permanently deprived of large proportions of its adult male labour force, with the detrimental effects on farming practices and on the women and children who are left to cultivate the family land already described.1 Traditional work and other family patterns are broken up, the separation of families leads to undesirable associations, and the existing social structures begin to disintegrate without being replaced by viable structures suitable to the circumstances of existence of the majority of the workers concerned. The migrant worker's impermanence as a wage earner and his liability to change not only the type of work he does, but also his employer, are both factors which keep his output at a low level. Undernourishment, poor physique, endemic disease, inadequate supervision and in some cases a lack of interest in ordinary economic incentives may also be contributory factors. Lack of training is equally important, and the worker's reluctance to become part of a settled labour force has a considerable influence on the attitude both of employers and of governments towards providing opportunities for it. Obviously there are others, since the question of training raises the whole problem of stabilisation with all its implications in terms of wages, housing, social security and welfare. These matters are more fully discussed in Chapters V, VI and XI. Finally wages are low because output is low. The opposite is equally true. But there are other factors which keep wages low, including scarcity of capital and the low real income which the African can obtain in occupations other than wage earning such as subsistence farming or cash-crop agriculture.2 A study of this problem entails discussion of vital issues such as rehabilitation of the rural areas and the stabilisation of labour in urban and other employment centres, which are requisites to achieving a higher standard of living for both African peasants and wage earners. 1 2 See Chapter II. See Chapters II and VIII. CHAPTER V THE PRODUCTIVITY OF LABOUR Productivity in the widest sense can be defined as the ratio between output and all the resources used in production, i.e. capital, labour, raw materials, etc. The problem of raising output is one of making the most efficient use of all the resources available. The separation of labour from the other factors of production is therefore in some respects an artificial approach to the question. An increase in labour output does not necessarily entail a proportionate increase in productivity. Thus it would be wrong to assume that concentration on the labour factor is all that is necessary to step up productivity. Action on other factors may in fact be more important and effective. In the general context of Africa it is certainly true that a far greater contribution to improvement of standards of living could be made by increasing the efficiency of the peasant farmer and by developing cash crops than by any measures calculated to improve the output of the individual African wage earner. Nevertheless, the wage-earning sector is becoming increasingly important in the African economy. The output of the unskilled worker at least—and he represents all but a small fraction of all African wage earners—is extremely low. Organisational and technical factors are, of course, just as likely to influence labour output in Africa as in more fully industrialised regions. It is doubtful, however, whether any detailed discussion of these factors in their African context would be of value here. On the other hand, African conditions affect considerably the validity of assumptions widely accepted elsewhere concerning the human factors which affect the productivity of labour. The effects of such elements as climate, nutritional and health condition, background, experience and reactions to the incentives normally accepted as valid in modern industrialised societies deserve special and detailed attention and study. Little organised research on these subjects has yet been done. A preliminary survey of the human factors governing productivity in Africa made by the Inter-African Labour Institute, largely from materials gathered from six member Governments (Belgium, the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, France, Portugal, the Union of South Africa and the United Kingdom) contains the main body of the up-to-date information available on these aspects. This chapter is, therefore, largely based on materials drawn from that source.1 1 Inter-African Labour Institute : The Human Factors of Productivity in Africa (London, C.C.T.A., 1957). However, the presentation of the information taken from this study and any conclusions drawn are the responsibility of the I.L.O. 140 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY 1 THE CHARACTER OF THE AFRICAN WORKER Perhaps the most important (and the most neglected) influences affecting the work effectiveness of the African in the organised work systems of the Europeantype undertaking concern the cultural and mental factors conditioning his attitude to work in general and that type of work in particular. Nothing in African tribal life provides any conditioning which would prepare a man leaving that life for acceptance of the demands on him inherent in these work systems. This is not to say that in his day-to-day tribal life the African did not work hard when necessity required. He did (and still does), but his mode of life rarely demanded prolonged effort. The elemental incentives to work were the need for food and shelter. Since little provision was made beyond the satisfaction of immediate needs, effort to build up a surplus of wealth was not required. Housing was, and is, primitive. Moreover, work in general was dictated by the rhythm of the seasons, and duties were allocated according to sex and age, with women often doing most of the routine work assisted by the girls, while the men and boys herded the cattle, broke up new land, did the ploughing (in agricultural communities), cut timber and erected huts. All these activities developed into a tradition sanctified by usage and surrounded by ritual. They were rarely carried out alone, and nothing in the cadence of the tribesman's life prepared him for the metronomic rhythm of organised industrial work. Add to that the fact that for many tribes any form of organised manual work for others has associations with slavery and is therefore despised, and the difficulties of adaptation of the African to the demands of industrial employment can be readily understood.2 Difficulties arise too from the fact that work in the tribal setting requires neither foresight nor planning ; it includes no notion of time (there is no time limit for a particular task), there is no specialisation and no order other than that ordained by the seasons. The job is done at the speed and in the way the worker himself decides. Work in tribal conditions is not felt as an imposition but as an integral part of the condition of adult manhood. To the extent that new generations of Africans are growing up who were not born in the tribal areas or have not been directly influenced by parents or other relatives who have, these traditional tribal behaviour patterns must be losing some of their effect, though the social ties of kinship and village life still remain strong. Yet there are large areas of Africa where the great majority of jobs are taken now by Africans who have come directly to the disciplines of organised work from their native land units. Why do they thus leave their traditional environments for the stresses and strains of a new and unknown mode of life ? To that there is no one answer. The impelling factors are complex and differ according to local circumstances, to the degree of evolution of the communities concerned, to tribal customs and of course to the opportunities available. It is probably true to say that even in the most primitive communities occasional work for wages provides an acceptable alternative to barter as a means of acquiring the few simple articles required for conventional 1 For a detailed discussion of the position in French West Africa see Marcel CAPET: " Le facteur humain et les activités modernes des pays sous-développés—L'exemple de l'Afrique occidentale Française ", in Kyklos, International Review for Social Sciences (Basle), Vol. X, 1957, No. 4, pp. 432-447. The article appeared after this survey went to press. "For development of this point see G. St.G. ORDE BROWNE: The African Labourer (London^ Oxford University Press, 1933), pp. 23-28. THE PRODUCTIVITY OF LABOUR 141 living. However, as communities begin to evolve, even though they are far from areas of developed monetary exchange activity, more complex situations develop. Dowries which formerly were paid in cattle, begin to be paid wholly or partly in cash. Cloth, implements, household utensils are needed, taxes are due. If the sale of produce does not provide the necessary money, only wage-paid labour remains. There may be a seasonal shortage of food, or overpopulation in a particular area. Other factors also play their part. Once villagers begin to develop the habit of going off to work—incidentally acquiring some knowledge of the outside world —and of coming back with a few acquisitions such as a suit of clothes or a pair of shoes, the spirit of emulation and adventure is quickly aroused, especially among the young men. It becomes a matter of social prestige to have been away to work. The desire to escape from the fettering influence of the old men of the tribe and to avoid tribal obligations also plays a part. Young women are not slow to show their preference for men who have seen something of the world and can provide some coveted object from the town. At this stage the desire for a higher standard of living in any permanent sense is probably not the dominant one. Work outside the tribal economy has been sought only for a limited time and for a very limited purpose. However, with the rapid development of the market economy in Africa these incentives to such work away from the village have been strengthened and new ones have appeared, particularly in communities situated in the neighbourhood of centres of organised economic activity, urban centres or main lines of communication. In the first place, contact with Europeans has created new desires and needs. In many cases the desire for a standard of living higher than the African has known in his previous experience, or at least for a way of life different from that of his tribal background, becomes articulate. In either case the price to be paid is work on the European pattern. Secondly, he may desire to see his children enjoy the fruits of a better education than he himself has had. This is said to be an increasingly powerful incentive attracting Africans into a wage-earning economy. Thirdly, pressure from his womenfolk cannot be ignored as a strong factor pushing him out of his tribal environment. This pressure leads him to direct his efforts towards some more impressive target through wage-paid labour before he returns home, but often it leads him to settle more or less permanently in a centre of employment. There his wife (if she can join him) can be free from the grinding toil which is every woman's lot in African tribal conditions; and with emancipation comes new desires and wants and conventional necessities not only for herself but for the whole family. The part which women can play in the evolution of the wage-earning African male cannot be too highly stressed. Whatever the circumstances, there can be no doubt that the African is illadapted by any conditioning he has received through his economic and cultural background for assimilation as an effective element in a wage economy on the European pattern. It is equally certain, of course, that his aim in seeking wagepaid employment heavily influences his attitude to work and his response to incentives and makes it inevitable that his reactions will differ widely from those of the European worker, whose background and aims are so different. For the African who emerges from the tribal economy to seek work for a strictly ümited purpose, to get money to pay a bride price or taxes, to buy a bicycle or a sewing machine, it is clear that the responsibilities and satisfactions associated in the European mind with work as such have no meaning. It is natural that, his purpose having been achieved, he returns to his tribal milieu either temporarily 142 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY or permanently. Such a man is referred to, in common parlance in Africa, as a "target worker". The length of time he stays outside a Native tribal area depends on the type of work, the size of the wage packet, the individual nature of the worker, domestic circumstances and his experience of industrial life. The average working period of the migrant labourer is said to be 15 months in South African mines and up to 26 months in other industries. In Northern Rhodesian towns 54.7 per cent, of the males are said to be target workers. In Madagascar peasants seldom work outside their own holdings. If they do, it is to meet certain limited needs (to pay taxes or buy imported goods). Their needs being modest, this is soon done. Orde Browne1 says that the men who are entirely dependent on wage earning for the subsistence of themselves and their families form an extremely small fraction of the East African community. The normal procedure is for a young man to go out to seek employment with a party of more experienced friends and to work for six to nine months, after which he returns to his village. He has a definite sum in view, and the sooner this can be earned the quicker he can leave work. The offer of more money seldom has any attraction for him: increased wages enable him to leave earlier, but do not tempt him to remain longer. Gussman, speaking of conditions in Southern Rhodesia, makes the same point.2 In other regions, such as the French Ivory Coast, Ghana, parts of the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi, Uganda and Nyasaland and in the Portuguese territories of Angola and Mozambique similar situations occur. These are more particularly dealt with in the section of the survey dealing with migrant labour. But whether he is (in the restricted sense used above) a " target worker " or not, whether he has ventured into the wage economy with the vague intention of remaining in it indefinitely, his Native village or land unit remains in many areas an effective alternative to town life; no social or economic factors have yet arisen which link him and his fellows to industry and to town life. On the contrary, the conditions under which he often has to live and work, the irritations and frustrations of the Pass Laws, where they exist, the restrictions—normally sanctioned by practice rather than by law—on his access to certain types of job, the lack of opportunities for education and training, the lack of any security against sickness, unemployment or old age, the lack, sometimes, of the right to own or occupy a piece of land in an urban area or to build a house there, the lack of any suitable place in fact to put any durable articles—such as a few chairs, a table, a chest of drawers, or a proper bed—even if he could accumulate enough money to acquire them— combine to make him the schizophrenic personahty he often is. That he should try to retain such security as his rural background has to offer him is therefore normal. That his work in the wage economy should be conditioned by the complex of circumstances, largely unfavourable to him, which exist there is equally natural. It is against this general background that the efficiency of the African worker must be considered. Furthermore, that background and the handicaps under which he labours must constantly be borne in mind when making comparisons between him and the European worker. The latter is the product 1 G. St. G. ORDE BROWNE: Labour Conditions in East Africa (London, H.M. Stationery Office, 1946), p. 5. See also Report of the Committee on African Wages, op. cit., p. 13. The Committee estimates that about half of the 350,000 adult male African workers in employment outside the reserves are " target workers ". 2 B. W. GUSSMAN: " Industrial Efficiency and the Urban African ", in Africa, Vol. XXIII, 1953, p. 137. THE PRODUCTIVITY OF LABOUR 143 of centuries of tradition, the former of a generation in which hand-to-mouth methods have perforce predominated. THE AFRICAN'S WORK PERFORMANCE When considering such information as is available on the work performance of the African and considering ways and means of improving that performance it is important to remember that much of this information comes from European sources, and while, in so far as it is based on opinions, these opinions are widely held and may be valid, yet the factor of prejudice cannot be excluded. In particular, difficulties of communication for language and psychological reasons, failure to understand the African's way of life or to appreciate the motive forces determining his conduct and behaviour, may all make for erroneous or biased assessments of the African's work performance in particular respects. Before looking at these questions, however, it would be advisable to dispose of one point upon which much discussion has taken place, namely the question of whether the African's apparent inaptitude for many types of job in modern industry which require active and developed intelligence is inherent in him as an African, or whether it is the result of cultural and environmental factors which have resulted in the non-development of mental attributes needed for fruitful activity in the modern economy. The consensus of opinion now is that there is no scientific basis for the proposition that any initial incapacity of the African rests on any difference in hereditary biological constitution between him and members of any other racial group. It must equally be accepted that existing inadequacies stem from certain factors of environment, including unfamiliarity with the tools of modern industry, gaps in education and appropriate training and in the background against which attitudes considered appropriate to industrial societies develop.1 Hudson2 quotes a Nigerian view that in absorption of knowledge the African is superior to the European and in skill equal to him, and that only in understanding is he inferior. The first proposition is generally admitted. The second and third need some examination. Hudson acknowledges that as far as skill is concerned, meaning the ability to manipulate, to make controlled movements such as are involved in machine operations, even those involving dexterity and fine manipulation, the second proposition holds good. As regards the third proposition, he maintains that there is general agreement that in understanding and application of knowledge and skill African workers are at present inferior to Europeans; they make good lathe operators and machinists but not competent artisans or craftsmen, if by the latter terms are meant workers who can operate a variety of machines and can apply their knowledge and skill in situations which are non-specific or out of the ordinary. While there may be substantial support for these three propositions, there is less agreement on the more detailed aspects of the work effectiveness of Africans. However, Hudson cites a few examples. On the docks in East Africa cranes are 1 For further information on this subject see: S. BIESHEUVEL: African Intelligence (Johannesburg, South African Institute of Race Relations, 1943) and " The Occupational Abilities of Africans ", in Optima (Johannesburg, Anglo-American Corporation of South Africa), Mar. 1952; W. E. MOORE: Industrialisation and Labour: Social Aspects of Economic Development (New York, Cornell University Press, 1951). 2 W. HUDSON : " Observations on African Labour in East, Central and West Africa ", in Journal of the National Institute for Personnel Research (Johannesburg), Vol. VI, No. 1, Mar. 1955, pp. 19-29. 144 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY driven by Africans, who are said to operate them better than Asians. On the Owen Falls construction scheme cranes were operated by Europeans on the grounds of safety and cost; on the East African Railways Africans drive all trains except those which operate on busy sections of the line. In a tobacco factory in Uganda the management estimated that in the factory generally three Africans are required to produce what two Europeans can produce in Europe; in short, it takes more Africans than Europeans to handle a given machine output. Their speed of operation relative to the machines appears to be lower than that of Europeans. In a textile factory in the Belgian Congo where African women are employed in one machine operation, one worker operates two machines, while in Belgium one European woman operates four of the same machines. It was also estimated in the Belgian Congo that an African turner was 82 per cent, as efficient as a European turner operating a given machine. Instances of shoddy workmanship, of misplaced skill, of slipshod work, of slowness due to lack of understanding of the real purpose of the job are frequently found.1 In Ubangi-Chari2 the output of Africans on various forms of masonry work was only one-third to one-fourth that of workers in France performing the same type of operation. Much more information is, however, required before any really reliable comparisons can be made. In any case, comparisons between the performance of Europeans in Europe and Africans in African conditions have only very limited value. In so far as shortcomings exist, they can, as has already been said, be attributed to the lack of technological background, of industrial tradition, from which Africa as a whole suffers, and more specifically to the stifling of individual initiative by the enervating and retarding influences of the average worker's economic and cultural background. As will be shown, they can be (and are being) remedied by selection, training and supervision. Allegations are often made that African workers are restless, prone to change employers and to absent themselves from work; to lack any sense of punctuality; to be antagonistic towards supervision in some cases; to be liable to pass to others the blame for failure ; to be unprepared to recognise their performance as inferior ; and generally to lack perseverance and reliability.3 Some of these allegations will now be examined in more detail. The Instability of the African Worker The high rate of labour turnover has long been recognised as the most persistent feature of the African scene. There are, however, various reasons for this high turnover. The first results automatically from the fact that a variable but substantial proportion of all workers are migrant workers seeking work for a strictly limited end. It is natural that when such a worker has achieved his target he abandons his work. The migrant labour system itself, in so far as it is based on arrangements (sometimes supported by legislation) providing for the return of the migrant worker to his own home or to his place of engagement after a limited period, is a permanent cause of instability; for instance, in the Belgian Congo married men not accompanied by their wives must return to their homes after a year's absence. Governments 1 W. HUDSON: op. cit., p. 27. J. MARéCHAL, R. GARNIER and R. DE MONTVALON: Un secrétariat social en Oubangui (Paris, Secrétariat social d'outre-mer; no date). 3 W. HUDSON, op. cit., pp. 28-29. 2 THE PRODUCTIVITY OF LABOUR 145 are only now, and only in some countries and territories, abandoning the notion that the proper home for an African is in his tribal area. It need only be said here that its solution is a prerequisite for any real improvement in the productivity of African labour in general, since migrant labour may be said, almost of necessity, to be unattached, liable to drift hither and thither, unreliable, unskilled because untrained, untrained because the basic conditions essential to training do not exist. A different form of instability encountered among African workers is their propensity to change employers, which has an equally deleterious effect on output. It is difficult in practice, however, to distinguish this secondary or relative instability from the turnover due directly to the arrival and departure of migrant workers. South African experience indicates that although the average duration of periods of service of Africans has increased, it is still extremely short by comparison with that of the European worker. Large urban industrial undertakings have reported a labour turnover of as much as 117 per cent, per annum, i.e. an average employment period of ten months. In Salisbury (Southern Rhodesia) 76 per cent, of the labour force remained on an average 4.42 months in each job, and 80 per cent, of all workers changed their jobs each year. In 1953 in Nairobi, for instance, 48 per cent, of African workers had less than one year's service in the undertakings in which they were employed, 80 per cent, had less than two years and only 3 per cent, had a record of service of more than ten years.1 In an oil mill at Stanleyville, in the Belgian Congo, employing 80 workers, figures compiled in 1952 showed the following employment records: over three years' service, three workers; two to three years, 20; one to two years, ten; six months to one year, seven; two to six months, seven; under two months, 33. Forty of the 80 workers had thus been at the factory for less than six months, and 33 of them were quite new entrants. About 30 might be considered settled, while the rest of the workers came and went at a remarkably rapid rate.2 An inquiry made in Kampala in 1953 showed that of a sample of 175 labourers, 62 had been in the jobs they were holding for under six months; 50 from six months to one year; 33 from one year to two years; 21 from two to five years ; and nine for five years or more.3 Of 30,000 to 35,000 migrant workers in Ivory Coast plantations, 50 per cent, change their employment every two months.4 The reasons suggested for these frequent changes of occupation are " liking for a change ", " chronic restlessness ", " a nomadic attitude to work ", " the attraction of city life ", and (particularly in the case of the unskilled) the attractions of some other kind of work endowed (in their imaginations) with higher pay, easier conditions and prospects of advancement. For example, an inquiry at Poto-Poto (Brazzaville) showed that 43 per cent, of all workers and 56 per cent, of labourers interrogated wished to change their occupations; 36 per cent, of mechanics wished to become carpenters and cultivators ; and 46 per cent, of drivers wished to become mechanics or traders. The reasons given were variously: "to live better", "to know another trade already ", " a man should have several trades ", and " prefer the other trade ". 1 2 Colony and Protectorate of Kenya: Report of the Committee on African Wages, op. cit., p. 14. U.N.E.S.C.O. : Social Implications of Industrialisation and Urbanisation in Africa South of the Sahara, op. cit., p. 312. 3 East African Statistical Department : The Pattern of Income Expenditure of African Unskilled Labourers in Kampala, September 1953 (Nairobi, Jan. 1954: mimeographed), p. 13. 4 Ministère de la France d'Outre-Mer, Inspection générale du travail et des lois sociales: Rapport sur les conditions de vie et de travail et productivité dans les plantations (Paris, 1955.) 146 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY There are no doubt more solidly based reasons for this instability and restlessness, including the existence of real grievances, the atmosphere in the undertaking concerned, the attitude of the management, the personalities of managers and supervisors and the extent to which they identify themselves with the private problems and worries of the workers. Moreover, there is a real desire on the part of workers to secure advancement in their trades and higher pay. Workers are often promoted according to seniority but there is frequently no fixed rate for any job. The young, efficient worker therefore feels he can advance more rapidly by frequent changes of employer, since each new employer may pay just a little more than the last. Current rates of wages for semi-skilled and even skilled occupations are often still well below the maximum which can economically be paid, so that there exists a wide range of wages for the same job. There is thus every inducement for the worker to try his luck elsewhere. This situation needs careful examination in any study of how to improve output by removing present causes of instability, along with investigations into improvements in food and housing, medical facilities, facilities for education of workers' children and amelioration of human relations generally, all of which are more particularly discussed later. Absenteeism Absenteeism is a serious labour problem in all African territories. It is due to a variety of causes. In the first place, leisure is highly valued, and where the pressures for increased living standards have not yet become insistent this is a potent factor affecting regular attendance at work. In some areas seasonal factors are important for workers whose land is accessible, and family and tribal obligations easily override the unfamiliar, undigested concept of regular attendance conditioning pay. In agricultural employment in particular, methods of payment such as the kipande ticket contract system of labour, whereby a worker engages to perform 30 days' work in from 36 to 42 days, depending on the area, leave scope for irregular attendance which might well be curbed by other methods of organisation of the work. In industrial employment generally, and particularly in machineminding operations in factories, absenteeism has been much reduced. Indeed, as workers become more and more dependent exclusively on their wages absenteeism tends to diminish to normal proportions, the worst feature being a tendency to be absent on Mondays or immediately after pay day—a peculiarity not confined to African workers. It is widely recognised, however, that chronic conditions of illhealth are one of the principal causes of absenteeism and often account for what may appear to be lack of interest in work or be stigmatised as laziness. Chronic malnutrition is an equally potent contributor to the desire to take an occasional day off or to work merely intermittently at the job. These matters will be discussed later in relation to the efficiency of African labour in general. Punctuality The question of lack of punctuality need not be treated at length. Any deficiency in this respect is no doubt a reflection of the worker's inability (related to his background and a different set of economic values) to understand the inflexible demands made by his employment. " The remorseless factory hooter and the workshop THE PRODUCTIVITY OF LABOUR 147 clock (which is sometimes intentionally fast) have no counterpart in tribal life and ignore the individual."1 Pride in Work If there exists sometimes a tendency to pass the blame to others for failure, if workers are sometimes not prepared to recognise their performance as inferior, and if perseverance and reliability are qualities whose absence has been frequently noted, all these deficiencies may equally be in some measure attributed to the cultural background of the workers concerned. In a world in which everything was ordained, in which ritual explanations existed for everything, in which the intervention of the spirit world coloured all life, a sense of personal responsibility obviously could not be highly developed. Discipline in and regularity of work did not require emphasis in tribal conditions. Pride in work generally stems from a sense of satisfaction in work well done for its own sake. Much more education in and appreciation of the disciplines which have come to be regarded as essential parts of the employer-worker relationship in modern society, as well as a much more assured belief in the value of these disciplines, will be necessary before Africans generally will be able to accept them as essentially valid in their own case. The educational process is, however, proceeding apace.2 GENERAL FACTORS AFFECTING WORK PERFORMANCE IN AFRICA There are two general factors affecting work performance in African conditions. They are—(a) climatic conditions, and (b) health and nutrition. Climatic Conditions Opinions as to the effects of altitude, temperature and humidity on output differ considerably and are generally imprecise and inconclusive. The fact is that little study of climate in relation to physical effort has been undertaken. In the Union of South Africa altitude is not thought to have any effect. Portuguese experience, on the contrary, is that workers transferred from areas situated at 2,200 feet to others at an altitude of 4,500 feet show signs of indolence and physical depression (these being characteristic of the Natives of higher-altitude areas). It is found generally, however, that extreme cold has a more adverse effect on productivity than extreme heat. A hot drink at roll-call time is a useful stimulant. The Belgian authorities consider that morning mist or rain will stop the Native from going to his work and is often enough to keep him away for the whole day. Reports from the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland and from Kenya confirm that the cold and wet weather often encountered at high altitudes has a worse effect on the productivity of tropical Africans than extremes of heat. Temperature, short of extremes, is generally regarded as less important than humidity, though in the French territories they are treated as inseparable, it being considered that humid heat between 25° and 350C is as difficult to bear as dry heat between 35° and 40°C.3 The more general view is that humidity has an adverse 1 Rev. Pierre CHARLES: "Tribal Society and Labour Legislation", in International Labour Review, Vol. LXV, No. 4, Apr. 1952, p. 436. 2 For further discussion of this point see C. H. NORTHCOTT: African Labour Efficiency Survey. Colonial Research Publication, No. 3 (London, H.M. Stationery Office, 1949), p. 16. 3 The Human Factors of Productivity in Africa, op. cit., p. 27. 148 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY effect on productivity, particularly when associated with high temperatures. Biesheuvel, in a study made on whites1, says that it has been estimated that a high level of efficiency cannot be indefinitely maintained beyond the indoor range of 60o-75oF (15o-250C) with a relative humidity range of from 40 per cent, to 70 per cent. By this standard the climate of most African territories must be considered a serious handicap to efficiency. While there is little conclusive evidence about the effects of altitude, temperature and humidity on output, there is more on human adaptability to these factors. Physiological research on the problems of adaptation and acclimatisation has recently been undertaken by the South African Chamber of Mines Applied Physiological Laboratory, and also by the Hot Climate Physiological Research Unit, at Oshodi, Nigeria. The former institution has carried out a number of tests which have established that fully acclimatised labourers show deterioration in manual tasks at a wet-bulb temperature of above 870F (310C). Further investigation is taking place on the physical and psychological effects of humidity on workers; this study is expected to take some years. Investigations also tend to show that physiologically the African is no better able to cope with the heat and humidity than is the European. The former is merely able to acclimatise himself a little more quickly—by some two or three days in ten, under laboratory conditions. In fact, tests on untrained African miners and laboratory subjects showed that these had less tolerance to heat than Europeans who led an active life in the tropics. Dr. Ladell, who directed the work of the unit, has stressed the importance of " work rate " in determining heat tolerance.2 Acclimatisation is not, research suggests, so difficult as adaptation and habituation to a new environment of work and living conditions. Nevertheless, the practice in certain South African mines and in certain industries in Angola and Sao Tomé might well form the basis of experiment throughout undertakings that recruit labour unused to the climate and conditions in which they are expected to work, who in any case make up a large proportion of all recruited labour. In the South African mines, for instance, during their first week labourers are employed in moderate temperatures of up to 870F (30o-31oC) wet bulb and 100 ft./minute wind velocity. During the second week they are employed in the hottest part of the mine under close supervision; unsuitable labour can be thus weeded out and the rest acclimatised. It is claimed that a greatly increased output results. The Angola railways set the new recruit half a normal day's work and gradually increase it, while a mining company in Sao Tomé keeps its newly recruited labour under close medical supervision with extra rations for three weeks (60 days for those selected for heavy work) and thereafter assigns them to suitable work. Workers from abroad stay on the coast for a time before being transferred to higher altitudes and are given only light work to begin with. Concentration on diet and adaptation to the new environment is perhaps emphasised more than acclimatisation as such in Belgian, British and French territories. French views, supported by experience in French Equatorial Africa, favour an attempt to reproduce for the transferred worker conditions approximating to 1 2 S. BIESHEUVEL: "The Occupational Abilities of Africans", op. cit., p. 1. W. S. S. LADELL: "Physiological Observations on Men Working in Supposedly Limiting Environments in a West African Gold-Mine ", in British Journal of Industrial Medicine (London, British Medical Association), Vol. XII, No. 2, Apr. 1955, pp. 111-125. THE PRODUCTIVITY OF LABOUR 149 his original habitat by providing the type of food to which he is accustomed. Thus an undertaking in the Gabon which employs workers from Tchad issues rations of millet and fresh fish to the workers and their families. In this way their health is well maintained, and whereas the daily absentee rate of workers locally recruited is 0.99 per cent., that for labour brought in from Tchad is 0.46 per cent. In RuandaUrundi a mining company operating in desert-like country at an altitude of 4,500 feet succeeded in stabilising a labour force of several hundred workers from other parts of the country by providing a comprehensive medical service and a plentiful and well-balanced diet. Banyaruanda and Barundi workers achieve the same output as Congolese workers, thanks to the richer and better balanced diet they enjoy there. In general, acclimatisation measures suitable to local conditions are prescribed by law in the Belgian Congo. Workers and their families are placed under medical supervision for one or two weeks after their arrival. They do little work during this period, but subsequently tasks are progressively increased up to the normal and the working day lengthened in proportion. This stage lasts as a rule for one or two months and there is medical supervision throughout. Sometimes the training is carried out in the recruits' place of origin in order to avoid the double effort of adaptation to work and to new conditions of life. Provided a worker is properly fed and nourished and has decent living conditions, changes in altitude, climate, and humidity (with the exception of extremes) have little effect on productivity. Health and Nutrition There is no doubt that African workers, with rare exceptions, are, like the rest of the African population, suffering from physiological deficiencies due to endemic diseases. Dr. J. C. Carothers, speaking of infective diseases, says that they occur with such variety and ubiquity as not only to cause much actual illness (with psychiatric concomitants) but, in chronic forms, also to be apt to promote a continuing background of ill-health which must increase the liability to mental breakdown from other causes and which may indeed be one factor influencing the mental attributes of the so-called " normal " African.1 He says also that these infections have " little in common other than their insidiously debilitating effects, which may be ephemeral but are often lifelong. Few Africans are free from all of these, and it would be easy to find examples of persons infected concurrently with malaria, hookworm, bilharziasis, ascariasis, and taeniasis, with a haemoglobin level of about 30 per cent., and yet not complaining of ill-health. ' Normality ' in the African, even from the standpoint of infection alone, is a rather meaningless phrase."2 There is abundant evidence that the typical African worker's capacity is continously impaired, and often interrupted, by the endemic diseases to which he is subject and that they constitute the greatest single cause of absenteeism and contribute to faulty work and to low output and are probably an important factor making for general discontent and indifferent human relations. Malaria, bilharziasis, the enteric, respiratory and venereal groups of diseases and sleeping sickness are all prevalent throughout the greater part of the area under consideration, except that malaria is not a major problem in South Africa. As to remedies, the official view of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is probably widely accepted. It is that— 1 2 J. C. CAROTHERS: The African Mind in Health and Disease, op. cit., p. 24. On the particular subject of the Belgian Congo see ibid., pp. 32-33. 150 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY ... an initial detailed medical examination of any African entering employment straight from village conditions is a sine qua non for any employer of labour. The value of subsequent periodic examinations, however, depends on how detailed they are: if there are full examinations accompanied by health education, treatment and prophylaxis under continuous control, an increase in productivity is inevitable. The direction of medical supervision towards the prevention and treatment of ill-health and the promotion of optimum working conditions are more important than the mere treatment of sick persons. It is necessary to ensure that methods of treatment do not conduce to the breakdown of natural resistance.1 Associated with poor health and endemic disease as factors adversely affecting productivity is undernourishment and malnutrition. This is largely a question of diet. There are probably few parts of Africa where the diet of the majority of the population is anything like sufficient for optimum nutrition. Diets are frequently insufficient in quantity and still more insufficient in quality. If they are bulky, the bulk is too often made up of foods that do not supply all the needs of a balanced diet. Judged by European standards, they lack variety and protective value. Relating diet to efficiency, it may be said that the general effect resulting from any type of dietary insufficiency is avoidance of effort. A natural tendency on the part of the body to conserve its resources results in the absence of the initiative and drive which is characterised by the phrase " going all-out on a job ".2 The grosser forms of malnutrition, manifested by kwashiorkor (protein malnutrition) and pellagra, are chiefly found in areas where the staple food is maize (South and East Africa). The incidence of tropical ulcers varies in different territories. But everywhere the fact of poor or faulty nutrition is acknowledged and its vital bearing on the working capacity of the African recognised. One expert goes so far as to say that no medical or social provision will promote increased productivity if the physique of the worker is continuously being undermined by a substandard diet.3 The remedies for this state of affairs are for the most part beyond the scope of an examination of the problem of productivity, involving as they do a radical change in feeding habits from infancy, and therefore constituting largely a problem of education of women in home economics. In addition, however, there is the problem of absolute or seasonal scarcity of food, which exists in many areas, and the impossibility for many African workers of achieving even the lowest standards of nutritional sufficiency for themselves and their families on the wages they are paid. Discussion of what employers can do directly to combat malnutrition and stimulate productivity centres chiefly around the provision of rations, or of a wellbalanced cooked meal, since it is generally accepted that a traditional African diet, more or less adequate to a tribal way of life requiring little sustained effort, is insufficient for a worker from whom a regular, sometimes considerable, output of energy is required. The practice in most territories in the past was to compel employers by law to provide rations of a certain calorific value and containing prescribed amounts of carbohydrates, protein and fats to their workers. These were supplied either as dry rations, in which case the worker was left to make his own cooking arrangements, or, in some cases, as prepared meals. Legislation dealing with this matter exists in Belgian, French and Portuguese territories and in the 1 2 3 The Human Factors of Productivity in Africa, op. cit., p. 22. C. H. NORTHCOTT: African Labour Efficiency Survey, op. cit., p. 96. The Human Factors of Productivity in Africa, op. cit., p. 21. THE PRODUCTIVITY OF LABOUR 151 Union of South Africa (the mining industry) as well as in certain United Kingdom territories. In all except the Portuguese territories the tendency is, however, more and more to permit payment of cash in lieu of rations. Sometimes, irrespective of whether dry rations are given or not, individual firms do supply to their workers at least one hot cooked meal per day free of charge, and there is a wide measure of agreement that this has a most favourable effect on productivity. In other cases, to supplement these rations or cash payments in lieu thereof, food and other staple goods are available from company canteens at cost or near cost prices. The desirability of such a measure, particularly in areas where there are shortages of particular types of food essential to a balanced diet, is also recognised. However, the supply of acceptable and appropriate cooked meals gives rise to practical difficulties when workers are from different tribes and areas with different food habits. For this reason rations are, where they are supplied at all, being supplied more and more in dry form, except in remote places and in isolated plantations and mines where the utility of the cooked meal is fully accepted. In the hands of enlightened employers there is no doubt that the supply of a wellbalanced cooked meal can do much to stimulate output and reduce turnover and absenteeism. A sugar refinery in Madagascar increased output by 5 per cent, and reduced the turnover rate of migrant labour from 60 per cent, to 6 per cent, by providing such a meal. An employer in Ruanda-Urundi estimates that he raised productivity by 30 per cent, in the same way. Experience in French Equatorial Africa also shows that the extra cost of such a meal is more than compensated for by results. The main differences of views at the present time centre on whether rations should be supplied to workers either dry or as cooked food, or whether a cash payment in addition to wages should be made in lieu thereof. It is probably widely accepted that in present circumstances the supply of rations aids productivity in the sense that, generally speaking, the payment of cash in lieu thereof would result in some portion of the cash being misspent—either not on food or on food of inferior quality and that the workers' health and productive capacity would suffer. On the other hand, workers prefer cash, and an increasing proportion of them have sufficient education and experience to be able, where there are well-stocked markets, to use the extra cash thus available wisely in the interest of themselves and their families. An evolution in the direction of paying cash is inevitable. Workers more and more are coming to resent the paternalism implied in government control over the type of food they must eat. It may well be that the change will be accompanied, in the employers' own interests, by a development of the canteen system or other arrangements for providing workers with well-balanced cooked meals. In any case, the adverse effect on productivity through mistakes in diet and wrong feeding may only be temporary, since the powerful incentive of the extra cash wage in the long run is widely acknowledged. It would be well, however, for governments to embark on programmes of mass education with the aim of teaching workers and their wives how to lay out their earnings effectively and to plan wholesome meals. MONETARY INCENTIVES IN AFRICAN CONDITIONS General The evolution of the African wage earner, as was described earlier, is closely linked to the problem of monetary incentives. It has already been emphasised 152 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY that many Africans leave their traditional environments to work for wages for a limited time and a limited purpose and that the problem of finding financial inducements to work harder or more regularly is particularly difficult of solution in their case. At the same time it is certain that the possibilities of integrating the African into the wage-earning economy develop rapidly once he has taken his first steps out of his primitive environment based on communal life and he begins to develop needs based on a mode of life, however humble its standards at first, which, over large areas of Africa, only wage-paid employment can satisfy. Perhaps the migrant labour system largely survives not because of any impossibility of transforming Africans into stabilised workers but mainly because governments and employers have done nothing about it—governments because they have not been prepared to do so for political or other reasons, including the cost, or have not yet accepted the necessity of doing so ; employers because they are not yet sufficiently dissatisfied with the migrant labour system, with all its disadvantages in terms of turnover, lack of skill and generally low productivity, to make a positive effort and incur the initial cost of doing so. It is probably true to say that in the great majority of cases the migrant worker is still not yet conscious, or at any rate not fully conscious, of the possibilities that stabilisation might bring. It is certainly true that the conditions of life actually existing in urban and other centres of organised employment often do little or nothing to make easier for him acceptance of the severance of the links with his traditional environment, which mean for him ultimate security. It may also be suggested that far more positive steps are needed to render easier and more acceptable the change from the customary rhythm of work under communal conditions to the disciplines of organised employment on the European pattern. On the former point Gussman1 maintains that two of the prime reasons for low output are the physical and spiritual environment in which the majority of workers live and—almost equally important—the general environment in which they work. He maintains that workers living under the conditions existing in many urban areas and employment centres cannot possibly be efficient and that the fact of living under such conditions must unquestionably make for a spirit of hopelessness, sullenness and desperation. He claims that all budget or cost-of-living studies made in the larger towns of Southern Rhodesia have shown that the average wage is inadequate to maintain health and decency. While this was written in 1953 and improvements in wage rates have taken place since, it would be foolish not to recognise that the statement still has wide validity in Africa today. It would equally be foolish not to recognise that promises of more money for harder work have little interest for many Africans because the money so earned cannot buy the things they really want—prestige, security, a home of their own, or at least the right to rent and live in a house in an urban area irrespective of the type of work they do, the right to do the kind of work of which they are capable, a proper education for their children, family life on a new perspective. Thus they content themselves with minor ambitions such as a suit of clothes or a bicycle. These wants are relatively easily satisfied; they are no hindrance to mobility. Saturation point is thus quickly reached, and with saturation comes a refusal to make the extra effort, which they regard as disproportionate to the final result. Having learnt to live on a wage that barely provides the essentials of life and decency and relying on mutual self help, traditional African hospitality, and the family shamba 1 B. W. GUSSMAN: "Industrial Efficiency and the Urban African", op. cit., p. 138. THE PRODUCTIVITY OF LABOUR 153 as the last resort, they lapse into lassitude, resignation and sometimes despair. This is the background against which the utility of purely monetary incentives such as output bonuses, payment by the task and the like must be considered. Two proposals are accordingly made. The first is that monetary incentives of the type indicated (or indeed any other type of incentive) are unlikely to be really satisfactory, or to attract responses comparable to those that might be expected in European conditions, unless they are related to a basic wage which is itself satisfactory.1 The second is that they are equally unlikely to succeed unless the African himself is persuaded that the way is opened to him, through the acceptance of wagepaid employment to move without let or hindrance towards a life in which effort and competence will be adequately rewarded and his aspirations as a human being will not be frustrated by discriminatory treatment exercised either for political ends or because of sheer lack of comprehension of his hopes and his problems.2 On the basis of the first proposal and of the facts—which are widely recognised, and which are referred to more specifically elsewhere in this survey, the relevant conclusions of the Fourth Session of the I.L.O. Committee of Experts on Social Policy in Non-Metropolitan Territories (Dakar, December 1955) would seem to have special validity: 1. It should be the common aim of governments, employers and workers to establish wages at the highest levels which the economic circumstances of each non-metropolitan territory permit and to ensure that workers secure, through upward adjustment of wage scales, a fair share of the increased prosperity resulting from economic development of the whole territory. 2. In order to enable wage earners to enter fully into the economic and social life of the community into which wage-paid employment brings them, governments and employers should take steps to secure the stabilisation of wage earners and their families at or near their places of employment, except in the case of essentially temporary and seasonal workers. 3. This implies that minimum earnings, including any allowances, should be sufficient to support stabilised family life without the need for assistance from outside sources away from the place of employment, such as distant land holdings, to supplement family income. This objective should be accepted as an aim of policy to be attained gradually as a result of economic development. On the second proposal there may, perhaps, be a wide measure of acceptance of the statement that— No further improvement can be expected in the factory until the social conditions of life are improved and the African is recognised by those who administer his day-to-day affairs as a human being, with all the hopes and potentialities, the limitations and weaknesses of a human being. Consequently, only when he is given the opportunity of using his money to further worthwhile ends, or what are to him worthwhile ends, will he adopt a more effective attitude towards his work in order to achieve his object.3 1 See also C. H. NORTHCOTT: African Labour Efficiency Survey, op. cit., p. 16. In this connection it may be noted that the International Labour Conference at its 42nd Session (Geneva, June 1958) adopted the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention. States ratifying this Convention will undertake to declare and pursue a national policy designed to promote, by methods appropriate to national conditions and practice, equality of opportunity and treatment in respect of employment and occupation (which terms include access to vocational training, access to employment and to particular occupations and terms and conditions of employment) with a view to eliminating any discrimination in respect thereof on the basis of race, colour, sex, religion, political opinion, national extraction or social origin. 3 B. W. GUSSMAN : "Industrial Efficiency and the Urban African ", op. cit., p. 143. 2 154 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY It is with these reservations, but recognising the fact that efforts are being made in many areas in the direction of fulfilling the basic conditions specified, that monetary and allied incentives are now discussed. Types of Incentive It is proposed to discuss in this connection six types of incentive : (1) attendance bonuses, (2) extra payments based on length of service, (3) output bonuses and piecework systems, (4) payment by the task, (5) incentives through the structure of wages, and (6) amenity incentives having financial implications. Attendance Bonuses. Experience has shown that attendance bonuses and other encouragements to regularity of attendance have varying success. Something depends of course on the reasons for absence. If the worker has habitual family or other commitments such as seasonal or occasional work on the family farm, attendance bonuses alone are unlikely to persuade him to abandon them. On the other hand, much depends also on the atmosphere in which they are introduced and operate. Efforts must be made to demonstrate to the worker how his absence affects organisation, how his personal efforts, continuously afforded, contribute to the success of the work : in other words, to emphasise his individual importance and the value of the contribution he makes to the pool of effort, rather than to lay stress on the financial gain which regularity of attendance will bring, of the sanctions which absenteeism will attract. In the right conditions such bonuses as payment for Sundays to workers present throughout the week; payment of an extra day's (or a few days') wages to workers who have been present for a minimum number of working days during the month, the bonus sometimes being increased if attendance is regular over a longer period such as a quarter or a year; extra rations for regular attendance; piecework additions to time rates adjusted to reward regularity of attendance and variations of these, have all had a measure of success. Extra Payments Based on Length of Service. These may take the form either of a lump-sum payment made annually or of a fixed increase of wage based on length of service in the enterprise concerned. These payments or increments are generally popular and probably help to some extent to stabilise employment, particularly after the initial restlessness has passed. Nevertheless, they have probably less real importance in persuading workers to remain with the same employer than other factors such as the psychological climate of work, the character of management and of supervisors, the provision of suitable housing (or the failure to do so), and so on. Output Bonuses and Piecework Systems. Opinion on the value of output bonuses and piecework systems are far from unanimous, and experience of them is in any case limited. The conditions necessary for success are said to be the following: (a) that schemes must be based on conditions easily understood by African workers ; (b) that they are obviously fair; THE PRODUCTIVITY OF LABOUR 155 (c) that they are adapted psychologically to the particular type of labour involved ; (d) that they are adjusted so as to enable the average worker to gain something from them and if possible based on a guaranteed rate higher than the minimum time rate; and (e) that the bonus be paid as soon as possible after execution of the work to which it relates. Group bonus schemes are said to have had good results on the whole. A mining company in Sierra Leone marks off a task and offers a group bonus for its completion by a given date with a scale of increased bonuses for every day by which it is completed in advance of the given date. This form of bonus is highly popular, seeming to appeal to the sporting instincts of the worker, and a high level of output is often attained. It is, however, only used when quantity and not quality production is required. In the Cameroons Development Corporation ordinary piecework systems are said to have little advantage, but graduated piecework rates, in which the reward per unit of output rises with the volume of output, appear to be more effective. A coffee planter in the Ivory Coast whose workers earned 105 francs for a daily task of two baskets of berries found that an offer of 25 francs for each extra basket was refused. It was (it would seem rightly) regarded as unjust. An interesting example, also from the Ivory Coast, relates to an eight-weeks experiment with a group of masons engaged on " parpen " walling. On a daily rate they laid 25 to 30 parpens each. Offered a daily task basis of 50 they accepted and finished by midday. Successive bonuses for extra production raised the rate by the fifth week to 200 per man (the limit fixed by the employer). In the seventh week production dropped to 100 and remained at that level. The conclusion drawn is that the masons, having in a few weeks of abnormally high earnings acquired the necessities and luxuries they had long coveted, were " saturated ". South African experience suggests that individual schemes are more effective than group schemes, though both have produced good results. In mining, while it is difficult to isolate the effect of bonuses from other factors, the yearly tonnage produced per non-European employed has increased from 27.6 tons in 1945 to 33.1 tons in 1953. Experience in a carpet factory has shown that African male labour properly trained and supervised and given incentive payments can approach the European level of productivity. An increase of 14 per cent, in production has recently been achieved without loss of quality; an essential condition is, however, that the output bonus must be withheld if top quality is not produced. In a textile factory, where a qualified machine operator is expected to produce 75 per cent, of machine output, the latter being considered to be " efficient output " in the United Kingdom and elsewhere, an output bonus above this percentage enables him to increase his wage by up to one-third. A group bonus system for other workers, though less effective, is said to justify itself. In this factory every type and category of job is systematically evaluated. In Belgian and Portuguese territories piecework is little practised. Payment by the Task. This system is widely applied in Africa, particularly in agriculture. It is preferred by the worker, to whom it affords the opportunity of obtaining extra leisure 156 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY and more control over his hours of work and the regularity of his attendance. On the other hand, it generally results in low total output and poor-quality work. It is attractive to the employer, however, since fewer supervisors are needed than for time work, in spite of the deterioration in the quality of the work. Tasks calculated on what would normally occupy a full day on time work are frequently done in four or five hours, after which the worker generally goes home. But here again the motives of the worker in seeking work are important. It is said that the BanyaRuanda migrants working on Uganda cotton farms will readily complete two tasks in a day. The reason appears to be that they wish to make money quickly in order to establish themselves as independent farmers in their own districts. Sisal, tea and coffee plantations in East Africa have had similar experiences where payment is made by weight of leaf or berries. There are indications that in order to attract labour, which is becoming short in some areas, some employers have resorted to the device of reducing tasks to abnormally low levels. This is an attitude of despair and certainly involves a wasteful use of manpower. In general, it may be said while it might give good results under adequate supervision and with control of the quality of work done, the task system does not, in African conditions, result in higher productivity. There is no increase in total production leading to a decrease in costs and no increase in total earnings which would mean a better standard of living. Furthermore, it encourages irregularity of work and the temptation to indulge in leisure. These are attitudes which are already all too common among African workers, and no permanent increase in productivity leading to higher standards of life can be based on methods of payment which, far from eradicating them, positively stimulate them. Incentives Based on the Structure of Wages. The payment of extra annual increments on otherwise fixed wage rates to workers with long service with the employer concerned has already been referred to as an element in securing stability. Wage differentials based on skill are, when properly adjusted, also a stabilising element. They are also an incentive to remain in wagepaid employment, since only by doing so can workers hope to acquire the skills necessary to secure the higher wage rates. Sometimes the existence of extra payments for long service results in senior employees of a lower category drawing higher wages than employees who are better qualified. As long as the real reason for the extra payments is in fact merely the length of service, the apparent anomaly is no doubt justified, but it is suggested that sometimes the continuance of long-service bonuses to workers in lower categories is a means of avoiding classifying them in higher-skilled categories, the duties of which they are perfectly capable of doing. The question of whether the differences between the wage rates for unskilled workers and those for semi-skilled and skilled workers are sufficient to provide the incentive necessary to encourage workers to seek the sometimes lengthy training involved is, however, the most important of all. It is not proposed to discuss this matter in detail but simply to indicate two points of practical interest. In the first place it may well be that, in the effort to provide an incentive to the unskilled or to the semi-skilled worker to perform good and steady work through the medium of an incremental scale, a positive disincentive is created for the young man who wishes to get out of these categories and by study to acquire the full skill of an artisan. Perhaps there is room for some system of wide gaps between the unskilled, semi-skilled and skilled grades, with incremental THE PRODUCTIVITY OF LABOUR 157 scales in each grade, which, while putting a premium on long service, maintains the incentive to get out of the lower grade into the higher. Of practical interest for the future, too, is the transition from a minimum wage calculated on the " bachelor " basis, i.e. covering the minimum needs of a single man, upon which the wage systems of a large proportion of territories are based, to a minimum wage for unskilled labour capable of supporting a man with family responsibilities. In the process of thus providing adequately for the needs of the unskilled worker there is a very real danger of the wage structure undergoing a telescoping process, the wage rate of the less skilled encroaching rapidly on that of the more highly skilled. It is of the utmost importance, therefore, that careful consideration be given by the competent wage-fixing bodies to this point. As wage rates increase the need for greater output and higher skills becomes more imperative. Opportunities for acquiring those skills and encouragement through the clear incentive of wages considerably in advance of those paid to the unskilled and semi-skilled are therefore essential, as is the assurance that advancement will be secured by qualifications and not be blocked by racial discrimination. Amenity Incentives Having Financial Implications. Included under this heading are a series of services the provision of which are of differing importance in relation to the improvement of productivity. In some cases it is difficult to judge their effect, which is often indirect in the sense that they may merely encourage stability of employment or improve human relations, both of which ultimately affect output favourably. A more important fact is that little knowledge so far exists as to the effect of the provision of some of these amenities on output since even where they exist there has been little systematic study of their implications in terms of higher productivity. Perhaps, however, the observation may be permitted that their absence is evidence of unenlightened or even of bad management—itself sufficient reason for instability and poor output. It is sufficient here simply to refer to the question of food, which has already been touched upon. It has been noted that rations, adequate in quantity and quality, and the issue of a balanced cooked meal are important in relation to productivity. Less important absolutely, but none the less significant in terms of its amenity value, is the provision of facilities for cooking and eating the workers' own food. Housing is probably the most important single element of a social character that can be provided. By housing is meant here not the " bed space " (i.e. the strictly limited portion of a hut or barrack which is so often all that the law demands or the employer provides in the name of housing for African workers), but rather " homes "—that is to say, housing accommodation sufficient for a married man with children. Inducements to the worker to set himself up with his family in his place of employment—and proper housing is the main one—are undoubtedly potent factors in securing stability, and with stability comes the desire to improve skill. The question of responsibility for the provision of housing in the changing conditions of Africa is, however, fraught with difficulties and is treated separately in this survey.1 As has been implied above, the mere provision of a " bed space " for the worker has no stabüising effect on the essentially migrant type; indeed the fact that he is See Chapter XII. 158 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY not responsible for providing his own accommodation and knows that with the next job there is a bed provided may be a positive stimulus to him to move on elsewhere. The second is that whatever the direction of development of housing policy, there is and will be for some time considerable need for employers, particularly those outside urban areas, themselves to provide housing for their workers. On the standard of that housing and its adequacy to meet the African's rapidly developing ideas of what constitutes reasonable family accommodation will depend the stability of the labour involved and its morale. Examples of good personnel policy in relation to housing from all over Africa testify to its success, on a long-term basis, in raising standards of performance. In urban areas the scope for direct action by employers becomes more and more limited as towns develop. The most they can normally do is to pay housing allowances to their workers. These are sometimes paid in satisfaction of statutory obligations to provide accommodation and, more rarely, as part of considered personnel policy. Policies which prevent Africans from owning or leasing property in urban areas, and thus force them to live at very considerable distances from their place of work or subject them to other inconveniences are, of course, potent disincentives to stability and to reasonable output. No man can do a decent day's work if he has to walk five or six miles to get to it and the same distance in the evening. Public transport facilities for workers are often bad and sometimes non-existent. Where they do exist they are always expensive in relation to the worker's cash wages and sometimes exorbitant and quite beyond his means. The opportunities for employers to improve relations with their workers and to spare them exposure to inclement weather and fatigue, or at least hours of unproductive effort, either by providing transport themselves in suitable cases, or of giving suitable financial assistance, are therefore evident. It is of interest to note that the Government of Southern Rhodesia has expressed the hope " that its new policy of allowing Africans to acquire leasehold property in urban areas will be a big incentive to stability and higher production ".1 Finally, in suitable circumstances, the provision of financial assistance by the employer, or by appropriate specialised institutions, to workers wishing to build or improve their own homes can be a powerful factor in securing stability and improving output. The provision of facilities for small-scale farming by workers as an ancillary to wages and as a means of obtaining food supplies is still possible in many cases. On the whole it is favourably regarded by employers, but its tendency to provoke absence from work at certain seasons is noted. Perhaps the assistance it gives in remedying dietary deficiencies is not sufficiently taken account of. Commissariats offering at moderate prices the range of articles commonly used by the workers are useful not only in isolated areas but elsewhere as a factor in keeping shop prices down and in encouraging the habit of paying cash down instead of buying on credit. Judiciously stocked, they can also be a useful means of guiding workers and their families towards making purchases which raise their standard of living instead of spending their money on useless bric-à-brac. It would be beyond the scope of a discussion of productivity to examine in detail such matters as educational facilities, medical care arrangements, care of the The Human Factors of Productivity in Africa, op. cit., p. 59. THE PRODUCTIVITY OF LABOUR 159 worker in sickness and in old age, family allowances and the like. These are largely matters on which the initiative on questions of policy must lie with governments. Yet there is still much for the individual employer to do from which results in terms of higher output and general satisfaction in work can be expected. The availability of educational facilities for his children plays a considerable part in the progressively minded African's choice of a place to work. It being to the advantage of employers to attract workers of that type, it may well be worth while for large enterprises themselves to provide schooling facilities for the children of their workers in appropriate circumstances, particularly in rural areas. Contributions to the cost of school buildings or of teaching staff may be more suitable in other cases. It is difficult to be precise in regard to the net gain resulting from the provision of medical care arrangements by or through employers themselves. For enterprises sufficiently large to justify the employment of one or more doctors and in circumstances where employers can conveniently associate to employ medical personnel on a group basis, the advantages in terms of immediate and lasting effect on productivity are probably beyond doubt. The improvement in the general health of workers as a result of the ready availability of medical attention and advice and the consequential reduction of absenteeism, as well as the saving of time lost through not having to send workers to distant medical posts, will more than offset the cost of the service. The psychological effect is equally important, through the assurance given to workers and their families by the presence on the spot of medical facilities in case of need. In two enterprises in the Gabon, one of which has a doctor and the other only a dispenser (infirmier), the daily average of absences was said to be 0.85 per cent, in the former and 3.64 per cent, in the latter.1 Beyond the mere provision of medical care lies the question of cash allowances during sickness, and here it would be equally unwise to be dogmatic. Individual employers have proved that it is good personnel policy to be generous to sick employees. Dry rations, where provided, are frequently supplied throughout periods of sickness, as are housing facilities. Cash allowances are not so extensively given. Grants on retirement for employees with long periods of service are becoming increasingly a feature of the policies of more enlightened employers in the almost total absence so far of government-sponsored old-age pension schemes. Contributory pension and provident fund schemes have an even wider appeal and are an important factor in assisting stabilisation. The African is quite genuinely interested in the benefits these schemes provide and fears loss of the firm's contribution credited to him in the fund if he fails to fulfil the conditions by leaving the firm prematurely. Such elements of financial assistance, actual and potential, all help also to forge the delicate personal link between the employer and his workers to which the African attaches considerable importance and of which he is very appreciative. It might be appropriate to end this section with a reference to the increasingly important role which facihties for recreation and for stimulation of the community spirit are assuming as aids to morale. The African is gregarious and loves companionship both during and after working hours. Facilities for development of this amiable trait are therefore not to be despised as incentives. 1 Inspection générale du travail et des lois sociales : Les facteurs humains de la productivité en A.E.F. (Brazzaville, 1955) (mimeographed), p. 4. 160 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY HUMAN RELATIONS AND PRODUCTIVITY Relations between Worker and Worker Relations between the various members of a working group have an undoubted effect on the productivity of that group. The fact that in African conditions persons of different tribes, of different ethnic origins and of different social status may be called upon to work together therefore poses problems for the employer. The African employer, who rarely employs many workers, normally engages members of his own racial, even tribal, group. In larger concerns this is not always possible. What then is the effect of association of workers from a variety of sources on output and general harmony in the enterprise ? The general consensus of opinion seems to be that on the whole, though not invariably, homogeneous working groups give the best results. In Kenya, however, it has been found that gangs composed of members of different tribes produce more than homogeneous ones. In Uganda there is some experience to the same effect, particularly where the " headman " is of a different tribe from the members of the gang. In the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland the African's attitude to working with other tribal groups seems to be largely neutral. French experience suggests that where workers are still in a comparatively unevolved state there may be difficulties and even outbreaks of trouble, but that as evolution proceeds the habit of working together soon creates bonds which are stronger than tribal affinities and that in a short time distinctions are made not so much between members of different tribes as between persons coming from the different territories such as the Gabon, Ubangi, the Congo, Senegal, the Cameroons, and so on. In fact, the term " Belgian " or " Frenchman " serves to distinguish in current African parlance not merely Europeans but Africans living in Belgian and French territory on either side of the River Congo. This suggests the development of feelings of nationalism and the disappearance into the background of tribal distinctions, which is of considerable psychological significance in the development of working relationships. The balance of opinion is probably, however, so far still in favour of homogeneous working groups on the grounds that they are more efficient. This view is confirmed by Portuguese experience. There is one point upon which there seems to be general agreement, namely the importance of the choice of the " headman " of any particular group. Above all, he must on no account be a man who by ethnic origin is regarded by the group as of inferior caste or servile status. Certain industries in South Africa find that the admixture of other racial groups stimulates the productivity of the normally slower African workers. In Nyasaland many of the more highly trained African railway officials do not get on well with Asian clerical staff, the reason given being that they consider themselves fit to do the work done by Asians and that the latter fear they may be replaced by Africans. This is probably a very special situation, however. What emerges from all this is that some knowledge on the part of the employer of traditional tribal relationships and the prestige (or lack of it) attaching to certain tribes is of great advantage to him in planning for higher output. THE PRODUCTIVITY OF LABOUR 161 Relations between Workers and Supervisors and Management If relations between worker and worker are important, relations between workers, supervisors and management in African conditions are primordial. For the most part, supervisors and managers are non-African (mainly European but sometimes, and more particularly in South and East Africa, Asian). Labour-management relations, therefore, are an aspect of race relations. The general climate of race relations in the country or territory concerned affects basically relations between employers and their workpeople. In addition, difficulties which would elsewhere be regarded as arising purely out of the work relationship are often attributed to racial attitudes and shortcomings. The point has been made that the African works in a society where the association between pay and race membership is so consistent as to make it appear obvious that one's pay depends primarily on the race to which one belongs. The tension is probably most acute in situations where there is already a clear element of competition between Africans and other races. Thus in East and South Africa there is a considerable Asiatic population, skilled and evolved by comparison with the mass of African workers, entrenched in the economy and regarded by educated and skilled Africans as an obstacle to their advancement. In some towns in French West Africa there is a substantial European element down to the artisan level which competes with African artisans. In such situations it is probable that the Asians and Europeans concerned, though actually in the same occupational category as the African artisans themselves, are regarded by the latter very much as " employers' men " owing to the general association of Europeans with control and supervision. It is equally possible that the Asians, and certainly the Europeans, concerned, feeling the need for something to differentiate them and render them superior to Africans whose occupational abilities match their own, fall back on colour and race as criteria of value. It is, however, on the supervisor that much of the tension, if it exists, centres. Every inadequacy of the supervisor, whether in technical competence or in human relations, is directly reflected in productivity. It is not proposed to discuss to what extent racial prejudice as such exists in the various areas in Africa. That it does is certain, and that it affects all human relations in certain regions is also true. What is more relevant to the subject under examination is the extent to which it affects relations at the level of the enterprise and, in particular, relations between supervisors (and employers) and workmen. There is no doubt that situations arise in which, in face of difficulties with their workers, of their attitude towards work and their inability, often of long duration, to adapt themselves to actual working conditions, supervisors (and employers), instead of seeking rational explanations, simply ascribe these matters to inherent inferiority of the African. This attitude is most evident in those who are most deficient in general education and in technical qualifications, and can be attributed to a search for sure ground on which to found their own feeble superiority, race being their only recourse. Supervisors who approach their duties in such a spirit are bound to be inefficient, and inefficient supervision inevitably means that productivity is lower than it might be. Good supervision often being an important factor in the achievement of higher productivity, what then are the attributes of a good supervisor in African conditions ? Pélisson, Latouche and Dormeau, in their report on the human factors in productivity 12 162 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY in French Equatorial Africa1, give indications from which a composite picture of the ideal supervisor can be constructed. He should— (1) have indisputable technical superiority; (2) speak the language and understand the customs and values of his workers; (3) recognise that for the African, the European should be a teacher whose aim is to train future generations and be ready to set an example both in work and in conduct; (4) in comportment, be mid-way between too-energetic command and toobenevolent paternalism, be strict but just; (5) have the indispensable qualities of human sympathy, intuition and personality. It has been suggested that in so far as supervisors who are to work in Africa are recruited from Europe, they should first pass a psychotechnical test so as to eliminate those of unsuitable personal quality, and that successful candidates should be instructed on conditions of life and work and the attitudes they will encounter in Africa. Certainly some " conditioning " of supervisors, preceded by careful selection, will be more than justified by results. As a labour efficiency officer in Uganda put it: It is no longer a question of being able to swear at a man in his own language. Social skiUs must be learned by spending time on finding out why employees behave and react as they do, and much of his (the supervisor's) success in getting work properly done will depend on this social attitude.2 The difficulty is that so few employers are yet prepared to recognise the fact that intelligent direction of labour is just as important as intelligent disposition of materials and machinery or proper rotation of crops. Yet the good or bad reputation of an employer or of his supervisory staff is often more widely known to potential workers than he or they suppose. Recruiting agencies have had much experience of this in their work. Extreme difficulty is often experienced in persuading labour to enter into a contract with an employer with a poor reputation in personnel matters even if the wages offered are higher than the average. The wider adoption of the T.W.I. (Training Within Industry) system of training of supervisors would undoubtedly assist in developing supervisory skills in African conditions.3 No doubt paternalism is still important in certain African milieux, particularly where enterprises are small and workers still unevolved; no doubt the father-protector employer still attracts the personal loyalty of his African employees, who in return expect and receive not merely wages, food, clothing and housing, but a sense of belonging and a feeling that the employer will be a sure strength and shield to them and their families in time of trouble. Yet over great areas of Africa and where enterprises have grown so big that the personal touch has inevitably been lost, human relations are fast assuming the patterns to be found in the industrialised communities of the west. In these conditions the role, personality and capacity of the supervisor are all-important, and the need for better general personnel administration through specialised departments often apparent. 1 2 3 Les facteurs humains de la productivité en A.E.F., op. cit., pp. 52-53. Cited in The Human Factors of Productivity in Africa, op. cit., p. 71. For a more detailed examination of this subject see Chapter VI. THE PRODUCTIVITY OF LABOUR 163 This section has so far been confined to an analysis of the—admittedly usual— situation where Africans are employed by Europeans, but a final reference should be made to situations in which Africans are employed by Africans. This occurs not infrequently in West Africa and in parts of East Africa. In Uganda, for example, the opinion seems to be that, while Africans are relatively unreliable as employers and do not pay good wages, they maintain good personal relations with their employees and permit them to work at their own pace. More generally, it can be said that African employers share their own workers' conceptions in regard to work, its regularity, its rhythm and its quality. It would be difficult therefore to discuss increases in productivity in these circumstances in the same terms as in Europeandirected firms. Moreover, the problem has implications relating to the level of wages possible under conditions of complete Africanisation which go far beyond the scope of the subject now being treated. Joint Consultation While the question of joint consultation in all its aspects is treated in more detail in Chapter VII, it is relevant here to discuss in general terms the usefulness of joint consultation as a means of raising productivity by improving work relations at the level of the enterprise. The authorities of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland are of the opinion that— ... in principle joint consultation can be a considerable factor in increasing productivity by creating mutual confidence, ironing out grievances of employees and enabling management to put over its views to them, but that there is a considerable body of opinion, backed by the evidence of practical experience, which considers the average African worker not yet sufficiently developed to understand properly the functions of joint consultation, because he has a complete lack of sense of responsibility. In both the Rhodesias efforts to establish systems of joint consultation have frequently failed, despite the highest intentions of managements and the efforts of labour departments, owing to lack of understanding and trust, and ignorance, on the part of the workers and lack of patience on the part of the employers.1 This view sums up fairly accurately the general feehng on the subject in much of Africa. It is evident that the growth of joint consultation is likely to be slow and unsteady in African conditions. Frustrations there are bound to be. It is no doubt true that workers at the present time are more concerned with getting increased wage rates and other benefits than with discussing, for example, ways and means of increasing output. This in itself is enough to explain early difficulties of attempts to establish formal systems of collaboration at the works level. Once a setback has been received confidence is lost and the very existence of the machinery may even provide a focal point for new frictions. But this is to take a short view. What is fundamental is that employers should abandon scepticism and indifference and accept and act on the thesis that they can no longer be despots, benevolent or otherwise, whose slightest word is law; that the grievances of workers and their views and feelings in regard to working conditions are of importance and have output 1 The Human Factors of Productivity in Africa, op. cit., p. 65. 164 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY implications; that their expression needs some outlet; and that appropriate procedures must be worked out to meet this need. They should also appreciate their own need to communicate to their workers their own problems and points of view and that the creation of some form of joint collaboration for these purposes is not an imposition, or any derogation from the rights and responsibihties of management, but an opportunity to secure workers' co-operation. Animated by this spirit, appropriate procedures will be worked out according to needs and circumstances. No doubt these procedures will not always correspond to those adopted elsewhere. Bold and calculated experiments are what is needed. There must be a two-way channel of communication between management and employees; the difficulty is to find the appropriate channel, and here the initiative lies largely with the employer. With him also lies the initiative of getting across to his workers the purposes of joint consultation, of nursing them beyond the stage of unreasonable and unrealistic demands to more responsible collaboration. It may well be that at first—and experience confirms this—workers are so lacking in knowledge and understanding of production problems as to make joint consultation and discussions largely futile. Employers themselves in African conditions have but little experience of the techniques of joint consultation. Both difficulties can partly be met by training and, above all, by patience. A sense of responsibility on the part of the workers will only be stimulated by their being put in situations in which they are called upon to make group decisions and to accept responsibility for them. This is as true in Africa as anywhere else. Already in British territories in Africa joint consultation at the level of the enterprise in the form of works councils, joint staif committees or more informal bodies is widely used in both the public and private sectors of the economy. In Belgian territories Native works committees are compulsory in enterprises employing 250 or more workers. In French territories staff representatives, varying in number according to the size of the establishment, are elected annually by the workers according to legally prescribed procedures in all enterprises employing more than ten workers. Through them are presented all grievances relating to wages and working conditions, and they are empowered to make suggestions to the employer concerning means of improving organisation and output. A form of joint consultation is practised in most plantations in Portuguese territories; it deals with the organisation and distribution of tasks, the issue of rations to different groups, and the like. South African experience of African workers' participation in joint consultation is said to have been largely negative and not to have encouraged prolonged experiments, though some industries have had favourable results, particularly in welfare matters. It is only right to add, however, that under present conditions in South Africa, while works committees for African workers are not barred, they cannot have behind them the effective support of African trade unions since these have no legal bargaining powers. Most employees fear to organise such committees lest they be victimised.1 In these circumstances a special responsibility rests on employers to seek means of establishing appropriate joint relationships with their workers at the level of the enterprise, and thus creating conditions of confidence in which alone common problems can be solved. 1 A. HEPPLE, M.P. : " Labour and Labour Laws in South Africa ", in Africa South (Cape Town), Vol. 1, No. 1, Oct.-Dec. 1956, p. 30. THE PRODUCTIVITY OF LABOUR 165 METHODS OF IMPROVING OUTPUT (IN QUALITY AND QUANTITY) AND THE STABILITY OF LABOUR The various factors which influence in a more or less decisive manner the productivity of labour and the policies which are being adopted or the steps which could be taken to meet particular difficulties have already been described. Apart from these points of detail, however, the fundamental problems facing any employer are those of selecting the potential worker, training him for the job he is to do and seeing that the technical conditions in which he is called on to work are favourable. Selection of Workers: Aptitude Tests Research carried out at Leopoldville, in the Belgian Congo, and in French territories (mainly centred on Brazzaville and Dakar) suggests the the deficiencies just indicated can be overcome, first by selection of suitable individuals and thereafter by efficient training. At these research centres psychotechnical methods are being used to determine the initial capacity of the worker and so make the best use of the training facilities available. From their experience it is clear that specific aptitudes are not developed in a tribal background, so that reliance has had to be placed more on tests for general efficiency which may give an indication of " aptitudes " for work of an industrial nature. These tests have also shown the correlation between the degree of adaptability and background and educational standards. Remarkable results have been claimed so far, but employers in general are only just beginning to adopt this method of making an initial selection of labour, in French territories as elsewhere. As a rule no fixed criteria of selection are applied. Previous experience, often inadequately checked, is taken as a rough indication of aptitude as well as of possession of the degree of skill required. Often older men are preferred by employers since the young, although more adaptable, are found more unreliable. The influence of the young men's early background is still too recent and strong to permit them to develop any sense of initiative or reliability. In the Union of South Africa techniques of selection and classification of illiterate and semi-literate peoples are being developed by the National Institute for Personnel Research. Silent films are used in the process, which can be used to classify large numbers of recruits into potential mechanical, semi-mechanical or unskilled groups. Studies are also being made of the development of selection and classification tests for educated Africans. Physiological tests have also been developed which can determine the ability of a worker to do hard manual labour such as is required in the mines. Aptitude tests are the exception rather than the rule. In general they are only applied in large firms and then only in a minority of cases. In South Africa they are applied only in large enterprises with a variety of specialised occupations, and the general view is that they at least result in considerable savings of time which would otherwise be spent on training unsuitable material. In the gold mines tests are used to grade workers into supervisory, mechanical operative, mechanical constructive, and non-mechanical groups. Preliminary conclusions show that wastage among boss-boy trainees has certainly been reduced. A tyre-manufacturing firm reports an increase of 72 per cent, in the African productivity figure within 166 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY two years of the introduction of an aptitude-testing system.1 Aptitude testing is used in the copper-mining industry of Northern Rhodesia, by some transport services in Nyasaland and by isolated undertakings elsewhere. Experience in French Equatorial Africa has shown, however, that the results of testing may not prove satisfactory unless the tests themselves are properly adapted to the end result required. In this connection there is need for much further practical experiment. Training It is not intended here to deal at any length with the question of training, which is treated later in the survey.2 Some indication of the effect of the various types of training on efficiency are, however, pertinent at this stage. For any type of training to succeed, an adequate level of general education is obviously important, not merely for the formal knowledge (e.g. of arithmetic) that it brings, but also because education develops receptiveness, habits of reflection and of effort, regularity and assiduity. Adaptability and the level of general education are closely interconnected, and the former in turn conditions ability to acquire and practise a trade. Moreover, while certain trades have been practised from time immemorial in the tribal milieu, the conditions under which these trades have operated, the methods of work and the standards of craftsmanship are quite different from those demanded in modern industry. Experience of this kind is therefore rarely of value in industry and may positively handicap adaptation to the methods of work and the quality of craftsmanship required. In Africa, as elsewhere, two main methods of training are practised : (a) training in trade schools or other training centres, linked to some form of practical training through formal apprenticeship or otherwise—this is the normal method of producing fully skilled workers; (b) on-the-job training, used mainly to train operatives. The inability of the trade schools and the formal apprenticeship schemes to produce enough qualified workers to meet needs has led to the establishment in Belgian and French territories of a series of rapid trade training centres. These centres give courses lasting nine months, to pupils selected by psychotechnical means, in such trades as masonry, carpentry, plumbing, tiling, electrical installation, concrete working and motor mechanics. Considerable success is claimed for these courses. In contrast to products of ordinary training centres, many of whom drift off to other employment, trainees are highly stable in their trades and their output is said to be 75 per cent, to 80 per cent, of that of an artisan in France. On-the-job training is commonly practised throughout Africa. The general view seems to be that it is costly and inefficient, though the views expressed are conflicting. The main difficulties seem to stem from lack of any sound initial theoretical groundwork, which it is considered should precede training on the job, and from inefficient teaching. Training is in fact often very haphazard in character and often left in the hands of African foremen who have neither the ability to instruct nor the background knowledge necessary to impart the technical details necessary to proper understanding of the processes. European supervisors are said often to lack the patience to teach. All this points to the need for the further development in Africa of scientifically worked-out systems such as T.W.I. This system is already 1 University of Natal, Department of Economics: The African Factory Worker: A Sample Study of the2Ufe and Labour of the Urban African Worker (London, Oxford University Press, 1950), p. 101. See Chapter VI. THE PRODUCTIVITY OF LABOUR 167 in operation in many progressive enterprises and has the backing of several territorial governments. A final word might be said about trade proficiency tests and certificates. These trade proficiency tests are becoming more prevalent in Africa. Apart from certain large public undertakings, which organise their own tests for the purpose of grading workers for wage scales and for promotion, the governments of certain territories (e.g. Nigeria) have themselves organised trade testing services. Tests are given on demand to workers irrespective of the type of training they have received. Standards are set for various grades of skill in a series of trades, and candidates who pass the tests are given certificates indicating the grades to which their standard of work and knowledge entitle them. Such certificates are highly prized since they are of known objectivity and valid throughout the country. On the one hand employers can rely on them and, on the other, workers can be certain that they have been correctly and impartially assessed, that their technical worth has been openly established and that they can achieve promotion by quality of performance rather than on the basis of variable and subjective considerations. In the South African mining industry proficiency tests are applied and certificates of competency issued to boss-boys after training (on T.W.I, lines) and oral examinations. Their status has thus been improved and a force of well-trained African supervisors built up. In the building industry tests are given to Africans who have undergone the training prescribed in the Native Building Workers Acts, 1951 and 1955, and to others who have the necessary experience. Success gives the worker a definite status and the right to the wages prescribed in wage determinations made under the Acts. Improved productivity is said to have resulted. On the other hand, certificates of competency issued by trade schools and the like are treated with a certain reserve by employers since it is felt that, while they certify knowledge both theoretical and practical, they give no guarantee of application, regularity of attendance or output. However, when linked to efficiency barriers in established wage scales, they are said to lead to greater productivity and provide a powerful incentive to the worker to learn more. Adaptation of the Worker to the Tool and the Task and of the Tool and the Task to the Worker Dr. Northcott states that the African who enters employment has little or no knowledge of the jobs he will be wanted to do; that men who have never worn shoes and, therefore, never cleaned them, who have worn little clothing and have never slept in a European bed may come into domestic employment as " house boys " where they must polish shoes, wash domestic utensils, tidy rooms and make beds; and that others who knew nothing of mechanics and until they reached Nairobi had never seen a railway train are met in the railway workshops with a display of mechanism so great that it bewilders even a well-educated European.1 These striking examples serve to emphasise the need for thorough training of Africans for the jobs they have to do, irrespective of whether they require skill or not, and whether or not they are of a kind that Europeans could be expected to do without previous training or experience. The African needs to be shown how to do even the simplest things, how to handle tools, how to organise his work; above all, he needs 1 African Labour Efficiency Survey, op. cit., p. 120. 168 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY to be told the meaning of the work which he is doing or the aim of the job on which he is engaged and the reasons for carrying it out in a particular way or according to certain standards. This is what is meant by adaptation of the worker to the task. Even the comparatively simple matter of correctly handling a shovel is a new one to most Africans, who use their arms only, thus expending much effort for little result. The simplest agricultural operations could often be speeded up by more rational use of tools and better organisation of gangs. Perhaps the reason for such a simple operation as the use of a plumb-line needs to be explained before it is carried out with full appreciation of its value. Illustrations of this kind could be multiplied. All of them underline the need for detailed planning of jobs—not merely how the work is to be done, but with what tools and how the tools are to be handled for maximum efficiency so that even the most untutored African can eventually see why the job is to be done and the reasons for doing it in a particular way. The adaptation of the tool and the task to the worker is merely a development of this process. Examples range from such matters as adapting picks and shovels more to the physical possibilities of Africans to designing tractor seats more suitable to the posteriors of Africans, which are generally smaller than those of Europeans ; to adjusting machines to appropriate rhythms; to breaking down complicated jobs into a series of simple operations, each performed by a single individual ; and more generally to the rationalisation of work movements, the better utilisation of effort and greater co-ordination of activities. These improvements, however, largely involve systematic work study. While such studies have been carried out in certain large undertakings, for example, in the Belgian Congo mining industry, these are the exception rather than the rule, and there is everywhere evidence of effort being wasted through lack of proper co-ordination and harmony between the man, the machine and the job to be done. There is therefore much room for practical research and for encouraging the average employer to make the effort through work study not merely to simplify the work of the individual worker but to improve plant layout, production control and handling of materials. The return in increased output will more than justify the effort. CONCLUDING REMARKS It may be felt that the human factors associated with possible increases of productivity have been overemphasised. It may indeed be true that increases in productivity statistically more important in particular cases could be achieved by reorganisation and re-equipment of enterprises. It may equally be true that low productivity is due to such elements as bad siting, lack of good communications or the quality and availability of raw materials. These elements have not been discussed here in detail because it is difficult to attribute to them specific features linking them to the African environment. Nevertheless, it cannot be gainsaid that organisational and technical improvements can only be fully successful where the fullest and most effective use is made of the services of all members of the labour force. It is in the belief that in African conditions this is far from being the case today, and that there are psychological and human problems of immense magnitude and importance awaiting solution and which must be solved before any real advance can be made, that such stress has been laid on these problems. In analysing them what has emerged is that, while it is accepted that there is no scientific basis for the THE PRODUCTIVITY OF LABOUR 169 proposition that any initial incapacity on the African rests on any difference in hereditary biological constitution between him and members of any other racial group, it is a fact that by tradition and background the African is singularly ill-adapted for assimilation as an effective element in a wage economy on the modern pattern, that the reason which leads him to seek wage-paid labour heavily influences his attitude to work and his response to incentives and that his reactions differ widely from those of the European worker, whose background and aims are so different. It has also emerged that the African's work performance is at present unsatisfactory in many respects by European standards; that in quantity and quality it is often inferior; that the African sometimes lacks pride in his work; that he is often unstable and restless and prone to absent himself apparently without valid reasons. These traits of African workers have been examined in some detail, the validity of comparisons with Europeans discussed, and explanations and remedies suggested. The problem of monetary incentives (including piece-work and task-work payments, the wage structure and amenity incentives) has been closely examined. Two basic proposals have been made in this connection. The first is that monetary incentives can succeed only if they are linked to a basic wage which is itself satisfactory, and that this means a wage which (with any allowances) will be sufficient to support stabilised family life without outside assistance. The second is that they can only succeed if the African himself is persuaded that he can, through wage-paid employment, move towards a life in which effort and competence are adequately rewarded and where his aspirations as a human being will not be frustrated by discriminatory treatment exercised either for political ends or owing to sheer lack of comprehension of his problems and hopes. Over much of the field examined speculation has had to take the place of proof demonstrated by practical experience. Much valuable material has been gleaned, but the gaps are frequent and the need for further research evident. In particular it would be interesting to examine more closely the reasons which induce present attitudes towards work and incentives to increased effort among peoples of the western world, as a contribution towards effective means of stimulating comparable reactions in Africa. It would also be instructive to examine to what extent the attitude of workers from Europe, for example, towards these matters changes in African conditions and, conversely, to what extent that of the African worker changes in European conditions. CHAPTER VI TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING Since the Second World War there has been a new upsurge of interest in vocation training in almost all the African countries and territories and persistent efforts have been made to extend and improve technical and vocational training facilities. The war itself brought about a tremendous increase in the demand for African raw materials, while after the war the countries of Europe had to reconstruct their devastated areas, supplement the low level of output of the industries that had been damaged by war or brought to a standstill by occupation and at the same time build up their stocks of materials. These needs impelled the States responsible for the African territories to draw up economic development plans for them. The call for higher output inevitably brought out the importance of technical and vocational training, and official surveys made since the war have stressed the need to expand vocational training facilities. Thus, the ten-year development plan for the Belgian Congo states that " industrial expansion is hampered not only by the insufficient volume of manpower available but also by the shortage of skilled workers of all kinds ".1 The first report of the Commission on Modernisation for the French Overseas Territories noted that the African population was not sufficiently well educated; there were plenty of manual workers but not enough fully trained workers, and the result was that manpower was wasted.2 Similarly, the Commission on Higher Education in British West Africa stated in its report that it was essential that the existing vocational training facilities should be extended in order to meet current needs and enable economic development to take place.3 Similar conclusions were reached by the Royal Commission which studied the position in British East Africa.4 These conclusions were backed up by statistics, although the latter vary enormously in reliability. This is partly due to the extreme difficulty of making a census of all the skilled and semi-skilled workers in any country and accordingly of the exact proportion of skilled labour to the total volume of manpower. Moreover, it is clear that there is no common denominator of skill between, for example, seasonal farm labourers and factory workers. Nevertheless, some facts are available regarding certain homogeneous groups of workers. Thus, in the Belgian Congo, where industry already exists on a fairly large scale and where one big mining firm, the Union minière du Haut Katanga, runs a complete vocational training scheme for 1 Ministère des Colonies : Plan décennal pour le développement économique et social du Congo belge 2 (De Visscher, Brussels, 1949), Vol. 1, p. 62. Commissariat général du plan de modernisation et d'équipement: Premier rapport de la Commission de modernisation des territoires d'outremer (Paris, 1948), p. 20. 3 Colonial Office: Report of the Commission on Higher Education in West Africa (London, H.M. Stationery Office, 1945), p. 113. 4 East Africa Royal Commission, 1953-1955: Report, op. cit., p. 148. TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING 171 its workers, there were, on 31 December 1951, 12,312 labourers out of a total of 18,736 workers, i.e. approximately 65 per cent, of the labour force consisted of labourers.1 In French West Africa a survey by Häuser2 covering manpower in the processing industries, engineering workshops and mechanised farms of the Dakar area showed that labourers accounted for 75 per cent, of the total African labour force. In urban areas in Kenya the report of the Carpenter Committee showed that the percentage of workers earning less than 100 shillings a month (which seemed to be about as much as a labourer could earn) was 72 per cent, of the total labour force in private employment and 52 per cent, of that in public employment.3 In the Rhodesias and the Union of South Africa, where there are legal obstacles or collective agreements debarring African workers from skilled trades, the proportion of labourers is inevitably still higher. According to government statistics for the Union of South Africa covering the decade 1937-47, 83.2 per cent, of African workers were classified as labourers.4 These statistics all point to the fact that the overwhelming majority of African workers only possess very little occupational skill of any kind. This is due to the general economic and social conditions which prevail in most African countries and territories. The bulk of the African population is still engaged wholly in subsistence farming, and the number of wage earners is very small; in 1950 it was estimated that they represented 4 per cent, of the total number of adult males in Nigeria, 5 per cent, in French West Africa, 15 per cent, in the Gold Coast, 30 per cent, in the Belgian Congo and 40 per cent, in Southern Rhodesia.6 Indusrialisation has so far made little headway and wages have remained low, so that a number of private firms do not find it economic to replace men by machinery. Vocational training can only come into its own as the African territories become industrialised and the African farmers modernise their methods. A second factor to be borne in mind is that vocational training is expensive; the aggregate cost of buildings, equipment and teaching staff is very heavy indeed. There are also a number of other factors to be taken into account. Vocational training requires a certain stability of employment. On the other hand, instability is one of the characteristic features of African labour, for African workers usually only take a job in order to earn some extra cash to buy something they want, to save up the money for a dowry or to pay their taxes. Lastly, in some African territories there exists a class of European skilled workers who are determined to keep a monopoly of their trades, with the result that any African workers who try to improve their standard of skill come up against a colour bar imposed either by law or by custom. Apart from these economic and social factors, which to some extent govern the development of vocational training in Africa, there is another point which 1 Congrès colonial national: Les transports congolais: la main-d'œuvre. Assemblée générale du 6 juin 1952, Rapports et comptes rendus (Brussels, Imprimerie Louis, 1952), pp. 169-170. 2 A. HAUSER: " Quelques relations des travailleurs de l'industrie à leur travail en A.O.F. (Sénégal, Soudan, Guinée) ", op. cit., pp. 27-28. 3 Colony and Protectorate of Kenya: Report of the Committee on African Wages, op. cit., pp. 25-28. 4 Quoted in A. SIEGFRIED: Afrique du Sud (Paris, Armand Colin, 1949), pp. 61-62. 5 United Nations: Enlargement of the Exchange Economy in Tropical Africa, op. cit., p. 15. 172 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY has not been touched on hitherto, namely the aptitudes and mentality of the African worker himself. The failings described in Chapter V can be overcome by means of vocational selection, guidance and training. This belief is wholly borne out by the tests made in Brazzaville and Dakar by the psychotechnical mission responsible for introducing accelerated vocational training methods. The head of the mission has described the results of these tests as follows : In this experiment and in that conducted later in French West Africa the startingpoint, from the psychotechnical standpoint, was lower than that usually encountered in France. The standard reached in the early stages of apprenticeship was also somewhat lower than at the same stage in France. But at the end of a few months, standards here had caught up with the French standards we used as a yardstick, thus proving that the original lag was neither inborn nor permanent Hitherto all the evidence has gone to show that intellectual processes—in so far as we can gauge them—are identical in Africa and Europe whenever levels of knowledge are comparable.1 Natural aptitudes are not everything, and a general elementary education is virtually essential if a worker is to become properly skilled. According to the report of the Labour Survey Mission for French West Africa " it can be assumed that for any type of European training (e.g. for skilled workers, vehicle drivers, supervisors, etc.) there is a cultural dividing line which only exceptionally able individuals can hope to cross ".2 The prevalence of illiteracy in the underdeveloped countries and territories undoubtedly forms a very serious obstacle to progress. An even more serious difficulty is the apparent disinclination of Africans for technical education. To put it more precisely, if a young African has to choose between a general and a technical education he will tend to choose the former, and of those who do choose technical education many do not remain in the trades they have learned.3 This state of affairs is prevalent throughout much of Central Africa. There are good reasons for it: the African civil-service clerk, book-keeper or office worker has a higher social status and a less tiring job and is often better paid than a semi-skilled or skilled worker. Thus, for example, manual workers in the French overseas territories appear to be appreciably worse off than office workers. In French West Africa, for instance, ... the manual worker is often badly or inadequately paid, and he cannot help comparing his earnings with those of the office worker, whose worth is assessed without reference to productivity standards, and who not only has a much higher income but above all—if he is a civil servant—also has substantial perquisites. This state of affairs does not help to attract young people into technical occupations, and employers have to make do with workers who are unsuitable in character and lacking in technical qualifications for the job; 1 R. DURAND: "La Formation professionnelle et la psychologie des Noirs", in Problèmes d'Afrique centrale (Brussels), Institut universitaire des territoires d'outremer, No. 24, 7th Year, Second Quarter, 1954, pp. 105-106. See also, on the subject of similar experiments in the Belgian Congo, A. OMBREDANE: " Principes pour une étude psychologique des Noirs du Congo belge ", in L'année psychologique (Paris, Presses universitaires de France), 1951, p. 539. 2 H. DIDIER: " Formation technique et africanisation des cadres en A.O.F et en Afrique noire française ", supplement to Nouvelle revue française d'Outremer (Paris, Comité français pour l'Outremer), 49th Year, No. 7, July 1951. 3 As regards French West Africa, recent statistics show that during the past five years 23 per cent, of the pupils at technical colleges and 31 per cent, of those at apprenticeship centres chose jobs in occupations unconnected with the training they had been given. See " Extrait de la documentation sur l'Enseignement technique Industriel et commercial en A.O.F ", in L'Education Africaine (Dakar), No. 43, 1957, p. 51. TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING 173 as their output is often low it becomes all too easy to justify the practice of paying them very low wages.1 Statistics from the same source showed that the monthly starting pay of a skilled worker was 8,300 C.F.A. francs in private industry in French West Africa, whereas the starting pay of an office worker in private industry was 11,000 francs.2 The position of manual workers in other African countries and territories is much the same. In short, the development of vocational training in Africa will be fraught with difficulties, some of them psychological and others economic, social and financial. It is none the less absolutely essential. It is essential for the farm workers, whose very livelihood is threatened and whose productivity is tending to fall as a result of population growth, soil erosion and inefficient farming methods. It is essential likewise for the industrial workers, who cannot hope to raise their wages to a reasonable level unless they add to their technical knowledge and improve their output. Experiments at the Dunlop factory in Durban (Union of South Africa) show that a stable labour force, given proper vocational guidance and training, can triple its output in a single year.3 Success in vocational training depends not only on certain conditions directly connected with the trade concerned, but also on a number of general factors. In the first place it is essential that the economic development of African countries and territories should be fostered by sufficient financial aid to enable a certain amount of industrialisation to take place and productivity to be increased. In fact, the expense of providing vocational training must be looked upon as a necessary investment to raise productivity. In the second place the workers must be paid reasonable wages to enable them to settle down with their families near their places of employment sufficiently long to obtain proper and adequate training, and skilled and semi-skilled jobs should be open to all workers without discrimination. There must be closer co-operation between vocational training establishments and public or private bodies which are in a position to employ the trainees after they qualify so that the latter can be properly equipped for the jobs they will have to perform, and so that the best pupils can be found jobs comparable to those obtained by office workers of equivalent experience and ability. Finally, an effort must be made to enlarge facilities for general as well as technical education. As early as 1939 the International Labour Organisation endeavoured, in the Vocational Training Recommendation (No. 57), to lay down a number of standards and general principles on the subject, and in 1944 it formulated a number of principles for non-metropolitan territories which took account of their special circumstances. It also evolved a set of criteria for vocational training which could be applied to underdeveloped countries in general. As regards the development of vocational training in non-metropohtan territories, special mention should be made of Article 17, paragraph 1, of the Social Policy in Dependent Territories Recommendation, 1944 (No. 70), which in its essentials was reproduced in Article 19, paragraph 1, of the Social Policy (Non-MetropoHtan Territories) Convention, 1947 (No. 82) and developed in Article 20, paragraph 1, of the same Convention. The Migrant Workers Recommendation, 1955, advocates measures to give all workers equal 1 L'Education africaine. 2 Ibid., p. 49. 3 No. 43, 1957, p. 36. The African Factory Workers, op. cit., p. 101. 174 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY opportunities of obtaining technical and vocational training in both skilled and semi-skilled work (Paragraphs 37 to 40).1 Special mention should also be made of the work of the Committee of Experts on Social Policy in Non-Metropohtan Territories which, at its Third Session (Lisbon, December 1953) adopted a series of conclusions regarding vocational training.2 These aims of the International Labour Organisation are also, by and large, shared by the governments immediately concerned. The whole economic position of the African territories was exhaustively surveyed when the British, French, Belgian and Portuguese Governments drew up their ten-year or five-year development plans, which are now being put into effect. There can be no doubt that African workers will benefit and are already benefiting from the substantial investments that are being made. The growth of the economy, increases in wages and improvements in working conditions are bound to give them an incentive to acquire the skills they need for their jobs. The considerable funds which have been made available must be used not only to expand production but also to enlarge social services, including ordinary and technical education. This is in fact being done, as can be gathered from the following figures: in 1950 the African territories administered by the United Kingdom were allocated a total of £2,796,000 under the approved ten-year development plans for the expansion of technical and vocational training facilities,3 while the ten-year plan for the Belgian Congo earmarked a sum of 705 million Congo francs for non-recurring expenditure on vocational training and a further 461 million for running costs.4 As regards the French overseas territories, the reply to the questionnaire sent out by the C.C.T.A. in preparation for the Inter-African Labour Conference (Lusaka, 1957) states that under the development plan for these territories 23 per cent, of the funds available for public education were to be spent on technical education, and that this percentage will be substantially increased in step with the needs of the territorial economies. It is still too early to forecast future vocational training needs, but it can be assumed that all schemes should be designed with two particular points in mind. Firstly, allowance must be made for the changes that are taking place today in the African economy. More and more manufacturing industries turning out finished or semi-finished products are appearing in Africa, and they require a very different type of manpower from that now employed. Secondly, there can be no doubt that close attention will have to be given to vocational training in agriculture, for, as has been stated earlier, the African economy is and will probably remain for a long time mainly agricultural. Because of the obsolete farming methods used throughout the African territories and the low output of farm workers, it should be possible, by using more intensive production methods, to bring about a sharp increase in agricultural productivity, and at the same time to make additional labour available for the growing needs of industry. 1 For the text of these instruments see Appendix I. These conclusions, which are just as relevant now as they were then, are reproduced in Appendix I. 3 L. BOURCIER DE CARBON: Les plans monétaires internationaux: Vinvestissement dans les territoires dépendants (Paris, Institut de science économique appliquée). No. 9, 1951, Vol. II, p. 22. 4 Plan décennal pour le développement économique et social du Congo belge, op. cit., p. 82. 2 TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING 175 1 THE IMMEDIATE PREREQUISITES FOR VOCATIONAL TRAINING Adjustment of Vocational Training Schemes to Requirements Vocational training schemes inevitably have to fit into a long-term general economic policy in order to avoid as far as possible any major errors in the formulation of a specific training policy which might lead to unemployment. In other words, care must be taken in planning them in order to ensure that workers are guided towards trades in which there are openings on the employment market. Accordingly the first step which had to be taken in the African countries and territories after the Second World War as far as vocational training was concerned was a survey, conducted at the local, regional and territorial levels, of the needs for skilled and semi-skilled workers and the numbers available. In this way training schemes could be tailored to fit the needs, having regard to the money available. Even when such a survey was not made it seems clear that most governments have tried to meet the assumed or actual needs of the territories for which they are responsible. In the tenyear plan for the Congo the following statement occurs : The recently created vocational training section forming part of the Directorate of Education of the Government General should, by keeping in close touch with industry, be able to ascertain regional needs more accurately and help to adjust the emphasis in the vocational training schools accordingly.2 This policy appears to have been carried out. The reply of the Government of the Belgian Congo to the C.C.T.A. questionnaire on vocational training quotes statistics to show that in industry unskilled labourers are steadily being replaced by specialist labourers, who in turn are being superseded by skilled and semi-skilled workers. Information about British territories is not always available, but the reply of the Nigerian Government to the C.C.T.A. questionnaire states that to maintain supervision over the training requirements of the country a Federal Adviser on Technical Education was appointed some years ago. In addition, each of the regional governments has formed a Department with similar responsibilities in respect of regional needs.... The present facilities are regarded as being somewhat less than adequate for the rate of industrial development, and the National Economic Council has recommended that an urgent survey should be undertaken to assess future needs and perhaps such modifications as might be necessary to the training programme to bring it into line with those needs. This survey has almost been completed. In Sierra Leone the demand for skilled workers far exceeds the supply, and there is therefore no difficulty in adjusting training schemes to the needs of the employment market. 1 The factual information contained in this section is largely taken from the report of the Fifth Session of the Inter-African Labour Conference of the C.C.T.A. (Lusaka, Aug.-Sep. 1957) on law and practice with regard to vocational training, together with the replies of the governments to the questionnaires sent out in preparation for the Conference. As regards French West Africa, most of the information is taken from the review L'Education africaine and particularly. No. 43, 1957. 2 Pian décennal pour le développement économique et social du Congo belge, op. cit., p. 77. The vocational training section is now known as the Technical Training Directorate. 176 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY In Uganda the capacity of the technical schools was originally planned with a view to the likely needs of industry for artisans estimated from information supplied in answer to a questionnaire. The controlling factor is the capacity of industry to provide apprenticeship on-training after the technical school period, and so far it has been possible to place in apprenticeship all boys leaving the technical schools who have expressed a wish to go on training and who were acceptable. A review of the position in the light of experience was conducted recently as a result of which the intake of the technical schools is being reduced and a higher standard demanded in entrants. Statistical information relating to the number of really skilled artisans in various trades in employment, which should be available shortly, will enable a closer estimate of the requirements of industry to be made. In Tanganyika and Kenya the employers are represented on the Advisory Committee on Technical Education. Moreover, the Government of Kenya states in its reply to the C.C.T.A. questionnaire that training facilities are related to employment opportunities, so far as the needs of industry are known, and that no difficulties have so far arisen, as the employment opportunities undoubtedly exceed the output of trained persons. In the Union of South Africa a careful study of the employment market is made, and the principals of vocational training schools are notified whenever it appears to be necessary to curtail recruitment in any particular trade. Training opportunities depend on the number of jobs available, but in view of the inadequacy of African housing and the demand for experienced African building workers, no difficulty is encountered in placing trainees in that industry either in regular jobs or for trial periods. The reply of the French Government to the C.C.T.A. questionnaire states that the adaptation of vocational training to the needs of territorial economies is one of the major preoccupations of the services concerned. It should, however, be borne in mind that, if short-term forecasting is possible, in the long term employers' forecasts are a series of conditional hypotheses depending on the future economic circumstances, and reliable estimates can be made only on the basis of public programmes as defined in the modernisation and equipment plan. Planning Commissions are at present examining in detail the labour requirements involved in the realisation of industrial development programmes, including methods of readapting labour to other uses when the basic constructional work has been completed and manufacturing industries have been set up in the area under consideration. In the Portuguese territories, according to the Government's reply to the C.C.T.A. questionnaire, it is very difficult to bring training facilities completely into line with the pattern of demand. In order to achieve a better balance in this respect the educational system, and in particular the vocational and technical training system, has been completely overhauled. This was one of the aims of the Order of 8 January 1957 (No. 16128) concerning technical training in agriculture. In a number of territories the representatives of industry (both employers and workers) have a voice in vocational training matters in that they not only report the needs of each trade for skilled workers, but they also express their views on the methods employed. For example, representatives of industry sit on the Advisory Committee on Technical Education in Kenya and Tanganyika. In French West Africa relations are even closer; the Government states that— TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING 177 The efficiency of our system of technical and commercial training centres depends largely on the closeness of our relations with industry, especially when questions arise such as the drawing up of rules for the recruitment of trainees, the selection or adaption of curricula or methods, the organisation of trial periods for trainees in industry and business, and above all the estimation of the magnitude of the needs and the standards required Each centre has its own training board, the majority of whose members are from industry. These boards, in addition to supervising the running of their own centres, also act as technical education councils for their own territories, and in that capacity are called upon to advise on the organisation of the technical training system.... No technical training centre is opened, closed or changed in any way without careful consultation with the representatives of industry and business. When the trainees... take their trade tests, qualified representatives of industry assist the teaching staff; thus they not only take an active part in the running of the centres, but also help to ensure that standards are maintained.1 Generally speaking, the problem of relations between the government and industry takes two different forms, depending on whether vocational training is given by means of apprenticeship within industry or in official schools. Apprenticeship training may call for some action on the part of the authorities, e.g. to ensure that apprentices are properly protected, to enforce technical standards, or to encourage the introduction of apprenticeship schemes in occupations where there is a shortage of skilled labour. On the other hand, official vocational training schools can benefit considerably if their pupils are given opportunities to obtain on-the-job training in industry. The other feature of this problem is the share of employers and workers in framing vocational training policy. It is perfectly reasonable that they should have a say, since the workers have a direct interest in the new opportunities opened up by vocational training, while the employers, as the users of labour, are entitled to draw the attention of the authorities to the needs of the economy. As was seen from the examples quoted earlier, co-operation with private industry in the African countries today is usually maintained through vocational training committees made up of representatives of the government, local political bodies, employers and workers. By and large these committees act in an advisory capacity, i.e. they are called upon to give opinions on the work of existing establishments, on proposed changes in the regulations, on curricula and, in short, on all vocational training questions. General Education and Preparation for Vocational Training It is practically impossible to give more than rudimentary vocational training to individuals who can neither read nor write. But, even when this elementary knowledge has been acquired, training can proceed only at a normal rate and up to the necessary standard on condition that the workers have had a proper grounding in certain other subjects, which normally form part of the primary education syllabus. Unfortunately, even primary education is available in Africa only to a small section of the African population, and this seriously reduces the scope for recruiting pupils and impairs the value of the training by forcing the instructors to spend much of their time teaching the pupils the 3 R's. However, it must be acknowledged that a largescale educational drive is now under way in a number of African countries and terri1 " Extrait de la documentation sur l'enseignement technique industriel et commercial en A.O.F. ", op. cit., p. 47. 178 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY tories. In several of them prevocational training is given on the completion of primary education, and this helps to bridge the gap between the primary school and the vocational training centre. In other territories elementary prevocational training is given to the pupils in special departments attached to the primary schools or else as part of the primary education syllabus itself. Pupils can prepare for technical occupations either by attending a vocational school after leaving the primary school or by first completing their secondary education and then going on to a technical college of university standard (in the territories where such colleges exist). In the Belgian Congo primary education lasts for five or seven years, depending on the type of school, and the percentage of children who attend varies considerably from one area to another, approaching 100 in the largest towns. After children leave the primary school they are given prevocational training in apprenticeship schools (in the towns) and in handicraft schools (in the villages). Special courses have recently been organised to prepare pupils for their vocational training. The courses in these schools last for two years. The apprenticeship schools are designed to train workers who, while not skilled, are capable of performing simple jobs and can take their place without any trouble in European-type concerns. The handicraft schools are designed to train independent artisans, who are still needed in the type of economy which exists in the Congo. The apprenticeship schools—divided into 80 sections—were attended in 1956 by 3,470 pupils and the 174 handicraft schools by 5,449 pupils.1 In the British territories primary education lasts for a period of between six and eight years. Attendance varies appreciably in Nigeria, where it ranges from 80 per cent, of the total population of school age in the southern towns to less than 20 per cent, in the northern areas. In Kenya it is estimated that 73.6 per cent, of the boys and 28.6 per cent, of the girls attend primary school, while in Northern Rhodesia the authorities consider that the great majority of children between the ages of 8 and 12 complete the elementary stage of primary education, which lasts four years. In Southern Rhodesia over 70 per cent, of African children of school age attend the primary schools. Prevocational training does not seem to be widespread in the British territories, where industry is usually left to train its own specialised or semi-skilled workers. The vocational schools confine themselves to giving theoretical technical training to pupils who have completed a given number of years of primary education. However, provision is made for manual trades to be taught in the primary schools, and some territories have set up handicraft schools where schoolchildren can learn wood or metal working; in Nigeria schools of this kind have been opened in towns such as Lagos, where attendance is about 500, and Enugu, where attendance is about 400. In Uganda there are special rural handicraft schools which teach their pupils various village crafts. In the French overseas territories primary education (which is given entirely in French) is divided into elementary, intermediate and advanced stages, each lasting two years. Pupils who have completed the full course can obtain a primary education certificate. In the French territories as a whole south of the Sahara there are 154 pre-apprenticeship sections, attached to primary schools, giving preparatory training for manual trades and domestic science. The percentage of 1 Chambre des représentants: Rapport sur l'administration de la colonie du Congo belge pendant l'année 1956 (Brussels, Établissements généraux d'imprimerie, 1957), pp. 124 and 126. TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING 179 children going to school varies widely. In 1956 it was estimated that in French Equatorial Africa 21 per cent, of the children of school age attended school as against 11 per cent, in French West Africa and 48.2 per cent, in the Cameroons. In the Portuguese territories primary education consists of a three-year elementary course followed by a two-year advanced course. Nevertheless, after following the advanced course for one year pupils may take an entrance examination to a secondary school or leave with a certificate of education. Prevocational training consists of a two-year elementary education and pre-apprenticeship training course. A candidate for this course must have passed the examination held after the fourth year of primary education or an entrance examination of equivalent standard. In the Union of South Africa primary education lasts for eight years and caters for some 50 per cent, of the children of school age. The primary syllabus includes such practical subjects as manual work, gardening, needlework, etc. Pupils with an aptitude for manual work who show a desire to become artisans can enter a vocational training school. These statistics call for some comment. In all the British and French territories, primary education is divided into more than one stage (two as a rule in the British territories and three in the French). It is usually considered that in order to obtain the full benefit from a course of training in a vocational school it is essential to complete the full primary school course. Unfortunately the great majority of African schoolchildren attend only the first stage and soon forget most of what they have learned. Attendance at the second stage often involves some travelling, and pupils are frequently unable to continue their studies for financial or other reasons.1 Vocational Guidance and Selection Modern methods of vocational guidance and selection are as yet little known and practised in Africa except in the territories where rapid training schemes have been introduced (the French overseas territories and the Belgian Congo) and often very largely as part of these schemes. Broadly speaking, pupils who intend to take vocational training courses are selected purely and simply on the basis of age and schooling, as tested by an examination (which may or may not be competitive) on school subjects, or on the basis of their school records and talks with their headmasters. This system of selection is certainly a useful one, but it does not seem to be a wholly satisfactory way of finding out the pupils' aptitudes. In the Belgian Congo the vocational training schools frequently hold eliminating examinations based on the primary school curriculum, but examinations of this kind are increasingly tending to be superseded by psychotechnical tests. Would-be trainees at rapid vocational training centres are all sifted by psychotechnical tests. There is also a vocational guidance centre in Leopoldville which is mainly used by the Government for recruiting its own clerical staff, selecting trainees, etc., but is also open to individuals, who are given advice or psychotechnical tests. There is likewise an official department which provides expert assistance to industry by 1 No mention is made here of the advanced secondary education facilities available in the British, Belgian and French territories and the Union of South Africa, since although this form of education may lead to advanced technical training it is not usually directly connected with the vocational training system. 180 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY advising and helping firms whose managements decide to set up their own vocational guidance departments. In the French overseas territories admission to the apprenticeship centres (the lowest level) is by competitive examination for juveniles between the ages of 15 and 17 who have completed their primary education. Admission to the technical schools is decided on the basis of vocational tests organised by the teachers' council at the end of the second year in the lycées and secondary schools; the age of admission is between 15 and 17 years. The Federal Technical School at Dakar is open to candidates who have been chosen on the completion of the first stage of their secondary education or who have completed a course at a technical school, and to pupils who are working for their technical baccalauréat and are accepted by the teachers' council, are offered places by public institutions or pass a competitive examination for pupils who have completed the first stage of their secondary education or of their training at a technical school. Admission to the Civil Engineering School of French West Africa is by competitive examination and is open only to pupils who have finished the first stage of the course at a lycée, a secondary school or a technical school. Selection is made on the basis of record in the case of pupils who have finished their fifth year of studies at an industrial technical school. The rapid vocational training centres can call upon the services of a psychotechnical mission which makes use of the most up-to-date methods of selection. Pupils at these centres have to pass a psychotechnical test and there are no educational requirements other than an elementary knowledge of French and arithmetic. Modern methods of vocational guidance are being used on an increasing scale in French West Africa.1 Vocational guidance of another kind is provided by the regional manpower offices which, under section 174 of the Labour Code, are responsible for finding employment for workers. In French West Africa the staffs of technical training schools and managements in industry co-operate extremely successfully in placing workers. Previously private employers were apt to select their workers by hit-ormiss methods. In the British territories vocational guidance and selection are handled in different ways in the various territories. In the Federation of Nigeria candidates for the eight government trade centres are selected by means of tests; they must also have successfully completed both stages of primary education. Before completing their training all pupils must take the official trade test. The technical institutes are open to candidates who have completed six years of secondary schooling; in addition there are apparently extension courses for workers who are already employed in a trade. Vocational guidance as such is given at present only by the few existing employment offices, which are kept informed of local employment opportunities and remain in close touch with firms which are likely to be able to offer work. In Kenya pupils wishing to enter the government technical schools are selected on the basis of an examination held after the eighth year of primary education. On completion of the course trainees are able to take the government trade test 1 See " Extrait de la documentation sur l'enseignement technique industriel et commercial en A.O.F. ", op. cit., pp. 39-40. TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING 181 and if they pass are classified in occupational grade 3. The Royal Technical Institute runs courses for pupils who have completed their secondary education. There are also employment offices for African workers in all the large towns, but it is not clear whether they are in a position to give vocational guidance to workers who need it. In Northern Rhodesia the vocational schools are normally open to pupils who pass the examinations held at the end of their eighth year at the primary school and are given good reports by their teachers. Nevertheless, in many districts primary education is still based on the old system and lasts for only six years, in which case candidates are selected on their performance in these conditions. The Hodgson Technical College (a higher technical institution) is open to pupils who have successfully completed two years' secondary education. Employment offices do exist, but it is not certain whether they are able to give vocational guidance to workers. In the Portuguese territories of Angola and Mozambique vocational guidance offices have been set up under the Decree of 15 October 1954 (No. 39850). The duties of these offices are— (1) to ascertain the occupational aptitudes of pupils in all official and independent educational establishments and to advise families on the choice of occupations for their children; (2) to select candidates for trades connected with mechanical transport and individuals likely to qualify as drivers; (3) to select individuals for occupations requiring certain special aptitudes; (4) to detect backward and other special cases; and (5) to carry out research on vocational guidance. also apply to these offices for guidance if they wish. Private individuals may Both government departments and private industry make use of vocational selection methods in appointing supervisors, foremen, charge-hands, workshop superintendents, etc. In the Union of South Africa the vocational schools are open to pupils who have successfully completed their eight years at a primary school. Candidates are selected by the principal of the vocational school, who is guided by the recommendation of the headmaster of the school at which the applicant completed his education or, alternatively, on the basis of an entrance examination; candidates may also be admitted on the recommendation of the Commissioner for Native Affairs. When the vocational training takes the form of an apprenticeship qualifying tests are usually held at the end of the courses for most trades. If the apprentices pass they are considered to have completed their apprenticeship. Workers who attend courses in the building trades at vocational schools are also advised to qualify in this way. There is no special provision for vocational guidance, but the officials in charge of training are responsible for keeping both teachers and pupils informed about the employment opportunities available. The Department of Native Affairs also runs some 500 Labour Bureaux throughout the Union of South Africa; each year 1,500,000 Africans are helped to find work in industry, agriculture, mining, etc. These workers are advised and placed in employment in accordance with their own wishes, having regard to their experience and aptitudes. Some government departments, such as the police. 182 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY prisons, transport, forestry and the post office, have their own selection departments which pick out the most suitable African workers for supervisory and other responsible posts. Similarly, large private firms have their own vocational selection and guidance departments, particularly in the gold-mining industry, which employs some 300,000 Africans. A series of tests (designed by the National Institute for Personnel Research) comprising a certain number of practical tests is used to classify and advise recently recruited workers employed in the engineering industry as machine operators, etc. This series of tests has been accepted and is used in 14 selection centres catering for a large number of mines in the Union of South Africa. Employers in the engineering, transport, textile, leather and building industries also have their own methods of selection and training. The advantages of these training methods are borne out by the figure for training wastage, which has been cut from 17 to 3 per cent, on training courses designed to fit Africans for responsible posts in gold mines. Thus, vocational guidance and selection methods are used in almost all schools and (in some countries and territories) for entry to various trades. However, it would appear that in quite a few countries and territories selection and guidance in the schools are based on factors which, although useful, are perhaps inadequate. Yet the efforts of a pupil or apprentice during his course of training are often wasted unless he is in a trade which suits his aptitudes. Experiments have shown that proper selection makes it possible to cut down the length of training and reduce the risk of accidents. It would thus be desirable for would-be trainees to be able to consult vocational guidance experts either at their primary schools or while they are undergoing training. Where it is impracticable to set up full-scale vocational guidance services, an effort could be made (if there is no pre-vocational training) to make the curriculum of the first year at the vocational school general enough to give new entrants an adequate pre-apprenticeship training for the more specialised instruction they will receive later on. It would be worth investigating what type of first-year curriculum and teaching methods would be most helpful to pupils in mastering the various subjects and in deciding on those in which they wish to specialise. VOCATIONAL TRAINING FACILITIES FOR JUVENILES Vocational training facilities fall into two quite distinct categories: vocational instruction given in schools and trade training given in industry by a full-scale apprenticeship or simply in the form or training on the job. These two types of training differ sharply, not only as regards the conditions in which they are given but also as regards the methods used and the legal status of the trainees. Individuals who are trained in industry are bound to their employers by an employment relationship (e.g. a contract of employment or articles of apprenticeship) whereas pupils in a training school are not normally subject to any contractual relationship of this kind. As far as conditions and methods are concerned, in-plant training has to take second place to the needs of production, whereas in a school the approach can be governed entirely by educational considerations. As a result there is usually a good deal less emphasis on theory during in-plant training than TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING 183 in the curricula of vocational schools. Employers are quite often unable to spare the skilled workers who should be teaching the apprentices and sometimes find it hard to afford the cost of teaching and housing the apprentices. Moreover, while the schools are by and large unquestionably better fitted than industry to give instruction of this kind, it is also true that training given on the job gives workers a better first-hand knowledge of actual conditions in industry. In other words, co-operation is essential between the authorities and private industry in regard to vocational training, and in point of fact during recent years there has been a marked growth in Africa in systems of training combining spells of practical work in industry with classroom instruction. Nevertheless, for the sake of clarity, vocational instruction will be dealt with first, followed by systems of apprenticeship. Vocational Instruction Before discussing the organisation of vocational instruction a word should be said about its general purpose. The point is obviously a crucial one, and it is worth recalling that the representatives of the govenments which took part in the C.C.T.A. Inter-African Labour Conference (Lusaka, September 1957) considered that the aim of vocational training schemes should not only be to train fully skilled workers but also to turn out workers with sufficient technical grounding to be able to play a useful part in industry and at the same time to benefit by any opportunities of further training that might arise during their work. These government representatives also expressed the view that— (a) It was up to industry to shoulder the chief responsibility for training its workers, although in the existing state of development of most of the African territories it was considered essential that governments themselves should make provision for a general vocational training scheme. (b) In all territories there was a growing need for more specialised technical training centres. (c) In deciding on the location of technical and vocational schools governments should as far as possible pursue a policy of decentralisation which would take local needs into account.1 In the African countries and territories (e.g. in the territories administered by Belgium, France, Portugal and the United Kingdom) the organisation of vocational training is usually the responsibility of special government departments and of departments of education. In the Union of South Africa vocational training for African workers is administered by the Department of Native Affairs with the exception that the technical colleges are run by the Department of Education. The centres which give training to agricultural workers are usually the responsibility of Departments of Agriculture. In the French overseas territories the rapid vocational training centres2 are run by the Labour Inspectorate. In some instances, and in particular in the British territories, the main government departments and other public utilities (e.g. railways, public works, etc.) run their own vocational training schemes to meet their special needs. 1 2 For the full text of these conclusions see Appendix I. See below, p. 198. 184 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Apart from these public vocational training facilities, the religious missions and big firms often provide vocational training with or without financial assistance from the government. In the African countries and territories vocational or technical training is normally divided into three different stages, depending on the standard reached by the trainees, although the levels of skill achieved are not the same in all territories. Belgian Territories In the Belgian Congo vocational training proper is given in the intermediate and secondary vocational schools. The intermediate schools turn out fully skilled workers for employment in urban industries ; the course of training lasts four years and is open to pupils who have successfully completed their primary education and passed an entrance examination designed to test their aptitudes. Secondary vocational and technical training is still in its infancy. It is planned to provide six-year courses to train pupils as master craftsmen and foremen. Those who complete courses at the official technical schools in Leopoldville are granted technicians' diplomas. The intermediate schools turn out masons, joiners and general and motor mechanics, while the secondary technical schools give training in electro-mechanics and various branches of civil engineering. The numbers of vocational training establishments and of pupils attending them have increased spectacularly in the Belgian Congo over the past few years. Between 1950 and 1956 the number of apprenticeship sections increased from 18 to 80 and the number of pupils from 252 to 3,470. Over the same period the number of handicraft sections rose from 57 to 174 and the number of pupils from 943 to 5,449. The number of vocational schools increased from 16 to 47 and the number of pupils from 830 to 2,490. Prevocational courses were attended by 737 pupils, and the total number of persons taking vocational training courses increased from 2,025 to 12,146. Side by side with the official or state-aided training schools there are also independent vocational institutions which receive no financial help from the government but nevertheless play an important part; there are some 50 schools run by industrial firms which fall under this heading. Training facilities also exist for girls in the Belgian Congo but so far the emphasis has mainly been on domestic science, and the homecraft courses given by the ordinary schools were attended by 6,589 pupils. Special schools have, however, been set up to train domestic-science instructors, midwives and welfare workers. The Government has also just opened two vocational training centres for girls. In Ruanda-Urundi the pattern of technical training is exactly the same as in the Belgian Congo, although it has only developed fairly recently; in fact it was not until 1949 (when the ten-year plan was drawn up) that this trusteeship territory made any real effort in this field. In 1957 there were 14 handicraft or apprenticeship schools, consisting of 16 sections, and attended by 250 pupils. Two intermediate vocational schools have been opened at Usumbura and Kigali. In 1957 they were attended by some 650 pupils who were training as carpenters, masons, tailors and mechanics. TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING 185 The facilities for girls include schools for training domestic science instructors and intermediate domestic science schools. British Territories. In the British West African Territories considerable eiforts have been made to expand vocational training in recent years. In Nigeria vocational training was given an initial impetus under the ten-year plan drawn up in 1945 and was reorganised along the lines suggested in a report made in 1949 by a special committee set up by the Government. Vocational training is divided into a number of stages depending on the general educational standards of the pupils. The first stage consists of vocational training centres designed to turn out skilled workers; these centres are open to pupils who have successfully completed their primary education. The pupils are selected by competitive examination, since there are far more applicants than places. The length of the course varies from two to five years depending on the subjects or trades taught. Pupils qualify as carpenters, cabinet-makers, masons, blacksmiths, plumbers, welders, fitters, electricians, motor mechanics, etc. In 1956 there were eight government vocational training centres in Nigeria and two more under construction. Another centre has been opened at Ombe River, in the southern part of the British Cameroons. The second stage of vocational training consists of the technical institutes, which are open only to pupils who have completed their secondary education. These institutes train technicians in civil engineering, electricity, mechanics, radio and architecture. The course lasts for two years with a spell of practical work in industry lasting about 15 months sandwiched in between. There are three technical institutes: the federal centre at Yaba, a second centre at Kaduna in the north and a third at Enugu in the east. In 1956 there were 673 pupils at government vocational training centres and technical institutes; this figure does not include those attending special schools (such as the railway training school) or training facilities organised by other government departments, which were attended by 2,459 persons in 1956. The Government Committee which was appointed in 1949 proposed that a third stage should be provided in the shape of a college of arts, science and technology, with sections at Zaria, Ibadan and Enugu. This advanced stage does not, however, yet appear to be completely in operation. Domestic science courses are held for girls. The Territory of Sierra Leone has a technical institute which has taken over and superseded the former vocational training centres. The institute now turns out carpenters, masons, mechanics and wood-workers and during 1954 was attended by 85 pupils. In Gambia there is a domestic science centre for girls and a manual work training centre for boys. There is also a small vocational training school. In the British East African territories the situation is as follows: In Kenya there are four technical and vocational schools, at Kabete, Thika, Nyanza and Kwale, which in 1956 had 461, 247, 205 and 34 pupils respectively. They give vocational training courses varying in length from three to four years (depending on the subject) to pupils who have completed their primary education (eight years) and passed the entrance examination. Pupils are trained as carpen- 186 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY ters, masons, painter-decorators, plumbers, electricians, fitters, mechanics, cobblers, tailors and blacksmiths. On completing their courses they are allowed to take the government trade test; if they pass they are registered in occupational grade 3 (the lowest). An attempt is, however, being made to give as many pupils as possible a two-year spell of practical apprenticeship in the Department of Public Works or in an industrial firm after they have finished their theoretical studies. At the end of this period of practical work the pupils are recognised and graded as skilled workers. These vocational schools form the first step in the vocational training system. The next step consists of technical training given in evening classes organised by the Nairobi Technical High School pending the establishment of a technical institute. There is also a higher training institution in Nairobi—The Royal Technical College—where architecture, arts, science, commerce and civil engineering are taught. Side by side with these government institutions some of the more important technical departments hold courses for their own staff. For example, the East African Post Oifice Department trains 300 pupils in mechanics, post office work and radio telegraphy. These courses normally last 12 months and the pupils are drawn not only from Kenya but also from Tanganyika and Uganda. The East African Railways and Harbours Service also runs training courses for most of its workers; these courses cater for about 100 pupils at a time. There are two government technical schools—one in Nairobi and the other in Mombasa—for Asian pupils. In addition the Mombasa Institute of Muslim Education, which draws its pupils from all the British East African territories, provides technical training for young Muslims up to the highest level. Mention should also be made of the domestic science courses for girls provided by the Nairobi Technical High School, which were attended by 33 pupils in 1956. In Uganda fresh impetus was given to vocational training in 1953 when a sum of £2 million was earmarked for this purpose to cover the five-yearly period between 1953 and 1957. In 1956 there were five official and five government-aided vocational schools in the territory; the courses lasted three years, followed by a two-year apprenticeship, while the subjects were mainly connected with the building and mechanical trades. Vocational training up to a higher standard is provided by the Kampala Technical Institute, where scientific, commercial and arts subjects are taught and courses are also held for electricians and motor mechanics. The total number of pupils on the books of the vocational training schools in December 1956 was 543, and in addition a number of persons attended courses run by various official bodies, particularly the Mines Department. Courses in dressmaking are also arranged by the vocational schools. In British Somaliland the Hargeisa vocational school holds four-year training courses in the building and engineering trades, at the end of which pupils are required to serve an apprenticeship with the Public Works Department. In 1956 the first batch of 34 boys began their apprenticeship. In Zanzibar there is no special vocational training school, but an agreement has been signed with the Government of Kenya to allow pupils to attend the Mombasa Institute of Muslim Education in exchange for a financial contribution from the territory. As a result 45 per cent, of the pupils at the Institute are natives of the Protectorate. In Tanganyika there are two vocational schools, at Ifunda and Moshi, which TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING 187 had 501 and 96 pupils respectively in 1957.1 These schools run three-year courses for skilled workers in various engineering and building trades. On leaving school pupils do a two-year spell of practical work in an approved firm. At a higher level the Dar-es-Salaam Inter-racial Technical Institute, the first section of which was due to be opened in October 1957, is designed to cater for pupils who have completed their secondary education. It will train some pupils in various special subjects up to the entrance standard for the Nairobi Royal Technical College. When open the Institute will be able to cope with 750 students, not counting part-time students. There is also a commercial training college which opened in January 1957, and the East African Railways Department has its own training school for trades connected with railway operation. In Northern Rhodesia technical education has made great strides over the past ten years in response to the heavy demand for skilled workers in commerce and industry. This accounts for the efforts made by some big firms, such as the mining companies and various public services, to organise their own vocational training schemes. In 1956 there were ten official vocational schools and ten government-aided mission schools which ran two-year or three-year courses for carpenters and masons. In 1956 these courses were attended by 1,089 pupils. At a higher level there is the Hodgson Technical College at Lusaka, where the training facilities include a four-year course up to a standard corresponding to the Intermediate Certificate of the City and Guilds of London Institute. The College turns out carpenters, masons, plumbers and mechanics, and in 1956 it was attended by 335 pupils. In 1956 there were 16 domestic science schools, attended by 433 women and girls. In Southern Rhodesia there are two official industrial schools where courses are held in agriculture, masonry and carpentry. These two schools, which are at Domboshawa and Mzingwane, had 328 and 304 pupils respectively in 1955. Vocational training also occupies a relatively important place in the general primary education curriculum. In addition there are six primary industrial schools which give three-year courses in agriculture, building and carpentry; in 1956 they had 206 pupils. A domestic-science training centre has been opened at Umtali and in 1956 it was attended by 334 girls. In Nyasaland there were two vocational schools in 1956 attended by 106 pupils, most of whom were learning carpentry and various building trades. The course lasts for three years followed by two years' training on the job. In the territories administered by the High Commissioner the situation is as follows: In Basutoland a total of 371 pupils were attending the Lerotholi and Leloaleng technical schools in 1955; the latter school is run by a religious mission. Of these pupils 239 were taking domestic-science training. There is also a technical school at Mbabane in Swaziland which had 53 pupils in 1955 » f There is still no technical training centre in Bechuanaland, but a number of students from the territory are undergoing training in Basutoland and Swaziland. 1 United Nations, Trusteeship Council: United Nations Visiting Mission to Trust Territories in East Africa, 1957: Report on the Trust Territory of Tanganyika (mimeographed), p. 174. 188 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Under the five-year plan for expanding public education in Bechuanaland a technical school is due to be opened in the territory. Ghana. In Ghana the organisation of technical training is much the same as in Nigeria. Skilled workers are trained at the vocational schools of Mampong, Assuansi and Takoradi; in 1955 these schools were attended by 126,155 and 327 pupils respectively. The secondary technical college at Takoradi and the technical institutes at Takoradi, Tarkwa, Accra and Kumasi also give more advanced courses, particularly in commercial subjects. The number of pupils attending these centres tends to vary, but the Accra technical institute, for example, had 644 pupils in 1955. The Kumasi College of Technology, which had some 500 pupils, is designed to train technicians of all kinds, including engineers and managerial staffs, but it also gives teaching in any other subjects having a bearing on the country's economic and social development. In addition to these official institutes there are independent vocational schools, usually operated by big industrial or commercial concerns. The aggregate capacity of all the training facilities is about 1,900 pupils.1 Ethiopia. In Ethiopia the education provided by the Government, the Coptic Church and the religious missions made no provision for vocational training up to the end of the Italian occupation; but the increased demand for skilled workers in some trades, particularly building and general engineering, has impelled the authorities to make some effort in this direction. At the present time there are one commercial school and one intermediate technical school in the country, and many students go abroad to complete their studies. However, any expansion of the existing facilities appears to be hampered by the shortage of qualified teachers and the disinclination of young Ethiopians for technical trades. French Territories. In the French territories the first stage of vocational training—if we leave out the pre-apprenticeship stage referred to earlier—takes the form of courses provided by the apprenticeship centres, which train skilled industrial and handicraft workers. Admission is by competitive examination open to youths between the ages of 13 and 17 years who have finished their primary education. The courses last for three years, after which pupils who pass their trade test are awarded proficiency certificates, which are evidence of readiness to start work in their trades, and are used as a guide in deciding the starting point of wage earners and salaried employees in the wage scales laid down by collective agreements. In 1956 there were 52 apprenticeship centres in French Africa south of the Sahara (including Madagascar). In 1954 230 proficiency certificates were issued, 185 of them in French West Africa, 29 in French Equatorial Africa, six in the Cameroons and ten in Togoland. The second stage of vocational training is made up of the technical colleges. 1 Ghana: Report on the Labour Division of the Ministry of Trade and Labour for the Year 1954-55 (Accra, Government Printer, 1957), p. 31. TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING 189 which are divided into industrial and practical commercial sections. The training given in these colleges enables successful pupils to fill fairly responsible posts in industry and commerce. With their general and technical education (both theoretical and practical) they are capable of performing clerical jobs and, when they have acquired sufficient experience and show a suitable personality, of becoming supervisors or departmental heads. They are recruited from the first-year and second-year vocational classes of the intermediate schools. The age of entry is between 15 and 17, and the course lasts for four years, with the exception of the practical commercial course, which lasts two years only. Pupils who successfully complete the industrial course are issued with the industrial diploma; in the practical commercial sections a commercial proficiency certificate is issued. There were, in 1956, 11 technical colleges in French Africa south of the Sahara (including Madagascar). In 1954, 61 pupils, a high percentage of whom were Africans, qualified for these diplomas. The third stage consists of the senior technical schools, of which there are two in French West Africa, one at Bamako (National Trade School) and the other at Dakar (forming an extension of the Lycée M. Delafosse). These schools are designed to train technicians who have completed the first part of the study course at a secondary school or a technical college (and who are granted technicians' diplomas on qualifying in such subjects as surveying) together with pupils who have completed their fourth year at the lycée or technical college and who are working for the technical baccalauréats (in technical subjects, mathematics and economics) or, in some cases, who intend to go on to study at engineering or advanced commercial schools. In addition there are a number of special official technical schools such as the French West African Civil Engineering School, the Post Office School, the Military Preparatory Technical School, the Railways Department Vocational Training Centre, etc. Apart from these official institutions there are a number of private technical training centres. Most of these give training of an elementary standard, but there are also proper vocational courses run by big firms for training their own skilled workers; thus in 1955 there were in French West Africa 16 manual training schools (most of them attached to religious missions) and two independent trade schools. The subjects taught in the public and private training centres vary from one area to another. The building and woodworking trades tend to predominate, but the automobile and electrical trades have grown in importance over the past few years owing to the increasing demand for these particular skills. The increase in the number of centres has been particularly marked since 1946. The number of official establishments increased between 1946 and 1955 from 42 to 48 in French Equatorial Africa, from 39 to 92 in French West Africa, and from 86 to 112 in Madagascar; on the other hand, in the Cameroons the number of centres fell slightly, from 19 in 1946 to 16 in 1955. In French West Africa the effort to expand technical training facilities has been particularly marked in the case of the technical colleges, which increased in number from one to eight between 1946 and 1955, although they have not always been able to find enough trainees, and some courses have had to be discontinued owing to a lack of candidates reaching the required standard. The number of pupils has expanded in step with the growth in facilities. In 1956 there were 10,900 boys and 2,400 girls in the official centres, making a total 190 AFRICAN LAÔOUR SURVEY of 13,300, and a further 1,950 boys and 2,300 girls in private centres, making a total for both public and private schools of 17,550. These figures show that in the French territories vocational training is available to girls as well as boys. Most of the apprenticeship centres for girls are attached to girls' schools, at least in French West Africa. In this same group of territories the branches of the apprenticeship centres in which commercial subjects were taught catered until recent years solely for girls, but latterly new regulations have been issued under which these branches are open to both sexes; nevertheless jobs as typists and shorthand-typists are still mainly filled by girls. In 1956, 25 per cent, of the pupils in the ordinary, commercial, theoretical and vocational schools in French West Africa and 10 per cent, of the pupils in practical commercial schools were girls. Somalia. In Somalia vocational training faculties for juveniles in 1955 comprised courses of instruction in health in six schools with 145 pupils, an industrial school with 78 pupils and a maritime and fishery school with 143 pupils. These last two schools are divided into three sections. The industrial school trains joiners, mechanics, electricians, radio operators and radio fitters. Under the I.L.O. expanded technical assistance programme an expert was sent to Somalia in September 1956 and was attached to the industrial school to teach certain technical subjects. At present the school has some 200 pupils. There is also a domestic-science school for girls which in 1955 was giving elementary instruction to 70 pupils. Liberia. In the republic of Liberia there appear to be five vocational and technical schools providing training of an intermediate standard. These include the Booker Washington Institute at Kabata, which trains young building workers, motor mechanics, carpenters and joiners. This institute, at which the course lasts for two years, has a capacity of about 120 pupils. Portuguese Territories. In the territories administered by Portugal vocational, industrial and commercial training is divided into two stages. The first stage consists of a preparatory period of elementary education and general pre-apprenticeship, which lasts for two years. The second stage lasts four years in the industrial schools and three years in the commercial schools. The industrial schools train locksmiths, cabinet makers, electrical assemblers, painters and decorators, laboratory assistants, etc., and also hold master-craftsmen's courses for builders and topographers, extension courses for apprentices and various other special courses. A survey of oificial institutions in 1954 mentions the following: (a) In Angola: two elementary technical schools, two industrial schools, two commercial schools and three industrial and commercial schools. (b) In Mozambique: two elementary schools, two industrial and commercial schools, a commercial school and an industrial school. (c) In the Cape Verde Islands: two technical schools. TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING 191 Apart from the official school system some religious missions give training for certain trades, e.g. potters, cabinet makers, locksmiths, blacksmiths, tailors, cobblers, etc. In 1954 there were 126 mission centres in Angola, 57 in Mozambique, four in Portuguese Guinea, four in the Cape Verde Islands, and one in Sao Tomé. During the same year the official vocational schools had 116 pupils in the Cape Verde Islands, 1,464 in Angola, and 2,093 in Mozambique, while religious institutions had 3,138 pupils in Angola, 3,086 in Mozambique, 118 in Portuguese Guinea, 337 in the Cape Verde Islands and 93 in Sao Tomé. Vocational facilities are available for girls too, and the women's religious congregations give instruction in needlework, child care, etc. There are also schools for midwives and nursing assistants. Union of South África. As in the other African countries and territories, vocational training in the Union of South Africa is given at a number of different levels. Courses lasting three, four or five years, according to the trade, are given in vocational or industrial schools run either by the authorities or by various missions. There are opportunities for training in the building trades, woodworking, electricity, plumbing, engineering, leatherwork, painting, cutting and tanning. More specialised courses of a higher standard are given in technical colleges, of which there were ten in 1956. The 1955 Vocational Education Act brought these colleges under government control, and they are administered by the Department of Education, Arts and Science. Owing to the separation of the different racial groups in the Union, separate vocational training courses are provided for European and non-European pupils. Africans are not admitted to all technical colleges or universities, although there are still four universities which allow Africans to specialise in any occupation. In the future the Government proposes to set up separate universities for Africans, and a Bill to establish two universities of this kind has been put forward. The ten technical colleges within the Union had a little over 8,000 pupils in 1952, but the majority of these were white. Apparently there were some 3,000 Africans in attendance at vocational training centres in 1956, and a further 9,000 were attending part-time vocational courses. Although vocational training facilities for Africans need to be expanded there are a number of obstacles in the way. These obstacles are discussed in detail in connection with wages in Chapter VIII. The Coloured and Indian sections of the population have their own special schools which provide vocational training facilities. The Sultan Technical College was largely built by means of contributions from the Indian population. There are also vocational courses for girls in the Union of South Africa, and instruction is given in basket-making, needlework, domestic science and child care. Apprenticeship All over the world training on the job is the most traditional and widespread way of giving workers a first-hand knowledge of production methods. There are, however, two sorts of apprenticeship. First, there are organised apprenticeship schemes, which are regulated by law in almost all the African countries and ter- 192 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY ritories; this type of apprenticeship is subject to official supervision, but unfortunately it is not yet practised on a large scale.1 There is a second and more rough-and-ready type of apprenticeship on the job (known as the " learner system " in certain British territories). Under this system young workers pick up their trades as they go along by working side by side with older and more skilled men. The great majority of skilled and semi-skilled workers in industry and commerce in all the African territories still learn their jobs in this way. This form of apprenticeship on the job gives rise to many abuses, and great numbers of youths are not really apprentices at all but merely odd-job men for the older workers. In Africa these abuses are particularly flagrant in the building trades and in small workshops. Young workers are either not paid at all or grossly underpaid. They are not properly taught and are never in fact given a real opportunity to learn their trades. Other examples of the kind of abuses to which apprenticeship on the job is liable to give rise are unwarranted extension of the so-called apprenticeship; the employment of far too high a proportion of apprentices in relation to the total labour force; the recruitment of apprentices at too early an age; excessive working hours; and poor food, wages and accommodation. These abuses are particularly common in family concerns and small businesses in general. Where apprenticeship on the job is concerned the authorities in most African countries are apt to turn a blind eye. This is perfectly understandable because the capacity of the existing vocational training schools in all African countries is nowhere near meeting the real need for skilled workers. Moreover, private firms themselves are not averse to using this type of apprenticeship, which gives them a supply of trained labour at low cost. The workers themselves also like the system because it has always been the practice throughout Africa for the old to teach the young, and in the traditional African handicrafts this is the only type of training available in certain trades, e.g. blacksmiths, jewellers, etc. This type of apprenticeship seems likely to decline in importance as vocational training schemes and organised apprenticeship systems become capable of meeting the economy's needs for skilled or semi-skilled labour. In the British territories the widespread use of trade tests can also be expected to curtail apprenticeship on the job because young workers trained in this way do not come up to the standards required. The growth of organised apprenticeship and strict enforcement of the existing laws and regulations should lead to some lessening in the abuses referred to earlier. The term " apprenticeship on the job " is sometimes applied to any type of vocational training in industry in order to distinguish it from theoretical vocational training. Quite obviously the shortcomings of apprenticeship on the job are not inherent in in-plant training, and, in fact, owing to the shortage of vocational schools such training must be given wherever possible (although subject to appropriate supervision). Moreover, in the British territories the general view is that the majority of workers should be trained in industry and not in schools, and this principle seems to have been endorsed at the Inter-African Labour Conference held by the C.C.T.A. at Lusaka in 1957, where the government representatives considered that it was of the utmost importance to expand in-plant training. The Conference 1 The value of this type of apprenticeship is discussed in East Africa Royal Commission, 1953-1955: Report, op. cit. TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING 193 urged governments to encourage in-plant training of apprentices and to make more part-time technical training facilities available to apprentices.1 Belgian Territories. In the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi large numbers of young workers are still trained empirically on the job, although in the bigger concerns there is usually a special department responsible for vocational education and training. Official apprenticeship schemes are subject to different regulations according to whether they cater for Europeans or Africans. The legal relationship between the master craftsman and his European apprentice is regulated by the articles of apprenticeship, except as regards the craftsman's obligation to insure the apprentice against occupational disease and employment injury. Apprenticeship for Africans is regulated by law, the latest enactment being the decree of 23 July 1957. This decree defines apprenticeship as a contract whereby the employer undertakes to teach a trade to an African, who in return undertakes until his contract expires to carry out such tasks as the employer may assign him in order to give him experience of the trade. The employer must be approved for this purpose by the governor of the province. The apprentice has the same obligations towards his employer as an ordinary worker under the legislation on contracts of employment. The employer, in addition to providing the instruction stipulated in the articles of apprenticeship, must also pay his apprentice the customary wage for unskilled workers in the area, having regard to the nature of the work and the age of the apprentice. The decree lays down no trade test procedure, and a proficiency certificate is not necessarily awarded at the end of apprenticeship. British Territories. In Nigeria the " learner system " is very widespread and inevitably hampers the expansion of regular apprenticeship schemes. Although some small firms are willing to accept indentured apprentices on payment of a premium, such cases are few and the usual practice is for the employer to accept a sum of money as " premium " and to allow the so-called apprentice to work as he pleases and pick up whatever he can about the trade. This labour is usually unpaid, and there may be up to 20 youths attached to one tradesman. As soon as they can these labourers try to pass themselves off as skilled workers, even if they only have a superficial knowledge of the trade. The spread of modern techniques and education will presumably improve matters in this respect, particularly since the learners do not stand a very good chance of passing the trade tests. Regular apprenticeships are subject to Chapter VIII of the Labour Code Ordinance, 1946. During the apprenticeship the employer is required to provide the apprentice with appropriate tuition, health necessities and reasonable living conditions. All the larger enterprises, including public utilities (railways, electricity supply, harbours and coal mines) operate good apprenticeship schemes. At the end of their training apprentices can take their trade test, but this is not compulsory. In Sierra Leone the joint apprenticeship scheme was agreed on by the joint 1 14 For the full text of these recommendations see Appendix I. 194 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY industrial councils and given statutory effect when it was published by the Commissioner of Labour. This scheme is controlled by a Joint Apprenticeship Board. The apprentices are non-resident, and no specific obligations are therefore laid on the employer for this particular class of worker. The maximum duration of apprenticeship is five years. An apprentice can be transferred from one employer to another if the Joint Apprenticeship Board thinks this is necessary or desirable. There is no examination for apprentices. The Joint Apprenticeship Board issues a certificate signed by the employer and a representative of the Board to an apprentice who has completed his term of apprenticeship to the satisfaction of the Board. There is a form of indentured apprenticeship provided for in the Employers' and Employed Ordinance, 1946, but this is not now used. Government technical departments (railways, road transport) operating their own apprenticeship schemes now take advantage of the theoretical instruction provided by the technical institutes. In Kenya apprenticeship rules issued under the Employment Ordinance make detailed provision for apprenticeship contracts, including employers' obligations for vocational instruction, medical care, accommodation, pay, leave, diet, working clothes, tools and materials, etc. The first three months of apprenticeship are probationary. This form of training is not however widely developed, but the main public services (railways, harbours, posts and telegraphs) and a few private firms employ indentured apprentices. At present there is no fixed maximum duration of apprenticeship according to trade and no regulation governing the transfer of an apprentice from one employer to another. A new Industrial Training Bill is being prepared by the Government, which will allow for fixed periods of apprenticeship or indentured learnership. It is proposed that an Apprenticeship Board should be formed under the new Ordinance when enacted, consisting of employer and employee representatives and government officials, which would advise the Government on questions of detail such as the duration of apprenticeship and transfers of apprentices. In Uganda apprenticeship has only been developed over the past five years but it is now a significant part of vocational training. Apprentices are able to choose between a five-year apprenticeship in the trade or a two-year apprenticeship following three years in a technical school. The Uganda Employment Ordinance, which regulates and supervises apprenticeship, lays obligations upon employers regarding the health and living standards of employees, including apprentices, fixes the maximum duration of apprenticeship in any trade at five years, and (subject to adequate safeguards) allows an apprentice to be transferred from one employer to another. An apprentice is expected to take a trade test on completing his apprenticeship. The apprenticeship of children under 16 is subject to their guardians' consent, and contracts of apprenticeship are examined and witnessed by an authorised officer of the Labour Department. In Tanganyika the Apprenticeship Ordinance makes broadly similar provisions, but no maximum duration is specified. Apprentices customarily spend three years in a trade school, followed by two years' further training with an employer. The Ordinance " requires that the employer must sign a covenant to supply an apprentice with proper food, clothing, accommodation and medical attention where the apprentice is under the age of 16 years ". The Ordinance also provides for the determination of the age of apprentices TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING 195 and for the settlement of breaches of contract or disputes between parties by a magistrate. In Northern Rhodesia there is no apprenticeship for Africans at present, but the question of extending the European system to include them is under consideration. If this happens, African apprentices will be protected by the provisions of the Apprenticeship Ordinance, which are very comprehensive. In Southern Rhodesia apprenticeship for Africans is virtually unknown, and, while young Africans are in no way debarred by law from holding skilled jobs, they tend to be kept out by the existence of separate working conditions and wage scales for Europeans and Africans. In each branch of the economy conditions of service and wage scales are fixed in such a way that in practice the European workers have a monopoly of the senior posts, so that in many trades it is pointless for young Africans to serve an apprenticeship. However, the changes recently made in the legislation affecting certain trades suggest that the position is changing fairly rapidly, although it is too early as yet to forecast the future trend of legislation in this territory. In Nyasaland apprenticeship is only in its early stages. An Apprenticeship Council has been set up to regulate and supervise this form of training. Its duties are to select employers with whom apprentices may be put, to require them to ensure reasonable living conditions for their apprentices, to decide the maximum duration of apprenticeship for each trade, to arrange the transfer of an apprentice if necessary from one employer to another, and to ensure that he receives a certificate of competence on completing his apprenticeship. French Territories. In the French territories apprenticeship is regulated by sections 52 to 63 of the Labour Code. These sections contain detailed provisions regarding the form and content of the contract of apprenticeship, the obligations of employers and apprentices and the supervision of apprenticeship. These statutory provisions are supplemented by local regulations. An important point is that both the law and the regulations issued under it stipulate that an apprenticeship must give complete training in a trade. The utmost latitude is left to employers in this respect, and the master craftsman is usually responsible for supervising the apprentices' training. Official trade tests are held to ensure that the apprentices have reached the necessary standards. These tests are compulsory at the end of the prescribed period, which is usually three years and may not exceed four. A young worker who passes his test is then normally graded as a skilled tradesman. Portuguese Territories. In the Portuguese territories apprenticeship is looked upon as an important feature of vocational training and is regulated by the same legislation as technical education (Legislative Decree No. 23048 dated 23 September 1933, extended to the overseas territories by Legislative Decree No. 27552 dated 5 March 1957). Apprentices may not be taken on until they have been passed by a doctor as physically suitable. There is no model contract of apprenticeship, but all such contracts must conform to the labour legislation in force. The National Labour Act stipulates that apprentices may not be employed except in occupations in which an apprenticeship is normally served. The number 196 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY of apprentices in a firm may not exceed a certain proportion of the total number of workers employed; the proportion varies from one trade to another, as does the duration of the apprenticeship. An apprenticeship may be served in more than one establishment. On completing his apprenticeship a learner may apply to his trade union to take a trade test; he is examined by a panel made up of a chairman who is an official of the government department concerned, the employer, a representative of the employer and two experts selected by the trade union. Under section 289 of the Native Labour Code of 1928 employers in industry with more than 100 workers are required to institute apprenticeship schemes and to give priority of admission to the sons of their workers. In Mozambique a circular of the Central Office for Native Affairs (No. 2053, dated 15 May 1953) regulates the terms of contracts of apprenticeship in accordance with section 1424 of the Portuguese Civil Code. Under this legislation the supervision of apprentices is the responsibility of a special official entitled the curador, who authorises apprenticeship only in certain approved establishments. The regulations stipulate that learners must be over the age of 12 and under the age of 18. Each apprentice is issued with a workbook in which the curador enters details of his contract, which is only valid for a year at a time; any subsequent extensions approved by the curador must also be entered in the workbook. At the start of the apprenticeship no wage is payable to the apprentice and no premium to the employer, but the curador ensures after a certain time that an agreement is signed between the employer and the apprentice's parents covering such matters as wages, food, board and lodging. A contract of apprenticeship may be ended by either of the parties or by the curador or his representatives. Union of South Africa. In the Union of South Africa the Apprenticeship Act, 1944, empowers the Minister of Labour to prescribe general conditions of apprenticeship (e.g. duration, age of admission, wages, nature of training) in each trade. Under this Act a National Apprenticeship Board, which is advisory in character, has been set up comprising representatives of employers and workers, together with representatives of the Government itself. At a lower level joint boards have also been set up covering individual trades or particular districts. Although this legislation does not specifically distinguish between Europeans and non-Europeans, in practice it excludes youths of non-European origin from apprenticeship training because the educational standards required are too high for most Africans, who in any case cannot enrol at the technical training institutes where theoretical part-time courses for apprentices are held. Moreover, the Industrial Conciliation Act, 1956, empowers the Government to reserve certain trades or occupations for particular racial groups. This in practice tends to curtail vocational training opportunities for Africans and to debar them completely from any training in certain occupations. Under section 10 of the Native Building Workers Act, 1951, the Government of the Union of South Africa has taken special action to provide training resembling apprenticeship in this industry. Such training for young workers may not exceed four years and may consist of a period spent in an institution approved by the Minister of Labour followed by a spell of training with an employer. In the latter TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING 197 case the apprentice is placed with an employer who has been specially chosen in consultation with the employers' and workers' organisations. No educational qualifications are required, and apprentices who join a firm straight away for not less than four years are thus not required to go through any preliminary training in a special institution. Certificates of registration as Native building workers are issued to learners who have completed their courses of training and passed their trade tests. A Native who already has a certain number of years' experience of his trade may also take a test with a view to obtaining skilled status without taking any further course of training. The Minister of Labour may, after consultation with the Minister of Native Affairs, the Wages Board and the Native Building Workers' Advisory Board, regulate minimum wage rates, hours of work, and other conditions of employment for apprentices. Training Facilities Abroad Students of university standard from the African countries often come to finish or continue their education in the United Kingdom, France or Belgium whenever—as usually happens—there are no local educational institutions of the necessary standard. Many of these students are given scholarships by their home territories, but with the information available it is impossible to make even a rough guess at the number of such scholarship-holders. Scholarships for technical training at the intermediate level appear to be fewer in number and are granted mainly in the territories administered by the United Kingdom and France. On 1 January 1955 there were 314 scholarship-holders from the French African territories south of the Sahara attending apprenticeship centres and technical colleges in the metropolitan territory. Sending scholarship-holders to the metropolitan territory is an extremely expensive business, since the cost is between 12 and 15 times higher than that of training a specialist locally. Even so, there may be no alternative in certain circumstances, e.g. in the case of specialised training for a very small number of workers which would not warrant setting up teaching facilities locally. VOCATIONAL TRAINING FOR ADULTS Broadly speaking, vocational training for adults is given at two different levels. At the lower level it is designed to increase the worker's output on the job and to qualify him for upgrading within his trade; while at the higher level it is designed to fit certain workers for supervisory and in some cases managerial posts. Vocational Training for Unskilled Adult Workers Educational facilities for juveniles in Africa are completely inadequate, and proper apprenticeship systems are few and far between in any of the territories. The great bulk of workers learn their jobs by doing them, despite all the drawbacks that this method entails. The administrative authorities in the African territories have been making efforts, sometimes on a large scale, to tackle this problem by the provision of more and better educational facilities. But the benefit of these 198 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY efforts will not be reaped for many years, and the urgency of the need is such that stop-gap measures have had to be taken to give some sort of training to the workers already in employment. Quite obviously the methods used in training adults must take account of their special needs. Not only must the training differ in scope and duration from that given to juveniles but, if the adults are to benefit by it, it should have a different content and approach, even when the trade taught is the same. Above all, for financial as well as educational reasons, it is best to confine the theoretical side of the training to the bare minimum needed to give the worker an understanding of his job. Vocational training for unskilled adult workers is given first and foremost within industry itself. In the territories administered by Belgium and France there is also a special training scheme known as " rapid " or " accelerated " vocational training. Lastly, workers who are anxious to work their way up can, in many African countries and territories, obtain further training through evening classes or correspondence courses. Vocational Training within the Industry. In-plant vocational training is almost universal in Africa, but as a rule in private industry it is only given systematically by a few large firms, e.g. in the mining industry in Nigeria, in the mining and textile industries in Uganda, in most private industrial concerns (as well as the Government service) and the High Commission in Tanganyika, in the mining industry in Northern Rhodesia, in the building, gold-mining, engineering, transport, textile and leather industries in the Union of South Africa, in the Belgian Congo and in certain French Overseas Territories (the bauxite mines of Guinea, the Office du Niger, the Railways Department, etc.). Rapid Vocational Training. Two separate experiments in accelerated vocational training have been made in Africa. One of these took place after the Second World War in the British tropical African territories but had to be given up. It had a twofold aim: to turn out as quickly as possible the skilled workers needed by private industry and the public services and at the same time to teach trades to large numbers of demobilised African soldiers in a reasonably short time. The experiment was a disappointment, largely owing to the poor initial selection of the trainees, most of whom were illiterate. A similar experiment, however, has been carried out successfully in the French and Belgian territories. In the French territories the accelerated vocational training scheme was launched in 1949 when it became essential to train skilled workers quickly to help carry out the development and industrialisation programme. The speed with which workers can be trained by this method is not its only advantage. The organisers of the scheme in French Africa advanced a number of other arguments in support of its wider use. The shortness of the training period makes it very easy to shift the emphasis as new needs come to light or if it becomes clear that earlier estimates were too high. In this way the scheme keeps in step as closely as possible with all the variations in the economy and the employment market. The cheapness of accelerated vocational training is another point in its favour; it has been found that the cost of training a pupil at one of the centres comes to only one-tenth of that of training him in a technical institute. TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING 199 Moreover, trainees who have taken accelerated courses seem to find it easier to settle down in their jobs. A qualified technician is prone to attach more importance to his general education than to his technical training and he often tries to use his educational qualifications to obtain an office job. Accelerated vocational training does not encourage leanings of this kind. It sets out to teach an elementary grasp of the techniques of the trade by breaking down the movements and repeating them over and over again; in this way the trainee's eyes are kept fixed firmly on the job he will have to perform. The whole course is designed to make him feel at home on the building site or in the workshop. This experiment in the French territories has led to the opening of a number of rapid vocational training centres; there are now seven in existence at Dakar, Konakry, Ouagadougou, Niamey, Brazzaville, Bangui and Douala. The Dakar and Brazzaville centres were the first to be opened and are considered to be pilot centres. Attached to them is a section specialising in labour problems, run by a psychotechnician and a medical specialist who hold tests to select the most suitable candidates. The system of instruction is active, practical and as individual as possible. Any attempt to lecture the trainees is barred, and at each step they are made to realise the reasons for what they are doing. The aim is to train workers up to a standard of skill similar to that of firstclass tradesmen in France itself. Trainees are admitted to these centres after a psychotechnical test; there are no educational qualifications required apart from an adequate elementary knowledge of French and arithmetic. The ages of the trainees range from 17 to 35. Psychotechnical selection methods are used to ascertain the applicants' psychological characteristics, to allocate them to the apprenticeship sections in accordance with these characteristics and their own personal bent, to ensure that the classes are homogeneous and to make success reasonably certain by cutting down wastage to a minimum. There are not more than 15 trainees in each section. The course lasts for nine months and on its conclusion the trainees take a trade test set by a panel composed of technicians from both private and nationalised industry. The subjects of the test are of the same standard of difficulty as the corresponding tests in France, v/here over 100,000 workers have been trained in this way. During the years 1951 to 1956, 837 trainees out of 1,157 passed their trade tests at the end of their courses. On leaving the centres the trainees work in industry as " trainees in employment " for six months, as far as possible in jobs in which they can make further progress. This additional spell of training makes it easier for them to be absorbed by industry later as fully fledged artisans. In the Belgian Congo a pilot rapid vocational training centre for adults, operating on much the same lines as its counterparts in French Africa, has been opened and the results of the first course (1954-55) were so encouraging that the authorities decided to extend the experiment to country districts in addition to opening up other centres in the towns. At the beginning of 1957 there were 16 rapid vocational training sections in the Belgian Congo and a further three or four more were due to be opened that year. As in the French territories, applicants are selected by means of psychotechnical tests. A course of purely practical training, lasting eight or nine months, in one of the centres is followed by a period of probation in industry lasting six months before the certificate of proficiency is issued. 200 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Continuation Classes. Continuation classes for adults are organised in a number of territories to enable workers already in jobs to learn more about their trades or, if necessary, about completely new trades. They are usually given at times which enable the largest possible number of adults to attend, i.e. in the evenings or at week-ends. Correspondence courses are also very often organised. The subjects taught are usually connected with commerce and office work, particularly book-keeping and typing, although certain industrial and handicraft trades, such as electricity, radio, tailoring and dressmaking, also lend themselves to this type of training. In the Belgian Congo official schools for Congolese pupils have provided evening classes since 1955. According to the official statistics there were, in 1956, 330 official schools, grant-aided and others, holding evening classes which catered for 20,599 pupils.1 In the French territories the evening classes organised by various bodies, e.g. the Centre Daniel Brottier and chambers of commerce throughout the territories (which hold classes in book-keeping and shorthand-typing) give vocational training up to a fairly high standard. There are 21 courses of this kind in French Africa south of the Sahara and the proficiency certificates granted are the same as those issued on completion of normal vocational training courses. In the British territories most of the technical institutes hold evening classes and correspondence courses; in Nigeria, for instance, they hold courses for persons already employed in industry and business. These courses cover mechanics, electricity, building, printing, commercial subjects and draughtsmanship. Similarly in Kenya the Technical High School in Nairobi organised evening classes in 1956 for 130 pupils, while the Royal Technical College held part-time classes in engineering for 55 pupils. The pattern is much the same in the majority of the other African territories. In the Union of South Africa part-time classes and correspondence courses are organised by the technical colleges and vocational training centres. In 1952 there were 8,300 pupils taking correspondence courses. Training of Supervisors Governments and employers have only recently become alive to the need to raise the standards of supervisors, on whom productivity and improved labour relations to a large extent depend. Supervision and management call for a combination of thorough technical knowledge and the gift of leadership and explanation, and many countries are trying to improve standards of supervision by using well-tried scientific methods of selection and training. In the African countries and territories supervisory staffs are usually selected in a purely empirical way, in both the public service and private employment. Appointments to posts as supervisors and foremen are usually based on a number of factors such as seniority, experience, aptitude, powers of leadership and sense of responsibility. 1 No separate figures for vocational and general courses are available. TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING 201 The C.C.T.A. Inter-African Labour Conference, held at Lusaka in September 1957, devoted special attention to the training of supervisors and pointed out that the absence of a class of foremen and supervisors in the African territories was one of the reasons for the low level of productivity among African workers. In all territories and most industries supervision is often inadequate by western standards, particularly lower down the line, i.e. at the foreman or chargehand level. The Conference called the attention of governments to the need for expanding their training facilities for supervisors and emphasised the desirability of consulting foremen before taking any decisions affecting the sections for which they were responsible, so as to convince them that they formed part of the management. It also recommended the use of the leaderless group tests used in the Union of South Africa for the selection of supervisors. In Uganda special tests designed by the South African National Institute for Personnel Research have recently been used by a mining company. Similarly, in Kenya some private companies use a method of selection based on aptitude and leadership tests; but they are still exceptions. In the Union of South Africa, on the other hand, Africans have been selected for supervisory posts in such government departments as the police, prisons, transport, forestry and the postal services. The position is the same in the gold-mining industry. Where supervisor training is concerned, Training Within Industry (T.W.I.) is still little used in the African countries and territories. In Kenya, however, an expert was attached to the Labour Department in July 1955 to act as instructor in this new technique, and since then T.W.I, has been introduced in the East African Harbours and Railways Department, the postal and telecommunications administration and a number of private companies. The Labour Department expert has become the T.W.I, institute leader and the Government has given him two assistants. A pamphlet giving information about intensive training methods has been published for use by employers. It deals mainly with the traimng of future African foremen and chargehands in industry and overseers and headmen in agriculture. A review entitled Kenya T. W.I. Topics is published to stimulate the interest of employers and supervisors in this type of training. The Labour Department of Tanganyika also employs a T.W.I, expert. The I.L.O was asked by the United Kingdom Government to supply technical assistance to the Government of Gambia in organising T.W.I, for foremen. The I.L.O. expert arrived in Gambia in April 1955 and remained there until 30 January 1956. He gave special instruction on this training method to foremen from most government departments (education, public health, police, the post office, public works, shipping, etc.) and from a number of business firms. A similar mission was carried out by the I.L.O. in the Gold Coast at the request of the United Kingdom Government; the I.L.O. expert remained in the Gold Coast from 16 November 1954 to 8 July [1956 and ran special courses for a number of government officials and employees of various large industrial firms. In the French territories a number of public bodies (e.g. the railways, the Office du Niger, the Dakar Housing Department) already make widespread use of T.W.I, methods, and the biggest private firms (e.g. the Bauxite du Midi) have been doing so as well, but as most of the private firms are still quite small, this type of training is not yet very common. 202 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY In the other African countries and territories the methods used to train supervisors are usually haphazard, although in the Portuguese territories the co-operatives are often considered as practical training schools for supervisors. VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN AGRICULTURE The principles governing vocational training for agriculture in the underdeveloped countries have been defined by various I.L.O. bodies and incorporated in certain international instruments. The Vocational Training (Agriculture) Recommendation, 1956 (No. 101) states the aims, defines the scope and describes the methods of vocational training in agriculture. The Committee of Experts on Social Policy in Non-Metropolitan Territories, at its meeting at Lisbon in 1953, emphasised in its conclusions the fundamental conditions for efficient vocational training in agriculture in non-metropolitan territories, which include a large number of African territories. These conclusions stress the need for reaching the largest possible number of farmers by holding both long and short training courses and extension classes and by giving the widest possible diffusion to scientific farming methods. The need for close co-operation between workers, employers and public bodies and the value of a sound general education were also emphasised. Special attention was given to the best forms of co-operation at the regional, national and international levels. The aims of vocational training in agriculture include two which in present-day African conditions are of crucial importance. They are— (a) to provide elementary agricultural instruction to the mass of the rural population so as to improve their farming methods; and (b) to provide more advanced training to the staffs of departments of agriculture, large-scale undertakings and individuals wishing to specialise in agronomy. Mass Agricultural Instruction Agriculture is still the commonest source of livelihood in Africa. On the other hand, the farming methods used by Africans are often harmful and lead to loss of fertility and soil erosion. This rapid destruction of the soil is occurring throughout almost all the African territories, and it is being hastened by the constant increase in population. In many parts of the African Continent the land can no longer support the population, which tends to suffer from chronic malnutrition. It follows that large-scale training in farming methods is essential if the soil is to be conserved and improved, living standards raised and the population kept on the land. Simplified agricultural propaganda and education of this kind is carried on in one way or another in most countries of the world. In the United States the education schemes for the adult rural population are called " extension work ", and this term is widely used in the African territories under British administration. It covers methods of helping peasant families to help themselves by applying scientific rules and methods to their daily routine in the fields and in their homes. This approach is also used under different names in the territories under Belgian, French and South African administration. As it is designed to meet the needs of the people it can only be carried out with their co-operation. In countries and territories such as Ghana and Uganda it is TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING 203 often used by community development teams. It is only natural that community development should tend to concentrate on improving traditional farming methods in the African countryside. These development programmes usually include the improvement of farming, stock-raising, fish-breeding and forestry methods. Special mention should be made of the propaganda campaign conducted in Kenya where, under the Swynnerton Plan for the promotion of African agriculture in that territory1, district and provincial teams, each including an official of the Department of Agriculture, have carried out a large-scale consolidation of African peasant holdings in areas where the fragmentation of the land made it impossible to work it efficiently. At the same time efforts have been made to combat soil erosion by introducing contour terracing. Some communities have been shifted to more fertile or less densely populated areas, and crops capable of producing valuable exports, such as coffee or pyrethrum, have been introduced and their cultivation encouraged among African farmers. Particularly useful work has been done in this connection by African women field assistants. The farm-schools, as at Bukura, where African farmers, together with their wives and families, are given some idea of modern farming methods, have also been effective. In addition, courses are given at the Jeanes School near Nairobi to the most go-ahead members of the young farmers' clubs who are anxious to adopt the best methods. In Uganda the report of the Agricultural Productivity Committee, which was appointed in 1954, recommended that a special advisory service be formed to help the more progressive farmers through personal contact if they wished to improve their methods. These farmers could be formed into district or country associations so as to single them out and create a spirit of emulation. Constant propaganda should also be carried on among the remainder of the population by the Department of Community Development, the provincial Government and the Native chiefs.2 Mention should also be made of the farm institutes, which give two-year practical courses on agricultural methods. In the Belgian Congo a special technique for mass agricultural instruction (known as the paysannat indigène policy) has been worked out. This policy consists largely of carrying out propaganda in depth on a number of carefully selected groups of African farmers, which are treated as " pilot centres ". One of the chief officials of the Department of Agriculture in the Belgian Congo has supplied details of the process. He explains that the Department tried first to find out as accurately as possible which tribal unit was the most suitable. Our investigations showed that the family in the broadest sense of the term was unquestionably the ideal unit (1) numerically—generally speaking in the Belgian Congo the family in the broadest sense of the term comprises between 10 and 30 taxpayers; (2) socially, for community bonds are much closer and more enduring than in larger units ; (3) psychologically, for the support of the Africans must be enlisted from the bottom upwards and the African will be much more easily won over if the scheme at the start only covers his own family; and (4) educationally, for the task of educating such a small group is far easier, as the African can appreciate much more readily that the new pattern caters for the needs of his family and his own welfare without anybody else having a finger in the pie. By educating these small groups it becomes possible to teach the people what co-operation is .... 1 R. J. M. SWYTMNERTON: A Plan to Intensify the Development of African Agriculture in Kenya (Nairobi, Government Printer, 1954). 2 Uganda Protectorate: Report of the Agricultural Productivity Committee (Entebbe, Government Printer, 1954), pp. 54 and 55. 204 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY The (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) aims of this experiment can be stated as follows : to increase the output of the land while maintaining its fertility; to create a healthy and stable peasant economy; to provide the peasants with an ample and varied diet; to encourage the introduction of stock-raising, fish-breeding and fisheries ; to foster the growth of farm co-operatives; to mechanise in the early stages of the experiment all the land-clearance and crop-processing operations ; In a word, to raise the farmers' living standards.1 In the Union of South Africa " rural development areas " have been created under the management of experts on African-type farming and a campaign is being waged against soil erosion combined with efforts to improve the Africans' farming methods. Since 1949 a number of these areas have been established in different parts of the Union. Apart from the propaganda carried out in all the African countries and territories by departments of agriculture, some instruction in farming is also given virtually everywhere in the primary village schools. This is, of course, only of an elementary standard and cannot be compared with the specialised training referred to in the next section. It usually consists of practical work in the school gardens. Training of Supervisors In most African countries and territories specialised agricultural training is given at three different levels. The first level consists of courses for officials such as demonstrators and field assistants, who live in the villages and give the peasants such advice as they need. The Governments of the African territories have rightly paid close attention for many years to the organisation of propaganda on farming methods and of training facilities for their own officials. Candidates for these courses are usually chosen by competitive examination and must have completed their primary education, although in some cases this condition is waived and elementary education is given along with the technical training. The second type of course caters for medium-level staff, i.e. assistants working under the supervision of agricultural experts on jobs requiring a fairly broad general and technical education. These courses normally train staff for the government service, but some speciaUsts join private firms after qualifying. Lastly, the advanced courses train the agricultural engineers, and there is usually a certain amount of specialisation according to which are the main crops grown in the area concerned. Courses of this standard, however, are few and far between, and in most cases students are sent to schools and universities in the metropolitan country, where they graduate in the same way as local students. In the Belgian Congo there are at present 22 agricultural vocational schools training demonstrators, who are employed throughout the Congo. The courses 1 Royaume de Belgique, Ministère des Colonies: " Contribution à l'étude du problème de l'économie rurale indigène au Congo belge" (special number of Bulletin Agricole du Congo belge (Brussels, Services de l'agriculture du ministère des Colonies)), Vol. XLIII, 1952), pp. 31-32. TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING 205 at these schools usually last for three years and, in 1956, 1,372 pupils were in attendance. It quickly became apparent, however, that more highly trained auxiliary workers could prove even more useful and as time went by could be absorbed into the junior European staff. Accordingly, a new grade of field assistants was created and there are now five schools in the Belgian Congo training them; in 1956 these schools were attended by 398 pupils. Candidates must have completed three years' secondary schooling and the course is divided into a preparatory stage comprising three years' general education and a technical stage which also lasts for three years.1 At a much higher level the two universities that have been opened in the Congo— at Leopoldville and Elizabethville—will each in due course comprise an advanced institute of agriculture which will provide a five-year graduate course. The Belgian Congo also possesses three] farm schools attended by 95 pupils, three schools of horticulture, veterinary and forestry schools, etc. In the British territories the position is more or less the same as in the Belgian Congo. There is an elementary stage of vocational training for agriculture designed to turn out African demonstrators who can be employed on general propaganda and educational work, and an intermediate stage at which instruction is given up to a more advanced level. Thus in Kenya there are schools for African agricultural instructors at Siriba, Embu and Matuga. These three schools hold two-year courses and pay particular attention to the practical side of the training by keeping in close touch with the experimental technical centres. The same schools also organise specialised courses for demonstrators. At a more advanced level the Egerton College of Agriculture holds two-year courses leading to a diploma and one-year courses leading to a certificate, together with a rapid continuation course; other short courses are also held from time to time. Veterinary assistants are trained at the Kabete school. In Uganda the Makerere College provides courses in agriculture of university standard, which are designed to meet the needs of the British East African territories. It awards diplomas in agriculture to pupils who successfully complete the five-year course. In Tanganyika the Natural Resources School at Tengeru holds courses lasting from two to three years in agriculture, forestry and veterinary science. In Nigeria there are schools for agricultural assistants at Semaru and Ibadan, while courses in agriculture and forestry are given at Yaba College. The pupils can continue their training at University College, Ibadan. There is also a veterinary school at Vom. Northern Rhodesia possesses three schools of agriculture and a veterinary training centre, while Nyasaland has a rural training centre. In Southern Rhodesia training courses for agricultural demonstrators are given in three official schools for African pupils only, which are attended by roughly 180 trainees. The Alvord School of Agriculture, which is run by a religious mission, co-operates with the official schools in the training of demonstrators, but it also turns out specialists who find work in private concerns. The Farm School at Maranke provides a two-year course, with a strongly practical emphasis, for farmers. 1 Chambre des Représentants: Rapport sur Vadministration de la Colonie du Congo belge pendant Vannée 1956, op. cit., pp. 132 and 133. 206 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY In the French territories demonstrators are trained at the practical agricultural schools and agricultural apprenticeship centres. The technical colleges give a more specialised type of training. Courses of an intermediate standard are available at the Bouaké School of Agriculture in the Ivory Coast, which trains specialists in colonial agriculture, and the Bamako School in French Sudan, which trains veterinary surgeons. In Madagascar specialists and technicians are given a fouryear course on experimental stations and in a school of agriculture. The pupils in these institutions are all or mainly Africans. The development and modernisation plans for the French overseas territories lay considerable stress on the expansion of agricultural output and the need to increase the number of African specialists. In Somalia there is a school of agriculture with some 50 pupils and a marine and fisheries school with 53 pupils. In the Portuguese territories training in agriculture is mainly given at a special school in Angola. The Roman Catholic missions also run a number of schools, particularly in Guinea, where they are attended by some 4,000 pupils. In Sudan there are facilities for agriculture and veterinary training at all levels and considerable emphasis is laid on training for junior government employees, i.e. junior agriculturalists and agricultural overseers. The former do a three-year course after eight years' general education and the latter a two-year course after six years' general education. In the Union of South Africa there appear to be four vocational schools for Africans, the largest of which is the Fort Cox School in the Ciskei. These schools concentrate on the training of demonstrators. SKILL The grading of African workers according to their skill is a matter of the utmost importance, since the wage structure and consequently the living standard of the wage-earning population depends on it. Moreover, vocational training is pointless unless it leads to a job corresponding to the trainee's skills and aptitudes. Unfortunately, in some African countries and territories the authorities have been slow to pay sufficient attention to the need for a clear system of grading workers. Moreover, the terms used in doing so are apt to be misleading. In everyday usage, workers are often described as skilled, semi-skilled or specialised, but these are somewhat hazy terms with no precise technical connotation; in fact, their meaning is apt to vary from one country, and sometimes from one territory, to another. Broadly speaking, the two main factors on which the grading of workers is based are skill and the degree of responsibility. The bulk of the African labour force is employed on operative jobs. This does not mean that there are no Africans in supervisory posts; but they do not form a separate group above the skilled workers. The distinction between the latter and the foremen is one of function rather than grade, since foremen in most cases are merely skilled workers who have been given a certain responsibility for supervising the work.1 1 As was mentioned earlier, the absence of a class of foremen and supervisors is one of the distinguishing features of the African labour force, and the growth of training schemes for supervisors should help to fill this gap. TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING 207 The capita (this term is used in the Belgian and French African territories to describe the chief of a gang of labourers, who has been picked out because of his elementary knowledge of reading and writing or his ability to command) is in much the same position. He usually occupies an intermediate grade although in point of fact he has no skill worth speaking about. The " boss-boy " in the mines of Rhodesia and South Africa occupies a similar position. He too is in charge of a gang of workers and is responsible for maintaining discipline and allocating work. He is usually expected to be able to do any of the jobs performed by his gang but he cannot be looked upon as a foreman in so far as this term implies a high degree of skill. Another point is that the term " worker's mate ", which is found in the French and Belgian territories (aide-ouvrier), really means two different things; if one is speaking of the job the term denotes a worker acting as assistant to a skilled man but the term is also used to denote a worker half-way between a labourer and a skilled man. One fact which has to be borne in mind in grading workers is that in some African countries and territories there is a statutory or customary colour bar which, in practice, confines the African workers to the bottom grades irrespective of their degree of skill. Some governments, however, are trying to establish or to encourage a single scale of skill and wages based on merit and responsibility. Grading systems do not usually apply to agriculture, and in the territories where large-scale farming is practised no system appears to have been introduced. Grading may be prescribed by law or by collective agreement (or by a combination of the two) or by the rules of individual firms. The regulations themselves may apply to a particular industry or trade or may cover all economic activities within the territory with special regulations to meet the needs of individual occupations. In the British territories and the Union of South Africa and also (where the rapid vocational training schemes are in operation) in the French and Belgian territories tests are used to gauge the workers' degree of skill. These tests can thus play an important part in any scheme for grading workers. They also serve as a check of the effectiveness of training arrangements and give the workers an incentive to improve their efficiency. The Inter-African Labour Conference held at Lusaka in 1957 considered that aptitude tests should be an essential feature of any scheme for training African labour and urged governments to encourage the development of this practice and to set up centralised bodies to apply it. The Conference also noted that there were marked differences as between one territory and another in the terminology used to describe the standards reached by workers who qualified at vocational training centres and requested the InterAfrican Labour Institute to look into the possibility of standardising the nomenclature of the occupational classifications used in the various African territories. In the Belgian Congo the Government Council has already dealt a number of times with the question of grading, either from the fairly narrow standpoint of the functions of trade test examiners or in connection with more general schemes covering the whole African labour force in the colony. A proper system of job classification within the government service has been introduced by the authorities in co-operation with engineers of the Ingeco Gombert organisation. In order to obtain statistics on the rising standard of skill of a section of the African labour force and on the composition of the new middle class among both tribal and 208 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY non-tribal Africans, a census was carried out covering all sections of the Congolese population, who were classified in five categories : white-collar workers; skilled and semi-skilled workers; foremen and persons in posts of responsibility; selfemployed handicraft workers, independent or semi-independent shopkeepers; and professional workers. As an occupational classification this is, of course, far too general to allow of an accurate classification of workers according to their skills. However, a government report for 1955 states that a trade test panel is in operation in the Uélé and is proving increasingly successful both with the Africans and with the employers and proposals are now under consideration for extending this system throughout the colony. In the British territories, generally speaking, workers are graded according to whether they are unskilled or labourers, partly skilled in a particular trade, skilled, master craftsmen or foremen. In most territories due weight is given not only to the degree of skill of the worker himself but also to the nature of the job or trade, i.e. the degree of responsibility and the dexterity required to perfoim it. In Kenya the Employment Ordinance, which deals with trade tests, lists seven categories which are (in increasing order of skill): unskilled workers, third-class workers, second-class workers, first-class workers, skilled workers classes A and B (artisans), craftsmen and master craftsmen. Classification is carried out by special trade testing officers who are under the orders of the Labour Commissioner. These officials work to precise standards which are laid down for each trade, and efforts are now being made to agree on standards which are interchangeable from one territory to another. The main public services such as the railways often have their own facilities for testing their workers, but such cases are rare. These special arrangements provide an answer to the disputes which frequently break out between individual workers and employers over grading, and they also make it possible to grade each trade in turn and thereby systematically classify the entire labour force. In Southern Rhodesia the grading of workers is dealt with in a number of regulations issued in 1955, which cover working conditions in various occupations. They stipulate that workers must be graded, each grade usually corresponding to a particular job, in accordance with a table attached to the regulations. In the French territories any collective agreement which may be extended at the federal, territorial, regional or local levels to all the employers and workers in a particular trade must, under section 74 of the 1952 Labour Code for Overseas Territories, include clauses specifying the wages payable for individual occupations. The law thus leaves it to the parties themselves to settle the occupational structure ; only when they cannot come to an agreement do the authorities intervene. In fact, detailed clauses dealing with the grading of workers have been embodied in all the collective agreements negotiated since the Labour Code came into force. Thus the agreement of July 1956 covering building and civil engineering concerns in French West Africa states that workers must be classified by trade in accordance with a scale laid down in the agreement itself. Six grades are prescribed, viz. labourer, specialised labourer, workers' mate, semi-skilled worker, skilled worker and craftsman. Some of the clauses of the agreement give further details about this scale. Thus, a worker from the apprenticeship centres who holds a proficiency certificate must be placed in the second class of grade 4. Similar provisions are made regarding the higher grades ; for example, to be classified as a craftsman a worker must have undergone a thorough theoretical TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING 209 and practical course of training, and youths holding the brevet d'enseignement industriel must be placed in this grade on completing their training. The agreement also makes special provision for the grading of foremen, technicians and similar staff, engineers and supervisors. In Madagascar a similar scheme was introduced by a decree of 1954, and a series of orders were issued under it which form the basis for a system of occupational classification. Thus workers are graded partly according to their skill and partly according to their jobs. Persons holding technical qualifications are entitled to be placed in particular categories. Where a worker has no qualifications his degree of skill can be ascertained (if he has learned his job without attending a technical training school) by means of a trade test, although even so these tests are usually geared to the school syllabus. The principle is accepted that a worker's category also depends on the particular job he performs, and detailed arrangements are made to deal with the effect on a worker's grading of a change of job for one reason or another. Even before the Labour Code for Overseas Territories came into force the authorities in these territories had found it necessary to issue regulations outhning a classification system, e.g. in French Equatorial Africa in 1946 and the Cameroons in 1951. In the Portuguese territories a scheme has been introduced in the diamond mining firms of Angola, which employ some 20,000 workers. This was done on the initiative of the employers' associations and mainly affects the African workers. In Mozambique the first steps towards the introduction of such a system were recently taken by the authorities, but so far only European employees are affected. The new regulations cover about 20 occupations and comprise all types of wageearning employment for European workers. In the Union of South Africa the system of occupational classification is based on the British practice of trade tests, which are held by special officials. This system is used, for example, in the mines for the appointment of " boss-boys " and in the building industry in the case of workers who have taken a training course or have acquired sufficient experience. CONCLUSIONS Since the Committee of Experts on Social Policy in Non-MetropoHtan Territories drew up its conclusions on vocational training in December 19531, far-reaching political, economic and social changes have taken place in Africa. These changes have had some impact on vocational training. The large-scale efforts being made to develop the African territories and to make them more self-sufficient have naturally given governments an incentive to speed up the training of the technicians that are needed. Moreover, the investment in tools and equipment made by many of the industries installed in Africa in order to meet the higher demand for commodities on the world market after the Second World War and during the Korean War is steadily forcing them to reduce their unskilled labour force and to train the most suitable workers for more technical jobs. The question naturally arises whether the conclusions put forward in 1953 on the subject of vocational training are still valid. After nearly five years of constant 1 15 See Appendix I. 210 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY change it is interesting to re-read the experts' views in the light of present-day circumstances and to take a look at the ground that has been covered and the path that lies ahead. 1. The Committee of Experts considered that the needs of the African countries and territories for skilled manpower could be ascertained by thorough surveys and studies to enable vocational training programmes to be planned in the light of the economic and financial resources available. The facts given earlier in this chapter show that governments, before drawing up their plans, have in the main, reviewed the needs of their countries or territories for skilled workers in consultation with representatives of industry. Surveys of this kind must be repeated from time to time to find out how far the training facilities do in fact meet the manpower needs of different areas and industries, since changes in needs and requirements are liable to take place with great speed in countries which are industrialising themselves. It is quite clear that at the present time vocational training facilities are still far from adequate in relation to the economic growth of the African countries and territories. This position, however, cannot be improved overnight. Vocational training schools or centres call for heavy investment in staff, equipment and premises at a time when these resources are urgently required for other things. Moreover, the technical equipment needed cannot always be obtained as promptly as would be desirable, and it also takes time to train the teaching staff". It is doubtful, however, whether the best possible use has been made of the facilities already available in the African countries, such as evening classes, parttime courses and extension courses. 2. The Committee of Experts called attention to the need for providing adequate training facilities— (a) in agriculture, in arts and crafts and in industry; (b) for women and girls as well as for men and boys; (c) for the exercise of independent activities as well as in wage-earning employment; (d) for the workers at all levels, including training for supervisory and management functions. Leaving out, for the time being, the recommendations dealing with agriculture and handicrafts (which will be referred to later), the fact remains that a good deal still has to be done in Africa as regards the vocational training of women and supervisors. In most African countries and territories courses for women and girls are provided either in the state schools or by the missions, but these courses usually concentrate almost entirely on domestic science, needlework and sometimes child care. They quite certainly meet a real need, and in fact the facilities for them are still probably inadequate; but it is also true that the time when women enter industry cannot now be long delayed. Already in some towns courses in shorthand and typing are wholly or partly attended by girls, and the hostility of the Africans themselves to the employment of women in industry also seems to be weakening, at least in the cities and industrial centres, where in some cases women are anxious to earn extra money in the factories. Accordingly, where appropriate, training facilities for women should be provided in the light of local needs and the special aptitudes of women. There are few countries where proper training is given to supervisory staff. Technical assistance in this respect was given by the I.L.O. to Ghana and Gambia TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING 211 in 1954 and 1955. A number of workers in both government service and private industry were trained in the duties of supervision and management by means of the special T.W.I, technique. In Kenya and Tanganyika, too, efforts are being made to extend the use of this technique, and special instructors are employed for the purpose. Nevertheless, this method of training only seems to be used on a fairly wide scale in the Union of South Africa. Elsewhere, except in a few big firms, which have overhauled their methods, supervisors are chosen empirically and are not given any special training. There is often misunderstanding or scepticism over the increase in productivity and the improvement in human relations which can be brought about by the use of modern supervisor training methods. The leaderless group tests used in the Union of South Africa for the selection of overseers could be used much more widely in Africa in view of the absence of a class of African foremen and the need to encourage its emergence.1 3. The Committee of Experts stressed the desirability of paying high wages in manual and technical jobs to counteract the temptation to seek oifice jobs. It urged that the competence and merit of the workers in these jobs should be adequately recognised. Here too, much still remains to be done. In the British territories a number of committees set up by different governments to overhaul the wage scales of public employees have urged that properly thought-out systems should be introduced putting office workers and craftsmen on more or less the same footing. The fact that governments are usually the biggest employers of labour in their territories usually means that the wage rates which they adopt are also extended to workers in private industry. In the other African countries and territories office workers continue to be paid substantially higher wages than skilled workers, apart altogether from various other benefits such as easier and pleasanter work, a more comprehensive social security scheme, etc. This is due to a variety of reasons, e.g. the shortage of really reliable African office workers, the fact that the most important technical jobs tend to be filled by highly skilled Europeans, the low standard of training of African workers, etc. This state of affairs is tending to change. The number of African office workers is growing and in many territories firms are beginning to realise the value of properly trained African technicians. However, it will be some time before skilled African workers enjoy the status and material benefits they deserve. 4. The Committee of Experts stated that vocational guidance and employment counselling facilities should be available to persons intending to enter upon vocational training courses. Such guidance and selection facilities, however, only exist in a tiny number of African towns (with the possible exception of the Union of South Africa) and even where they do exist they are mainly used as part of rapid vocational training schemes. Nevertheless, vocational guidance and selection can play a very useful part at two stages of a worker's career: before the technical training starts and when he chooses his job. Guidance and selection of pupils at the start of technical training are important, for no African country can afford to waste its training facilities on unsuitable pupils. Careful selection can help to reduce the proportion of pupils who fail or drop out, in addition to speeding up the training itself and raising its standard. 1 This hope was expressed by the Inter-African Labour Conference held at Lusaka in 1957 (see Appendix 1). 212 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY If vocational guidance is given by the employment service to a worker choosing a job, it helps to ensure that the available labour is used fully and efficiently, having regard to the opportunities for employment available. When the underemployment in many parts of Africa and the shortage of labour in others are borne in mind it is obvious that the opportunities afforded by these methods need to be grasped with both hands.1 5. The Committee of Experts recommended that programmes of general education should be dovetailed with vocational training schemes so as to form a whole and considered that pre-vocational training should be given in primary schools as part of the general education curricula. In almost all the African countries and territories some instruction is given in manual work at the primary schools; this, to some extent, can be looked upon as pre-vocational training. Moreover, in the French, Belgian and Portuguese territories there is a proper system of pre-vocational training. In the British territories, however, the position is different, since their governments argue that semiskilled workers should be trained in industry itself. They see no point in pre-vocational instruction which is liable to turn out poorly trained workers, and it is certainly true that many Africans do drop out once they have picked up an elementary knowledge of a trade. Governments do, however, admit the need for closer co-ordination of the general and vocational educational systems. 6. The Committee of Experts suggested that technological and scientific training should receive emphasis in the planning of higher education. Most of the African countries and territories with the necessary financial resources have made provision for the establishment of advanced scientific and technical institutions. This process, however, calls for substantial investment, and it is not always easy to recruit teaching staff of the necessary caübre. Nevertheless, considerable efforts have been made or are being made in this field. 7. The Committee of Experts considered that the competent authority should ensure that there was a balance between theoretical and practical training appropriate to the requirements of the various occupations and that on-the-job training should be encouraged whenever and as far as possible. At the Inter-African Labour Conference the Government representatives argued that the aim of training centres should not always be to turn out fully skilled workers but generally speaking to train workers with sufficient technical knowledge to be useful in industry and at the same time to take advantage of any opportunities of further training that occurred during their employment. The Government representatives also put forward the view that— (1) it was up to industry to assume most of the responsibility for training its workers, although in the existing state of development of most African territories it was considered necessary that governments themselves should provide a general framework of vocational training facihties; (2) in all territories there was a need for more specialised technical training institutions; (3) in choosing the location of technical and vocational schools governments 1 See Chapter IV of this survey (Manpower and Employment), particularly the section on placement offices. TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING 213 should, as far as possible, pursue a policy of decentralisation, having regard to local needs. In British East Africa, Nigeria, and in the French and Belgian territories (as part of the accelerated vocational training scheme) learners do a spell of practical work in industry after they have completed their technical training in school. There is evidence, however, that in many African territories the technical instruction they are given does not make sufficient allowance for the practical needs and circumstances of industry, and there should be more co-operation between teaching staffs and managements. 8. The Committee of Experts recommended that the competent authorities should encourage and regulate apprenticeship and supervise apprenticeship courses and articles of apprenticeship in view of the fact that in certain occupations formal apprenticeship was the most appropriate form of training. In Africa systematic regulated apprenticeship schemes have not, by and large, found favour with the employers, and in fact it has been said that throughout the African Continent apprenticeship is only a legal fiction. Almost everywhere statutory regulation exists, but it has remained more or less a dead letter. The reasons for this state of affairs are fairly obvious. An apprenticeship scheme involves the employer in extra expenditure and forces him to take highly skilled workers off production work so that they can act as instructors; the apprentices also have to be housed and fed. Moreover, it is often a thankless task, for they frequently drop out and try to find work as skilled men once they have picked up the rudiments of their trade. The East Africa Royal Commission mentioned these difficulties in its report and expressed a number of doubts about the value of this type of training. It also concluded that there was a substantial demand for semi-skilled workers and it accordingly suggested that an investigation should be made into the possibility of providing two types of apprenticeship—one of them long and the other short— so as to meet all forms of demand.1 The governors of the East African territories, in their comments on the Commission's report, did not share its doubts about the effectiveness of organised apprenticeship schemes, but they did endorse the suggestion that both long and short forms of apprenticeship should be encouraged. At the present time it appears that only a few big firms and the government service itself run apprenticeship schemes of a high standard. It is true that the great bulk of workers continue to learn their jobs in industry itself, but more often than not this is a routine process which comes under the heading of on-the-job training. In many places this type of apprenticeship is still considered to be the only one possible, but there can be no doubt that it is very often inefficient and involves waste of money and effort. Moreover, the fact that it is not subject to any regulation means that the apprentice is liable to be exploited in a number of different ways. The term " on-the-job training " is often applied to in-plant training in general as opposed to theoretical instruction, and in this case it also covers apprenticeship as well. It goes without saying that, because of the shortage of vocational training facilities, it is still important to expand the arrangements for in-plant training, and the Inter-African Labour Conference urged governments to encourage the training of apprentices within industry itself and to provide additional part-time technical training facilities for them. 1 East Africa Royal Commission, 1953-1955: Report, op. cit., pp 149-150. 214 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY 9. In the view of the Committee of Experts, training programmes should give workers already having employment experience opportunities to improve their skills and should accordingly provide for the establishment of centres where the workers could receive full-time training for short periods; or for training arrangements combining training with employment; or for training on the job in the undertaking; or for evening classes in appropriate cases. There are not many places in Africa where adult workers can obtain full-time training for short periods, although some big firms do help their workers to improve their skills by giving them opportunities of taking additional theoretical courses. Evening classes and correspondence courses are also available in some industrial centres and cities, and they, together with extension courses, could well be expanded. 10. The Committee of Experts urged that accelerated technical training courses for the training of specially selected workers should form part of the facilities available for vocational training, although such courses should be organised only for trades in which that form of training was suitable. They should be regarded as an expedient designed to meet urgent needs rather than as a permanent solution of all training problems. At the time when the Committee of Experts put forward these conclusions rapid vocational training was still a novelty in Africa and it was not possible to forecast its outcome. Today a good many rapid vocational training centres have been opened in both the French and Belgian territories, and large numbers of workers have been trained in this way. It is true that this method is not suitable for all trades, and it is equally certain that workers trained in this way are not fully skilled. But, when all is said and done, it is a very quick and cheap method of training which is highly adaptable to local circumstances. Moreover, to judge by the results, employers value workers trained on these lines who, while not placed in the highest grades, do perform very useful work at their own levels. 11. The Committee of Experts expressed the view that facilities should be provided for the training of rural craftsmen in basic skills in one or several crafts corresponding to local requirements. Such training should preferably be conducted in the rural environment for persons selected from local communities. Instruction should be given by instructors specially prepared for the training of rural craftsmen and possessing an adequate knowledge of traditional techniques and of the social environment. Official handicraft centres appear to exist only in Uganda and the Belgian Congo, although others are being established in French West Africa. On the other hand, in most African countries and territories the missions probably provide elementary vocational training in the country districts. It seems likely that when the demand for skilled labour in the towns has been met it will be possible to cope with the needs of the countryside. 12. The Committee of Experts emphasised that since agricultural extension programmes constituted a valuable means of raising the level of knowledge of rural communities with regard to agriculture, particular importance should be attached to the introduction of such programmes. In particular, the training of agricultural instructors and field assistants, preferably for service in their areas of origin, should be developed to meet urgent existing requirements. Such training should be given not only to men, but also to women, particularly in areas where agriculture is predominantly in women's hands. TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING 215 Intensive agricultural extension work has been carried out in a few African territories, and special mention should be made of the pilot centres set up in the Belgian Congo as part of the paysannat development policy. In Kenya the consolidation of farm holdings and the expansion of agriculture have both been energetically pursued, and in this territory, at the suggestion of the experts, agricultural training is often given by women—with considerable success. Most African countries and territories do not appear to have made sufficient use of community development techniques in overhauling traditional fanning methods, although it must be obvious that no progress can be made in this direction without the wholehearted co-operation of the population. 13. The Committee of Experts pointed out the need for action to promote the training of independent agricultural producers in the marketing and processing of their produce, so as to enable such producers to derive the maximum benefit from their sales. Emphasis should be laid on the potential value for producers of production and marketing co-operatives. This point is dealt with in Chapter XIII. 14. The Committee of Experts suggested that where no adequate arrangements existed for the grading of workers consideration should be given to the establishment of grading systems whereby workers could obtain certificates of proved competence valid for the territory as a whole. Systems of grading workers are in use in the majority of African countries and territories. In the Belgian Congo, where such systems are not yet widespread, steps appear to have been taken to increase the number of trade-test boards. There can be no doubt that these methods can raise vocational training standards as well as improve the system of grading. Thus in Northern Rhodesia it became clear that the practice of automatically placing workers in a particular grade according to their theoretical qualifications, without a spell of practical work in industry, was both arbitrary and inadequate. Systems of grading can be improved, especially by making judicious use of the trade tests the use of which at present is mainly confined to the British territories and the Union of South Africa. The Inter-African Labour Conference expressed the view that these tests should be looked upon as an essential feature of any system for training African workers and it urged governments to encourage their use and to exercise centralised control over the department responsible for holding them in order to enforce uniform standards. As regards this last point, it would be desirable for the grades established in one territory to be recognised in the neighbouring territories, especially if they are administered by the same country; it would also be desirable for the tests themselves and grading systems as a whole to be standardised as far as possible throughout the African countries and territories covered by this survey. In accordance with a decision made by the Inter-African Labour Conference, the Inter-African Labour Institute is undertaking an investigation into the possibility of achieving a uniform nomenclature in the occupational classifications used in the different African territories. This, however, will be a lengthy undertaking. 15. The Committee of Experts recommended that all practicable measures should be taken to ensure that all training facilities and opportunities of employment were equally available to all sections of the community. This is a matter of general policy which goes beyond vocational training. 216 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Apart from the countries where the law imposes a colour bar, fairly marked progress has been made, or is about to made (e.g. in the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland) in upgrading skilled African workers to jobs which were formerly a European monopoly. 16. The Committee of Experts proposed that advisory bodies to co-ordinate the work of vocational training institutions should be established in which representatives of employers and workers (including representatives of their respective organisations, if any), as well as of the government departments concerned and of any private and voluntary agencies affected, should be invited to participate. Advisory bodies of this kind exist in a number of African countries and territories (e.g. in Kenya, Tanganyika and French West Africa), but a good deal of leeway has still to be made up in co-ordinating the policies of government departments and employers' and workers' organisations. Employers have an interest in vocational training as " consumers ", while for the workers it is the main avenue to mastery of a trade. At the Inter-African Labour Conference in Lusaka a number of Government delegates considered that employers and workers should have a voice in the framing of apprenticeship poUcy and in the general supervision of apprenticeship training. Another point is that official technical education (as was stated earlier) often tends to be out of touch with the real needs of industry. 17. The Committee of Experts considered that the development of a body of competent vocational training instructors, so far as possible drawn from among the local inhabitants, should be encouraged and that training courses should be organised to train such persons, who should be granted special status and satisfactory conditions of employment. The recruitment of capable instructors is one of the main difficulties encountered by the governments of African countries and territories in the field of vocational training. In order to be eifective, training must be given to small groups of learners ■—not more than 15 or 20. This calls for large numbers of instructors and, since Europeans are expensive, a number of territories, particularly French West Africa and Kenya, are trying to train African instructors in their own technical schools or in the home country. Nevertheless, instructors of this type are very far from plentiful. These comments on the conclusions put forward by the Committee of Experts on Social Policy in Non-Metropolitan Territories in 1953 show that, by and large, they remain valid for the African countries and territories as a whole. The aims they set have not yet been reached and the methods they advocate still seem to be the best in the circumstances. In some instances their conclusions need some qualification, particularly where new techniques have been evolved, as in agricultural extension work. An attempt has been made to do this in the present chapter, but since vocational training is still spreading rapidly throughout Africa, it is likely that before long the conclusions will have to be reviewed once more in the light of the progress made and adapted accordingly. CHAPTER VII FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS Some of the preceding chapters have referred incidentally to individual aspects of problems of industrial relations; Chapter V, in particular, dealt with means of promoting better human relations in industry in the area in the interests of increasing labour productivity. In the present chapter the general background to industrial relations in Africa is described, following which a detailed account is given of the legislation in the different countries and territories governing the formation of employers' and workers' organisations, the development and activity of these organisations, existing law and practice relating to industrial disputes and conciliation and arbitration machinery and of co-operation between governments, employers and workers. While direct governmental action and collective bargaining represent alternative or supplementary means and procedures for dealing with the problems which are the subject matter of industrial relations, no mention is made here of minimumwage-fixing machinery and statutory regulation of hours and conditions of work, which are examined in detail elsewhere in the survey.1 Similarly, the position in regard to the application in Africa of existing international labour standards in this field is dealt with in a separate chapter.2 GENERAL The patterns of industrial relations in Africa south of the Sahara are, as elsewhere, essentially a derivative of general local, social, economic and political conditions. The incidence of wage-earning employment is one of the most important of these factors. Only in a relatively small sector of the economy of the area is such employment the norm of the communities' pattern of productive activity. However, partly as a result of deliberate economic development programmes and partly as a result of the general process of more intensive utilisation of the resources of the area, particularly for the supply of raw materials and minerals, wage-earning employment in the area is steadily increasing and with it the scale and importance of industrial relations problems. Moreover, even in areas where more or less permanent wageearning activities are relatively unimportant significant pockets of such employment do exist and give rise to problems of industrial relations requiring detailed study. A second factor of major importance lies in the migrant labour systems prevalent in parts of Africa. The labour requirements of modern large-scale undertakings 1 See 2 in particular Chapters VIII, IX and X. Chapter XIV. 218 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY n the areas in which these systems prevail are largely supplied by workers who come from distant homes where their families generally remain and to which for the most part they return after a spell of employment. Although there are trends and forces making for a permanent specialised labour force and the establishment of families in the vicinity of employment in some cases, the general pattern is still for the most part based on migratory movements. The fluid character and changing composition of such labour forces, the variety in terms of working experience (and quite often of language and ways of life) and the fact that they generally include a substantial percentage of workers with habits and traditions little adapted to the discipline of wage-earning employment tend to create conditions obviously unfavourable for the development of collective action in labour relations. A number of other characteristics of the labour force in Africa south of the Sahara give rise to difficulties in the formation of collective bargaining units; the importance of these difficulties necessarily varies as between the different territories and countries in the area. In general either the majority or a substantial proportion of the wage-earning population are agricultural workers, and experience has shown how difficult it is to develop trade unions or indeed collective action of any kind among this category of workers. Workers in domestic service, who are as difficult to organise as agricultural workers, are also found in large numbers in some parts of the area. The initial inspiration and the working core of a trade union structure has often been, in communities in which the machinery of industrial relations is highly developed, the organisations of skilled workers; but with a few exceptions employment in skilled occupations is at a relatively low level. Resident labour is important both on plantations and in the extractive industries. The fact that the resident worker is in many cases tied to his employer both by housing and by employment needs clearly tends to make for difficulties in the early stages of the development of trade unions. A number of other elements in the organisation of employment tend in the same direction. In the first place small-scale undertakings, which are often owned by Africans and run on a family basis, account for a significant proportion of the gainfully employed population; the difficulties of collective action on the part of either workers or employers in these circumstances are apparent. In some of the larger countries and territories where wage-earning employment on any significant scale occurs largely in widely separated areas, the development of collective bargaining on any basis other than that of the individual enterprise is hardly possible in view of transportation difficulties. The fact also that in many parts of the area the government is the largest or one of the largest employers gives rise to special difficulties : for example, budgetary appropriations, in the short term, make a flexible approach to demands for wage increases difficult; governments may have the tendency to regard all government services as essential services requiring limitations on strike action or as involving questions of public order, and the labour departments concerned are less free to take the workers' side where a government is the employer involved. In the countries and territories in which migration for employment and settlement take place on a large scale the mixed racial composition of the labour force has created additional problems in the field of industrial relations. Very difficult problems arise in the countries and territories in which the trade unions are orgamsed primarily or exclusively on a racial basis. The problems are particularly grave FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS 219 where different rights and privileges are accorded to workers according to their race; since there is a natural tendency for the groups initially favoured to attempt to maintain their special rights, a serious conflict of interests necessarily arises at some stage. In the employer-worker relationship as well as in the worker-worker relationship racial factors unquestionably play an important part. To a very considerable extent wage-earning employment is concentrated in enterprises and industries owned, managed and operated by persons of a different race from the vast majority of workers employed therein. Even where social distances between the races do not, per se, constitute immovable barriers, important problems of mutual comprehension arise between employers and workers and add to the difficulties which are generally encountered in the early stages of development of collective bargaining procedures and machinery. Clearly the position is even more difficult where recognised and established racial barriers exist. Another important factor is the extent to which industrial relations patterns in the non-metropolitan territories are influenced by the industrial relations law and practice of the respective metropolitan countries. The aim of policy in general appears to be the adaptation of the metropohtan system concerned to the territories, due regard being paid to local conditions. Two diiBcult questions, however, arise. Firstly, in some cases it may be decided that differences as between conditions in the metropolitan country and the territory are so great that a modem system of industrial relations based on collective bargaining and the existence of employers' and workers' organisations is inappropriate ; alternatively, the procedures introduced may be so hedged with safeguards as largely to defeat their own purposes. Secondly, it may happen that features of some industrial relations systems which have proved very useful in non-metropolitan or developed territories elsewhere have no part in the system of the metropolitan country concerned (for example, procedures for determining which of a group of rival unions in the same trade, industry or undertaking can claim to be the most representative for the purpose of negotiating with a given employer). In the independent countries in the area similar problems are encountered where the policy of the government concerned provides for different treatment for different races in regard to freedom of association and other aspects of industrial relations, law and machinery. A factor that has been regarded as hampering to some extent the development of trade unions in the area has been the absence of sharp lines of demarcation between trade union and political leadership as well as trade union and political activities. Clearly this is a phenomenon by no means limited to the area, and its significance has perhaps sometimes been exaggerated; nevertheless it has been remarked in a number of communities under consideration. Finally, in the present stage of development of most countries and territories in the area and the stage of evolution of most of the trade unions therein, it is difficult to overestimate the potential and actual influence of government policies, quite apart from the fact that the government is frequently a large-scale employer. The main area of decision for governments is the extent to which freedom of association is to be accorded to all workers and employers in the community irrespective of racial or other considerations; this is a question which has received varying answers from one part of the area to another. The extent to which the development of minimum-wage-fixing machinery and government regulation of hours 220 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY and conditions of work may hamper or promote in different circumstances the development and activities of unions as collective bargaining agencies is another fundamental problem of policy in this regard. In some parts of the area the question of the field of operations of government labour administration services causes delicate problems; the assistance which they could often give to employers' and workers' organisations at an early stage of development is very considerable whether on both organisational and administrative problems and industrial relations problems ; on the other hand, a too extensive range of activity may tend to make workers rely on the services rather than on trade unions. A number of areas of positive action are open to governments wishing to promote the development of collective bargaining machinery: for example, the provision of facilities for the training of leaders, the inclusion of employers' and workers' representatives on boards and committees dealing with questions of labour policy (even where representative organisations do not exist) and the encouragement of other forms of employer-worker collaboration, for example at the level of the individual undertaking. Nevertheless the advisabihty and practicability of such action requires careful examination in each particular case. The influence of the above factors is clearly discernible in the account that follows. Bearing in mind, however, the history of the development of wage-earning employment in Africa and the past history of compulsory labour and paternalism the continent has lived through, the principal general consideration that needs to be borne in mind in assessing the very varied situations that at present exist would seem to be the relative novelty of modern patterns of industrial relations in the area, patterns to which workers, employers and governments alike are having to adapt themselves as part of the process of the integration of Africa into the world community. 1 FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION Belgian Territories In the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi until 1957 there was separate legislation2 on freedom of association for European and indigenous workers. The recent date on which this situation was altered, as well as the intrinsic significance of the process of evolution involved, makes it desirable to give an account both of the former and of the present position. Trade unions for Europeans, which were essentially a projection of the trade union movement in metropolitan Belgium, were regulated by Ordinance No. 163 of 16 April 1942. The trade unions affected by this ordinance enjoyed legal personality 1 The reader will find further information on freedom of association, particularly on the situation in Ethiopia, Liberia and the Union of South Africa, in Report of the Committee on Freedom of Employers' and Workers' Organisations (^Official Bulletin, Vol. XXXIX, 1956, No. 9) and the appendices to that report (containing the monographs on the situation in individual countries), which have not been printed but may be consulted in the principal national libraries of most countries as well as at the International Labour Office in Geneva and its Branch Offices, etc. 2 Unless otherwise stated, legislation applying to the Belgian Congo also applies to RuandaUrundi. The texts of laws cited in this chapter are to be found in P. PIRON and J. DE Vos: Codes et lois du Congo belge, 7th edition (Brussels and Leopoldville, 1954). FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS 221 subject to the terms of the law. They were defined as associations whose exclusive purposes were to be the study, protection and promotion of the occupational interests of their members. Membership of at least seven active members was necessary and was confined to non-indigenous persons of 21 years and over. The content of the constitutions of the unions was specified. It was stipulated that copies of the constitution, the list of members and a declaration that the union conformed to the requirements of the law should be submitted to the competent authorities; after verification these documents were published in the official gazette and the union acquired legal personality ten days after such publication. Provision was made for limitation of the property a union might own, for the dissolution of a union which failed to fulfil its obligations under the law and for the disposal of the property of a union on dissolution, whether voluntary or involuntary. Detailed legislative provision was first made in 1946 in the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi in regard to the right of association of indigenous workers. The enactment of this legislation was accompanied by a statement of policy of the Governor-General dated 17 March 1946. The statement emphasised that in view of the increased extent to which the indigenous worker was becoming detribalised and was engaging in wage-earning employment and in view of the profound alteration that had taken place in the outlook, educational level and the way of life of the indigenous peoples concerned it had become necessary for the Government to examine the problems of indigenous workers in their collective aspect and not to limit itself, as it had done in the past, to protecting the indigenous worker as an individual. The organisation of institutional contacts between the Government, employers and indigenous workers was imperative so that the grievances and complaints of the workers might be ascertained as well as the employers' ability to meet those claims. Recent strikes had also made it essential for the Government to take steps to prevent direct conflicts between employers and indigenous workers and where they occurred to promote their settlement and regulate their impact. New machinery in the field of industrial relations was therefore necessary; these and other general considerations emphasised the need for the formation of indigenous industrial associations. In the Congo, where the indigenous worker had not attained the maturity and experience of European workers, the development of such associations had to be regulated and sanctions had to be imposed to secure the observance of these regulations. Ordinance No. 82 of 17 March 1946, as amended by Ordinance No. 21/17 of 20 January 1948, provided, inter alia, that indigenous inhabitants of the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi might constitute indigenous industrial associations of persons in the same occupation or related occupations engaged in industry, commerce, agriculture, the liberal professions or government employment. The purposes of such associations were to be the study, protection and promotion of the occupational and social interests of their members. The Governor-General was empowered to regulate the organisation of such associations, particularly in regard to the general terms of their formation and operation, the limits of their activity, the rules which their constitutions should contain, the rules governing their dissolution and special provisions applicable to personnel employed by public authorities. Where appropriate, legal personality might be granted to industrial associations within limits and on conditions to be prescribed by the Governor-General. Penalties were attached to breaches of the ordinance of up to a maximum of six months' penal servitude or a fine of not more than 1,000 francs or both. 222 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Ordinance No. 128 of 10 May 19461 regulated the organisation of indigenous industrial associations in greater detail. Trade unions or federations of industrial associations might be formed only on the authorisation of the Governor-General and in the way prescribed by him. The provisional formation of an industrial association was made subject to the permission of the administrator for the area concerned, and application had to be made in a specified manner. Permission was not to be refused unless these requirements were not fulfilled or unless the application otherwise contravened the legal provisions in force. Provision was made for appeal from the decision of the administrator. Final approval of the formation of the association was the responsibility of the District Commissioner. The constitutions of indigenous industrial associations had to be approved by the competent authority; the contents of such constitutions were laid down in detail by the legal provisions and included an undertaking to submit to conciliation procedures as required by the competent authority and to abide by agreements reached as a result of such conciliation, and a further undertaking, where the association had agreed to arbitration, to follow the prescribed procedures and to give effect to the arbitation award. A representative of the Administration was entitled to attend all meetings of the executive committee or general assembly of an indigenous industrial association though without power to vote. Detailed requirements for membership, notably in respect of a qualifying period of previous employment and in regard to the qualification by residence or place of employment, were laid down. The budgets of the associations had to be approved by the local Administrator. A District Commissioner might veto the execution of any decision or action of an association which represented a serious breach of the law or its own constitution or threatened public order; an appeal against such a veto might be made to the Governor of the province. Special provisions were included in regard to workers in the employment of the Government; in particular, such associations might not include workers not employed by the Government and might not act in concert with other associations. Early in 1957 new legislative provisions came into effect in the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi which brought to an end the system of separate legislation for Africans and non-Africans in respect of the right to form trade unions. In presenting the new proposals to the Colonial Council the Belgian Minister of Colonies emphasised his view that the stage had been reached at which the system of separate legislation should come to an end and the complexity and number of existing texts be reduced. Two decrees, one of general application and the other applicable to certain categories of public officials, contain the principal new legislative provisions. A decree of 25 January 1957, which came into force on 15 February 1957, regulates the exercise of the right of association by inhabitants of the Belgian Congo and RuandaUrundi with the exception of officials and subordinate officials of the civil service and of the judicial services. The decree provides that the persons it covers may join trade unions whose sole purpose is the study, protection and promotion of their economic, occupational and social interests. Only organisations approved 1 1.L.O. Legislative Series, 1946—Bel. 10), amended by No. 21/21 of 20 January 1948, No. 21/358 of 13 October 1948 (ibid., 1948—Bel. 3), No. 21/293 of 2 October 1949, No. 21/192 of 3 June 1950, No. 21/376 of 18 December 1951 and No. 21/417 of 12 December 1954. FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS 223 by the competent authority on conditions to be laid down by Royal Order are accorded recognition. Trade unions in existence on 1 July 1956 are, however, recognised provided that their rules are submitted to the competent authority and that the Governor-General is notified of any change made in those rules. Where a trade union commits acts which contravene seriously the law or its own constitution or threaten public order, recognition may be withdrawn in accordance with conditions to be fixed by Royal Order. Persons who have not been in wage-earning employment for less than three years may not become members of a trade union unless they fulfil certain conditions to be laid down by the Governor-General. These conditions are specified in Ordinance No. 21/57 of 8 March 1957. Such persons must have reached the age of 18 and prove that they have completed two years of secondary schooling in order to be eligible for membership of a trade union. As a transitory measure, however, up till 1 January 1962 persons over 18 years of age who have completed their primary schooling may become members of trade unions. All recognised trade unions may apply for legal personality. Trade unions formed in accordance with the provisions of the decree may not engage in a collective stoppage of work until the means of conciliation and arbitration estabhshed by law have been fully utilised. Persons who have participated in the creation or functioning of any trade union association formed or carrying out its activities otherwise than as provided by the decree are liable to penalties. A decree of the same date regulates the exercise of freedom of association in respect of the civil service and the judicial service. This decree provides, in respect of the persons it covers, for freedom of association on the same basis as for other inhabitants of the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi with some qualifications. The competent authority is to decide which are public undertakings and associations which are to be subject to the provisions of the decree as well as the trade union status of the persons covered. Persons to whom the decree appües may not form an association one of the objectives of which is to engage in a collective stoppage of work, or become members of such an association. Special penalties are provided for contravention of this latter provision. British Territories The principal characteristic of the legislation specifically designed to protect and guarantee the right of association in the British territories is that it is based on models largely determined by United Kingdom law and practice and intended to enable trade unions to pursue their objectives with legality, subject to certain safeguards. With a few exceptions, which will be described, the substance of this body of legislation varies little from territory to territory. The requirements of the Colonial Development and Welfare Acts from 1940 onwards have played a large part in expediting the adoption of this legislation; these Acts provide that the Secretary of State for the Colonies must satisfy himself that where a scheme under the Act provides for the payment of the whole or part of the cost of the execution of any works, the law of the territory concerned should provide reasonable facilities for the establishment and activities of trade unions. After an initial period of grace this stipulation has been strictly observed. 224 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY The trade union laws in these territories are essentially an extension of principles of United Kingdom legislation to them, with additional provisions in respect of the compulsory registration of trade unions and some variation in regard to the definition of intimidation. A trade union is generally defined as any combination, whether temporary or permanent, the principal purposes of which are the regulation of relations between workers and masters or between workmen and workmen or between masters and masters; in this way the definition of a trade union applies to employers' and workers' organisations alike. The purposes of a trade union are declared not to be unlawful by reason merely of the fact that they are in restraint of trade. Trade unions are immune from actions of tort. An act or agreement to act by two or more persons in furtherance of a trade dispute is not conspiracy if such act committed by one person is not actionable. It is lawful for one or more persons to attend, in connection with a trade dispute, at or near a house or place where a person resides or works or carries on business or happens to be, if they so attend merely for the purpose of peacefully obtaining or communicating information, or of peacefully persuading any person to work or to abstain from working. Nevertheless, intimidation and picketing in such numbers or in such a way as to be calculated to intimidate are offences. Trade unions are required to register with the registrar of trade unions, who may refuse registration if any of these purposes are unlawful. Any two or more registered trade unions may, by the consent of a given propostion of the members of each of the unions concerned, become amalgamated as one trade union. In some cases trade unions may not, without the consent of the government, become affiliated or connected with any organisation established outside the territory in such a manner as to place them under the control of such organisation. A recent example of legislation of this kind is the Mauritius Trade Union Ordinance, 1954.1 The ordinance contains the usual provisions in regard to immunity from actions of tort, peaceful picketing, acts which are not to be regarded as conspiracy and exemption from general rules of law in respect of restraint of trade. A trade association is required to apply for registration within three months of the date of its formation; application for registration may be made to the registrar appointed under the ordinance by seven or more members of a trade association of workmen, or three or more members of a trade association of employers, as the case may be. Detailed rules for registration and the circumstances in which registration may be refused are laid down. It is provided that any person aggrieved by a refusal of the registrar to register a trade association may, within 60 days from the date of notification of such refusal, appeal to the Supreme Court against the decision of the registrar; on such appeal the Supreme Court may make any order it thinks proper. The registration of a trade union may be cancelled at the request of the trade union concerned or, on the request of the registrar, if the union fails to show after being called upon to do so why its registration should not be cancelled, either because its certificate of registration had been obtained by fraud or mistake or had become void, that it had ceased to exist or that it had wilfully violated any of the provisions of the ordinance. Appeal also lies to the Supreme Court in regard to questions concerning cancellation of registration. Every trade union is to be a body corporate, capable in law of suing and being sued and capable, subject to the provisions of general legislation in regard to 1 Ordinance No. 36 of 1954. FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS 225 ownership of land, of holding and alienating property, movable or immovable. Provision is included for returns to be made annually to the registrar in respect of receipts and expenditure. The rules of every trade union are required to contain provisions in regard to a number of matters specified in an appendix to the ordinance. Qualifications for membership of a trade union are to include normal engagement in the trade, business or industry which the union represents; the qualifications required to stand for office in a trade union include membership of the trade union concerned, the attainment of a minimum age of not less than 21 and normal engagement for a period of at least 18 months in one of the trades or industries whose interests the trade union represents. The registrar or authorised officers of his department are empowered to inspect the books and accounts of a trade union at any time. Trade unions which consist of persons working at more than one trade, industry or calling must make provision in their rules for the protection and promotion of the respective sectional industrial interests of their members. Detailed provisions are included specifying the way in which and the extent to which political funds may be created and employed by trade unions. A number of variations from this general pattern are to be found in the different territories, and the relevant legislation is continuously under review. Recent legislation, for example that of Nyasaland1, specifies additional grounds on which the Registrar may refuse registration, namely if there is another trade union sufficiently representative of the interests of the workers concerned; if the purposes of the trade union do not conform with those defined by law; and the constitution of a general trades union does not contain suitable provision for the protection and promotion of the respective sectional interests of its members. One special feature in the trade union legislation of Kenya and Uganda2 is the provisions concerning the existence of probationary trade unions, i.e. unions which have applied for registration but which are required to " serve a probationary period " before they are granted registration with its attendant privileges. These bodies are very simple in form, their principal object being to regulate the relations between themselves and their employers. The only funds they may receive are annual contributions, and the money received may be expended only on office expenses and welfare. They have none of the usual trade union privileges; this formula, however, gives new organisations the legal right to exist and to acquire experience before being recognised as a fully fledged trade union and having to meet the requirements of registration and other formal difficulties.3 The legislation of these two territories also gives the Registrar discretion as to whether he registers a trade union immediately upon its application for registration or defers its registration for a probationary period. The legislation of Southern Rhodesia * affecting freedom of association varies considerably from that of the other British territories here under consideration. 1 2 The Trade Unions and Trade Disputes (Amendment) Ordinance, No. 17 of 1957. Certain aspects of freedom of association in Kenya were examined by the Governing Body Committee on Freedom of Association in 1952. See Seventh Report of the International Labour Organisation to the United Nations (Geneva, I.L.O., 1953), pp. 202-205. 3 Kenya Trade Unions Ordinance, No. 23 of 1952, and Uganda Trade Unions Ordinance, No. 10 of 1952. 4 Certain aspects of freedom of association in Southern Rhodesia were examined by the Governing Body Committee on Freedom of Association during 1954-55. See Official Bulletin, Vol. XXXVIII, 1955, No. 1, pp. 42-48. 16 226 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY The principal provisions in force are laid down in the Industrial ConciUation Act, 1945.1 In the Act an " employee " means " any person employed by or working for any employer and receiving or being entitled to receive any remuneration but does not include a Native ". A Native is defined as " any member of the aboriginal tribes or races of Africa or any person having the blood of such tribes or races and living among them and after the manner thereof". While therefore African workers are not included within the scope of the existing Industrial Conciliation Act, a Bill seeking to provide for their inclusion and for the formation and registration of multi-racial trade unions and employers' organisations was referred in 1957 to a Parliamentary Select Committee for further consideration. If enacted the proposed legislation will repeal and replace the existing Industrial Conciliation Act, 1945, and the Native Labour Boards Act, 1947, as amended. The present Industrial Conciliation Act applies to every undertaking, industry, trade or occupation with stated exceptions (which include employment in farming operations). Nevertheless, it is stipulated that nothing contained in the Act is to prevent any employee of the government of the territory who is not a member of the public service within the meaning of the Public Services Act or an employee of a statutory commission from becoming or remaining a member of a trade union. Provision is made for the appointment of a chief industrial officer to keep registers of trade unions, employers' organisations, industrial councils and temporary industrial councils registered under the Act. Not more than one trade union or more than one employers' organisation may be registered under the Act to represent the same interests in the same area. Detailed requirements are laid down in regard to registration and the manner of obtaining it; registered trade unions and employers' organisations become, upon registration, bodies corporate. The content of the constitution of registered trade unions and employers' organisations is prescribed, as well as the way in which the constitution and name of these bodies may be altered. Registered trade unions and employers' organisations are required to furnish, on request, information to the chief industrial officer in regard to the number of members of the union or organisation and particulars in regard to subscriptions in arrears. The conditions under which registration may be cancelled are laid down, and provision is made for appeal to the High Court on issues relating to such cancellation. The Act also contains provisions regarding the formation and operation of industrial councils and temporary industrial councils. Special clauses are included in regard to victimisation, and section 70 of the Act contains the following provision in regard to the freedom of association of employees : (1) No employer shall make it a condition of employment of any employee that that employee shall not be or become a member of a trade union, and any such condition in any contract of employment entered into before or after the commencement of this Act shall be void. (a) Nothing contained in any law shall prohibit any employee from being or becoming a member of any trade union, or subject him to any penalty by reason of his membership of any trade union. (3) Any employer who contravenes the provisions of subsection (1) of this section shall be guilty of an offence. 1 No. 21 of 1945. FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS 227 Ghana The legislation of Ghana in respect of freedom of association has not been subject to any major modification since this country ceased to be a British nonmetropolitan territory ; the provisions in force consequently resemble closely those outhned above in respect of British African territories generally. Ethiopia The Trade Unions Ordinance defines a trade union as any combination, whether temporary or permanent, the principal purposes of which are the regulation of relations between workmen and masters or between workmen and workmen, or between masters and masters. It is not to include any body the members of which are appointed by the Government or hold appointments appearing in the staff list of senior appointments for the time being in force. The ordinance contains the usual provisions stipulating that the purposes of a trade union are not to be unlawful by reason merely of the fact that they are in restraint of trade. Registration of trade unions is compulsory; they are required to be registered in accordance with the provisions of the ordinance or be dissolved within six months of the date of their formation or of notification by the Registrar that he has refused to register the union, or of the rejection of an appeal against the Registrar's refusal to register the union. Any five or more members of a trade union may, by subscribing their names to the rules of the union and otherwise complying with the provisions of the ordinance with respect to registration, register the union in question; such registration is, however, to be void if any of the purposes of the union in question is illegal. Detailed provision is made in respect of the method of registration and the circumstances under which the Registrar may refuse to register or cancel the registration of a union. Appeal from such decisions lies to the Supreme Court. All registered trade unions are to be bodies corporate with power to acquire and hold property and to contract, sue and be sued. No person except a Native authority shall be eligible for membership of a trade union unless he is a bona fide master or workman in the trade, craft or industry in respect of which the trade union is established. Persons under the age of 21 but above the age of 16 may, subject to the provisions of the ordinance, be members of a trade union. Restrictions are laid down on the application of funds for certain political purposes. The ordinance also makes provisions for the auditing of accounts and the provision of certain returns to the competent authority. No special legislation has so far been enacted concerning employers' and workers' organisations; the exercise of freedom of association is governed exclusively by the Constitution of Ethiopia, article 47 of which provides that "Every Ethiopian subject has the right to engage in any occupation, and, to that end, to form or join associations in accordance with the law ". The Government stated to the McNair Committee that absolute freedom to organise is accorded to both employers and workers. French Territories In respect of the French territories the most important provisions relating to freedom of association are those contained in the 1952 Labour Code applicable 228 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY to territories for which the Ministry for Overseas Territories is responsible. Under the Code persons engaged in the same occupation, similar occupations, or related occupations, or persons engaged in the same profession may freely constitute a trade union. Any worker or employer may freely join an organisation of his own choice within the limits of his occupation. Officers of a trade union must be in possession of their civil rights and must not have been sentenced to imprisonment. Minors over 16 may join a union subject to the consent of their parent or guardian. Persons who have left their employment or occupation may remain members of a trade union provided that they have been in the employment or occupation for at least a year. Trade unions are to have as their only purpose the promotion and protection of economic, industrial, commercial, and agricultural interests. They are to have corporate legal personality; they have the right to sue in the courts and to acquire personal and real estate without prior authorisation. Other fields of activity in which they may engage are enumerated. Unions are free to act together for the promotion and defence of their economic, industrial, commercial and agricultural interests and may establish federations. Occupational associations on a tribal basis recognised by the competent authority enjoy some of the rights accorded to trade unions with regard to legal status and also in respect of the activities in which they may engage.1 Somalia Until 1954 there was no specific legislation dealing with freedom of association in Somalia, although, in accordance with article 39 of the Constitution of the Italian Republic and the terms of the Trusteeship Agreement, the right to form associations was recognised. Ordinance No. 2 of 20 February 1954 (section 1) specifically recognised freedom of association and established rules governing the constitution and activities of associations, corporations and institutions. This legislation is general in character and not confined to employers' and workers' organisations. Section 2 of the ordinance stipulates that all institutions, associations and other societies formed in the territory must submit to the Resident information regarding the deed of association, the names of the promoters, copies of the rules of the association and the address of its head and branch offices. Liberia There is no legislation in Liberia dealing specifically with the right of association as applicable to employers' and workers' organisations. The Government has under consideration draft legislation designed, inter alia, to preclude the activities of trade unions from being deemed unlawful as being in restraint of trade. One way in which the rights of trade unions have been defined in the past is by Act of the Legislature granting the union in question corporate status ; for example, the Labour Union of Liberia was incorporated by such an Act in 1949. Under this Act the union may sue or be sued, plead and be impleaded in the courts of the Republic and has " competent jurisdiction to hold, purchase and convey property, real, 1 Act. No. 52-1322 to establish a Labour Code in the territories and associated territories under the Ministry for Overseas France (I.L.O. Legislative Series, 1952—Fr. 5), articles 3 to 28. FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS 229 personal and mixed " up to a stated amount. It is also " vested with full power and authority to make and establish such rules and regulations for its governance and to do all other acts and things done by similar bodies corporate and politic as are not repugnant and contrary to the Constitution and Statute Law of the Republic of Liberia Portuguese Territories The legislation in force in Portugal regulating the formation and activities of trade unions and employers' associations1 has been extended to Portuguese non-metropolitan territories in Africa, but its application to those territories is limited to Europeans and assimilated workers. There are thus no specific provisions in the Portuguese territories governing the right of association of indigenous workers. Sudan The legislation of the Sudan in regard to freedom of association is contained in the Trade Unions Ordinance, 1949, and closely resembles the provisions in force in British African territories. A trade union is defined as any combination, whether temporary or permanent, the principal purposes of which are the regulation of the relations between workmen and employers, or between workmen and workmen, or between employers and employers; the legislation is thus applicable to both employers' and workers' organisations. The purposes of trade unions are not in certain circumstances to be unlawful merely because they are in restraint of trade. The trade union contracts which are lawful but not enforceable are specified in the ordinance. Detailed provision is made for the registration of trade unions and the cancellation thereof. Appeal against any refusal of the registrar of trade unions to register a trade union is made to a judge of the High Court; any appeal against a decision of the registrar to cancel the registration of a union also goes to the High Court. Trade unions are prohibited from carrying on business unless registered. The rules of every registered trade union shall contain provisions in respect of a number of matters specified in the ordinance. Detailed provisions are included in respect of accounts and returns. Any registered trade union which includes persons employed in the public services is not to federate, aifiliate or otherwise take joint action in furtherance of its purposes under its constitution with any political organisation. It is provided that members of the defence forces and the government police force, as well as prison officers and warders of the Government, may not be members of trade unions nor take any part in the promotion or formation of a trade union. Union of South Africa 2 In the Union of South Africa specific legal protection of the right to organise is accorded to those categories of employees covered by the Industrial Conciliation Act 1956.3 1 Decree Law No. 23050 of 23 September 1933 (I.L.O. Legislative Series, 1933—Por. 6, B). Certain aspects of freedom of association in the Union of South Africa were examined by the Governing Body Committee on Freedom of Association during 1954-55. See Official Bulletin, Vol. XXVIII, No. 1, 1955, pp. 15-41 and 59-61. 3 Act No. 28 of 1956. 2 230 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY In the Act an employee is defined as— any person employed by, or working for any employer receiving, or being entitled to receive, any remuneration, and any other person whatsoever who in any manner assists in the carrying on or conduction of the business of an employer, but does not include a person who in fact is or is generally accepted as a member of any aboriginal race or tribe of Africa. With certain exceptions the Act does not apply to agricultural employees or to persons employed by the Government of the Union or a provincial administration or to teachers other than those in privately administered schools. The Act includes provisions, essentially similar to those of Southern Rhodesia, to the effect that no employer shall make it a condition of employment that an employee shall not be or become a member of a trade union. Although associations of civil servants and government employees do not enjoy the specific protection of a number of sections of the Act, associations of these categories of employees are freely formed and recognised. The right of the African worker to form associations is not guaranteed or protected by law. Among changes introduced by the Industrial Conciliation Act, 1956, is the provision that no further " mixed " trade unions (that is to say, including both Coloured, or Asiatic, and white members) will be registered. Any mixed trade unions which continue must have separate racial branches and hold separate meetings for their white and coloured members. Exemption from these requirements may be granted if there are so few white or so few non-white members that a separate branch could not function effectively. The executive committees of such mixed trade unions must be white unless exemption is obtained. Machinery is created for the splitting of existing mixed trade unions, 125 of which were registered at the end of 1956, along racial lines and for the division of their assets. Trade unions of employees and associations of employers in any particular undertaking, industry, trade or occupation associated primarily for regulating relations between employees and employers and protecting the interests of their members are required to apply to the Industrial Registrar for registration; associations composed wholly of employees of the Government or of a provincial administration may apply for registration. The Registrar must register any organisation which apphes for registration, has complied with the formal requirements and has not been formed for the purpose of evading any legal provisions; the Registrar has however a discretionary power to refuse registration if a sufficiently representative organisation already exists to protect the interests of the persons represented by the association applying for registration. The Act prescribes in detail the matters which must be provided for in the constitution of any registered trade union. There is no restriction on the freedom of organisations to hold meetings without previous authorisation from the government and without the presence of representatives of the government or to organise joint organisational meetings or to participate in international congresses of organisations of employers or workers. Special provisions are included in the Act in respect of the formation of federations of trade unions and of employers' organisations; it is in the discretion of the responsible Minister to approve of the registration by the Registrar of any such federation. No direct restriction appears to be placed on the right of employers' and workers' associations in the Union to international affiliation as such. FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS 231 South-West Africa Freedom of association in this territory is governed by the Wage and Industrial Conciliation Ordinance, 1952. The Ordinance contains detailed provision for the registration of trade unions and employers' organisations and provisions relating to the matters for which the constitutions of trade unions or employers' organisations must provide, the furnishing of information to the Secretary of South-West Africa on such unions or organisations, inquiries by the Secretary and offences by trade unions and employers' organisations and their officials. The ordinance is applicable to all persons except persons employed in farming operations, in domestic service, in private households, in employment with the Government of the Union or the Administration of South-West Africa, unpaid workers in charitable institutions, colleges or schools or any other educational institutions maintained by public funds. An association composed wholly of persons employed by the Government of the Union or the Administration of South-West Africa may, however, receive permission to be registered as a trade union. The ordinance defines " employee " as " any person employed by or working for any employer and receiving, or being entitled to receive, any remuneration, and any other person whatsoever who in any manner assists in carrying on or conducting the business of an employer, but does not include a Native". "Natives", who are defined as members of any aboriginal race or tribe of Africa, are thus excluded from the scope of the ordinance. EMPLOYERS' AND WORKERS' ORGANISATIONS Belgian Territories In the Belgian Congo a number of employers' organisations exist, the most important being the Association of Industrial Undertakings of the Congo, which comprises over 90 business concerns, many chambers of commerce and various colonists' associations. There were, in 1952, four principal associations of non-indigenous employees: the existence of separate bodies of this kind will presumably be affected by the new legislation on freedom of association mentioned earlier in this chapter. The growth of African trade unions since the initial enactment of legislation in 1946 regulating this question was relatively slow. In 1950 there were 49 such unions with a membership of 5,175; nine of these unions were temporary and 40 were fully constituted. In 1951 there were 45 such unions, with a membership of 6,092; the corresponding figures in 1952 were 59 and 7,067; and for 1954 60 and 7,538.1 In Ruanda-Urundi there is one trade union, which came into being in 1955, namely the Auxiliary Staff Union of the Administration of the Territory of RuandaUrundi. It should be noted in this respect that full-time wage-earning employment in Ruanda-Urundi is relatively infrequent as compared with the Belgian Congo. 1 See Fernand BéZY: Problèmes structurels de l'économie congolaise (Louvain and Paris, 1957), p. 124 ff. for an analysis of the factors conditioning the rate of development of African trade unionism in the Belgian Congo. 232 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY In respect of both territories it is necessary to observe that the legislation introduced in 1946 relating to indigenous trade unions was not designed to regulate existing unions; there were no indigenous trade unions at that time. British Territories1 At the end of 1955 in Gambia there were three registered trade unions: the Gambia Labour Union, the Bathurst Labour Union and the Gambia River Trade and Commercial Workers' Union. None of these has a membership of more than a few hundred. The Gambia Labour Union is affiliated to the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions. Four other associations of workers exist but have not so far registered as trade unions. None of the unions has full-time paid officials and the development of trade unionism in this territory can be regarded as being at an early stage. In Nigeria there are many small unions, and there is a tendency to form factory unions of employees of a single employer or even of a local branch of a trading organisation. The size of Nigeria, the relative isolation of some employment centres and difficulties of communications account for this to a large extent. One further difficulty which has been noticed is the reluctance of trade union members to pay contributions promptly and regularly. In 1955 the All-Nigeria Trade Union Federation had a membership of 39 affiliated trade unions with a total membership of about 95,000. Two employers' organisations exist, both operating in the Plateau Minefield. Trends noted in recent reports of the Nigerian Department of Labour include " a discernible improvement in industrial relations : employers are becoming increasingly aware of the need of positive and continued endeavour on their part to secure and maintain the confidence and understanding of their employees and the trade unions are attaining a realisation of the harm done by irresponsible and ill-considered demands and actions ".2 In this territory considerable attention has been paid to trade union education. On 30 June 1957 there were 278 registered trade unions with a paid-up membership of 198,265. In April 1957 a new national trade union organisation (the National Council of Trade Unions) was established; its membership was formed of 20 unions from the All-Nigeria Trade Union Federation, to which the new body is a rival. In Sierra Leone a number of the strongest unions in West Africa are to be found, for example the Sierra Leone Artisans' and Allied Workers' Union and the Maritime and Waterfront Workers' Union, the Railway Workers' Union and the United Mineworkers' Union; there is also a Sierra Leone Council of Labour designed to co-ordinate the activities of the different unions. During 1954 the first employers' association—the Association of Builders and Building Contractors— was registered under the Trades Union Ordinance. In Central and East Africa, African trade unionism is less developed than in the West African territories; on the other hand a number of important European and Asian unions exist. In Nyasaland, Kenya and Uganda separate trade unions 1 See also Appendix III, table 33, for statistical information on the development of such organisations in selected British territories during recent years. 2 Federation of Nigeria: Annual Report of the Department of Labour for the Year 1952-53 (Lagos, Federal Government Printer, 1954), p. 23. FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS 233 have been established by Asians employed on the railways; in Northern Rhodesia trade unions for Europeans, Asians and Africans exist as separate units. In the British Central and East African territories collective bargaining is virtually unknown and a number of the Labour Department reports of the territories concerned give instances of the unwillingness of particular employers to meet trade union representatives for purposes of negotiation. It is clear that in many territories in this area the atmosphere for collective negotiation is far from propitious; social distances are great and unions are in many instances small and weak and employers are not prepared to regard them as representative. In Kenya the total number of registered trade unions at the end of 1955 was 25 (seven employers' and 18 workers' organisations). Most of the African trade unions belong to the Kenya Federation of Labour, which is affiliated to the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (I.C.F.T.U.). At the present stage of development of these organisations, employers and workers are nowhere effectively enough organised to permit satisfactory negotiation at the industry level except in the government service and to some extent at Mombasa Port. While emergency conditions in Kenya have been an unfavourable factor affecting the growth of trade unionism considerable attention has been given to training in trade union methods and practice; two trade union study courses were held during 1954 and attended by some 70 African trade unionists from various parts of the territory, and during 1955 a number of weekend courses for trade unionists were conducted jointly by the I.C.F.T.U. and the Kenya Federation of Labour. Progress continues to be made in the building up of negotiating machinery at the level of the undertaking. In Mauritius at the end of 1954 there were 43 trade unions registered under the Industrial Relations Ordinance with a recorded membership of 33,750 as compared with 58 unions and a recorded membership of 31,685 at the end of 1953. Mauritius is one of the few British African territories in which collective bargaining and the conclusion of collective agreements have become established as part of the industrial relations structure ; collective agreements are in force, notably in the sugar industry. In Tanganyika 23 unions were in existence at the end of 1955; 16 of these unions had been registered during that year, including one employers' association— the Dar-es-Salaam Employers' Association—and the Tanganyika Federation of Labour, to which 17 registered trade unions and staff associations had been affiliated at the end of 1955. It was estimated that some 105,000 workers were covered either by joint consultative machinery or less formally constituted bodies in agricultural and mining undertakings. At the end of 1956 there were 27 registered trade unions, with a total membership of 8,000 to 10,000, ten staff associations and 15 employers' associations. At the end of 1956 there were, in Uganda, nine registered trade unions (one of which was an employers' organisation). The only union which met regularly with employers during the year was the Post and Telegraph Welfare Union. The number of works committees in government departments and private firms increased from 50 to 70 during the year and it was estimated that some 38,000 employees were covered by these committees. The view of the Labour Department is that— while the Works Committees continue to perform a useful function the fact has not been lost sight of that they will never replace properly constituted trade unions and that probably as more advanced joint consultative machinery is established they will gradually 234 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY disappear. Until then efforts will be continued to make the committees as efficient as possible and to this end a successful course of instruction for members was held during the year.1 In Zanzibar during 1956, unlike previous years, considerable progress was made in respect of the development of trade unions and there was a substantial increase both in the number of trade unions and in their membership. At the end of the year there were 19 registered trade unions (including two employers' organisations) with a total membership of 2,800. At the end of 1955 there were five trade unions registered in Nyasaland; the majority of workers were still unorganised and it had not yet been possible to set up formal machinery between employers and workers for collective bargaining and negotiation. The explanation for the relatively slow development of employers' and workers' organisations in Nyasaland lies in the fact that agricultural or semi-agricultural pursuits absorb the great majority of Nyasaland's unskilled labour force and only a small proportion of the total are dependent solely on their wages. It is only in the relatively few non-agricultural undertakings that workers have apparently found the need to organise in trade unions. By the end of 1956 the number of unions had increased to ten. In Northern Rhodesia at the end of 1956 there were nine European, two Asian and 14 African unions in existence; no trade unions have members of more than one race. The African Mine Workers' Trade Union, with a membership of some 26,000, is the most important African union. The division of the trade unions on a racial basis has given rise to a number of special problems, particularly in the mining industry. The main area of conflict is in the mines of the Copperbelt, where the principal protagonists are the two European trade unions in the mining industry and the African mine workers' union; the essential issue has been that of the advancement of the African workers to grades at present exclusively occupied by European workers. Without going into detail on the difficult and complicated problems to which this issue has given rise, it may be noted in general terms that agreements have been reached between the employers of the European unions in this regard daring the course of the past two years resulting in considerably expanded opportunities of employment for Africans in the intermediate grades of employment. Little progress has so far been made in the development of employers' and workers' organisations in the High Commission territories of Basutoland, Bechuanaland and Swaziland. At the end of 1955 four trade unions had been registered in Basutoland; in Bechuanaland there were no employers' organisations and only one workers' organisation (with a nominal membership of 200). At the time of writing there were no trade unions in Swaziland. Ghana Because of the practical difficulties resulting from the multiplicity of trade unions in Ghana, the trade union movement there has been devoting attention to finding means by which the existing unions might be consolidated into a few 1 Uganda Protectorate : Annual Report of the Labour Department for the Year Ended 31 December 1955, op. cit., p. 17. FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS 235 organisations on an industrial basis; the possibihty of enacting legislation to assist in obtaining this objective has also been considered.1 No trade unions existed in Ghana before 1941, when modern trade union legislation was enacted. In 1942 two officials recruited from the British trade union movement were assigned to the Labour Department with the specific object of assisting in the development of trade unionism. At the end of 1956 there were more than 80 organisations registered under the trade union legislation2; a number of these were however small and had little practical activity, while a number of others were rather in the nature of guilds, for example, tailors' associations, motor drivers' associations and similar bodies. Of the larger and more active organisations, the following were among the most important at the end of 1956: Union Membership Gold Coast Mines Employees Gold Coast Railway Employees Public Works Department Employees Kumasi Municipal Workers Gold Coast United Africa Company Employees Gold Coast Health Workers Gold Coast Teachers Union 11,423 1,416 9,321 2,400 1,600 2,426 2,000 For the purpose of promoting collective action among the unions a Trade Union Congress was established in 1943 on the initiative of the railway union; the Congress secured the adherence of a large body of unions between 1945 and 1948. As a result of a general strike in 1950 the Congress in its original form virtually disappeared but was reformed in 1951 under new leadership. In 1952 the Ghana Trade Union Congress was estabhshed as a rival of the existing Congress. In August 1953 at the Tenth Annual Congress of the Gold Coast Trade Union Congress the two bodies merged under this title and a number of new officers were elected. A substantial increase in trade union membership followed. The conclusion of formal collective agreements has not yet become part of the pattern of industrial relations in Ghana; the influence of the unions has been exercised largely through the machinery of joint consultation which has been considerably developed. Ethiopia No employers' organisations as such are known to exist in Ethiopia; an Addis Ababa Chamber of Commerce was, however, established in 1947. No trade unions are reported. French Territories A notable difference between the French and British African territories in regard to workers' organisations is that, whereas such organisations in British territories have normally no organic links with the British Trades Union Congress, 1 2 Gold Coast Government: Report of the Ministry of Labour for the Year 1953-54, op. cit., p. 9. In 1956 ten registered trade unions were officially classified as defunct and 19 as inactive. 236 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY the organisations in the French territories were, until very recently, for the most part affiliated to one or other of the metropolitan organisations—the Confédération Générale du Travail (C.G.T.), the Confédération Générale du Travail—Force Ouvrière (C.G.T.—F.O.) or the Confédération Française des Travailleurs Chrétiens (C.F.T.C). A process of reorganisation and regrouping is at present in progress, however, with a view to ending the formal links between the metropolitan organisations and the trade unions in French African territories and to establish the autonomy of the latter on an African basis.1 Secondly, although separate provision in respect of the right of association as between indigenous and non-indigenous workers has now almost completely disappeared, there is a general tendency in practice for these two groups of workers to organise themselves in separate unions. In the four tables that follow information available in regard to the development of workers' organisations in French African territories in 1953 and 1956 is presented for purposes of comparison. These figures should be regarded as estimates, since the legislation of the French territories does not provide for compulsory registration of trade unions involving the provision of detailed annual returns on membership, as is the case for the British territories; the over-all strength and relative importance of the groups concerned are not only subject to change but are decisively influenced by the calibre of trade union leadership. It is to be noted that table XV gives figures of votes cast for workers' delegates. It has been estimated that in 1956 some 7 per cent, of employed workers, i.e. 10,832 out of 154,750 wage earners, were members of trade unions. In Madagascar the latest available figures show that trade union membership was less than 40,000 out of an employed population of 250,000. Collective bargaining practices have been steadily developing in French African territories and a number of collective agreements are in force. The difference between British and French African territories in this respect may, in part be due to the formal status given the collective agreement in the legislation of the French territories. TABLE XII. MEMBERSHIP OF WORKERS' ORGANISATIONS IN FRENCH WEST AFRICA, 1953 {Estimated Population: 17,200,000) Territory Senegal Mauritania Guinea Dahomey Ivory Coast .... Upper Volta .... Niger Sudan Total . . C.G.T. 12,000 200 2,700 4,500 5,700 C.F.T.C. 2,100 100 3,100 7,500 2,200 300 600 5,000 30,700 C.G.T.— F.O. Independent unions 5,700 4,100 450 300 1,200 4,200 4,800 1,500 23,900 300 7,450 16,500 12,700 1,800 600 5,300 15,800 68,550 300 15,300 Total 6,750 1 For example, at a meeting held in Abidjan on 8 and 9 February 1958, an African Confederation of Free Trade Unions (F.O.) was established with an executive of 16 members from French West Africa, French Equatorial Africa and the French Cameroons. 237 FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS TABLE XIII. MEMBERSHIP OF WORKERS' ORGANISATIONS IN FRENCH EQUATORIAL AFRICA, 1953 {Estimated Population: 4,500,000) Territory C.G.T. C.F.T.C. C.G.T.— F.O. Gabon Ubangi Middle Congo . . . Tchad 1,700 1,600 1,100 800 300 100 700 50 300 1,600 Total . . . 5,200 1,150 1,900 Independent unions Total 1,200 2,000 2,000 3,400 2,050 1,200 9,450 Somalia At the end of 1955 three trade unions existed in the territory: the Union of Workers of Somalia, the Union of Somali Workers and the Federation of Somali Workers.1 Liberia There are no employers' organisations in Liberia created primarily for the purpose of representing employers' interests as such in collective bargaining with workers and workers' organisations. The principal private large-scale employers conduct their operations in widely separated parts of the country and deal individually with those they employ. There is, however, a Liberian Chamber of Commerce, the membership of which is composed primarily of the commercial interests in the capital, Monrovia. There is also an association covering Liberian rubber planters. Two workers' organisations exist in Liberia, the Labour Congress of Liberia and the Labour Union of Liberia. The latter was incorporated by Act of the Liberian Legislature in 1949 and the former was established in 1954.2 Portuguese Territories There are at present 12 workers' organisations in the Portuguese Territories, five of them in Mozambique, three in Angola, three in Cape Verde and one in Säo Tomé and Principe. Membership is confined to Europeans and assimilated persons. The occupational groups covered by the organisations are: clerical workers, shop assistants and salesmen (in Mozambique, Cape Verde, Säo Tomé and Principe) ; construction workers (Angola and Mozambique) and waterfront workers (Mozambique and Cape Verde). There are virtually no employers' organisations as such in the territories; there are, however, chambers of commerce in Angola and Mozambique. Other associations of employers include the Sisal Planters' Association in Mozambique and the Industrial Association of Angola. The only collective agreement known to be in force in the Portuguese territories is one covering banking 1 Rapport du gouvernement italien à l'Assemblée générale des Nations unies sur l'administration de tutelle de la Somalie, 1955, op. cit., p. 92. 2 An Act to Incorporate the Labour Union of Liberia. Approved 22 Dec. 1949. TABLE XIV. MEMBERSHIP OF WORKERS' ORGANISATIONS IN FRENCH WEST AFRICA, 1956 00 C.G.T. Senegal . . Mauritania Guinea . . Dahomey . Ivory Coast Upper Volta Sudan. . . Niger . . . Tota1 C.G.T.-F.O. C.F.T.C. C.G.C. No. Membership No. Membership No. 134 27,500 1,000 6,175 10,000 51 15 14,449 1,120 7,200 380 300 220 100 3,393 2,500 330 45 13 9 28 23 6 7 4 4,200 320 3,000 7,001 2,300 780 335 130 4 1 4 19 34 138 14 13 6 1 13 33 2 257 60,244 220 14,423 133 18,666 Membership No. C.G.T.A. Autonomous Independent Membership No. Membership No. 100 10 74 21 22 16,200 540 38,500 70 7,400 15 29 18 25 3,000 4,975 2,700 11,000 15 2,500 147 29,075 15 2,500 3 580 1 150 9 840 117 55,240 Membership No. Membership I ses o TABLE XV. ELECTIONS OF WORKERS' DELEGATES IN FRENCH EQUATORIAL AFRICA: RESULTS (December 1955-January 1956) G < Trade union affiliation Number of delegates Territory Number eligible to vote Number of voters Titular Substitutes C.F.T.C. C.G.T. Middle Congo. 15,479 12,603 354 354 Gabon .... 4,573 3,928 36 36 Ubangi. . . . 12,151 9,058 325 307 124 (17.5%) 12 (16.66%) 47 (7.43%) Tchad .... 8,410 5,956 115 115 Total . . . 40,613 31,545 (77.67%) 830 (7(5.0%) 812 (42.0%) 183 (11.15%) C.G.T.-F.O. Cadres C.G.C. 130 (18.4%) 12 (16.66%) 176 (27.84%) 38 (16.52%) 170 (24.0%) 12 (1.7%) 356 (21.69%) 205 (12.49%) 1 27 Independent 26 (4.11%) i (0.15%) 38 (2.32%) 1 (0.06%) 8 (3.47%) No affiliation 272 (38.4%) 48 (66.66%) 355 (56.17%) 184 (80.0%) 859 (52.32%) 3 FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION AND INDUSTRIAL RFI ATIONS 239 employees in Mozambique. There are in addition, in Portuguese territories, a number of associations of employees not of a strictly trade union character. Sudan In 1955 there were 132 trade unions of workers and three of employers. It is estimated that total membership of workers' unions may be between 100,000 and 150,000 out of a total population of 9 million, of which around 2 per cent, are wage earners. Union of South Africa The provisions in force in the Union of South Africa relating to the registration of trade unions do not apply to African workers. Moreover, recent amendments to the Industrial Conciliation Act provide for a further degree of separation between the races in respect of trade union organisation. No further " mixed " unions, i.e. unions with Coloured (including Asiatic) as well as white members, will be registered. Machinery is created for the splitting of existing mixed trade unions (125 of which were registered when the new trade union provisions came into force) along racial lines and for the division of their assets. Any mixed trade unions which continue to function must have separate racial branches and hold separate meetings for their white and Coloured members. The members of the executive committees of such mixed trade unions must be white unless exemption is obtained. These provisions do not apply to employers' organisations, nor are these principles applied to Industrial Councils. According to the information available the membership of African trade unions appears to have declined in recent years. There were understood to be 65 African unions in the Transvaal in 1946 with a membership of 97,00o1, but according to an estimate for the whole Union made by a British T.U.C. delegation at the end of 1953 there were only 22 African trade unions with a membership of about 10,000.2 In 1956 there were 185 trade unions registered under the Industrial Conciliation Act with a membership of some 300,000 whites and 80,000 Asiatics or Coloureds. A number of federations existed, grouping a substantial number of these unions, but it was estimated that there were 110 trade unions, with a total membership of 150,000, not affiliated to central national organisations. In 1956, 217 employers' organisations with approximately 17,000 members were registered. South-West Africa No employers' organisations are known to exist in South-West Africa. One officially recognised trade union, the South-West Africa Mineworkers' Union, was established in 1954. No information is available as to whether or not any Natives belong to this union. 1 South African Institute of Race Relations: Handbook on Race Relations in South Africa (Capetown, 1949, Oxford University Press), p. 166. 2 Trades Union Congress : Report of the Proceedings at the 86th Annual Congress, Appendix A : Report of the T.U.C. Delegation to South Africa (London, Co-operative Printing Society), p. 498. 240 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY INDUSTRIAL DISPUTES AND CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION MACHINERY The purpose of the present section is to summarise the content of legislation in the African countries and territories covered in regard to— (a) restrictions on strikes and lockouts, and (b) conciliation and arbitration machinery, and to give some illustration from recent developments in the area of the incidence of trade disputes and the manner in which they are settled. Belgian Territories Until 1957 there was separate legislation on conciliation and arbitration for indigenous and non-indigenous workers respectively in the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi.1 This body of legislation was superseded early in 1957 by an ordinance2 applicable alike to all inhabitants of these territories other than those public officials to whom the right to strike is not accorded. The provisions of the ordinance are limited in their application to collective disputes, which are defined as disputes between an employer and some or all of his employees in regard to conditions of work where the dispute is of a nature to disrupt the proper functioning or social peace of the undertaking and is not within the jurisdiction of the courts. If such disputes are not settled within a week by direct negotiation between the parties the Administrator of the territory must be informed by the employer. Provision is made for the following three stages of conciliation: (a) an exchange of views between the parties at a joint meeting with the Administrator as chairman and, where appropriate, consultation of the appropriate works council or other similar body; (b) the establishment of a tripartite conciliation committee by the District Commissioner to hear the parties and attempt to find a compromise acceptable to them; and (c) the establishment of a higher conciliation committee by the provincial Governor concerned. Only the second of these stages is compulsory, the utilisation of the first and the third being at the discretion of the competent authority. One of the functions of the conciliation committees at the second and third stages is to try to persuade the parties to submit the dispute to arbitration if they fail to reach an agreement as arbitration is not compulsory. Article 12 of the ordinance provides that neither party may have recourse to strike or lockout action except where the procedures laid down in the ordinance have been exhausted or where the other party fails to carry out its obligations under any agreement reached or under the terms of an arbitration decision. In any case, at least four days' notice of a strike or lockout must be given to the provincial Governor and the other party concerned. 1 Decree of 27 June 1944; Ordinance No. 82 of 17 March 1946; and Ordinance No. 100 of 6 April 1946. 2 No. 22/65 of 15 March 1957. FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS 241 Conciliation committees are to be composed of five members and a secretary; the chairman is to be an official and of the other members two are to be employers' representatives and two workers' representatives, none of whom is to be directly concerned with the dispute. Higher conciliation committees are to be composed of three senior officials or magistrates, one of whom is to be chairman, together with two employers' representatives and two workers' representatives, none of whom is to be directly interested in the undertaking at which the dispute has arisen. Meetings of these committees are to be in camera. No recent information is available in regard to the incidence of trade disputes or the means employed to settle them in the Belgian Congo. During 1955 and 1956 there were no collective trade disputes in Ruanda-Urundi. British Territories The apparent general aim of policy in most British African territories has been to establish types of voluntary conciliation and arbitration machinery which would not prejudice the development of arrangements for the settlement of trade disputes by direct negotiation. The labour departments which exist at the present time in most of these territories have had as their primary duty the promotion of harmonious industrial relations; perhaps the most important aspect of their work lies in the mediation and conciliation services which they provide.1 Legislation designed to restrict strikes and lockouts has in general been confined to essential services such as public utility undertakings and public health, hospital and sanitary services. A typical example of the type of the legislation on machinery for conciliation and arbitration and of special provisions applicable to essential services generally met with in British African territories is to be found in the Trade Disputes (Arbitration and Settlement) Ordinance, No. 20 of 1952, in Nyasaland. The ordinance provides that trade disputes, whether existing or apprehended, may be reported to the Labour Adviser for conciliation and settlement. The latter may require that any settlement effected through officers of the Labour Department be recorded in writing; on being endorsed by him such a negotiated settlement shall be deemed binding. Where the Labour Adviser or his representative is unable to effect a settlement he may report the dispute to the Governor, who, if he thinks fit and if both parties consent, may authorise the Labour Adviser to refer the dispute for settlement to an arbitration tribunal. Where other standing arrangements exist in the trade or industry concerned for the settlement of trade disputes by conciliation or arbitration, reference to a tribunal is not to be made unless there has been failure to obtain a settlement of the dispute through the estabhshed machinery and both parties to the dispute agree to such reference. Where a trade dispute exists or a strike or lockout is apprehended and whether or not the dispute is reported to the Labour Adviser under the provisions of this ordinance the Labour Adviser may, with the approval of the Governor, refer the dispute to a board of inquiry whose report is to be submitted to the Governor; the Governor may also, where a trade dispute exists or is apprehended, refer any matter connected with the economic or industrial conditions of the territory to such a board for inquiry and report. For further details see Chapter XIV. 242 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY There are special provisions relating to trade disputes in essential services. Where sufficiently representative organisations of employers and workers do not exist for the purpose of adjusting or negotiating a settlement of a trade dispute in any essential service, the employers and workers concerned in the dispute may, on the invitation of the Labour Adviser, appoint representatives to negotiate a settlement. The Labour Adviser is to endeavour to conciliate the parties and effect a negotiated agreement where possible, or he may refer the dispute either to machinery already existing in the trade or industry or, in the absence of such machinery, to representatives of the parties. If utilisation of the above procedures does not result in a settlement or a settlement is unduly delayed, or if 21 days elapse after the dispute is reported to the Labour Adviser without any settlement being reached, the Labour Adviser must report the trade dispute to the Governor, who may, if he thinks fit, refer the dispute for settlement to an arbitration tribunal; the tribunal is to consider any such dispute and make an award. Section 12 of the ordinance provides that no employer shall take part in a lockout and no worker shall take part in a strike and no person shall counsel or procure an employer to take part in a lockout or a worker to take part in a strike in any essential service unless a trade dispute exists and has been reported to the Labour Adviser in accordance with the provisions of the ordinance and— (a) 21 days have elapsed; or (b) if the trade dispute has been reported to the Governor, 28 days have elapsed ; or if the Governor has referred the trade dispute to a tribunal, the tribunal has made its award. Special penalties are provided for breaches of the ordinance; no prosecution for an offence against section 12 is to be instituted save with the consent of the Attorney-General. Detailed provisions are included in the ordinance governing the constitution of tribunals and proceedings and awards in the course of arbitration and inquiry in trade disputes. In particular, arbitration tribunals are required to make their awards within 21 days from the date of reference of a dispute to them; their awards are not to conflict with any law; awards or negotiated agreements may be retrospective; tribunals are to be competent to interpret their awards; awards and agreements are to be binding until altered by a subsequent award or agreement. The services scheduled as essential are water, electricity, health, hospital, sanitation services, transport necessary to the operation of the foregoing services, transport necessary to the supply and distribution of liquid and solid fuels and lubricants, essential foodstuffs and supplies necessary for the maintenance of law and order, public transport services provided by the Nyasaland Railways; river and lake services, air transport and telecommunications and postal and telegraph services. The legislation of Northern Rhodesia contains a number of variations from the above pattern which are deserving of notice. The Industrial Conciliation Ordinance, 1949, provides, inter alia, for the registration of conciliation boards and defines their powers. A procedure is laid down under which the Governor-in-Council is empowered to aid in the establishment of conciliation boards in any district, trade or industry; he may cause such a board to be established where inquiry reveals Ordinance No. 24 of 1949 (I.L.O. Legislative Series, 1949—N.R. 2). FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS 243 it to be expedient. Provision is made for the appointment of a registrar of conciliation boards. The other principal provisions of the ordinance in regard to conciliation and arbitration follow the general pattern of legislation in British non-metropolitan territories on the subject. The utilisation of joint industrial councils in British African territories is slowly but steadily extending; the legislation of Southern Rhodesia in regard to the settlement of trade disputes is an example of legislation covering this question even though in certain respects, such as the definition of " employee ", it differs from that of other British African territories. The Industrial Conciliation Act (No. 21 of 1945) makes detailed provision for the formation and registration of industrial councils. Temporary industrial councils may be appointed where no industrial council exists if one or more registered employers' organisations or trade unions exist and any such organisation or union applies to the Minister concerned for the appointment of a temporary industrial council for a particular area. The Minister may approve the establishment of a conciliation board whenever there is no industrial council covering any undertaking, trade or occupation in an area where a dispute has arisen. Conciliation boards consists of such number of representatives as the Minister may determine, half of them to be appointed by the employees and half by the employers represented on the board. Conciliation boards are required to submit to the Minister within a period of one month from the date of their establishment (or such further period as the Minister himself may fix) a report indicating whether it has settled the dispute and, if so, the terms of the settlement, or, if it has failed to settle the dispute, whether it considers that the latter should be referred to arbitration or that further deliberations will not result in a settlement. On the proposal of an industrial council or conciliation board, or if the Minister is of opinion that the appointment of a mediator will aid in the settlement of a particular dispute by any industrial council or conciliation board, he may appoint a mediator to deal with that dispute. Where a conciliation board fails to settle a dispute and does not decide to refer the matter to arbitration, the Minister is required to appoint a mediator in respect of that dispute. The procedure to be followed by mediators is laid down in the Act. The Act contains detailed provisions on both voluntary and compulsory arbitration. An industrial council or a conciliation board may decide that any dispute between the parties to the council or between the employees and employers represented on the board which has been under the consideration of the council or board shall be referred to a single arbitrator or to an even number of arbitrators for decision; in the latter case an umpire must also be appointed. Arbitration is compulsory when a dispute under the Act has been referred to an industrial council or conciliation board and a settlement has not been reached within 30 days after the appointment of a mediator (or before the expiration of any period fixed by the Minister) provided that the dispute in question falls within certain categories laid down by the Act. These categories are— (a) any dispute between a local authority and its employees engaged in the performance of work connected with the supply of light, power or water, or with sanitation or the extinguishing of fire; (b) any dispute between any railway company or any other public carrier and its employees; 244 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY (c) where the parties to an industrial council fail to reach an agreement governing the conditions of employment in the undertaking, industry, trade or occupation for which the council has been established; and any other dispute if the majority of the representatives, either of the employers or of the employees on the industrial council or conciliation board concerned, wish the dispute to be referred to arbitration and the majority of representatives of the other party do not wish such reference. Any award made by an arbitrator, arbitrators or umpires in accordance with the provisions of the Act is to be final and binding for a period to be fixed by the arbitration authority concerned; this period shall not be less than six months nor more than 12 months. The Minister is empowered to extend the application of agreements or awards so as to make them binding upon all employers and employees in the undertaking, industry, trade or occupation concerned who are not parties to or are not members of the trade unions or employers' organisations which were parties to the agreement or award in question. This is a discretionary power which the Minister may exercise if he deems such action expedient and if he is satisfied that the parties to the agreement are sufficiently representative of the undertaking, industry, trade or occupation concerned. The Act, as has been noted earlier in this chapter, does not apply to " Natives " as defined therein; it is, however, provided that in certain circumstances the terms of an agreement may be applied by extension to Natives living within municipalities. This can be done if, in the opinion of an industrial council or conciliation board, the purposes of a given agreement are being or would be defeated in any municipality included in the area for which the agreement is operative by the employment of Natives in the undertaking, industry, trade or occupation concerned. The provisions of an agreement or award may not be departed from by agreement between the parties or be waived. A person who contravenes or fails to comply with any provision of an agreement or award binding upon him under the Act is guilty of a punishable offence. The incidence of industrial disputes and the utilisation in practice of conciliation and arbitration machinery can perhaps best be illustrated by reference to recent developments in the territories.1 In Nigeria during the year 1954-55, 50 trade disputes came to the notice of the Department of Labour. Thirty of these resulted in strikes involving 6,602 workers and the loss of 12,166 man-days. The longest strike lasted 15 days, while the shortest was of a few hours' duration. In one of the more important of these, a strike of mineworkers on the Jos Plateau, conciliation and mediation procedures failed and resort was finally had to arbitration to settle wage claims. During the year 1956-57, 105 disputes were reported to the Department of Labour; 33 of these resulted in stoppages of work and approximately 56,700 man-days were lost. Only one dispute was settled by arbitration. In Sierra Leone during 1954 there were four stoppages of work, involving no more than a total of 500 workers. The view of the Labour Department was that this relatively favourable situation was largely due to the type of consultation machinery available : in referring to this period the report of the Labour Department states, 1 Cf. also Appendix III, table 34, for comparative statistical information regarding trade disputes in British territories in recent years. FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS 245 " Negotiating and joint consultative machinery has run smoothly and satisfactorily with beneficial results to all concerned ".1 In Kenya there were, during 1954, 33 trade disputes resulting in stoppages of work, involving 1,518 workers and the loss of 2,026 man-days. No strike was called or sponsored by any trade union. During 1953 and 1954 there was a substantial reduction in the number of reported trade disputes; this situation is attributed in part to the emergency. During 1955 one major industrial dispute occurred involving some 14,400 workers and a loss of approximately 78,000 man-days. Apart from this strike, 34 other disputes involving stoppages of work were reported during 1955; 3,452 workers were involved and 3,870 man-days lost. In 1956 the number of trade disputes resulting in stoppages of work reported was 38; these involved 5,173 workers and the loss of 28,320 man-days. The major industrial dispute which occurred in 1955 was the Mombasa dock strike, in which the Dock Workers' Union itself was not involved. This dispute was referred to arbitration. The Labour Department considers that— The following were among the major causes of the unrest which finally led the dockworkers to take strike action: general dissatisfaction with living costs (particularly house rents) in relation to wages; the payment of increased wages and wage arrears to railway employees... ; the payment of increased wages to dockworkers in the neighbouring port of Tanga, following upon similar strike action in the previous year; and the failure of the Port Joint Industrial Council to hold the workers' confidence—due partly to the delay in negotiating increased wage rates and partly to inadequate haison between the workers' elected representatives and the rank and file of the labour force.2 In 1954 in Mauritius only one industrial dispute occurred involving a stoppage of work. Ninety-two workers were involved and 368 man-days lost. This situation was in part due to the fact that a collective agreement in the sugar industry was renewed for the year. Early in 1954 a Conciliation Board was set up to regulate the terms and conditions of employment between the General Port and Harbour Workers' Union and the Federation of Port and Harbour Employers as the previous trade agreement had expired; the parties reached a settlement on all points except two, which were referred to a court of arbitration. In Tanganyika during 1955 there were 42 disputes resulting in stoppages of work which involved 8,877 workers and entailed a loss of 12,562 man-days. Thirtytwo of them occurred in agriculture and the most common causes of disputes were questions of rates of pay and tasks. In the one major dispute that occurred during the year, which affected some 1,200 workers, direct negotiations were facilitated by the good offices of the Labour Department. More than half the disputes lasted for one day only and only six resulted in stoppages of more than three days. In Uganda during 1955, 7,000 more man-days were lost through strikes than in the previous year. Most of these strikes occurred in government departments and among local authority employees. During the year the conciliation machinery provided by the Trades Disputes Ordinance was utilised for the first time in the territory in connection with two of the strikes. During 1956 there were 43 strikes involving 7,635 employees and the loss of 12,494 man-days. 1 Sierra Leone: Report of the Labour Department for the Year 1954 (Freetown, Government Printing Department, 1956), p. 6. 2 Colony and Protectorate of Kenya: Labour Department, Annual Report 1955, op. cit., pp. 15-16. 246 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY In Zanzibar no serious industrial disputes occurred during 1955; the few that did occur were rapidly settled. This situation has been attributed by the Labour Department primarily to the general increase in wage rates of government employees introduced in 1954. In Northern Rhodesia during 1954 there were 143 strikes, involving 334 Europeans and 44,197 Africans, the total number of man-days lost being 589,209. Ninetytwo strikes were settled following conciliation by labour officers and 50 by their intervention. In addition there were 36 disputes not involving stoppages of work, which affected 1,834 Europeans and 12,763 Africans; six of these cases went to formal conciliation or arbitration. During 1955 there were 24 disputes affecting 7,833 European employees and 44 strikes affecting Africans. Eighteen disputes were referred to formal conciliation. Only one strike, called by the African Mining Workers' Union, was of major consequence. This strike resulted in the loss of 1,543,670 man-days: the original claim of the union involved an increase in wages for African mine employees with the weekly payment of wages and a provision that the new wage structure would apply to union members only. After the workers had returned to work the dispute was referred to arbitration. In Nyasaland during 1955 there were only a few trade disputes, only nine of which involved stoppages of work; all were of a minor nature and were quickly settled. It is to be noted that owing to the relatively early stage of development of African trade unions in the territory, individual grievances tended to be referred to the Department of Labour. No trade disputes or stoppages of work occurred in Gambia in 1954 and 1955, in Basutoland or Bechuanaland in 1955, in Swaziland in 1955 or in British Somaliland during 1954 and 1955. No detailed information is available in regard to the incidence of trade disputes in recent years in Southern Rhodesia. Ghana The legislation of Ghana in respect of conciliation and arbitration in trade disputes is contained in the Trades Disputes (Arbitration) and Inquiry Ordinance, 1941.1 In this ordinance a trade dispute is defined as any difference or dispute between employers and workmen or between workmen and workmen connected with the employment or non-employment or the terms of the employment or the conditions of labour of any person. Any trade dispute, whether existing or apprehended, may be reported to the Minister responsible for labour by or on behalf of either of the parties to the dispute; the Minister is then required to take such steps as seem to him expedient for promoting a settlement of the dispute. If the Minister thinks fit and both parties consent the matter may be referred for settlement to an arbitration tribunal; the forms such a tribunal may take are laid down. Disputes are not to be referred to arbitration in this form if there exist, in the trade or industry in which the dispute takes place, arrangements for settlement of disputes by conciliation or arbitration under the agreement between the employers and workers concerned. 1 Ordinance No. 20 of 1941. Cf. also Conspiracy and Protection of Property (Trade Disputes) Ordinance. FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS 247 The Minister may, where any trade dispute exists or is apprehended and whether or not the dispute is reported to him under the ordinance, inquire into the causes and circumstances of the dispute, and at his discretion refer any matters connected with the dispute to a board of inquiry, which reports its findings back to him. Other provisions of the ordinance cover procedural questions, including the way in which evidence is to be given before an arbitration tribunal or board of inquiry, the circumstances in which legal practitioners may appear in matters arising under the ordinance; it is also provided that rules may be made by the competent authority regulating the procedure to be followed by an arbitration tribunal or a board of inquiry. During the year 1953-54, 65 stoppages of work were reported in which 20,529 workers were involved and 125,927 man-days lost; during the previous 12 months the corresponding figures had been 83 stoppages, 31,639 workers and 129,676 mandays. During the year 1954-55, however, only 35 stoppages of work were reported; a total of 8,263 workers were involved and 29,207 man-days were lost. Of the 65 stoppages in 1953-54, 37 lasted for one day or less: the longest lasted 35 days and involved 675 men. One strike in the mining industry, lasting 31 days and involving 2,200 men, accounted for 68,200 of the man-days lost. Over 85 per cent, of the total man-days lost were lost in the mining industry. Officers of the Ministry of Labour intervened or were invited to intervene in 43 of the stoppages. The causes of stoppages were very varied, the most frequent single cause being protests against disciplinary action taken by managements against employees. Only nine stoppages could be attributed to demands for increases in wages ; these, however, included the two most serious ones, both of which occurred in the mining industry.1 Ethiopia No legislation covering procedure for the settlement of trade disputes exists in Ethiopia. No detailed information is available concerning the existence or frequency of trade disputes; it is, however, known that on several occasions grievances of railway and plantation workers have been amicably settled through the mediation of the Government. French Territories Under articles 179 to 280 of the 1952 Labour Code for Overseas Territories separate legal provision is made for the settlement of individual and collective disputes. For the settlement of individual labour disputes a system of labour courts is established; these courts are empowered to deal with all individual disputes relating to collective agreements or to the administrative orders designed to serve the same purpose, and their competence extends also to disputes arising between workers at work. A labour court is composed of a magistrate, who acts as chairman, and two employer assessors and two worker assessors chosen from lists submitted by the more representative employers' and workers' organisations or, in the absence of such organisations, by the Inspectorate of Labour and Social Legislation. Any worker or employer may request the Inspector of Labour and Social Legislation or his deputy or legal representative to act as conciliator in a dispute. 1 Gold Coast Government: Report on the Ministry of Labour for the Year 1953-54, op. cit., p. 9. 248 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY The Code stipulates that every collective labour dispute1 is to be reported immediately to the competent inspector of labour and social legislation, who will summon the parties or their representatives to a meeting for the purposes of conciliation. If one of them fails to appear the inspector will summon him to appear within two days and may also inflict a fine for non-appearance. A record is made of every conciliation agreement; it is signed by both parties, who receive copies. Conciliation agreements are enforceable as from the day on which they are deposited. If the conciliation procedure proves unsuccessful a record of non-conciliation is drawn up and the recommendation procedure is followed. Within four days the inspector of labour and social legislation is to summon the parties to a further meeting for the purpose of choosing an expert, to whom the record of non-conciliation is sent. If the parties fail to agree on the choice of an expert the Governor of the territory (or of the group of territories if the dispute affects more than one territory) is to appoint an expert within 24 hours. There are detailed provisions in the Code relating to the preparation of the list of persons who may be appointed as experts. The expert may express opinions only on the matters set out in the record of non-conciliation and matters which have a direct bearing on the dispute although relating to events which occurred after the record was drawn up. Within eight days he must submit a report, with reasons, on his investigations, containing a recommendation for the settlement of the points at issue. The time-limit may be extended, by decision of the Governor of the territory, by not more than eight days. The report and the recommendation are to be transmitted to the inspector of labour and social legislation immediately; the latter, for his part, must bring them to the attention of the parties within 24 hours. At the end of five clear days from the date of communication of the report to the parties the recommendation becomes enforceable unless one of them makes application for a stay of execution. If application for a stay is made the dispute must be referred within three days to an arbitration board, which consists of the president of the Court of Appeal of the territory concerned, the president of the Higher Court of Appeal or a legal adviser delegated to sit on the board and two assessors selected by the Governor of the territory or group of territories from among the persons whose names appear on the list of experts. The decision of the arbitration board is communicated without delay to the inspector of labour and social legislation, who immediately informs the parties thereof. Four clear days later the decision becomes enforceable unless one of the parties appeals against it. A recommendation by an expert which has become enforceable and a decision of an arbitration board may be appealed against on the grounds that they are ultra vires or contrary to the law; such appeals are heard by the Higher Arbitration Court established in pursuance of the Act of 11 February 1950. No strike or lockout may be instituted before conciliation and recommendation proceedings are terminated, nor may a strike or lockout be instituted in violation of the findings of a conciliation agreement or of a recommendation that has received legal sanction. Any lockout or strike that is contrary to the provisions of the Code may involve penalties as follows: for an employer, payment to the workers for the days lost owing to this cause and a minimum period of two years' ineligibility for the functions of member of a Chamber of Commerce, prohibition from sitting on an Advisory Labour Board or Arbitration Committee and from being a party 1 Articles 209 to 21 ibis of the Act, as amended by Legislative Decree No. 55-567 of 20 May 1955. FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS 249 in any way whatsoever to a contract for public works or supplies for the State, the territory or any public body; for a worker, the loss of the right to compensation in lieu of notice and to damages for breach of contract. It is specifically laid down that a strike declared after an objection to the coming into force of a recommendation has been formally lodged does not constitute a breach of contract of employment. Little detailed information is available in respect of the French African territories in regard to industrial disputes and their settlement. In 1953 the number of workers involved in stoppages of work in French Equatorial Africa was 1,615, and the number of man-days lost was 5,320. In French West Africa some 113 workers were involved in collective stoppages of work in 1952 and over 83,000 in 1953. In French Somaliland and Madagascar the numbers of man-days lost in 1953 were respectively 20,000 and 32,000. Somalia In Somalia the labour offices are required to investigate trade disputes and endeavour to bring about their settlement by conciliation. Under the terms of Ordinance No. 22 of 23 November 1951 the parties to a dispute are required to submit it to the competent labour office before referring it to the judicial authorities. The Central Inspectorate of Labour with its regional branch offices forms part of the Directorate of Economic Development and is the responsible government agency in this regard. Six industrial disputes involving stoppages of work took place during 1955; all of them were brought to an end through the agency of the labour offices. Liberia Provision respecting a system of Labour Courts is made in legislation enacted in Liberia in 1944.1 This legislation covers, however, only workers employed in occupations not directly concerned with agriculture or forestry or the processing of agricultural or forest products; persons who render personal services of a domestic nature or who administer comfort or care to the sick, persons whose earnings exceed $100 a month and government employees whose compensation is fixed by law and provided by budgetary appropriation are also excluded. The Act provides that " a Labour Court, to be presided over by a Labour Commissioner, shall be set up in the Interior Department and in each county and district of the Republic which shall have jurisdiction over labour disputes to which any employer, workman, or employee except government employees, shall have recourse for the adjudication of all labour complaints arising under this Act ", and a provision is made for appeals from the Labour Courts to the Circuit Courts and for review of decisions by the Supreme Court. Under section 8 of the Act " it shall be illegal for any group of workmen to strike or to promote a strike prior to their having laid their grievances before the Labour Court and a judgment thereon having been rendered ". In the Executive Rules and Regulations issued under 1 An Act (approved 3 April 1944) revising an Act entitled " An Act Fixing Minimum Wage for Workmen and Protecting the Interest of the Working Classes " approved 29 January 1943. (Hereinafter referred to as the Minimum Wages Act, 1944). 250 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY the Act, provision was also made for the appointment of Labour Agents, of a lower rank than the Labour Commissioners, who were given power to hear in the first instance all differences or disputes between workmen and workmen and between employer and employee and to adjust or compose them without prejudice to the right of the aggrieved to bring the matter before the Labour Courts. The Government has under consideration legislation providing for the abolition of the Labour Courts and for the creation of a National Bureau of Labour the functions of which will include the provision of mediation and conciliation services on a voluntary basis. Provision for arbitration through arbitration tribunals, subject to the agreement of the parties, is also included in the draft legislation under consideration; reference to these tribunals will, however, be made compulsory in any services defined by the President by Executive Order as being essential services. Section 9 of the Minimum Wages Act, 1944, makes it illegal for an employer to dismiss any workman from his employment because of participation in a strike conducted in accordance with the provisions of the Act. No strikes or lockouts are known to have occurred during the past three years except for a strike of workers employed by a road construction company early in 1955, which lasted for a few days. Portuguese Territories No specific machinery or legislation is known to exist in Portuguese African territories in respect of conciliation, arbitration and the settlement of trade disputes. No information is available in regard to the incidence and methods of settlement of such disputes in recent years in these territories. Sudan The legislation of the Sudan relating to trade disputes consists of the Regulation of Trade Disputes Ordinance, 1949, and the Trade Disputes (Arbitration and Inquiry) Ordinance, 1949. The Regulation of Trade Disputes Ordinance follows the lines of the legislation in force in British African territories in regard to the following questions: immunity of trade unions from actions of tort; the circumstances in which an agreement or combination is known to be tribal as a conspiracy in relation to a trade dispute; immunity from action at law for inducing breach of contract; intimidation and peaceful picketing. The ordinance also provides that its terms shall not be construed as exempting from disciplinary measures or civil or criminal liability any permanent civil servant who breaks his contract of service in contemplation or furtherance of a trade dispute. Under the Trade Disputes (Arbitration and Inquiry) Ordinance the Commissioner of Labour is required, within 21 days of notification of a trade dispute, whether existing or apprehended, to take such steps as seem to him to be expedient to promote a settlement. If both parties consent he may refer the matter for settlement to an arbitration tribunal. The composition and procedure of such tribunals and provisions relating to their awards are covered. The Commissioner of Labour may, if he thinks fit, appoint a board of inquiry to investigate the cause and circumstances of a dispute whether or not it is reported to him under the provisions of the ordinance. During the year 1 July 1952-30 June 1953, 52 trade disputes occurred as against 63 during the previous 12 months; 23 of these resulted in strikes. Only 16 of the 52 disputes involved unions of non-government workers. The eight strikes which FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS 251 occurred in non-government establishments resulted in the loss of 6,487 man-days; the 17 stoppages of work involving government workers caused the loss of 262,764 man-days. None of these stoppages of work required the establishment of a board of inquiry or an arbitration tribunal. A total of some 1.75 million man-days were lost owing to labour troubles between July 1947 and June 1953. The economic life of the country was, however, " no more than ruffled " by these difficulties.1 Union of South Africa Special procedures exist for the settlement of disputes affecting government employees not covered by the Industrial Conciliation Act (for example, railway employees). The general procedure for the settlement of industrial disputes not involving African workers is laid down in the Industrial Conciliation Act. Under the Act the settlement of disputes is primarily the function of industrial councils, where these exist; in their absence the Minister may, on apphcation by any party to a dispute, approve the setting up of a conciliation board, half of the members of which are appointed by the workers' side and half by the employer's side. Either an industrial council or a conciliation board may request the Minister to appoint a mediator to assist in an attempt to reach a settlement or decide to refer a dispute to voluntary arbitration. Arbitration is compulsory in certain cases analogous to those noted in respect of Southern Rhodesia. The provisions relating to African workers are contained in the Native Labour (Settlement of Disputes) Act, 1953, which applies to all African workers except domestic servants, farm workers and workers in the public service, railways and gold and coal mines. Under section 7 of the Act an employer is required to notify the local labour officer if his African workers desire to form a works committee. The Act provides also for the appointment of regional committees, each consisting of a European chairman and not less than three Natives appointed by the Minister of Labour to represent the interests of Native workers. Whenever a Native Labour Officer (a European appointed by the Minister under the Act) has reason to believe that a dispute exists or may arise he must, with the assistance of the regional committee, endeavour to effect a settlement. Failing settlement he must refer the case to the Central Native Labour Board, consisting of a European chairman and European members appointed by the Minister after consultation with the regional committees and competent in the opinion of the Minister to represent the interests of Native employees. If this Board fails to effect a settlement it must report accordingly to the Minister and indicate whether in its opinion the matter should be referred to the Wage Board for a recommendation concerning the terms on which a settlement should be effected. Detailed provisions are included concerning the procedure for consideration of the matter by the Wage Board. In general, under the terms of the Industrial Conciliation Act and in respect of persons to whom it applies, strikes and lockouts are prohibited until the conciliation and arbitration procedures have been exhausted. Nevertheless, in respect of certain categories of persons falling within the definition of " employee " under the Industrial Conciliation Act, strikes and lockouts are prohibited in cases similar to those specified in Southern Rhodesian legislation. 1 Labour Department: Annual Report for 1952-53 (mimeographed), p. 9. 252 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Section 18 (1) of the Native Labour (Settlement of Disputes) Act, 1953, as amended, provides that— No employee1 or other person shall instigate a strike or incite any employee or other person to take part in or to continue a strike or take part in a strike or in the continuation of a strike, and no employer or other person shall instigate a lockout or incite any employer or other person to take part in or to continue a lockout or take part in a lockout or in the continuation of a lockout. Persons guilty of breaches of this prohibition of strikes and lockouts in disputes between African workers and their employers are liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding £500 or imprisonment for a period not exceeding three years or both. Table XVI summarises the available information regarding the incidence of strikes and lockouts in the Union in recent years: TABLE XVI. STRIKES AND LOCKOUTS IN THE UNION OF SOUTH AFRICA, 1952-56 ! Year 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1 . No. of strikes and lockouts Workers involved Working days lost 55 32 60 102 105 6,459 2,658 5,816 9,863 10,050 ?7J?.07 2,782 13,277 16,797 12,643 . . Source : Year Book of Labour Statistics, 1956. South-West Africa Under the terms of the Wage and Industrial Conciliation Ordinance, 1952, provision is made for the establishment of Conciliation Boards for the settlement of disputes between employers and the workers. These Boards are to consist of as many representatives as the Administrator may determine, half appointed by the workers and half by the employers. Mediators may also be appointed on application by the Conciliation Board by the Administrator to assist in the settlement of disputes. Provision is also made for the reference of disputes to an arbitrator, approved by the worker and employer representatives, or arbitrators, half appointed by the workers and half by the employers. Awards made by the arbitrator or arbitrators are to be final. The only trade dispute known to have occurred during the past few years was one of African workers in 1954 in the mining industry. This resulted in police intervention and the appointment of a Commission of Inquiry. CO-OPERATION BETWEEN THE PUBLIC AUTHORITIES, EMPLOYERS AND WORKERS We have seen that in many of the countries and territories described the present stage of development of workers' and employers' organisations, together 1 The term " employee " in this context refers to an African worker as defined by the Act. FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS 253 with other factors, has proved a serious obstacle to the development of modern collective bargaining machinery. In consequence it is of importance to examine such arrangements as have been developed in territories in which the need has been recognised for the development of machinery to enable exchanges of views to take place between employers' and workers' representatives in the absence of collective bargaining procedures and of instances of tripartite machinery which has been developed for the formulation of labour and social policy. The following account, which is confined to Belgian, British and French territories, describes briefly the tripartite machinery, joint negotiating machinery and other arrangements designed to facilitate the transition from the stage of development at which there are no organised contacts between employers and workers for the purpose of reaching agreement on wages, hours and conditions of work and the stage at which collective negotiations and collective bargaining procedures begin to be utilised for this purpose. In the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi Ordinance No. 82 of 17 March 1946 empowers the Governor-General to establish— (a) provincial indigenous labour and social development committees, meeting periodically and composed of representatives of Government, employers and indigenous workers; (b) regional committees of indigenous workers, which are to meet in the presence of a representative of the competent authority; and (c) indigenous works councils for individual undertakings composed of representatives of indigenous workers employed in the undertaking concerned, which are to meet in the presence of an employer or his representative. These bodies have been designed to ensure permanent contact between Government, employers and workers ; their terms of reference extend to all questions relating to employment, the vocational and social education of indigenous workers and the improvement of their living conditions. Modified provisions have recently been introduced in respect of the composition, appointment and tenure of office of the indigenous councils.1 In British territories several types of machinery of the kind under consideration here may be distinguished.2 In a few territories (for example, Zanzibar) questions of labour policy are referred to labour advisory boards at the territorial level, thereby permitting employers' and workers' representatives to participate in the framing of policy for the territory. In Nyasaland and Uganda there are central labour advisory boards; in Northern Rhodesia there is an African labour advisory board; and in Nyasaland there are provincial labour advisory boards as well as a central board. In recent years considerable attention has in particular been given to the development of joint industrial councils, works committees and staff councils. In Uganda, in 1955, it was estimated that there were some 70 works committees and staff councils, covering over 38,000 employees. In Nyasaland a number of employers had by 1953 established works committees which were working successfully; during 1954 there was no extension of the system, although the value of the committees had been generally recognised, for employers maintained that in many 1 2 Ordinance No. 21/15 of 25 Jan. 1957. For further details see Chapter VIII. 254 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY cases the establishment of a committee was not warranted, since either the numbers employed were too small or the existing staff relationship with management was on a personal basis. In Kenya the situation in 1954 was summed up in the Colonial Office report for that year as follows: In addition to the Joint Industrial Council for the Mombasa docks industry and the Whitley machinery set up in the Kenya Government, numerous works councils and joint staff committees have taken a hand in negotiating wages and conditions of employment. On these smaller consultative bodies, workers may be represented either through their trade unions or, where trade union membership is small, by their own elected nominees.1 The Kenya Labour Department has assessed the value of this machinery in the following terms: It is becoming increasingly evident that works and staff committees, properly directed, can assist materially both in raising productivity and in bringing about better human relations in industry. Such bodies are encouraged to draw up written agreements covering terms and conditions of employment, which can then be submitted to the Department's headquarters for registration; when registered, the agreements have the force of law and cannot be altered for six months without the written approval of the Labour Commissioner.2 In Sierra Leone in 1953 there were 11 works committees and one joint advisory committee, on which employers and workers of the major industries of the country were represented. One further works committee was established in 1954. In Nigeria joint consultative committees in various forms have been increasing in number from year to year. A more advanced type of machinery, in the form of joint industrial councils, operates in the Electricity Corporation of Nigeria, the Coal Corporation and the Plateau Minefields. At the end of 1955 there were in Tanganyika 64 formally constituted joint consultative committees, of which 45 were in departments of the Government and of the East Africa High Commission; it was estimated that some 25,000 workers were represented thereon. In addition there were less formally constituted bodies, mainly in agricultural and mining undertakings, which were reckoned to cover a further 80,000 workers. It is of interest to note that the East Africa Royal Commission considered that the attempt to develop in the East African territories machinery of the works council and joint staff committee type was very desirable in the absence of a strong trade union movement. The Commission felt that such bodies provided a training in negotiation which might prove to be of considerable value at a later stage of industrial development; in particular, it considered that in undertakings classified as essential services this procedure should be generally adopted.3 Detailed provision is made in articles 145 to 169 of the French Overseas Labour Code of 1952 for co-operation between the public authorities, employers and workers. The Code provides for a Higher Labour Council to be attached to the French Ministry for Overseas Territories with the following functions: (a) to study the problems relating to labour, employment, vocational guidance and training, placement, movements of manpower, migration, the improvement of the material and moral condition of the workers and social security; 1 3 3 Colonial Office: Colonial Reports: Kenya, 1954 (London, H.M. Stationery Office, 1955), p. 18. Colony and Protectorate of Kenya: Labour Department: Annual Report, 1954, op. cit., p. 22. East Africa Royal Commission, 1953-1955: Report, op. cit., pp. 160-162. PREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS 255 (b) to advise and to formulate proposals and resolutions with regard to the regulation of these matters. The Council is presided over by the Minister for Overseas Territories or his representative and includes members of the legislature, employers' and workers' representatives and experts and technicians in an advisory capacity. As has previously been noted, the Code also provides for the establishment of labour advisory boards in the territories, with equal numbers of employers' and workers' representatives, under the chairmanship of the appropriate InspectorGeneral or territorial Inspector of Labour and Social Legislation Overseas. Such boards may be consulted on all matters relating to labour and employment; they are to carry out all inquiries that may serve as a basis for minimum-wage fixing and are therefore required to ascertain what would be a minimum living wage (minimum vital) and to inquire into general economic conditions. CONCLUSIONS The data provided in the foregoing account clearly illustrate the great diversity of patterns of industrial relations in Africa. A number of the problems encountered are faced by all underdeveloped countries, in which employers' and workers' organisations have not reached a sufficiently advanced stage to make agreement between employers and workers the principal, or one of the principal, means by which wages, hours and conditions of work are determined. In addition, however, there is a special problem in some of the multi-racial societies under consideration, namely that the policies and legal provisions relating to freedom of association, the right to organise and bargain collectively, and the settlement of trade disputes, are different for the various racial groups in the community. Such anomalies are generally stated to be justified because of the different stages of social evolution of the various elements of the societies concerned. Recent developments, however—for example, in the Belgian Congo and the Rhodesias—indicate that the practical difficulties and tensions created by basing patterns of industrial relations primarily on racial considerations are, in the rapidly evolving communities concerned, becoming so great that a revision of policy has been felt to be necessary. While the assumption cannot be made that similar reconsideration of policy is inevitable within the foreseeable future in all parts of the area, there can be no doubt that the problems of policy involved must in the long run be considered as a whole and not primarily on a racial basis. The present position in the countries and territories under consideration is that collective negotiation and collective bargaining, even where formal agreements are not signed, are becoming to a continually increasing extent the means by which wages, hours and certain aspects of conditions of work are being determined. In the African non-metropolitan territories the metropolitan governments concerned have in general accepted the thesis that collective bargaining should be promoted even if in some cases the communities concerned are in their view not sufficiently advanced to utilise collective bargaining machinery. The relevant international instruments have the basic premise that collective bargaining is the most flexible procedure and the one most likely to encourage harmonious industrial and human relations. In the independent countries of the area collective bargaining procedures are recognised as being appropriate for application generally or at least for some racial 256 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY elements in the community. One major problem of industrial relations policy as a whole in the area is therefore that of the extension of collective bargaining procedures in the countries and territories covered to all sections of the community on an industrial basis. Collective bargaining presupposes the existence of collective bargaining units and by implication of freedom of association. In the legal systems applicable to a number of the countries and territories under consideration, special legal provision is necessary to ensure that employers' and workers' organisations are able to carry out the functions they are created to fulfil. An important problem is therefore that of the enactment of suitable legislation of general application, where it does not exist and where the national legal system so requires, to enable employers' and workers' organisations to function satisfactorily. Statutory provisions requiring the registration of trade unions exist in many parts of the area. It would seem particularly important that where registration is compulsory a decision not to register a trade union should not be taken arbitrarily. It is therefore desirable that provision should be made for an appeal to the courts in respect of administrative decisions concerning the registration of trade unions, since arbitrary refusal to register a union would be tantamount to a requirement of previous authorisation for the estabhshment of trade unions and consequently inconsistent with the progressive development of a free trade union movement. It has already been pointed out that special problems arise where separate trade union legislation for different racial groups exists. One of the aims of policy in the area should therefore be application of the principle that legislation concerning trade unions should be equally applicable to all groups in the community. Separate trade unions for diiferent racial groups exist in the area, in some cases even where the same trade union legislation is applicable to all groups. This arrangement is generally found where widely varying ways of life and standards of living separate the groups concerned. While freedom of association necessarily implies the right of members of an association to determine the criteria of membership of the association, the difficulties to which the crystallisation of trade union organisation along racial lines lends itself make it desirable that, in so far as possible, the aim of policy should be that trade unions should be open to all workers without distinction of race, national origin or political affiliations and should pursue their trade union objectives on the basis of the common economic and social interests of workers generally. The stage of development reached by employers' and workers' organisations in many parts of the area is one at which those governments wishing to promote the practice of collective bargaining may provide helpful assistance in many fields without detriment to the independence of the organisations concerned. Clearly the distinction between official encouragement of trade union growth and the kind of active intervention in trade union affairs which places the trade union movement in serious danger of becoming politically dominated is often a fine one. Nevertheless, the provision, for example, of advisory services for workers' and employers' organisations through labour departments providing, for instance, advice in regard to the legal requirements for registration, seems a step worthy of consideration. At the same time, however, it is clearly desirable that government labour supervision services should ensure that their activities are not such as to restrict the normal field of activity of trade unions, for example, when they intervene in the settlement of individual disputes. FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS 257 The level at which collective bargaining should take place—the region, the industry or the undertaking—is a question to which varying answers are given in the industrial relations practice of different countries. In the African countries and territories under consideration in which employers' organisations as such are relatively few in number, difficulties arise in three respects because of the small number of such organisations: in the first place, workers' organisations created on an industrial or territory-wide basis may find no single corresponding employers' organisation with which they can bargain; secondly, where employers' organisations exist, they are sometimes not fully representative or cannot bind their members through collective agreements; thirdly, this state of affairs has its repercussions on the number and size of workers' organisations. It would therefore seem to be a desirable aim of policy to encourage by all appropriate means the development of employers' organisations of a size commensurate with the industrial patterns of the country concerned. The development of workers' organisations in the area is in general completely inadequate for the extensive development of collective bargaining practices, particularly with regard to organisational and financial questions. The membership often fluctuates wildly, and the number of members who pay dues is often insignificant. It is clear that a major contribution to harmonious industrial relations in the territories will be made if more workers can be made aware of the need for representative organisations based on a stable dues-paying membership to represent their industrial interests. The legislation of a few territories contains safeguards against victimisation and other unfair labour practices. In the early stages of development of employers' and workers' organisations in many parts of the area under examination, such provisions may have a value which they do not have in more advanced communities. Consideration might therefore be given to the question as to whether there is not a special case for the adoption of legislation of general application in the countries and territories concerned, specifically designed, in the words of the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949, adopted by the International Labour Conference, to ensure that " workers shall enjoy adequate protection against acts of anti-union discrimination in respect of their employment " and that " workers' and employers' organisations shall enjoy adequate protection against any acts of interference by each other... in their establishment, functioning or administration ". The multiplicity of unions in some parts of the area is a factor impeding the development of collective bargaining. One possibility for the consideration of governments is whether, where rival organisations competing for the same group of workers exist, arrangements might not be established whereby the relatively representative character of the two organisations might be determined. A related question is that of the extension of the terms of collective agreements to cover all workers in a given industry or occupation, a practice which is endorsed by existing legislation in certain African countries and territories. The possibility of extending in this way all or some of the provisions of collective agreements reached by sufficiently representative organisations is a policy which would seem worthy of consideration in present circumstances in Africa. A number of limitations on strikes and lockouts exist in the territories, sometimes providing for their prohibition during the process of consultation and arbitration, sometimes categorically prohibiting them in essential services and among certain categories of workers. It would seem desirable that where the law restricts 258 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY strikes and lockouts it should be the responsibility of governments to ensure that adequate machinery for collective bargaining exists in the occupation of industry concerned. In the area as a whole, the familiarity of both employers and workers with modern industrial relations patterns, the importance of satisfactory human relations in industry and related questions have only recently become topics of importance in employer-worker relations, and both sides have clearly much to learn in this respect, as is even often the case in more highly developed countries. It would appear that there are three kinds of education in the field of industrial relations which can be of particular value in the area: (a) facilities to enable leaders of management and labour to study general labour management problems and human relations in industry; (b) facilities to enable trade union officials to familiarise themselves with appropriate methods for their day-to-day activities, such as general administrative methods, accounting, promotion of membership drives, and so on; and (c) facilities within the framework of a workers' education programme for the education of the worker and trade union member in trade union principles. There has been a considerable development of tripartite and bipartite machinery in respect of labour and social policies and problems from the level of the undertaking to that of the territorial or national labour advisory board. Three important points would seem to emerge in this respect: (a) the desirability of promoting, especially at the present early stage of development of most countries and territories in the area in respect of industrial relations, all means of organised contact between employers and workers, particularly at thel evel of the undertaking and through joint negotiating machinery at the level of the industry; (b) the desirabiUty of associating employers', workers' and other organisations in the framing of labour policy and legislation through such machinery as labour advisory boards; (c) the advisability of the participation in equal numbers and on equal terms of employers' and workers' representatives in machinery for minimum-wage fixing. Conciliation and arbitration machinery exists in most of the countries and territories covered by the present survey, but not in all. It would therefore seem that a general aim of policy should be the establishment in all countries and territories of conciliation machinery for the settlement of collective disputes and for arrangements under which representatives of employers and workers would be consulted and associated in the establishment and working of such machinery; a further aim of policy should be similar provision for suitable ad hoc arbitration machinery. CHAPTER VIII WAGES AND WAGE POLICY FACTORS AFFECTING TRENDS IN WAGES In previous chapters, particularly those dealing with manpower and employment (Chapter IV) and with the productivity of labour (Chapter V), some of the general features of the employment market in African territories were described and a picture drawn of the rural milieu from which the typical African worker comes and the conditions under which he seeks employment in plantations or in urban or other employment centres. However, before examining such matters as minimum wage-fixing machinery, the structure of wages and the objectives of wage policy, a few words should be said about some of the main factors affecting trends in wages in African territories. It must be emphasised, however, that the factors indicated are not constant and that their importance and their impact upon wage rates vary very considerably according to local circumstances. Throughout most of Africa the principal occupation to be taken into consideration when estimating the general wage level is agriculture, including both subsistence and cash-crop farming. It is largely in terms of the needs and desires of men many of whom are engaged in a communal form of agriculture that the levels of remuneration in wage-earning activities have been determined. These needs and desires have been, and still are in the main, of such a nature as to exercise a generally depressing effect on wage levels. The need for the rural African to seek wage-paid work is often not urgent; frequently the object is to acquire a certain sum of money for a limited purpose, and the money wage accepted, particularly if the employer also provides food and accommodation, may have little relation to anything except the reasonableness or otherwise, in the worker's eyes, of staying away from home long enough to earn enough to buy the objects coveted, whose range in any case is limited because of his own limited experience. In more developed economies, payment is based, whether consciously or not, on some concept of a minimum living wage which, of course, varies considerably according to current ideas of what constitute the necessities of life. Over large parts of Africa, however, wages are not, initially at least, linked in the worker's mind to even the most modest conception of the sum necessary to meet minimum needs. Wage rates starting from such a level are unlikely to reach satisfactory figures in any reasonable period under the conditions of supply and demand encountered or likely to be encountered in Africa without positive action imposed from outside the employment market. It is equally true that if geographical variations within each territory and differentials for skill were to be left to find their own levels with this as a basis, the result would be a wage structure wholly unsatisfactory because based on a foundation which is itself 260 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY unjustifiable. In fact the influences tending to perpetuate this position still exist. Hundreds of thousands of Africans still leave their tribal areas every year to seek work in plantations, industry and mining for a temporary period and for limited purposes, and are prepared to accept it at rates which do not cover even the barest necessities of life for a family either because they are young single men or because their family responsibilities are met out of the resources of family or tribal lands largely worked by the women and children. The fact that many others are more or less permanently in wage-earning employment and have family responsibilities which increase as the opportunities for agricultural work or trading by the wife lessen and as the husband's concept of the wife's role in the family changes and moves closer to Western ideas—thus making her a charge on his earnings rather than an asset meeting the household's needs by her own efforts in the fields or elsewhere—does not reduce the depressing influence of the former class of worker on wage rates. It is no doubt true that the gradual acquisition of new wants and desires stimulated by acquaintance with the towns and the penetration of commerce into the heart of the countryside will give rise to demands for higher wages, but there is still little incentive to seek regular wage-earning employment as long as a haven of refuge is available in the countryside.1 To it must be added the fact that in many areas the African trade union movement has been either prohibited or inhibited by legislation or hampered by official discouragement and has thus been unable to play its normal part in forcing wages upward. Only in some French and British territories have trade unions as yet begun to play an important role in raising wage rates for African workers.2 THE NATURE OF GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION Some governments have realised that in these circumstances they must try in some measure at least to counteract the forces tending to depress wage levels. This they have done in various ways. Some have sought increasingly to encourage voluntary collective bargaining between representatives of employers and workers, either through ordinary collective agreements between employers or their organisations and trade unions, or through wages or industrial councils or similar bargaining machinery.3 In the majority of territories, however, this has been supplemented 1 2 8 See Chapter V. See Chapter VIL The machinery which exists in various countries and territories for the prevention and settlement of industrial disputes has also been important for the determination of wages and conditions of employment in specific instances. The following considerations given in respect of Asian countries are, however, equally valid for Africa: " The aims of wage policy can be achieved through statutory wage regulation and, in certain conditions, conciliation and arbitration procedures. The extent to which the latter can be made effective instruments of wage policy depends on the one hand on such questions as whether arbitration is compulsory and binding or not, and on the other hand on the degree of control exerted by the authorities responsible for formulating wage policy over the bodies to whom the settlement of labour disputes is entrusted. In countries where arbitration is widely resorted to, any party to an industrial dispute may turn to the arbitrator whenever he feels that the demands or offers put forward by the other party are unreasonable or unfair. Indeed, in extreme cases parties may scarcely attempt to reach a voluntary agreement at all, preferring to refer the question of wage determination to the arbitrator as soon as the existing agreement or award expires. In such circumstances it may be found necessary to define generally applicable criteria of fairness or reason, and the government may, through the persuasive influence of public pronouncements on these questions or through formal prescriptions, seek to guide the process of wage determination by the tribunals. In this way it may succeed in introducing into this process certain principles of general WAGES AND WAGE POLICY 261 by the introduction of statutory wage-fixing machinery, which in others has been developed to the virtual exclusion of voluntary methods. A brief description of existing systems of wage regulation is given in the next section and will be followed by some notes relating to the protection of wages, over which most governments have taken measures. Apart, however, from encouraging voluntary collective bargaining or other wage negotiation procedures or the fixing of statutory minimum wages, governments, because of their predominant position in many territories as employers of labour, have inevitably exercised a potent influence on wage rates, not merely in respect of the minimum for the unskilled worker but over the whole range of occupations. Indeed it is only in territories such as Northern Rhodesia and the Union of South Africa that the initiative in wage rates can clearly be said to have passed to private industry. As will be seen from table 3 of Appendix III, in a number of territories persons who are employed in the public services make up from 20 to 30 per cent, of the total number of wage earners; thus the public authorities form by far the largest single employing group. In such circumstances (and apart from minimum wage-fixing machinery) private employers are under strong pressure to follow the wage levels set by the government, and they usually do.1 Governments' ability to enforce fair wages clauses in the contracts which they award to private employers in accordance with the provisions of the Labour Clauses (Public Contracts) Convention, 1949 2 is also of considerable importance in ensuring maintenance of the wage rates which they themselves pay. Just how far the government action described results in the payment of wage rates which are the most appropriate, having regard to the economic and social considerations involved, it is difficult to say. Some of the issues are discussed below in connection with the objectives of wage policy. Machinery for Wage Determination As indicated, the machinery for determining wages in the various countries and territories differs considerably. The picture, in brief, is as follows. In Belgian territories minimum wages for holders of "work contracts", i.e. Africans (as opposed to holders of " employment contracts ", i.e. Europeans) are fixed by the Government on an area basis after consultation of boards on which sit persons nominated by it to represent employers and workers. No joint wage bargaining machinery yet exists. In British territories reliance is largely placed on the employing strength of the government, which is often the largest employer in the territory, except in such cases as Northern Rhodesia where the copper mining industry has outstripped it. The hope, largely realised in practice, is that the wage and other standards set by the government for its own employees will largely become effective minima in economic expediency, such as the need to avoid inflation or to safeguard the balance of payments. In other cases arbitrators may themselves take account of considerations of this nature, though possibly in a more or less unsystematic and unco-ordinated fashion." (Problems of Wage Policy in Asian Countries, Studies and Reports, N.S. 43 (Geneva, I.L.O., 1956), pp. 74-75.) 1 A common factor in the waves of trade disputes involving a number of industries in Nigeria in 1955-56 was the desire of workers to secure acceptance of new government wage rates throughout private industry (Department ofLabour Quarterly Review (Lagos), Vol. XIV, No. 53, Apr.-June 1956, pp. 610-611). 2 This Convention (No. 94) has been ratified, inter alia, by Belgium, France, Italy and the United Kingdom and is wholly or substantially applied in the territories in Africa for whose international relations these countries are responsible. 262 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY private employment. Added to this is the developing strength of the trade union movement enabling, in some territories, a start to be made with a system of collective agreements voluntarily concluded between employers or their organisations and trade unions, the encouragement of which is a declared aim of policy. To supplement these means, there is statutory minimum wage-fixing machinery under which, of course, orders are legally enforceable. The extent of its operation in practice depends on the territorial government's estimate of the need for it or the wisdom of applying it. It may be used to fix a minimum wage of general application or, as in the majority of cases, for given areas or selected occupations ; alternatively, the power to fix minimum wages may simply be maintained in reserve. Where the machinery is designed to fix minimum wage rates for unskilled labour as a basis for the wage structure (which is then left to take care of itself) the power to fix the rates is usually vested in territorial or regional wage boards or labour advisory boards; where rates are fixed on an industry basis and for the whole range of occupations in that industry, the task is usually entrusted to a wage council. All these bodies are normally tripartite in character, being made up of representatives of employers and workers with a government-nominated chairman. Names vary, however, and in Sierra Leone for example " wage boards " perform the functions normally carried out elsewhere by wage councils. In French territories increasing reliance is being placed on the system of voluntary collective agreements, but the basis remains the powers of the Governor of the territory (or the Governor-General of a group of territories) to fix a statutory minimum wage, usually for a particular zone, based on the minimum vital. Collective agreements, which in certain conditions can be extended to cover compulsorily, not only the parties to them, but the whole industry concerned, may prescribe the wages and other conditions of work for all grades in the occupation. In Somalia and the Portuguese and Spanish territories minimum wages are fixed by the Government and no collective bargaining arrangements exist. In South Africa minimum wages may be fixed for workers of all races by the Minister of Labour on the recommendation of the Wage Board. While legislation on collective bargaining does not apply to Africans, collective bargaining either by freely negotiated collective agreements or through industrial councils is the normally accepted method of wage fixing for non-African workers. Agreements negotiated by industrial councils can be given the force of law. Belgian Territories. In the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi a minimum wage-fixing procedure is laid down by Ordinance N. 22/408 of 12 December 1954 and Ordinance No. 22/282 of 24 August 1955. The provincial Governor determines the minimum wage payable in each area after consulting the Native Labour and Social Progress Committees. These committees are set up at the area or provincial level and employers and workers are represented on them by persons appointed by the Governor of the province. It should be noted that on the provincial committees the representatives of Native workers have to be Belgian nationals. Minimum wages must be calculated with reference to the needs of a single man just starting his first job; these are estimated according to local circumstances and the state of evolution of the population. Unless specially authorised, however, the wage must not be lower than that fixed by the Governor-General for a single man on the basis of the model budget. The minimum wage is reduced by 10 per cent, for workers on light work— WAGES AND WAGE POLICY 263 which is generally given to non-adults or women. The wage is raised by 10 per cent, for workers doing heavy work. The calculation of the wage is on the basis of a working day of eight hours or of the amount of piece or task work that can normally be done during that period. There is no officially recognised occupational classification. Job evaluation boards have been set up by a number of large undertakings for their workers, and for the remuneration of skilled workers these undertakings make use of wage scales fixed by themselves. There are no official regulations dealing with the matter, the only wage fixed by law being the unskilled worker's minimum. The collective bargaining system does not operate in the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi owing to the inadequacy of employers' and workers' organisations. Wages and conditions of work are, however, discussed by works councils and other boards on which employers and workers are represented. No family living studies are carried out, but a family allowance scheme was adopted and subsequently improved by a series of legislative instruments. This scheme is designed to cover the cost involved in the maintenance of a family. The allowances are paid in kind, in the form of food. The allowance due for the worker's wife is equal to half his ration (and therefore amounts, in practice, to about a quarter of the remuneration). The allowance due for a child is equal to a quarter of the ration. In certain cases family allowances may be paid in cash. Further details of the system are given in Chapter XI, dealing with social security. The distinctive feature of wage policy in the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi is thus government action to guarantee the payment to unskilled workers in all occupations of a minimum wage, together with any family allowances to which the worker may be entitled. As has been said, the Government has so far taken no action with regard to the fixing of wages for skilled workers, which are still largely matters of private arrangements between the employer and the worker concerned. As regards persons working under " employment contracts ", i.e. Europeans, the Decree of 25 June 1949 (article 14(3)) prescribes that wages must not be less than three-quarters of the lowest salary paid by the Government to a full-time (European) official. British Territories. In Gambia, minimum wage rates may be fixed by the Governor-in-Council under the provisions of the Minimum Wage Ordinance (No. 23 of 1952) and in fact on the advice of the Labour Advisory Board such rates have been fixed for unskilled labour which vary according to region. In addition the ordinance gives the Governor power to set up wages boards consisting of representatives of employers and workers with an independent chairman, but this power has not yet been used. So far there has been no collective bargaining on the subject of wages. The basic policy in Nigeria is to encourage the development of voluntary negotiating machinery in all industries. Such machinery exists in all government establishments in the form of Whitley Councils and departmental consultative committees, in private industry in the form of joint industrial councils and works committees, for example in the coal mining, tin and columbite mining and electricity industries. Joint negotiating committees also exist, for instance for teachers. The constitutions of some of these bodies contain provisions for settlement of disputes by conciliation or by reference to a referee mutually agreed to. 264 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY However, the Wages Boards Ordinance 1957 provides for the fixing of minimum wages by legislation after consultation with representatives of the employers and workers—in fact, a Labour Advisory Board. Under an analogous procedure which existed previously, Minimum Wage Orders have been made in the tailoring, shirt-making and ancillary trades, the printing and allied trades and the mines field and also covering Lagos and Colony in the motor industry, the retail and ancillary trades, the catering trade, the building and civil engineering industry, and for stevedoring and dock labour. In fact, the minimum wage rates so fixed have been largely outdated by events, and in some industries, such mining, wages negotiated by the Joint Industrial Council are considerably higher than the wages prescribed under the relevant Minimum Wage Order. It is interesting to note that, in Nigeria as often elsewhere, while Labour Advisory Boards have extensive powers to make inquiries in order to arrive at a recommendation for a minimum wage in a particular trade or occupation, there is no statutory provision prescribing the factors that should be taken into account in determining a minimum subsistence wage for the worker or the extent to which economic conditions should be considered in deciding on the actual minimum to be recommended. In practice, however, government initiative in respect of its own workers—the Government being the largest employer in the territory—is usually followed by similar action in private employment, whether or not legal minimum rates are actually adjusted or not. During the last few years, as a result of action to apply fixed minimum wages to its own staff taken by the governments of the regions and also by the federal Government, there have been general increases in wages—an inevitable consequence of a situation in which the wages of lower-paid workers had steadily fallen behind the rise in the cost of living. In Sierra Leone, under the Wages Boards Ordinances of 1945 and 1957, four wages boards have been set up for teachers, mining workers, maritime and waterfront workers, and the printing trade. The wages fixed by these boards are binding on all employers in the industries concerned. There are also two joint industrial councils for transport workers and for artisans and general workers. Agreements reached by these councils are made statutorily enforceable throughout the industries concerned. Senior and junior Whitley Councils negotiate wages and conditions of work for government employees. The wage policies followed in East African territories differ fairly considerably from those followed in West African territories, due chiefly to the slight development of trade unionism in the former area. It is clearly not possible to attach any great importance to collective bargaining where neither employers nor workers are united or organised, as is usually the case in East Africa, with the exception of certain industries in Kenya. Statutory minimum wages in Kenya are fixed by the Government on the advice of the Wages Advisory Board and wages councils which are established under the Regulation of Wages and Conditions of Employment Ordinance.1 So far statutory minimum wages of general application, that is, wages which are not limited to any particular occupation or trade, only exist in the nine main urban areas of Kenya and cover some 150,000 workers, but statutory minimum wages for individual industries emanating from wages councils apply to rural as well as urban areas. There are wages councils for the tailoring, garment-making and associated trades. 'No. 1 of 1951. WAGES AND WAGE POLICY 265 for road transport and for the hotel and catering trades, in all covering some 18,000 workers. Additional wages councils for motor engineering, the bakery and other food-processing trades and the building and distributive trades are under consideration. A Rural Wages Committee has reported on the question of wage fixing in agriculture and its report is under consideration. Obviously statutory minimum wages of general application have an influence on rates of pay outside the areas to which such wages apply. The general policy is to encourage the development of collective bargaining. A series of wages orders fixing legally enforceable minimum wages have been made in Mauritius under the Minimum Wages Ordinance.1 They cover agricultural labourers, bakers, shop assistants, the printing trade, messengers, women in the dress and shoe making trades and bus drivers and conductors. The orders covering the first three categories are now out of date and inapplicable in practice owing to general increases of wages secured by collective agreement or otherwise which have taken place since they were promulgated a number of years ago. In British Somaliland, though the Minimum Wages Ordinance2 gives power to fix minimum wages in any occupation or trade, no such rates have yet been fixed. In Tanganyika, while the Regulation of Wages and Terms of Employment Ordinance3 enables minimum-wage boards to be set up to inquire into and report on the wages and terms of employment and to fix basic minimum wages in particular areas or for particular occupations, no minimum wage has yet been fixed, although a board was recently set up for the Dar-es-Salaam area. A Central Wages Committee and various provincial wages committees review from time to time basic daily wages for unskilled government workers on daily rates of pay. There are a few joint consultative committees in operation, some of which are permitted under their constitutions to consider wage rates and terms of remuneration, but no collective agreements fixing wages are known to exist so far. The Uganda Minimum Wages Advisory Boards and Wages Councils Ordinance, 1957, provides for the fixing of minimum wages, either for particular areas or for particular occupations, after due inquiry; it also provides for the association of employers' and workers' organisations with wage-fixing machinery through wages councils. Minimum wages have, in fact, been fixed in the Kampala and Jinja areas covering some 57,000 workers. It is the Government's policy to encourage the fixing of wages by direct bargaining, and, although trade unionism has so far made only limited progress, a few joint committees exist and wages claims are raised, discussed and settled by some of them from time to time. In Zanzibar under the Minimum Wages Decree4 minimum wages have been fixed for produce packing and bagging, dairy employees and carters on the advice of ad hoc advisory committees set up for the occupations concerned. Wage rates in Northern Rhodesia are in general determined by agreement between trade unions and employers' organisations, but the Minimum Wages, Wages Councils and Conditions of Employment Ordinance, 1948, as amended in 1955, provides machinery for fixing minimum wages in any district or for any group of workers or occupation where the Governor considers it desirable to do so. Machinery for the operation of joint agreements is provided by the Trade Unions and Trade Disputes 1 2 8 4 No. No. No. No. 36 of 1950. 14 of 1938. 15 of 1951. 1 of 1935. 266 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Ordinance and the Industrial Conciliation Ordinance. Minimum wage rates and conditions of service fixed by minimum-wage boards under the 1948 ordinance are legally enforceable. Under a further provision of the same ordinance the Governor can set up wages councils to decide remuneration or conditions of employment for any workers or groups of workers. This provides a procedure for fixing wages other than the mere basic minimum. Determinations of wages councils are also legally enforceable. Minimum wages have in fact been settled for the building, civil engineering and allied trades (now out of date because of a subsequent voluntary collective agreement), African and Asian shop assistants, and Asian boot and cycle repairmen. A wages council has fixed remuneration and other conditions of work for Africans employed in hotels, clubs and restaurants in certain districts. Minimum wages in Nyasaland are prescribed by orders made under the Wages and Conditions of Employment Ordinance.1 Minimum wages for unskilled male African labourers have been established on a territorial basis with special rates for townships and other areas, while minimum wages were also determined for the tailoring industry in the central provinces in 1954. In Southern Rhodesia the Native Labour Boards Act2 makes provision for a Native (now called " African ") Advisory Board whose function it is to advise the Government with regard to policy relating to conditions of employment for Africans. There is also a National African Labour Board, consisting of two regional boards which may sit separately or jointly, to deal with regional or national matters respectively. There are no Africans on either of these bodies and they are not in any real sense joint bodies. The regional boards each consist of an independent chairman and an employers' representative, a person chosen by the Minister and recognised as an authority on matters pertinent to the well-being of the Africans and a person chosen by the Minister to represent the Trades and Labour Council (the central organ of the European unions). Both the regional boards and the National African Labour Board are empowered to submit recommendations on wages, particularly the minimum wage. Native Labour Boards have now been set up for various industries and minimumwage rates for the various classes of African workers fixed. These include industry, commerce and local authority employment. The wage rates thus fixed, which are legally enforceable, in fact therefore cover all industries except mining and domestic service. More recently, however, boards for particular industries have been set up and the aim is to replace the general regulations by regulations separately made for each industry. Under this procedure wage rates and conditions of work have been prescribed for the textile, catering, motor, iron and steel, transport and clothing industries and rates for other industries will follow. Moreover, joint industrial councils under the Industrial Conciliation Act 1945 3 operate to determine wages in a number of industries. While these councils exist to fix wages and conditions for European employees, some African workers are also affected by their decisions. Registered agreements on wages and conditions made under the Conciliation Act have the force of law. Special arrangements for the railway industry permit the operation of a joint industrial council for African employees on which African trade unions represent the workers' side. Otherwise, since African trade unions 1 2 3 No. 32 of 1949. Act No. 26 of 1947 amended by Nos. 52 of 1948, 18 of 1953 and 17 of 1954. Act No. 21 of 1945. WAGES AND WAGE POLICY 267 are not yet recognised in law, they do not normally participate in wages negotiations except on an unofficial basis in the case of certain occupations and with certain employers.1 In the High Commission Territories (Basutoland, Bechuanaland and Swaziland), enabling legislation exists to fix minimum wage rates where necessary but it has not yet been used. Ghana. The Labour Ordinance, 1948, as amended by Ordinance No. 43 of 1949, empowers the competent Minister to set up a wages board to determine the remuneration and other conditions of work for any particular group of workers, if he considers that these conditions need to be adapted to recent developments. The wages board then submits its recommendations to the Minister who may, if the matter is one of minimum wages or conditions of work, either order the application of the measures proposed or request the board to reconsider its recommendations, in which case he explains why he wishes such a reconsideration to be carried out. The wages board consists of equal numbers of employers' and workers' representatives from the particular occupation with which the board is to deal. The Minister appoints these members from a list submitted by employers and workers and also selects a number of other persons, who may not be members of the administration. A wages board has been set up and legally enforceable minimum wages have been fixed in the retail trade. The influence of the Government in fixing and varying the wage rates paid to workers in its employment is, however, the decisive factor in setting wage levels. While numerous joint meetings for discussion of wages questions both in the private and public sectors do in fact take place, only a small proportion of these result in the conclusion of formal agreements. Nevertheless, employers' decisions are undoubtedly influenced by these discussions and wage rates acceptable to the workers result. Ethiopia. There appears to be no legislation relating to minimum wages. French Territories. As already indicated, the basis of the wages system in French overseas territories is a statutory minimum wage of general application, based mainly on a minimum vital. This is intended to be supplemented by collective agreements negotiated by representatives of employers and trade unions. The determination of the minimum wage deserves close examination. Article 95 of the Labour Code for Overseas Territories, which has been referred to in earlier chapters, lays down that " the Governor of the territory shall, after receiving the recommendations of the labour advisory board, issue orders prescribing the wage zones and the general guaranteed minimum wages for all occupations ". The Labour Code also stipulates that labour advisory boards (bodies in which employers and workers are represented, with a labour inspector as chairman) " shall be charged 1 However, a Bill to permit association in trade unions of Africans on the same basis as Europeans was recently drawn up and is to be discussed by the legislature. 268 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY with studying the factors which may be used as a basis for determining minimum wages—study of the minimum vital, study of general economic conditions " (article 163). Two factors affecting minimum wages are therefore laid down by law: they are the minimum required for subsistence, that is to say, an estimate of the cost of living in terms of essentials, and economic conditions. It may be added that there is a third factor, namely, actual hours of work. This is due to the fact that wage rates are calculated on an hourly basis. Hours of work are fixed in each territory by its governor. In agriculture, however," the hours of work shall be based on a total of 2,400 a year " (article 112). Higher wages are payable for overtime. As regards the examination of general economic conditions, many factors clearly have to be taken into account, namely the state of business, price stability, budgetary equilibrium, the position of marginal undertakings, the level of employment, etc., but it may be stated without fear of error that the decisions taken reflect a desire to avoid economic disturbance by a sudden departure from wage rates previously fixed. In fact, the general minimum wages for all occupations, as fixed by the orders issued by the governors of territories, have not always quite corresponded to minimum subsistence wages but have tended rather to reach that level by stages. The introduction in the territories of family allowances in recent years has also assisted in improving standards. As already stated, the system of family allowances is examined in more detail in Chapter XI of the survey. It is interesting to examine how the minimum vital is determined. The table relating to the minimum subsistence wage for an African labourer in Dakar in January 1954, for example, listed the following factors: food, fuel, light, clothing, bedding, furnishings, maintenance, rent, laundry, personal hygiene, entertainment, etc., and taxes. Food accounts for 45.23 per cent, of the total annual expenditure, clothing for 11.13 per cent., rent for 14.17 per cent., and entertainment, etc., for 8.02 per cent. The table is a very comprehensive one, and even includes expenditure on haircuts, film shows, wrestling matches, cigarettes and cola nuts. Tables of this kind are drawn up for each wage zone, allowing for the pattern of local consumption and local prices. The prices of the various items mentioned in the tables are revised at intervals to take account of price changes. No inquiries are carried out into local consumption habits but this drawback is partly made up for by the fact that the standard budget is submitted to the labour advisory board on which there sit employers' and workers' representatives. This board tries to reach agreement on pricing the various items. The governor of the territory, having received the report of the examination by the board of the various elements submitted to it, fixes the minimum hourly wage for the zone concerned. The minimum wage-fixing system briefly described above applies to all the territories under the Ministry of Overseas France, and to all categories of workers over 18 years of age, irrespective of race and sex. It even applies to piece workers, whose remuneration is calculated in such a way as to give them wages that will on the average be no lower than those of workers on time rates. The extent to which this minimum wage-fixing system is supplemented by collective agreements or otherwise varies according to the territory. In French West Africa, for example, it has not been found necessary to fix minimum wages for particular occupational categories by law. The existence of a whole series of collective agreements, mainly local, in effect has enabled the parties to them to reach agreement on minimum wage rates for each category of worker on a continuing basis. Procedures under the Overseas Labour Code, articles 209 to 218, as amended WAGES AND WAGE POLICY 269 in 19551 provide for conciliation under the rules for collective disputes in the event of disagreements. However, the situation is gradually changing with the conclusion of territorywide collective agreements covering for the first time both European and African workers in important fields of employment such as commerce and the building industry. The coming into force of these agreements, which are subject to the procedures laid down in articles 73 to 79 of the Code, will enable action to be taken to render them enforceable on all employers and workers engaged in activities within the scope of their application throughout the territory. As similar agreements are concluded covering other branches of activity and are similarly extended so will the number of workers legally protected by minimum wage legislation applicable to their levels of skill increase. In the French Cameroons a number of territorial agreements have been concluded but have not yet been extended by law. In French Togoland there are equally a number in existence. In French Equatorial Africa only a beginning has been made, while in Madagascar there is only one, covering bank employees. On the other hand, the situation in Madagascar is somewhat exceptional in that in the absence of collective agreements the Government has taken action to fix minimum wages in various industries. For example, in building, public works and civil engineering, minima are fixed for a series of levels of skill, all related to the basis for unskilled workers. That for a site foreman (chef de chantier) must be at least five-and-a-quarter times that of an unskilled workman. In other spheres there are various minima fixed for the various types of domestic workers, workers in commerce and offices and in accounting, workers in the printing and metal trades, in the transport industry, the hotel and catering and the bakery and confectionery trades, and in the tanning and leather industries. The occupational categories and the wage indices applicable to each were fixed after consultation with the relevant organisations of employers and workers and the Central Labour Advisory Board. There thus exists in Madagascar a system of minimum wages covering all categories of workers in the main occupations, other than agriculture and associated industries. In the latter only a basic minimum is fixed on a zonal basis. In total some 250,000 workers are thus protected. Liberia. The Minimum Wage Act, 1944, fixes minimum wages at 3 cents per hour for non-agricultural unskilled labour (increased to 4 cents in 1952). Under this Act minimum wage committees for each county and district are empowered to determine the wages of each class of semi-skilled and skilled worker. Skilled men have to purchase a licence from the Government authorising them to ply their particular trades. This licence at the same time furnishes the employer with some evidence as to the qualifications of an applicant for work at the minimum rates laid down. The committees can make recommendations to the Secretary of the Interior, who fixes wages for each class of skilled worker, having regard to the average retail price level of commodities and also to the economic and competitive conditions which employers of labour must face. It does not appear, however, that these committees operate in practice. Field labour is generally paid by the task, particularly by the Liberian Mining Company and the Firestone Company, who between ■ Decree No. 55-567 of 20 May 1955. 270 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY them employ some 25,000 men. Rubber tappers employed by the latter company now get 40 cents for a day's work. Portuguese Territories. Collective bargaining machinery has not so far been used to fix wages in Portuguese territories. Minimum wage rates are fixed by law in regulations issued by the governments concerned. In Angola minimum wage rates are fixed separately for workers employed in the public services and by private employers. The rates applicable to workers employed by private employers are in three categories—agricultural workers employed in their own districts, agricultural workers employed outside their own districts, and special categories of workers, including industrial workers. These rates vary according to whether food is or is not supplied. The rates applicable to workers in the public services are fixed to follow those of similar workers in private industry according to the records of the previous year in the respective areas. In Mozambique the wage-fixing system is similar to that apphed in Angola, except that minimum wage rates are fixed by districts and not for the territory as a whole. Actual wages are considerably higher than minimum wages. Spanish West Africa. Minimum wages for the various grades and categories of workers are fixed every year by a special government order made after consultation with the most typical undertakings in the territory. The Labour Code of 1954 (Spanish West Africa)1 provides for the issue of family and cost-of-living bonuses, long-service supplements, and special gratuities. Transport grants are also paid to workers on short-term contracts. There is no provision for consultation with workers before fixing minimum wages. Sudan. Apart from the Gezira Cotton Scheme, which employs from 150,000 to 200,000 temporary labourers during the cotton-picking season, there are few productive enterprises and these align their wage rates on those adopted by the government departments engaged in supplying the many services required. The Government has adopted a minimum wage for an unskilled labourer based on the requirements of a man, a wife and two children at a conventional level of subsistence established by budget inquiries. The index is revised four times a year. The average skilled artisan gets 2.85 times as much as the average labourer and the highest-paid ones three times as much.2 Union of South Africa. The general system of collective negotiation in the Union of South Africa is that provided under the Industrial Conciliation Act, 1956.3 This provides for the setting up, by sufficiently representative organisations of employers and employees, 1 1.L.O. 2 Legislative Series, 1954—Sp. 1. For details of the wage structure and wage policy in the Sudan see Dr. S. E. D. FAWZI: The Labour Movement in the Sudan, 1946-1955 (Oxford University Press, 1957), pp. 130-145. 3 No. 28 of 1956. I.L.O. Legislative Series, 1956—S.A. 1. WAGES AND WAGE POLICY 271 of industrial councils for the negotiation of agreements covering conditions of work, including minimum wage rates. Agreements must be transmitted to the Minister of Labour, who may in his discretion declare an agreement to be binding " not merely on the employers and employees " (who do not include Africans) who are parties to the agreements but on all other employers and " employees " in the industry and also, in special circumstances, on Africans and their employers in the industry. When the deliberations of industrial councils affect the interests of Africans the meeting is attended by members of the Central Native Labour Board, which consists of Europeans appointed by the Minister. The resultant agreement may then apply to African workers or they may be excluded from it if this Board decides to refer the matter to the Wage Board referred to below and the latter recommends that separate conditions be applied to African workers.1 The Wage Act, 19572, established a Wage Board of three members appointed by the Governor-General while the trade unions and employers concerned may be invited to appoint one assessor each. It is the duty of the Board to investigate and report to the Minister such matters as may have been referred to it. These may include minimum wage rates and all other matters in the industrial councils' collective bargaining field under the Industrial Conciliation Act 1956. Where there exist both a trade union and employers' organisations sufficiently representative, or where there exists an agreement binding under the terms of the Industrial Conciliation Act, the Board does not investigate unless directed to do so by the Minister. Government, provincial government and railway employees are excluded from the application of the Act and are the subject of special procedures. Domestic servants and farm workers are also excluded from its terms, and no legislation appears to exist providing for minimum wages or conditions of work for these categories. Recommendations of the Board may be made binding by the Minister and the scope of the determination extended to other areas. One important point under the Wage Act must be noted. The terms of reference of the Wage Board must " not differentiate or discriminate on the basis of race or colour ". Similarly, any recommendation made by the Board must not contain any such discrimination. There may however be discrimination on the basis of age, sex, experience, length of employment or type of work or type or class of premises or the area in which the work is performed. The effect of this is to determine the minimum rate for the job in any particular industry or area. In practice this is claimed to preclude the engagement of the African at " normal African " rates of pay and so to debar the latter from working at that particular job in the area for which the wage order was designed. Further, the orders are binding and non-compliance with them is a punishable offence under the Act. It would appear, however, that section 14 of the Native Labour (Settlement of Disputes) Act, 1953, might enable rates which are in fact discriminatory in character to be fixed in certain circumstances. African workers in the building trade are governed by the Native Building Workers Acts of 1951 and 1955, which for the first time give legislative sanction to differentiation between the rates of pay of Whites and Africans doing similar work. It is stated that wages for Africans are set at less than one-third of the rates for White artisans.3 1 2 3 Native Labour (Settlement of Disputes) Act No. 48 of 1953, sections 9 to 14. No. 5 of 1957. I.L.O. Legislative Series, 1957—S.A. 1. Muriel HORRELL: South Africa's Non-White Workers, op. cit., p. 74. 272 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY South-West Africa. The Natives Minimum Wage Proclamation, 19441, as amended in the same year provides for minimum wages to be applied in accordance with the schedule attached to it, which also enables conditions of employment to be determined. The Proclamation, however, does not appear to have been put into force. In 1952 the Wage and Industrial Conciliation Ordinance was adopted. In addition to establishing a Wage Board, it provided for the determination of conditions of employment, for the registration and regulation of trade unions and employers' organisations, for the prevention and settlement of disputes and for the regulation of conditions of employment by agreement and arbitration. In 1954 the Wage Board investigated employment conditions in the fishing industry. Protection of Wages Provisions concerning the protection of wages designed to prevent malpractices in payment, payment at irregular and long intervals and the resultant indebtedness of the workers, and arbitrary and unjustified deductions from the worker's earnings and to regulate payments in kind, have figured largely in international instruments relating to indigenous workers and workers in non-metropolitan territories. The original provisions were designed to protect workers who were recruited for work, often at long distances from their homes, or who otherwise entered into long term contracts of employment in the circumstances described in Chapters IV and IX. For example Article 22 of the Recruiting of Indigenous Workers Convention (No. 50), adopted by the International Labour Conference in 1936, required the competent authorities to limit the amount which might be paid to recruited workers in respect of advances of wages and to regulate the conditions under which such advances might be made. Article 5 (2) (e) of the Contracts of Employment (Indigenous Workers) Convention (No. 64), 1939, specified that among the particulars to be included in written contracts of employment should be the rate of wages and method of calculation thereof, the manner and periodicity of payment of wages, the advances of wages, if any, and the manner of repayment of any such advances. More precise obligations covering all workers were prescribed in Articles 14 to 16 of the Social Policy (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention (No. 82), 1947. These included provisions to ensure that employers and workers are informed of minimum wage rates in force and that wages are not paid at less than these rates in cases where they are applicable; to enable workers to recover, by judicial process or otherwise, the amounts of wages due; to ensure proper payments of wages earned; to require employers to keep registers and to issue to workers statements of wage payments ; to ensure that wages shall be paid in legal tender direct to the individual worker; to prohibit the substitution of alcohol or other spirituous beverages for all or part of wages and prevent their payment in taverns or stores except in the case of workers employed therein. The competent authorities were further required to take all 1 No. 1 of 1944. WAGES AND WAGE POLICY 273 practical steps to ensure that where food, housing, clothing and other essential supphes and services form part of remuneration, they are adequate and their cash value properly assessed, and to inform workers of their wage rights, prevent any unauthorised deductions from wages and restrict the amounts deductible in respect of supplies and services forming part of remuneration to the proper cash value thereof. Finally the competent authorities were required to regulate the maximum amounts and manner of repayment of advances in wages, to impose limits on advances made in consideration of taking up employment and make any amount above the prescribed levels irrecoverable. In 1949 further provisions on the matter were adopted in the Protection of Wages Convention (No. 95) and in 1955 somewhat similar provisions were incorporated in the Migrant Workers (Underdeveloped Countries) Recommendation (No. 100). Recent reports to the I.L.O. on the application of Conventions Nos. 50, 64 and 82 in African territories show that the provisions of these Conventions relating to protection of wages are for the most part applied in the majority of African countries and territories. In the Belgian Congo for example the Act of 19 July 1954 coordinating the provisions of the decrees on the employment contract and on recruiting largely reproduces the relevant provisions of these Conventions. In British territories the provisions are normally contained in the Labour Code, if any, or in special legislation dealing with the various aspects of conditions of employment and in regulations made under it. In French territories, articles 99 to 111 of the Labour Code for Overseas Territories 1952 cover the subject precisely and adequately. In Portuguese territories certain provisions concerning protection of wages are contained in articles 197 to 230 of the Overseas Labour Code of 1928. In the Union of South Africa the Wage Act of 1957 and the Protection of Wages Act of 19561 contain provisions dealing with the subject. The former enables clauses covering the main safeguards necessary to protect wages to be incorporated in wage awards, which have force of law; the latter deals with more specialised matters such as securing the payment of wages due by a contractor by attaching sums due by the principal to the contractor. While the situation in law may, therefore, be reasonably good in many territories, the practical situation still leaves much to be desired owing to the difficulties of enforcement in present-day circumstances. This is especially the case where workers are employed in small undertakings, often badly organised and supervised, and frequently of a family character, where it is difficult to distinguish employees properly so called from members of the family, particularly under the rather elastic conception of the family prevalent in the region. Enforcement difficulties also arise in cases where squatters or resident labourers are installed on another person's land and are called upon to perform labour services in the circumstances described in Chapter II, or where remuneration consists wholly or partly of the proceeds of the crop produced, as in the case of seasonal labourers on cocoa farms in West African territories. The Committee of Experts on Social Policy in Non-Metropolitan Territories, at its Fourth Session in 1955, recommended that consideration should be given to the apphcation of the provisions of Convention No. 82 and of Recommendation No. 100 (referred to above) relating to the protection of wages, and of the Protection iNo. 40 of 1956. I.L.O. Legislative Series, 1956—S.A. 2. 274 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY of Wages Convention (No. 95) of 1949, particularly Articles 8, 10 and 11, which deal with deductions from wages, the extent to which wages may be attached or assigned and the priority of wages over other privileged debts. WAGE STRUCTURES AND LEVELS It is extremely difikult to analyse the wage situation in African territories owing to the paucity of available statistics. Nevertheless, one fact is clear, namely that all governments, or nearly all, now seek to preserve some sort of balance between wages and the cost of living and make a positive effort to enable the lowerpaid workers to meet their essential needs out of wages. It is equally certain that in so far as they formulate wage policies, governments are guided by more than the mere desire to maintain a balance between wages and the cost of living: they are also concerned with avoiding inflation and excessive price increases, with the maintenance of a satisfactory level of exports and a favourable balance of payments, with the development of undertakings, including even those with a low margin of profits, and with the maintenance of a stable level of employment. Any action in pursuit of these objectives, with the exception of the first-named (i.e. the preservation of a balance between wages and the cost of living), normally tends to exert a restraining influence on wage levels and since trade unions do not, as in certain countries, have much power to protect and to raise wage levels, it would not be surprising, given the other background factors already mentioned such as the circumstances in which workers seek employment, their attitude to work and wages, and the fact that they are largely unskilled, to find even now that wage levels are very close indeed to a bare subsistence level. The Basis of the Minimum Wage The early minimum wages structures, as applied to work in the urban areas and other centres of industry and mining in Africa, were based on the assumption not merely that the African unskilled worker was prepared to live, for as long as he was away from his tribal home, as a bachelor but that in fact if he had family responsibihties they were taken care of within the tribal system. The wage paid was related not so much to the job to be performed as to certain simple wants. Coming as he did, straight from a tribal environment, the African's aspirations by any standard were very low; his requirements were of the simplest, even as regards food and a bed space. Apart from those, the possession of a piece of cloth to tie round his waist for day wear was often the exception rather than the rule. Ownership of a blanket was an envied luxury. Other desired objects were of the simplest. It was against this background that the rates of wages to be paid to the African who left his home to seek work were assessed. The first efforts at regulation were concentrated on housing, feeding, including the fixing of ration scales, and general welfare measures, rather than on wages. By the early 1930s, however, minimum wage-fixing machinery had been introduced in French and Spanish territories and in certain British territories. As early as 1936, in French territories, legislation was adopted under which territorial Governors were required to promulgate a minimum wage structure appropriate to the varying conditions obtaining in the territory. In fixing this minimum, cognisance had to be taken of what came to be termed the minimum vital; WAGES AND WAGE POLICY 275 in general terms an assessment was to be made of the sort of life an African could be expected to live, taking into consideration his new surroundings and way of life as an employed person. In determining the minimum wage, therefore, there had to be provision not only for the purchase of those articles necessary for health and decency but also sufficient for a reasonable amount of recreation. If cinemas were available, then such entertainment should be put within his reach. Likewise interest in sport should be encouraged, whilst the purchase of a few cigarettes must also be allowed for. The idea of the minimum vital as an essential element in calculating minimum wages was, as already indicated, written into the 1952 Labour Code for Overseas Territories and remains therefore a basic factor in the minimum wage system in French territories. As matters have evolved there are wide differences in the minimum vital budgets and therefore in minimum wages in force in various French territories, though all are based on the needs of a bachelor childless and unskilled. Senegal has perhaps the highest general standard of living and thus a minimum vital standard more elaborate than that used in assessing the minimum wages applying, for example, in certain territories of French Equatorial Africa. As has already been indicated, family allowances are paid to workers. The ¡guaranteed minimum wages in force in the various French African territories both for occupations subject to the 40-hour week and for agriculture and assimilated occupations in June 1957 are shown in Appendix III, table 27. In British territories the situation varies, but information submitted by governments to the Inter-African Labour Conference, held at Lusaka in 1957, throws some light on it. In Nigeria, for example, it is claimed that in recent years " wage rates have definitely included an element related to the family responsibilities of the wage earner. Successive revisions of government wage rates have been carried out on the basis of family budgets, and the fact that these revisions have been made in the light of the recommendations of provincial wage committees on which non-government interests are represented has helped to ensure that private employers keep in line with government wages policy." In Sierra Leone family responsibilities are taken into account by the wage boards in fixing wage rates. In Kenya statutory minimum wages " are properly based on the human needs of workers. The Government's aim is progressively to increase the urban minimum wages currently in force up to a stage where they are sufficient to support a decent standard of life not only for the worker himself but also for his family in the urban environment. It is not considered practicable at present to fix a territorial minimum wage, owing to the very wide area differences in the needs and standards and costs of living of workers." In Nyasaland the Minimum Wage Order, 1957 " does not take into account a worker's family responsibilities because every African has a foot in the land which is cultivated either by him in his spare time or by his family ". In Southern Rhodesia no account is taken of the worker's family responsibilities in fixing wages for Africans; as regards Europeans " the provisions of agreements apply without regard to the marital status and family responsibilities of the employee. The National Industrial Council of the Mining Industry is the only one which has prescribed children's allowance and a different cost-of-living allowance for married and single employees. " All this suggests that a gradual evolution is taking place. It is clear, however, that in the past minimum wage rates have been largely influenced by calculations as to the smallest amount of cash required to allow the barest minimum of existence, having regard to the actual habits and circumstances of the communities concerned ; the basis of calculation has been the unskilled male African without family 276 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY obligations. The following description of the South African situation seen in 1949 probably also represented the position at least in British territories in East and Central Africa: South African economy has in the past been based on an unskilled Native labour force, paid not a family but an individual wage, on the assumption that the worker's dependants had a plot of land in a Native reserve from which they could provide their essential needs. The creation of a permanent labour force in secondary industry dependent entirely on a cash wage and living a family life in the area of employment is a comparatively recent phenomenon.1 In a study published in 1945 2, Professor Edward Batson, Director of the School of Social Science and Social Administration of the University of Cape Town, dealing with the measurement of poverty discusses two conceptions: (a) the " poverty datum line " and (b) the " effective minimum level ". He defines the former as an estimate of the income needed by any individual household if it is to attain a defined minimum level of health and decency. Professor Batson calculates that this estimate can be obtained from the lowest retail cost of a budget of necessities comprising— (a) that quantity and variety of food which, taking into account age and sex, would provide for each member of the household the palatability and the calorific, protein, fat and vitamin content calculated by dietetic experts to be necessary for health, taking into account the established food customs of the community; (b) the minimum of clothing necessary for protection of health and in conformity with standards of decency; (c) the minimum of fuel and lighting compatible with health, taking into account the established customs of the community ; (d) the minimum of cleaning materials, for personal and household use, compatible with health and in conformity with custom; (e) the cost of transport for earning members of the household between the home and the workplace; and (f) an allowance for the cost of housing. The essential feature of the poverty datum line is that it allows no margin for anything other than the bare essentials of existence. It does not allow a penny for amusement, sport, medicine, education or comforts of any kind. It does not even allow a penny for replacements. It is, as Professor Batson says, not a " human " standard of living. But it fulfils its purpose of stating the barest minimum upon which subsistence and health can theoretically be achieved. It is clear that in establishing a minimum wage the poverty datum line of itself cannot be suitable as a basis. A minimum wage must not only be sufficient to provide the bare essentials of a worker's mere existence, but must also, to some degree at least, cater for his desires and social obligations, however humble. There must, therefore, be a margin of income allowed over and above that established by the poverty datum line. In this connection, Professor Batson uses what he calls the " effective minimum level ", i.e. the level at which the competition of other wants slackens sufficiently to permit the purchase of a budget equivalent to that 1 2 Handbook on Race Relations in South Africa, op. cit., pp. 270-271. Professor E. BATSON: The Poverty Line in Salisbury, School of Social Science and Administration, University of Cape Town (1945). WAGES AND WAGE POLICY 277 allowed for in the poverty datum line. Professor Batson puts the effective minimum level at 150 per cent, of the poverty datum line. In Kenya the Wages Advisory Board, in seeking a basis on which to fix minimum wage rates, has used a poverty datum line similar to Professor Batson's and covering the barest wants of a single man, converted into an effective minimum level by the addition of what the Board terms a " human needs requirement ". (This, in fact, has been arbitrarily calculated as 33% per cent, of the poverty datum line.) In so far, therefore, as this interpretation of what is essential to the life of a worker has been adopted or has influenced minimum wage policy—and this is undoubtedly so in the British East African territories and in Southern Rhodesia, for example—it has resulted in extremely low minimum rates being fixed. It cannot even be said that these rates are sufficient to meet the family responsibilities at least of unskilled workers. In a booklet published by the United Kingdom Central Office of Information the aim of policy is, however, described as being " to bring about a level of wages which, together with social services and other benefits available, will in a general way take account of family responsiblities ".1 The machinery to be used for this purpose is that described earlier in this chapter.2 The pamphlet goes on to say " Wages are in general paid with these responsibilities in mind, although in East Africa the ' bachelor ' wage system, particularly associated with migrant labour, persists ". In the Belgian Congo a complicated system of minimum wages exists which naturally affects the wage structure above the minimum. A number of cost-ofliving indices have been established for different categories of workers, having regard to the standard of life that might be expected within each particular group. The only legally enforceable minimum wage, however, is that of the unskilled worker, which is on a bachelor basis. This is fixed in relation to a model budget that has been compiled with the advice of the various labour and social progress committees. The range of items is limited and does not include foodstuffs—-since a food ration (on the basis of a single worker) is frequently provided in kind— nor housing nor transport. Housing, or an allowance in lieu, is the responsibility of the employer, who must also pay the worker's transport costs in certain conditions. The items include pots and pans, paraffin, soap, clothes, cigarettes, a mosquito net, wood for fuel, taxes, 5 per cent, for savings, etc. A review of the prices of the articles in the model budget is made once or twice a year and the minimum wage for each district is fixed accordingly. For African workers employed by the government, a model budget has been drawn up on a more favourable scale, based on the monthly expenditure of a family with one child in Leopoldville. This budget is also used by many private firms as an index in determining the wages of the various grades of office staff and skilled workers. There is yet another index for civil servants (European) which is brought up to date quarterly. Salaries of Europeans privately employed are largely fixed on this basis. In the event it was not found possible to introduce a basic minimum wage for Africans high enough to cover the needs incorporated in the model budget draw up in 1948 uniformly throughout the six provinces of the Belgian Congo on the grounds that the existing wage level was so low in some areas that dislocation 1 Central Office of Information : Labour in the United Kingdom Dependencies, Pamphlet No. 23a (London, H.M. Stationery Office, 1957), p. 22. See pp. 263 ff. 278 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY of the economic mechanism would have resulted. A policy of making successive adjustments was adopted so as gradually to bring the wage rates into line with the theoretical minimum rate. Although there has been pressure on the Government to improve the contents of the model budget to accord more closely with the actual needs of the worker, the Government has adopted the attitude that until the present minimum wage has been adopted uniformly in all the six territories, no reappraisal of the budget could be contemplated. Matters remain, therefore, at a standstill for the time being, provincial governors being authorised, however, to raise minimum wage rates by a specified percentage in the light of local conditions. Family allowances are paid in the circumstances already described and the possibility of converting the present basis of calculation of the minimum wage, which is based on the needs of a bachelor, to a man-and-wife basis is being examined.1 The information submitted to the Inter-African Labour Conference held at Lusaka in 1957 by the Portuguese Government indicated that " the basis of the minimum wage does not include the worker's family responsibilities: legislation exists providing for family allowances and other benefits ". No such allowances exist, however, for African workers but only for certain categories of Europeans and assimilated persons. In the Union of South Africa " wages are fixed according to the value of the work performed and not on the basis of workers' family responsibilities. Wage fixation on the latter basis is considered to be neither practicable nor desirable and is not favoured by organised labour in South Africa." Some Factors Affecting the Structure of Wages Just as the circumstances surrounding the emergence of the African as a wage earner largely dictated the bases upon which his remuneration came to be calculated, so the circumstances in which he has continued to be employed have largely affected the pattern of his wages. This is true whether one considers the wage differentials among occupations, types of wage earner, etc., on the one hand or the various components of wages on the other. The latter question has already been fully discussed in earlier chapters and it has been shown that in the past the normal practice has been for employers to pay a small cash wage in addition to providing food and accommodation and sometimes a few articles of clothing, but that this practice has changed in many areas and situations to a system under which the worker is either paid all his wages in cash without any specific allowance for particular items or is paid a cash wage, which varies according to his skill, plus specified sums in lieu of food and accommodation. The extent to which incentive wage systems have been introduced and their eificacity and limitations in African conditions have also been discussed, particularly in Chapter V, and will be referred to again later. In this section, therefore, it is proposed to examine more particularly the existing patterns of wage differentials and to try to elucidate some of the factors which have contributed to these patterns and those which may tend to maintain or alter them. One of the main factors which has determined the pattern of existing wage differentials has been the presence (or the absence) of racial groups with higher 1 For recent statistics of daily wage rates in the provincial capitals of the Belgian Congo see Appendix III, table 26. WAGES AND WAGE POLICY 279 standards of skill and of living competing with the African for the jobs concerned. In this connection three different situations can be identified: (a) those in which, for climatic or other reasons, there has been no large-scale immigration or settlement of European or other racial groups (e.g. in Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia); (b) countries and territories such as Northern and Southern Rhodesia and the Union of South Africa, where there has been considerable immigration and settlement of Europeans ; (c) situations in which non-European immigrants compete in the employment market against Africans, e.g. in the East African territories and the Union of South Africa. It should be stressed in the first instance that the factors which have been mentioned at the beginning of this chapter as tending to keep wage rates for the unskilled worker at extremely low levels and to affect adversely wage rates above the minimum are of the highest importance in any of the three situations just indicated and that the fundamental reason why wages are so low throughout Africa is the generally low level of economic development of the countries and territories concerned. Other factors, important as they may be in particular circumstances, are not determining. In the past the question of the differences between the wage rates applicable to Africans and to Europeans hardly ever arose. Africans were largely unskilled, and the wide differences in wage rates between them and Europeans were accepted and justified by the big gap between their qualifications, experience and output and those of Europeans. It was, in fact, difficult to arrive at any real comparisons since they did not do the same types of work. This is still largely true in the first of the situations referred to above, where such Europeans as are to be found in industry or commerce are almost all engaged on supervisory or managerial duties. It is no longer true, however, in the second and third situations. In such countries and territories as the Union of South Africa, Northern and South Rhodesia and (to some extent) the Belgian Congo and French territories, Africans compete directly not only with unskilled Europeans but to a greater or lesser extent with qualified Europeans, depending on the opportunities for training and access to skilled jobs which exist. In territories such as those in East Africa where the third situation arises there is virtually no competition between Africans and Europeans at the artisan and clerical level, but there is between Europeans and Asians. Indeed, the presence of numbers of Asians with traditionally high standards of skill, reliability and capacity for hard work, and the fact that they are preferred to Africans as learners and apprentices, has resulted in the creation of a virtual block to the progress of Africans up the ladder of skilled occupations. Such African artisans as exist can generally only command wage rates considerably inferior to those offered to Asians. The effect on wages in grades generally occupied by Africans has been a depressing one and is reflected in the generally lower level of wage rates at the less skilled levels in all territories where this situation exists. But whether in fact valid comparisons can be made between different types of work performed by individuals of different races or not, the fact that certain types of work are in practice done by Europeans and other types, usually less skilled no doubt, by Africans; that it is difficult in practice for an African to secure, whatever his qualifications, work of the types which Europeans normally do ; that, moreover, the rate of pay for the jobs done by Europeans is so completely out of relation with the rate of pay for any of the jobs done by Africans ; and that no European, however 280 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY poorly qualified, is to be found doing " African " jobs—all this leads to acute resentment, and to a resurgence of the extremely difficult problem of how two salary structures based on quite different conceptions can be co-ordinated. Before discussing this matter further, however, some indication of the present position in a few typical territories may be given. The statistics of hourly wages of adult African and European wage earners in certain industries in Northern Rhodesia in October 1956 in table 25 of Appendix III to the survey suggest, for example, that in the motor repairing and electrical trades and in the construction industry African wages varied between 5 and 12 per cent, of European wages for what are nominally the same jobs. While the figures for Africans exclude the cost of housing supplied and while the training and skills of the Europeans were perhaps better than those of the Africans classified under the same heading, it is difficult to imagine that these two factors alone could account for so wide a difference in rates. In the mining industry in the same territory a similar situation exists, but some evolution is taking place. For example, between 1949 and 1954, the average monthly cash wages paid to European and African employees respectively and their purchasing power rose as is shown in table XVII. TABLE XVII. NORTHERN RHODESIA: CHANGES IN MONTHLY WAGE RATES IN THE MINING INDUSTRY, 1949-54 Percentage increase, 1949-54 1949 £ European: Surface Underground African: Surface Underground s. d. 1954 £ Cash wage Real wage s. d. . . 62 0 0 74 0 0 99 0 0 110 0 0 59 49 27 19 . . 2 14 7 3 4 9 6 4 7 7 1 9 128 119 82 75 Source: Bulletin (London, Inter-African Labour Institute), Vol. H, No. 5, 1 Sep. 1955, p. 50. It is to be noted that in spite of the continued wide disparity in the remuneration of European as compared with African employees, the increase in the cash wages paid to the latter has been considerable both in terms of actual money and of purchasing power. The figures given do not, however, include the copper bonus, which was paid at that time on different bases to Europeans and Africans. Its inclusion would have increased considerably the disparity between European and African total remunerations. Since 1955 further progress has taken place in the Northern Rhodesian copper mining industry. An advancement scheme for African employees has been introduced whereby a number of jobs, hitherto exclusively performed by Europeans, have now been made available to Africans. These jobs were of 24 different types: some have been broken up into two or more in order to enable Africans to advance more easily to them. In fact, a total of 950 jobs were thus opened up to Africans : at the end of the first year of working of the scheme, 428 jobs had been filled and training of Africans for others was proceeding. As an indication of remuneration under the scheme an African " subdevelopment cleaner " received in 1956 WAGES AND WAGE POLICY 281 £40 per month plus a bonus of £10 15s., a total of £50 15s. In comparison, a European handyman earned £68 11s. plus £47 bonus, i.e. a total of £115 11s. While the difference between the African wage and the European wage is still very marked, therefore, the measure of the advance can be noted from the fact that in 1954 the European would have earned a total of £86 9s. while the African as a " boss-boy " would have earned around £18. It was stated in the course of a recent inquiry that the ratio between the lowest-paid European and the highest-paid African had been reduced in two years from 5.32 to 1 to 2.28 to 1. A similar situation is beginning to develop in Southern Rhodesia where recent regulations covering the employment in the engineering industry provide that Africans can, in future, earn a minimum wage ranging from ó^d. an hour for the unskilled labourer up to 5s. 4d. an hour for the skilled worker, the latter wage being applicable to Europeans. While in fact the higher wages between 3s. an hour and 5s. 4d. an hour are for work now being carried out by labour other than African, many Africans are already in the Is. 9d. an hour bracket, and the latest regulations open up a whole new field for their future advancement. More than 600 engineering operations have been scheduled and classified into new grades with different wage scales. Africans can if they possess the requisite skill move up to any of these operations. Neverthess, while African earnings are increasing at a faster rate than those of European employees, as late as 1952 they were still on the average less than 7 per cent, of those of the latter. The situation in the mining industry in the Union of South Africa is complicated by the fact that the policy is to employ almost exclusively skilled Whites and relatively unskilled migrant African labourers. The Mines and Works Act, 19561, which consolidates earlier legislation, in effect debars Africans from officially carrying out a whole series of skilled occupations. Because of the nature of this labour structure there is a wide gap between White and African wages in the mining industry. Average yearly cash wages in 1952 were £844 4s. for Whites and £56 10s., i.e. 6.7 per cent, of the former for non-Whites. In the gold mines in 1953 each African worker is reckoned to have cost the industry an average of £58 10s. in wages, £18 6s. in food supphed and £3 3s. in medical services. The cost of compound services is not included.2 Recent figures supplied by the Transvaal and Orange Free State Chamber of Mines indicate that average wages per shift for two classes of European mineworkers—contract developers and contract stopers—rose from 42s. 6d. and 31s. 9d. per shift respectively in 1939 to 112s. 5d. and 90s. 4d. per shift respectively in 1957. The average daily pay of European mineworkers rose from 26s. 5d. per day to 65s. 3d. per day during the same period. As regards Native mineworkers, weekday wages rose from 2s. 2.3d. per day in 1939 to 3s. 11.Id. in 1957. The value of housing, food, etc., supplied to Natives rose from Is. 0.95d. per shift in 1939 to 3s. 1.37d. in 1957. In manufacturing industry, where there is no legal bar to the advancement of Africans, they were in 1952-53 earning an average of £137 a year. As was explained earlier, Africans are not directly represented on industrial conciliation machinery. Nevertheless, wage determinations and other types of wage fixation measures, except those concerning the building trade, prescribe a single rate for the job irrespective of the race of the person performing it. 1 2 No. 27 of 1956. Muriel HORRELL: South Africa's Non-White Workers, op. cit., p. 67. 282 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Many Africans who have graduated to skilled work, are therefore earning good wages, as high as £15 a week in certain industries. Considerable numbers are employed by industrial firms as drivers of motor vehicles. The minimum wage for the job is £5 a week plus cost-of-living allowance. Average wages for African industrial workers are low, however, because of the high proportion that remains of unskilled manual labourers.1 Industries where wages are higher than the average include clothing, textiles and footwear, books, paper and printing, furniture, bedding and upholstery, leather and leatherware, ship and boat building and repairing, fellmongering and manufacture of rubber goods. In these industries considerable numbers of Africans are employed as operatives or are otherwise employed on skilled or semi-skilled work. The building trade is a special case. This is the only industry in which, so far, there is a "vertical" colour bar. The Native Building Workers' Act of 1951, as amended in 1955, provides for the training and registration of Africans as skilled bunding workers; prohibits the employment of Africans as skilled building workers in urban areas other than in African townships (this prohibition does not apply to farmers) and prescribes that where skilled Africans are employed on building work in an African township. White building artisans may not be employed in the same project. The Act gave legislative sanction for the first time to diiîerentiation in rates of pay as between Whites and Africans doing similar work: "wages for Africans are set at less than one-third of the rates for White artisans."2 Rates of pay are said to average 2s. 2d. an hour for skilled Africans and Is. 4d.-ls. 2d. for labourers, as against about 7s. 4d. an hour for White artisans. The number of Africans employed in commerce has increased more than 15 times since just before the Second World War, but the majority are still unskilled labourers receiving, in the larger towns, basic pay varying from £1 7s. 6d. to £2 Os. 3d. a week. In transport and communications services a labourer (railway) in 1955 in Cape Town earned from 6s. to 8s. per day, without food. Rates in the Reef area varied from 3s. 9d. to 5s. 9d. per day. Both the railways and the Post Office, which pursue an essentially " White " labour policy, have been forced in recent years to employ increasing numbers of Africans even in jobs above the unskilled range. In the public service the highest-paid post for an African is that of Native Information Officer with a basic scale of £540 a year, rising to £690: the lowest-paid workers are labourers earning £45 to £72 a year, not including the cost-of-living allowance. In agriculture, a census taken in August 1954 showed that during that month African men employed on farms of Whites received an average of £2 8s. lOd. in cash, together with clothing, food and other items valued at £1 4s. lid.—a total of £3 13s. 9d. The rental value of housing, land and grazing made available to the workers is not included. African women received on average £1 3s. 6d. cash and 13s. 5d. in kind— totalling£1 16s. lid. Wages of domestic servants (male) are in line with the average earnings in manufacturing industry. It is not proposed to enter here into details of wage rates for Coloured and Asiatic workers.3 A rough indication of the position may be gathered from the fact that the latest figures of average wages paid in the Union to Asiatic workers in manufacturing industry were £236 a year for men and £166 for women. The earnings of Coloured workers in manufacturing industry are said to be slightly higher. 1 2 3 Muriel HORRELL: South Áfricas Non-White Workers, op. cit., p. 71. Ibid., p. 74. However table 29 in Appendix III contains figures recently supplied to the I.L.O. by the Department of Labour of the Union which show the average annual wages of White, Coloured, Native and Asiatic workers in private industry over a period of years. WAGES AND WAGES POLICY 283 Asiatics (but not Coloured workers) are subject to the prohibitions of the Mines and Works Amendment Act, 1911, in the same way as Africans. Miss Horrell cites figures showing that in Natal in 1952 only about 65 per cent, of the Asiatic industrial workers received £5 per week or over, which is estimated as being the minimum necessary for maintenance of reasonably adequate standards of living. She goes on : Because the rate for the job has so far applied in industrial conciliation machinery, skilled and higher semi-skilled Asiatic workers are generally paid at the same rates as those applicable to Whites. On the other hand, ... an adequate supply of Indian labour available for the lower grades of semi-skilled and for unskilled work, the competition of African labour in these grades, and the lack of opportunities for advancement, have resulted in low wages for the bulk of the Indian industrial workers.1 Miss Horrell states that the Institute of Race Relations estimated that in 1954 the average African family in Johannesburg had £7 11s. 3d. a month less than was needed for maintenance of minimum standards of health and decency. In 1957 Professor Batson estimated that the average household of a man, wife and three children needed a pooled income of £236 to £287 a year (according to the ages of the children) to live at the " poverty datum line " and that of the 8,000 African households in the Cape Town municipal area 2,700 were below this datum line. Some 12,000 of the 38,000 Coloured households were also below the line.2 The European trade unions in South Africa have staunchly upheld the principle of the " rate for the job " but there is, as in all countries, a progressive scale of rates for different jobs. The obstacles to the acquisition of skills by non-Europeans, and especially by Africans, and other factors preventing their employment in skilled capacities have, however, tended to make the supply of skilled labour less and that of unskilled labour greater than would otherwise be the case. The wage structure reflects this supply situation, skill differentials being, by the standards of advanced industrial countries, exceptionally large. In the artisan trades generally, where formal apprenticeships are served, very few skilled Africans are found. Non-skilled work in these industries is, however, freely available to non-Europeans, and wage rates can be fixed with that in mind. By virtue of the Industrial Conciliation Act, 1956, moreover, the Minister of Labour may direct that certain types of skilled or semiskilled work shall be performed by Africans only if the workers of other social groups are not available. To what extent the principle of the Native Building Workers' Act already referred to will be extended to other industries is at present in doubt. This principle means that Africans can be employed in skilled capacities for lower wages than Europeans would earn for similar work when the Africans are engaged on work designed to meet the needs of other Africans. This is felt to constitute a threat to the maintenance of European labour standards, though it would seem likely to permit more Africans to become skilled and to earn more than they can now earn. A principle permitting production to take place at two different levels of costs can evidently be applied with fewer difficulties to building operations in different areas than to the production of goods for less clearly separable markets.3 1 Muriel HORRELL: South Africa's Non-White Workers, op. cit., p. 42. The Star (Johannesburg), 5 Sep. 1957. Mr. B. J. Schoeman, a former Minister of Labour of the Union has defined the policy of the Government in the following terms: "I am not in favour of throwing open the doors of the skilled trades to the Natives.... I am not in favour of Natives becoming indentured in terms of the Apprenticeship Act in European areas. What I am in favour of is this, that when industries are established 2 8 (footnote continued on following page) 284 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY The most encouraging feature for the future is that the pace of economic growth has created more or less acute shortages of skilled and semi-skilled labour. In many manufacturing industries, particularly the newer industries, the number of non-White skilled workers and operatives is increasing and their earnings are still going up. Continued economic growth may be expected to have even more profound eifects on the wage structure and the employment opportunities of the diiferent races. The fact that the account just given has been limited to Northern and Southern Rhodesia and the Union of South Africa is in no way intended to suggest that differences just as wide do not exist between African and European earnings elsewhere. Unfortunately published statistics are rarely in such a form as to enable effective comparisons to be made. Two other examples may be given, however. In Kenya the ratio between the average earnings of Europeans, Asians and Africans in industry and commerce in 1956 was 100 to 33.45 to 5.371, but the value of these figures is lessened by the fact that very few Europeans do either manual or clerical work and therefore as between Europeans and Africans the comparison is largely between the earnings of people in managerial and supervisory posts and manual and clerical workers. Even so the gap is immense. Similar considerations apply to the only figure available for the Belgian Congo, namely that the average total remuneration of 1,240,000 indigenous wage earners in 1954 equalled roughly the total remuneration of the 32,000 European employees, which represents a ratio of earnings per head of 1 to 40.2 While the South African situation and that in Northern and Southern Rhodesia reflect very acutely the difficulties associated with the implementation in practice in African conditions of the principle of equal pay for equal work, that is largely because attention is more particularly drawn to the matter since considerable numbers of Europeans are working side by side with Africans on jobs which are at least comparable. Yet the wider question of the tremendous gap which exists between the remuneration paid to Europeans working in African territories and that usually paid to Africans, whatever their job, is far more generalised and equally difficult of solution.3 There are several factors, partly historical, partly contemporary, which tend to maintain this gap. In the first place there are the circumstances surrounding the emergence of the African as a wage earner and the conditions in which he continues largely to offer his services, already fully described and which tend to maintain wages for Africans at abnormally low levels. Secondly there are the factors which have led European wages to be fixed at very high levels. Historically these were in the Native areas and Native reserves, those Natives should then have the opportunity of becoming skilled workmen in their own industries in their own areas. Then legislation will be required to protect the European artisan in his area against unfair Native competition or any Native competition. I am not in favour of allowing trained Natives to compete with Europeans. It must be realised what a tremendous reservoir of Native labour we have today. We have difficulty in finding sufficient European youths to apprentice, but in a few years, with the educational facilities provided for them, we will be able to get Native youths by thousands and tens of thousands, if we want to indenture them. If we allow that, what is going to happen? They would simply flood the labour market." (House of Assembly Debates, 30 Apr. to 2 May 1951, cols. 5868 and 5870.) 1 Figures based on statistics in East African Statistical Department : Quarterly Economic and Statistical Bulletin (Nairobi, June 1957), p. 69. 2 Figures from Bulletin de la Banque centrale du Congo belge et du Ruanda-Urundi, quoted by F. BEZY: Problèmes structurels de l'économie congolaise, op. cit. p. 196. a See on the question " Interracial Wage Structure in Certain Parts of Africa ", in International Labour Review, Vol. LXXVIII, No. 1, July 1958, pp. 20-55. WAGES AND WAGE POLICY 285 the high wages and special conditions of housing, leave and the like which had to be oifered to highly skilled individuals to induce them to come to work in unattractive and often unhealthy living and working conditions such as mining camps. Some of these factors still exist. In areas where there is no permanent settlement of Europeans it is still necessary to offer inducements which will overcome the disadvantages of expatriation, having regard also to wages or salaries prevailing in the home country or where alternative opportunities exist. In areas where Europeans are permanently settled, there is strong pressure on their part to maintain established standards for themselves and their descendants even if the conditions which justified these standards, such as exceptionally unfavourable living and working surroundings no longer exist and the expatriation factor is no longer valid. This may be achieved through strong trade union pressure, through reservation of apprenticeship to Europeans or by providing separate training facilities for Europeans and Africans, by reservation of jobs for particular racial groups either by law or custom and more generally by policies tending to restrict by actual discrimination the opportunities available to Africans to enter skilled occupations, or by failure to provide sufficient general education or vocational or technical training facilities for Africans. Another factor tending to favour maintenance of the gap is the fixing of rates for various jobs at what are conventionally European rates, thus preventing employers from engaging Africans at fair wages consistent with their actual abihties (which would represent considerable improvements on the wages paid for any opportunities at present available to them), and intensifying competition in the African sector, with the inevitably depressing effect on wage levels.1 Restrictions on the freedom of movement of workers and the organised recruiting systems operating in several countries and territories also tend to restrict the opportunities available to the African to bargain effectively with potential employers and thus increase the monopolistic character of the employment market, which is already very marked owing to the concentration of a high proportion of all employment opportunities in many parts of Africa in the hands of a relatively small number of large firms. Finally there is the situation created in some areas by the introduction or growth of groups such as the Asian in East Africa and the Union of South Africa and the Coloured elements in the latter country. These groups quickly acquired greater experience and skill than the African, who is still largely a migrant worker, and now form an intermediate layer of skill between the European and the African, thus still further curtailing the latter's opportunities of advancement and helping to keep wages down to the lowest levels. There are, on the other hand, a number of factors which are tending to reduce the wide differentials in wages which still exist. The strong pressures in favour of measures of social justice, initiated to a large extent outside Africa, but gaining impetus there partly through nationalistic movements and partly as a result of a developing awareness that incomes are more fairly distributed elsewhere, are undoubtedly helping in some parts of Africa to create a climate of opinion favourable to narrowing the gap. The economic expansion of recent years has helped the process. Despite the restrictions and impediments described above, 1 For a full discussion of this problem in South African conditions see S. T. VAN DER HORST : " Equal Pay for Equal Work ", in The South African Journal of Economics (Pretoria), Vol. 22, No. 2, June 1954, p. 187. 286 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Africans as well as other non-Europeans are moving into more skilled jobs in at least some sectors of the economy. Eiforts towards stabilisation of labour in certain areas and the developing process of urbanisation are creating the conditions necessary to permit the training of workers and providing incentives to workers to improve their skills. A developing sense of responsibility for the upkeep of a wife and family is tending to change attitudes towards work. The efforts of governments in the field of minimum wage legislation, supported by some extension of collective bargaining arrangements and their own influence as large employers, though yet far from decisive, as already shown, are useful adjuncts and could be even more so. Endeavours are being made in some territories to evolve wage and salary scales of general applicability accompanied by special allowances for expatriate staff to help towards meeting the exceptional expenses to which they are subject for such things as children's education, travel and often the maintenance of two homes. This principle is not, of course, applicable in countries and territories where Europeans have established their homes, sometimes for generations, and can in no sense be regarded as expatriates. In the Belgian Congo, for example, while little has been done in practice, and differences in remuneration between all but a few very highly skilled African workers and the general level of European remuneration are still as marked as anywhere in Africa, the aim of the Government is eventually to develop a single system applicable both to European and to African workers, uniform in its conception and depending in practice on the skills of the workers concerned and any differences of needs arising from expatriation. In British territories in West Africa and in Ghana somewhat the same approach has been adopted in so far as salary scales for civil servants are concerned. Not only has there been large-scale Africanisation of the service but salary scales now reflect no differentiation between Africans and Europeans except for an expatriation allowance or " inducement pay " to overseas staff. Indeed the tendency is largely to confine appointments of overseas staff to contracts for limited periods, for which, of course, terms can be very flexible, and to use appointments on pensionable terms for locally recruited Africans. In East Africa the Lidbury Commission1, reporting in 1954, recommended the adoption of a composite salary structure for civil servants, doing away with the specifically European, Asian and African terms of service which existed. A Public Service Commission would ensure that opportunity was available to all races for promotion through the various grades of service. These are encouraging signs of the evolution of government thinking, but for some time to come the policies pursued in regard to wage-earning employment in general are bound to be largely empirical, particularly in areas where the European artisan is installed in considerable numbers. As already stated, economic development is creating demands for skilled and semi-skilled labour which can only be met by advancement of the African. If satisfactory progress is made in providing opportunities for training, not merely by way of formal apprenticeship or in technical schools but on the job, and present conventional and other restrictions on access to particular types of job removed, the African wage level will gradually rise and the gap between it and those of Europeans will diminish. 1 Report of the Commission on the Civil Services of the East African Territories and the East Africa High Commission, 1953-54 (London, H.M. Stationery Office, 1954). WAGES AND WAGE POLICY 287 In French territories, section 91 of the Labour Code for Overseas Territories lays down the principle that where skill and output are the same, wages shall be equal. Nevertheless, the conditions of employment of many Africans and Europeans are still governed by separate collective agreements in being before the law came into force, so that differences in remuneration still, in fact, exist. These are gradually being replaced by collective agreements which are based on the new principle, but subject to section 94 of the Code, which allows the payment of special allowances to cover climatic conditions differing from those obtaining in the normal place of residence of the worker and expenses due to his absence from it. The General Wage Situation The lack of adequate statistical data makes it difficult to give any adequate picture of the general wage situation. A statement recently issued by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions put the general situation thus : (It is) difficult to estimate in an objective, statistical manner whether African wages are low in terms of the requirements of minimum subsistence or adequate living standards. It is always extremely difficult to translate these general terms into money. The very concept of " adequate living standards " is not altogether objective since it covers not only the food necessary to sustain the worker and his family in health, but also a variety of goods and services which are, by tradition, custom or current social aspirations, regarded as necessary for decent living. Despite these difficulties involved in any attempts to estimate objectively the adequacy of wages, there are some clear indications that, even by very low standards, the wages of unskilled workers in Africa are near or below the levels of mere existence, if not of downright poverty.1 The document quoted then proceeds to indicate the cases in which minimum wages are fixed on a bachelor basis and to cite the actual conditions of poor diet, poor clothing, bad housing conditions and lack of even simple amenities of life which " are the striking features of workers' lives in many parts of Africa". While the authenticity of this general picture can hardly be denied by anyone who has seen actual conditions, it is impossible, apart from indications already given, to present any statistical analysis to back it up in detail. The most that can be done here is to give such wage statistics as exist for African countries and territories in two years (1953 and 1956) in order to show trends of wage rates during a period of comparative prosperity in Africa as a whole and some figures showing movements in the cost-of-living indices in the various countries and territories during the same period. In a number of cases, however, the index quoted does not relate to the same wage groups as are covered by the wage statistics so that any attempt to deduce the trend of real wages from the figures given would not be particularly profitable.2 A further comment might be to the effect that attempts to compare purchasing power between, say, Belgian, British and French territories by mere conversion of the wage rates to a common denominator are not helpful either since the official exchange rates do not necessarily reflect the differences in purchasing power of the different currencies. Moreover, price levels in Africa, particularly of goods for local consumption, are in many cases lower than in Europe. Comparisons of cash wages as between African communities are, therefore, likely to overemphasise actual differences in purchasing power. 1 1.C.F.T.U. 2 : Economic and Social Bulletin (Brussels), No. 24, May 1957, pp. 5-6. The statistics referred to will be found in Appendix III, tables 24 and 25. 288 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Comprehensive studies of family living conditions would be necessary to furnish basic information on levels and standards of living and on the changes which are taking place in them. Limited studies of this kind have been undertaken in some areas, but not generally on a scale which would enable realistic data for wage-fixing purposes to be deduced therefrom or information necessary to policy making in connection with efforts to raise standards of living. This point is referred to later. An interesting point which would repay further investigation is the extent to which increases in wages have been accompanied by increased output. In this connection some figures available for the Belgian Congo are of interest. Taking July 1950 as 100, the index of cash wages had risen to 196 by December 1955 and to 216 by January 1957. During the period 1950-55 the cost of living rose by almost 20 per cent, so that it can be said that the standard of life of the African rose by about 63 per cent, during that time. Against this should be set the fact that output per African worker employed increased from 1950 to 1954 (the latest year for which figures are available) by 34.5 per cent. While, therefore, standards have improved, the workers have largely merited this by their increased productivity, and it is not improbable that the increases in wages themselves contributed towards the increase in output.1 At any rate there is sufficient parallel between the two to imply that the problem of low wages in African conditions is not insoluble. The impression gained by a general examination of available material suggests that the average level of cash earnings in recent years in the various countries and territories has been rising, but that this has been due not only to all-round increases of wages, which have been considerable in many territories, but also to the advance of Africans to more highly skilled jobs which the general economic expansion has made available. Real wages and therefore standards of living have no doubt also increased to some extent, but in too many cases the basis on which the minimum wage for the unskilled worker has been fixed—and in spite of advancement, the large majority of African workers are still unskilled and are still being given wages at or near the minimum, whether fixed by law or not—remains the needs of a single man without family responsibilities. In this connection some reference may be made to the main recommendations of the Committee on African Wages2, set up in Kenya in 1953, since they are of considerable importance in any consideration of the evolution of African wages in Africa south of the Sahara as a whole. The Committee showed that the low output and inadequate wages of the Kenya African labour force were basically due to the fundamental instability of the workers, whose homes were still in the reserves and who went to urban or industrial centres for only a few months at a time with a limited purpose in view—to earn enough money to pay taxes, buy clothing, etc. It considered that the worker's lot could not be improved until he was permanently settled near his place of work. On the other hand, this was out of the question until the worker was earning a sufficiently high wage to cover not only his own needs but those of his family, since any normal settlement policy must assume that the workers would be able to bring their families to live with or near them. The Committee accordingly examined the possibility of paying workers a " family wage ", that is to say, a wage 1 Bulletin de la Banque Centrale du Congo Belge et du Ruanda-Urundi (Brussels and Leopoldville), Nov. 1955, pp. 457-458. 2 Report of the Committee on African Wages, op. cit. WAGES AND WAGE POLICY 289 sufficient for the maintenance of a family at or near the place of employment, as opposed to the " bachelor " wage calculated on Professor Batson's formula, to which reference has already been made. This " family " minimum wage was to be assessed at two-and-a-half times the basic " bachelor " minimum and an appropriate " family " housing allowance was to be added to it. Transition from the bachelor to the family minimum wage was to take place by stages over a period of ten years. To qualify for the family minimum a worker had to be aged at least 21 years and male and have been employed for at least three years outside the Native reserves. In the event the Kenya Government, while accepting the necessity for stabilisation and its consequences, did not accept the recommendation for the establishment of a family wage on the basis suggested by the Committee. It did, however, decide to use a method of calculating minimum wages which assumes that adult male workers settling in population centres will be accompanied by their wives. Two scales of minimum wages in urban areas now exist. The first, for adult males over 21, takes some account of the family responsibilities of the worker both as regards the amount of the wage—which, while still based on Professor Batson's formula, is calculated in a more generous manner—and as regards the housing allowance. Other employees have a lower basic minimum and a lower housing allowance. It is intended to raise progressively the rates for adult male workers. In a study of trends in the economy of East Africa prepared by the Economist Intelligence Unit it is suggested that the results of this policy are likely to be an increased supply of labour available for industry, in spite of the increasing income which the African is likely to enjoy from the cash crops he is being encouraged to produce, a rise in labour costs, encouraging more economical use of labour and more readiness to train it, and, within a fairly short period—probably about five years— a marked improvement in the stability of labour, with resultant removal of a major obstacle to the development of industry. On the whole there should be not merely achievement of desirable social objects but, on a longer view, clear economic benefits, not least a better distribution of the national income, resulting in an increase in the purchasing power of the African population.1 Perhaps these far from pessimistic conclusions as to the results of pursuing a progressive wage policy (to the extent of increasing minimum wage rates for adult male workers over a period by 250 per cent.) in the conditions to be found in East Africa, may encourage study of the implications of developing similar policies elsewhere in Africa. THE OBJECTIVES OF WAGE POLICY It cannot be doubted that the average living standards of the working populations in a great many African territories are low—sometimes extremely low—in comparison with those in economically more developed countries. While wage policies can play a part in improving these living standards, they are normally far from being the most important element in the situation. In many areas wage earners form only a very small fraction of the occupied population, most of whom are engaged in subsistence agriculture or in other activities grouping only members of the same family or elements of the tribe between which the normal employer and worker relationship based on cash wages does not exist. Moreover, measures such as economic development to increase national income in the long run play a much 1 20 The Economist Intelligence Unit: The Economy of East Africa (London, 1955), pp. 134-135. 290 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY more important role in raising living standards than mere adjustments in the wage rates of the wage-earning section of the population. Nevertheless, this section is constantly increasing in numbers and in dependence on employment. It is the section of the population most exposed to possible privation. By virtue of the fact of being employed and thus wholly or partially separated from the way of life of the susbistence farmer, it develops consumption habits and expenditure patterns which throw increasing strain on its cash resources. It is only natural that governments should increasingly turn their attention to wage policy in their general economic and social planning, the more so since, being themselves nearly always the largest single employers in their respective territories, and sometimes employing more workers than all other enterprises put together, they can, by their wage policies towards their own employees, to a great extent dictate not merely minimum wages but also the wage differentials for different levels of skill. In spite of all they have done, however, it cannot yet be said that many governments have consciously worked out a proper wage policy, either for their own employees or more generally, and fewer still have co-ordinated it with their policies for economic development. It is true that in the last 15 to 20 years there has been increasing government intervention in wage determination in African territories, particularly through legislation providing machinery for the fixing of minimum wages. It is also true that in the case of certain territories the methods to be used in the assessment of minimum wages are prescribed. A description of the main provisions in force and methods in use has been given. In can hardly be said, however, that these in themselves constitute wage policies designed to give workers a fair share of the fruits of economic development. The existence of wage-fixing machinery does not of itself constitute a wage policy. It can, moreover, be one of two things. It can be the means of applying general wage policies worked out elsewhere to particular circumstances or it can, through a body with appropriate membership and in possession of the relevant facts, itself formulate and apply them. The objectives to be attained in this connection have been expressed on different occasions in I.L.O. instruments and elsewhere. Article 10 of the Social Policy (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention (No. 82), 1947, which has been ratified by Belgium, France and the United Kingdom, says that where the circumstances under which workers are employed involve being away from their homes the terms and conditions of their employment shall take account of their normal family needs. The Protection of Migrant Workers (Underdeveloped Countries and Territories) Recommendation (No. 100), 1955, calls (in Paragraph 23 (a)) for arrangements to enable the adoption of a scale of minimum wage rates which would enable the unskilled worker to meet his minimum requirements according to the standards normally accepted in the region and taking into account normal family needs. In the same instrument it was accepted (Paragraph 50) that the general policy, in appropriate circumstances, should be to seek the stabilisation of the workers and their families in or near the employment centres. The implementation of such accepted policies must inevitably have wage and other implications, the final results of which are not yet in sight. It is, nevertheless, already clear that various African governments are beginning to adopt positive means to promote stabilisation of labour. It is not so clear whether this includes provision for the permanent divorce of the workers concerned and their families from their former tribal lands. Southern Rhodesia, the Belgian Congo and Kenya seem to have adopted a policy aiming at the ultimate urbanisation of at least a section of their WAGES AND WAGE POLICY 291 African working communities. Where there is plenty of land and labour the choice is not yet a vital one. For example. Northern Rhodesia, while recognising the need for stabilisation of labour, has not yet accepted urbanisation with all its implications. In other words, while the worker is given every opportunity to live his working life in surroundings at a far higher standard of living than he was used to in his tribal home it is assumed that when he stops working he will go back to that home. In the largely agricultural countries of West Africa the problem has not yet become acute, although the pressure of population in the coastal towns in both British and French territories is giving rise to social problems which urgently need solution. The East Africa Royal Commission, reporting in 1955, considered that labour stabilisation was a matter of such importance as to deserve priority in any government programme of industrial development.1 If this point of view is accepted it follows that consideration must be given to means of providing the worker with the wherewithal to support himself and his family without reference to his Native land unit. This means either that his wages should themselves be adequate for that purpose or that they should be supplemented by family allowances or other benefits. The Inter-African Labour Conference, meeting in Beira in 1955, came to the conclusion that where labour had become stabilised within its working environment, essential conditions for the building of sound human relations were the payment of a wage sufficient to provide for the basic needs of the worker and his family, and the introduction of social security measures designed to remove the worker's natural apprehensions about his economic future. While it may be said that the way in which this statement is phrased rather begs the question in that stabilisation can only follow but cannot precede payment of a " family " wage, nevertheless the implications of the statement are important particularly as it expressed the unanimous viewpoint of the representatives of the Governments of Belgium, France, Portugal, the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, the Union of South Africa and the United Kingdom. From the social point of view the importance of establishing the concept of the " family " wage, particularly in the urban areas, is unchallengeable. Economically its attainment is extremely difficult and the methods of translating it into practice have been much discussed. The family allowance schemes introduced in Belgian and French territories, whatever their theoretical basis, have been of practical assistance towards increasing the total income available to the wage earner to support his family. In other territories where family allowance schemes are not in operation and the basis of the minimum wage is not known, it is difficult to assess what progress is being made towards achieving of the aim of policy—namely, " to bring about a level of wages, which together with social services and other benefits available, will in a general way take account of family responsibilities ".2 Looking at Africa as a whole and accepting the fact that its inhabitants are for the most part engaged in agriculture, it is obvious that there must always be, in the last analysis, a link between the real incomes of wage earners and those of agricultural producers, and that in particular areas the emphasis will vary as between the real incomes derived from subsistence farming and those from production of cash crops. Where there has been considerable development of the latter, with resultant increases in the real incomes of the agricultural section of the population, rates of wages in 1 2 East Africa Royal Commission, 1953-1955: Report, op. cit., pp. 157-158. Labour in the United Kingdom Dependencies, op. cit., p. 22. 292 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY urban areas have inevitably been favourably affected. As the report of the East Africa Royal Commission says— Apart from the factors which govern the demand for labour and the wage which employers are able and willing to pay for the labour they employ, the key to a permanent raising of the supply price of African labour is to foster an increase in the real incomes of the peasants, whether they produce for their own subsistence or for sale in the market. What now emerges is the conclusion that the solution of the African agricultural problem is important not merely as a means of achieving better land usage and raising the incomes of the cultivators, but also as a means to contributing to the solution of the problem of the urban wage earner.1 In this context the approach to the " family " minimum wage becomes not so much a problem of applying a socially acceptable formula but rather of moving experimentally towards the desired result by such methods and at such a pace as the economic circumstances of the territory permit. What of the machinery for this purpose? The Committee of Experts on Social Policy in Non-Metropolitan Territories at its Fourth Session (Dakar, December 1955) adopted a comprehensive series of recommendations on the subject. These recommendations, while intended to be applicable to non-metropolitan territories generally, were drawn up with the problems of Africa very fully in mind and are based on the following main propositions: 1. No satisfactory wages, or indeed social, policy can be evolved except on the basis of workers stabilised with their families at or near the place of their employment. It is recognised that there must always be temporary and seasonal workers to whom this criterion cannot apply, workers perhaps who seek wage-paid employment only when their own agricultural activities are at their lowest point. Yet for the generality of workers the endeavour must surely be actively to encourage the stabilisation of workers and their families at or near the place of their employment. This entails consequences going far beyond mere issues of wage policy, such as provision of housing, hospitals, schools, roads and the other amenities of organised community life, whether on a village or larger scale. As regards wage policy it must entail acceptance of the proposition that as an objective of policy minimum earnings, including any allowances, should be sufficient to support stabilised family life without assistance from outside sources away from the place of employment such as distant land holdings. This objective would have to be attained gradually as a result of general economic development and in step with a general rise in incomes in the subsistence sector of the economy since any large disparity between incomes in that sector and wages in the capitalist sector would be likely to disrupt territorial economies. 2. While collective bargaining is widely regarded as normally the best means for the determination and adjustment of wages and should be actively promoted and encouraged, it is at the same time accepted that in many circumstances the communities concerned are not yet sufficiently advanced to use collective bargaining machinery. In these circumstances, most governments, though not all, have provided statutory wage-fixing machinery for the determination and adjustment of minimum wages. In some of the cases where no such machinery exists its absence may be explained by the rudimentary development of a wage-earning economy, but in any case arrangements suitable to the stage of development reached should be made. 1 East Africa Royal Commission, 1953-1955: Report, op. cit., p. 148. WAGES AND WAGE POLICY 293 3. It is clear that there are, in many territories, wide differences between the prevailing level of wages and any level which it might be the objective of a minimum wage policy to attain. The difficulties of reconciling the actual and the ideal minimum wage level are essentially those of squaring workers' needs with economic feasibility. There is a gap between workers' present living standards in many territories and even a fairly low reckoning of workers' needs, and progress must be made towards closing it. The needs of rapid economic development, considered alone, might suggest a government policy of allocating relatively few resources to raising living standards in the near future, in order to allocate as much as possible to investment designed to raise productive capacity. But when needs are considered, it becomes apparent that the rate of economic development may have to be adjusted to provide for the satisfaction of at least the most urgent needs for improved living standards. The way in which and the extent to which this question is posed in the variety of conditions to be found in African territories are probably never the same in any two, but the problem of how best to strike this balance between workers' needs and economic feasibility is one with which most governments are faced. In these circumstances, at least in those territories where nothing of the kind has been recently undertaken, it would be desirable that a fundamental examination of territorial wages policies in relation to economic development programmes be undertaken. The object of such an examination would be to make a realistic assessment of what the minimum wage or wages should be, having regard to the reasonable needs of workers in relation to the ascertained cost of living, the capacity of the territory to bear any advances necessary to achieve a satisfactory position and the needs of further economic development, always bearing in mind the aim of raising standards of living and securing to workers a fair share of the prosperity of the territory as a whole. Such an examination would probably need to be conducted outside the normal operations of the minimum wage-fixing machinery. It might be found necessary to entrust the task to a specially appointed body which, in addition to representatives of employers and workers, should contain representatives of the authorities responsible for territorial policy in social and economic fields. Alternatively, representatives of such authorities might be specially attached to any central minimum wage-fixing body for this particular purpose. The manner in which proposals for a minimum wage or wages resulting from the deliberations of such a body should be implemented through normal wagefixing machinery or co-ordinated with the adjustment of wages through collective bargaining would be a matter for decision in the light of local circumstances. While the various factors which would have to be taken into account in the course of examinations of the type referred to have not been developed in detail, it is claimed that no realistic appraisement of the minimum needs of a worker and his family can be made except on the basis of household budget inquiries and it is suggested that where these have not been recently undertaken this should be done. The results of such inquiries are needed to provide the basis of the work of any body dealing with wages policy, just as cost-of-living index figures are needed to enable the cost of the pattern budgets to be assessed in terms of current prices and thus provide the data upon which the current monetary needs of the worker and his family can be calculated. 4. Existing systems of wage payment (which are discussed in Chapters II, V and IX) largely reflect the state of economic and social development of the 294 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY territories. Systems of payment by results are evolving very slowly in most territories. The rule is still largely payment based on time work. Payments on a piecework or task basis are, however, used, particularly in agricultural work. But the whole question of incentive systems of remuneration needs fuller and more scientific examination, in the conditions of most African territories, than they have yet received, as a basis for the formulation of policy in regard to them. As practised in most territories, payment by the task positively discourages regular work and places an undue premium on leisure. It is used largely because it entails little supervision and enables the employer to fix costs easily. It would be desirable for territories to obtain as much information as possible on the results in practice of the application of systems of incentive payments; methods of measuring the degree of success obtained and the cost involved; the causes of success or failure; and the possibility of adapting systems of payment by results to special local preferences and needs. It would be most important to seek the co-operation in any such inquiry of both employers and workers. Thus alone could the prospects of successful application of particular systems of remuneration be evaluated in the light of the production processes involved and the attitudes of the workers concerned. 5. The question of the rationalisation of the existing wage structure would seem to merit examination. There seems often to be no very clear relationship between the skills required and the payment for the job. The relationship between the level of wages for skilled manual workers and for the clerical grades sometimes needs examination in the interest of proper distribution of manpower and the development of skills appropriate to territorial needs. More detailed information is needed on the existing structure of wage diiferentials so as to permit examination of their significance and formulation of policies which might appropriately be followed, both by wage-determining authorities and by the parties to collective bargaining, in adapting this structure to the needs of economic development programmes. In some territories problems are posed owing to the existence of salary scales applicable to workers of different origins. Solutions are being increasingly found to these problems but there is still need in certain territories for the establishment, progressively, of wage scales providing full coverage of all degrees of skill and qualification applicable to workers, without regard to origin, possessing the necessary competence. CHAPTER IX RECRUITMENT, CONTRACTS OF EMPLOYMENT AND CONDITIONS OF WORK Details concerning the African labour force, manpower supply, distribution of workers by industry and major migratory movements have been given in Chapter IV. Other questions such as the productivity of African labour, vocational training and wage policies have also been dealt with in previous chapters. It would therefore be appropriate at this stage to describe first, the conditions in which recruitment and the engagement of wage earners take place and, second, the various schemes governing contracts of employment and the general working conditions of African wage earners. Considerable change has occurred in these fields, particularly as regards recruitment. It is well known that in the early stages of European economic penetration Africans showed little inclination to look for paid employment of their own accord. They went about their customary activities according to the traditional rules of the society to which they belonged; they had no experience of the European system of work in return for pay, and memories of the slave trade, which lived on in some territories, encouraged them to keep away from European undertakings. As a result the offer of labour may be said to have been practically non-existent. This was the dominant feature of the labour market with which governments and private enterprise were faced. In order to carry out public works such as roads and railways and to satisfy the manpower needs experienced by undertakings such as plantations and mines, various methods of direct or indirect pressure were adopted. The result was the more or less widespread and systematic imposition of forced labour on the African population, particularly in territories where Europeans did not confine themselves to trading but also engaged in agriculture or mining. Native chiefs were required periodically to supply contingents of able-bodied men, the numbers of which were fixed by the authorities. These men were used primarily for public works, although some of them might be turned over to private employers. Moreover, even in the case of recruitment by private individuals, coercion played a large part since such operations were carried out with the help and direct participation of the authorities. Taxes imposed on able-bodied men in some territories constituted an indirect form of forced labour, since only through paid employment could many Africans hope to find the necessary money. Considerable changes have of course taken place since then, but even now the situation varies appreciably from one territory to another. At present, wherever modern economic activities have expanded so as to permit the development of a money-based economy in African territories, normal economic incentives have proved increasingly effective in inducing Africans to seek paid employment of their own accord. This development has been facihtated by a 296 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY conjunction of factors such as the deterioration of living conditions in the African subsistence economy, the desire to escape from the traditional rules and disciplines of tribal societies, the attraction, largely psychological, exerted by cities and modern centres of economic activity on young men from hinterland villages and, finally, government labour policy as reflected in law and practice. New consumer patterns, particularly African demand for European consumer goods, have exerted a similar influence. In these circumstances it became increasingly clear that economic and social incentives, such as rising wages and better living and working conditions for African workers in the centres of employment could, if left to operate freely, create an abundant labour supply which, moreover, would be more efficient than labour obtained through traditional coercive practices. Workers so recruited were often characterised by a very low output and required constant and close supervision, entailing a large supervisory staff. Thus they often cost more than workers hired on a voluntary basis, even allowing for the higher wages paid to the latter. As a result the early methods of recruiting were gradually abandoned. This, of course, was an essential condition for the development of the new economic incentives which were to draw increasing numbers of able-bodied men to the modern industrialised areas, since employers, as long as they could rely on the authorities to help them over recruitment, felt no need to improve their workers' pay and conditions. At present, as will be seen further on, the direct hiring of labour without the help of recruiting agents has become an almost universal practice in the various territories or groups of territories. Conversely, long-term employment contracts backed by penal sanctions are nearly everywhere being replaced by contracts renewable for periods of a month or a day. As for penal sanctions for breach of contract, they have almost completely disappeared. With respect to working conditions, developments which have taken place in the various territories, particularly as regards the provision of housing, food and medical assistance for the workers, will be described later in this chapter. It will be shown that the practice of paying an all-in cash wage is steadily gaining ground in Africa, and that food and housing in such cases are no longer supplied by the employer. This is coming to be the prevailing practice, particularly in urban areas where a worker can easily find his own food and housing. It seems, moreover, that in most cases the worker himself prefers this system. Hours of work, rest periods and holidays will also be discussed, with emphasis on the general features of the relevant law and practice of the various territories. The chapter concludes with a section dealing with the employment of women and children and the problems it involves. FORCED LABOUR International Standards on Forced Labour Efforts to abolish forced labour were for many years pursued at the international level, culminating in 1930 in the adoption by the International Labour Conference of the Forced Labour Convention (No. 29), which was intended primarily to deal with the situation in Africa and the non-metropolitan territories. RECRUITMENT, CONTRACTS OF EMPLOYMENT AND CONDITIONS OF WORK 297 This Convention laid down that " the use of forced or compulsory labour in all its forms " should be suppressed "within the shortest possible period " (Article 1, paragraph 1). The Convention, however, drew a distinction between forced labour for private employers, which was forbidden immediately and entirely, and forced labour for public purposes, in connection with which exemptions were allowed. Article 1, paragraph 2, provided for a transitional period during which forced or compulsory labour might be used " for public purposes only and as an exceptional measure " subject to the conditions and guarantees contained in the Convention. The forms of forced labour permitted under the Convention included forced labour exacted for the execution of work in the public interest; forced labour as a form of tax or as personal services exacted by chiefs who are duly recognised; forced labour for the transport of persons and stores (porterage), and forced labour in agriculture as a measure of protection against famine or a deficiency of food supplies. Article 2, paragraph 2, excludes from the definition of forced or compulsory labour work or service exacted in virtue of military service laws; work which forms part of normal civic obligations; work exacted from any person as a consequence of a conviction in a court of law, provided that the said work is carried out under the supervision of the public authorities and that the worker is not placed at the disposal of private individuals, companies or associations; work or services exacted in cases of emergency ; and minor communal services, performed in the direct interest of the community by members of the community. At the present time the Convention is in force throughout the Continent south of the Sahara except in the Union of South Africa and in Ethiopia; in the Belgian Congo it has been applied with certain modifications. As the I.L.O. Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations stated in its report of 1955, this is one of the Conventions whose provisions have for the most part been surpassed by the social evolution which has taken place in the majority of territories.1 It seems, in fact, that forced labour as defined in the Convention has almost entirely disappeared in Africa, and consequently it is no longer of importance, in the vast majority of cases, for problems connected with the employment of Africans. It has also been noted that less and less use is being made of those forms of forced or compulsory labour permitted by the Convention during the transitional period. The International Labour Conference at its 39th Session in 1956 accordingly adopted a resolution requesting the Governing Body " to consider the placing of the question of the revision of the Forced Labour Convention, 1930, on the agenda of the earliest possible session of the Conference ". Moreover, the Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957, which concerns other forms of forced labour, was adopted at the 40th Session of the International Labour Conference. National Law and Practice The following is a summary of the information obtained from available reports on the present situation in the African territories in regard to forced labour. 1 I.L.O. : Report of the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations, Report III (Part IV), International Labour Conference, 38th Session, Geneva, 1955 (Geneva, 1955), p. 8. 298 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Belgian Territories. The Forced Labour Convention, 1930, is applicable in the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi subject to three modifications. The most important of these concerns Article 19 and states that compulsory agricultural work may be imposed " for the purpose of agricultural instruction ". The other two modifications concern Article 2; the first provides that labour exacted under military service laws may be not only for work of a strictly military character but also for work of public interest, if so decided by the competent authorities; the other modification places sanctions imposed by the administration on the same footing as work exacted as a consequence of a conviction in a court of law. Compulsory cultivation, which seems in the past to have played an important role in the Belgian Congo, still exists in the form of work for instructional purposes. Furthermore, the decree of 10 May 1957 on indigenous administrative districts requires a maximum of 45 days per year to be spent on compulsory individual growing of foodstuffs wholly for the benefit of the population and on the maintenance of improvements such as drainage, irrigation and soil conservation works in the lands which are being tilled. In addition, if there is a shortage of voluntary labour, all able-bodied men may be required by the Native authorities to share, for a maximum of not more than 15 days, in the work imposed on the indigenous districts. This work may include among other things the construction of sanitary installations and the erection of schools and administrative buildings. The manpower employed on the forms of labour referred to above is paid by the administrative districts at the rates customary for the area. This obligation to work is also subject to a certain number of new guarantees under the terms of the decree of 10 May 1957. It is, for example, laid down that the circumstances must be exceptional and that, in the special case of labour for the purpose of agricultural instruction, the provincial Governor must in his decree state the instructional purpose of the work and the length of time for which it shall retain its instructional character. It must be pointed out, however, that the indigenous population in extra-tribal centres is not covered by the regulations on forced labour. According to a statement made by a representative of the Belgian Government at the International Labour Conference in 1956 " these obligations now only applied to a tiny and diminishing proportion of the population ".1 In conclusion, it should be noted that liability for porterage and labour for public works still exists in the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi, as does also the giving of service to Native chiefs, but it is possible for an individual to buy himself out of forced labour on payment of a fixed sum. British Territories. Forced labour as defined by the 1930 Convention is at present forbidden in all British territories in Africa. Nevertheless, forms of forced labour permitted by the Convention have not yet been abolished in some territories. Porterage, for instance, still exists in Nigeria, Uganda and Tanganyika, and so does service given to Native chiefs in Bechuanaland 1 I.L.O. : Record of Proceedings, International Labour Conference, 39th Session, Geneva, 1956 (Geneva, 1957), p. 684. RECRUITMENT, CONTRACTS OF EMPLOYMENT AND CONDITIONS OF WORK 299 and Swaziland, though only to a very limited extent. Compulsory agricultural work is recognised in Gambia, Bechuanaland and Tanganyika; and in Bechuanaland, Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika use is still made of forced labour for public purposes, subject to the provisions of the Convention. Ghana. Forced labour as defined in the 1930 Convention is formally forbidden by Labour Ordinance No. 16 of 1948. This ordinance provides for exceptions in connection with penal servitude, compulsory work or service in case of war or a calamity, and minor communal services. These exceptions are similar to those covered by the Convention. French Territories. Act No. 46-645 of 11 April 19461 laid down in article 1 that " forced and compulsory labour shall be absolutely prohibited in the overseas territories". It appears that, despite the formal nature of this text, requisitioning of workers in the form of what was called " the second line of the military contingent " continued in certain territories for some time. An end was finally put to this practice by a decree dated 6 February 1950. The Labour Code for Overseas Territories of 1952 (now in force in the French territories) reproduces the text of article 1 of the Act dated 11 April 1946, to which reference was made earlier. Furthermore it defines forced labour in a phrase which reproduces the actual wording of the Convention: " all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of a penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily." The legislation now in force allows for no exceptions, and in French territories recourse may in no case be had even to the forms of forced labour temporarily permitted by the 1930 Convention. Liberia. It appears that certain forms of forced labour are allowed in Liberia in circumstances which are not entirely in line with the terms of the Forced Labour Convention. This applies to road repairs and porterage. Other divergences affecting Articles 4, 12 and 25 of the Convention have also been noted by the I.L.O. Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations.2 During the 1956 and 1957 Sessions of the International Labour Conference a representative of the Government stated in this connection that a draft Labour Code was then before the legislature which would make possible full application of the Convention in Liberia. Portuguese Territories. The Forced Labour Convention was ratified by Portugal on 26 June 1956; consequently it has only been in force in the Portuguese territories of Africa for a very short time. The first reports that the Portuguese Government is required to submit to the I.L.O. on the conditions of application of the Convention will be due for the period 1957-58. 1 I.L.O. Legislative Series, 1946—Fr. 4. I.L.O.: Report of the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations, International Labour Conference, 39th Session, Geneva, 1956 (Geneva, 1956), pp. 49-50. 2 300 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY A study of existing legislation, however, shows that forced labour is forbidden in Portuguese territories. None the less, Portuguese legislation contains certain provisos and divergences from the terms of the 1930 Convention. For example, section 3 of the Native Labour Code of 19281 forbids forced labour on behalf of private individuals in the following terms : " The Government of the Republic shall neither impose upon the Natives of its colonies nor allow others to extract from them any kind of compulsory or forced labour for private purposes, without prejudice to the discharge by the said Natives of the moral obligation incumbent upon them to procure the means of subsistence by labour and thereby to promote the general interests of mankind." The problem of forced labour for private purposes arises particularly in connection with the aid given by the authorities in the process of recruiting workers. This problem may be of considerable importance when recruiting is done on a large scale, as apparently is the case in certain Portuguese territories. The point will be examined when dealing with the way in which methods of recruiting manpower are regulated in the Portuguese territories. Forced or compulsory labour for public purposes is allowed by existing legislation for the execution of public works, whether governmental or municipal. It appears that the Portuguese legislative texts do not fully apply certain Articles of the Convention in respect of this form of forced labour. Articles 11 and 12, for instance, give the age limits of workers who may be called upon to help with public works (between 18 and 45 years according to the Convention but between 14 and 60 years in Portuguese legislation) and the maximum periods for which workers may be retained at such work. Notwithstanding the terms of the Convention, these periods are not limited in Portuguese legislation. Compulsory cultivation of land is also provided for under the Native Labour Code (section 296 (e)). Here too, Portuguese law is not entirely in line with the Convention, for the only limitation it puts on compulsory cultivation is that the produce of these lands must " accrue exclusively to the persons who cultivate them or, in accordance with Native custom, to a specified Native community ". Under Article 19 of the Convention compulsory work on the land may only be enacted " as a measure of protection against famine or a deficiency of food supplies ". Moreover, the cultivation of certain products such as castor oil plants and cotton, the expansion of which is actively encouraged by the Government, is subject to special regulations in Angola and Mozambique. Cultivation of these items is under the control of European undertakings holding concessions from the authorities, who aid and supervise them. For cotton, by far the most important crop, the legal provisions now in force are those contained in Legislative Decree No. 40405 of 24 November 1955. Nothing in these provisions allows the cultivation of cotton to be put on the same legal footing as compulsory cultivation, but it has been stated in a book published recently by an official Portuguese agency that " in practice, it often happens that the zeal (or excess of zeal) of the authorities causes them to go beyond legal limits, and they act as though the system in force were that of compulsory cultivation ".2 1 1.L.O. Legislative Series, 1928—Por. 3. J. M. da SILVA CUNHA: O Trabalho Indígena (.Lisbon, Agencia Geral do Ultramar, 1955), 264. 2 RECRUITMENT, CONTRACTS OF EMPLOYMENT AND CONDITIONS OF WORK 301 Finally, Portuguese legislation permits forced labour as a form of tax in circumstances which also appear to be slightly diiferent from those laid down in Article 10 of Convention No. 29.1 Union of South Africa. According to statements made on several occasions by the Union Government, it would seem that, by and large, the Convention is applied by that country with the exception of Article 2 (c), which states that the labour of prisoners must not be placed at the disposal of private individuals, companies or associations. Actually, the hiring of prisoners to private individuals, particularly for agricultural labour, seems very widespread in South Africa. According to some allegations, tens of thousands of Africans, including prisoners sentenced for trivial offences such as violations of the pass laws, are compelled to work for private agricultural undertakings at rates far below the normal agricultural wage level.2 RECRUITMENT AND ENGAGEMENT OF WORKERS International Standards on Recruitment Before the great economic crisis of the 1930s the undertakings that had been established in most African territories normally made use of recruiting agents to obtain most of the manpower they needed. Abuses of many sorts occurred almost everywhere in connection with recruiting. Not only did pressure play a considerable part in the process, but the employers' and governments' growing need for manpower led to excessive numbers of ablebodied men being taken, and the repercussions of these methods on the population structure and social balance of the African communities were sometimes alarming. An example of this is provided by the Belgian Congo, where a special committee set up by the Government in 1924 to study the problem of manpower recommended maximum percentages of adult able-bodied men which it considered could be recruited for work in European undertakings without endangering the balance of Native society; a little later, towards the end of 1930, a mission despatched to the Congo by the Belgian Minister for Colonies expressed the view that nine out of ten adult males should normally remain in their villages. Similar situations existed in many other territories. These began to be less acute during the economic crisis of 1930, which led to a sharp fall in the prices and exports of the major products of the colonies. In fact, as the demand for manpower fell off, so too did the business of recruiting. In some territories it ceased entirely. The International Labour Organisation then decided to make a study of the control of recruiting, and in 1936 it was able to obtain the adoption by the International Labour Conference of the Recruiting of Indigenous Workers Convention, 1936 (No. 50). "^The statutes in force concerning this matter are: in Portuguese Guinea, Ordinance No. 51 of 17 May 1937; in Angola, Legislative Decree No. 237 of 26 May; in Mozambique, Ordinance No. 6401 of 30 May 1946. 2 See United Nations-International Labour Office: Report of the Ad Hoc Committee on Forced Labour, Studies and Reports, New Series, No. 36 (Geneva, 1953), pp. 374-376 and 392-394. 302 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY The main aim was to carry a step further the efforts of the I.L.O. for the complete abolition of all forms of pressure on labour. It was also intended to lay down principles and rules that would make recruiting methods more efficient and more satisfactory in a way that would meet all manpower lequirements while at the same time giving greater protection to the workers recruited. The Recruiting of Indigenous Workers Convention was adopted in 1936; it begins with a definition of the term "recruiting", stating in Article 2: The term " recruiting " includes all operations undertaken with the object of obtaining or supplying the labour of persons who do not spontaneously offer their services at the place of employment or at a public emigration or employment office or at an office conducted by an employers' organisation and supervised by the competent authority. The essential feature of recruiting, as defined in the Convention, is then the fact that it aims at enrolling as wage earners persons who are not seeking work of their own accord. The Convention applies to " Native workers ", and according to another part of Article 2 this term covers— workers belonging to, or assimilated to, the indigenous populations of the dependent territories of Members of the Organisation and workers belonging to, or assimilated to, the dependent indigenous populations of the home territories of Members of the Organisation. The first aim of the Convention was, as has been pointed out above, to reduce the risk of pressure being brought to bear during the operation of recruiting. Under Article 4 the competent authorities are therefore required, before approving any scheme of economic development which is likely to involve recruiting of labour, to take measures— to avoid the risk of pressure being brought to bear on the populations concerned by or or on behalf of the employers in order to obtain the labour required. The same purpose is behind the Articles dealing with recruiting agencies and the control of their activities. First, recruitment for private undertakings by public officers, either directly or indirectly, is strictly forbidden except when the recruited workers are to be employed on works of public utility (Article 9) ; it was generally felt that this form of recruiting was likely to lead to pressure being put on the populations. It is also forbidden for Native chiefs to act as recruiting agents, to exercise pressure upon possible recruits or to receive remuneration in any form whatsoever for assistance in recruiting (Article 10). Lastly, recruiting by professional recruiting agents or by employers or their agents is placed under the strict control of the competent authorities, and they may only engage in recruiting if they are licensed. Only those who satisfy certain conditions and are able to prove that they are fit and proper persons may be granted a licence for recruiting. The measures to be taken to protect the Native communities from excessive demands for manpower were, as has been stated above, one of the most serious and intractable problems with which the Convention tried to deal. On this point Article 5 lays down the principle that before granting permission to recruit labour the competent authorities must always consider the possible effects of the withdrawal of adult males on the social life of the community to which they belong. This Article also stipulates that the authorities may restrict recruitment RECRUITMENT, CONTRACTS OF EMPLOYMENT AND CONDITIONS OF WORK 303 by fixing the maximum number of adult males who may be recruited in any given social unit. The Convention also provides for a certain number of obligations dealing with the protection of workers after they have been recruited but before they reach their place of work. These obligations include— (a) administrative control by a public official, before whom all recruited workers shall be brought by the recruiting agent so that the official may satisfy himself that the law and regulations concerning recruiting have been observed; (b) a medical inspection which must take place as near as may be convenient to the place of recruiting (a second medical inspection may be required after the worker has reached his place of work); (c) measures to ensure the welfare of the workers during the journey to the place of work ; (d) payment by the employer or recruiting agent of the expenses of the workers' journey and, in certain cases, of their repatriation; (e) limitation of the amount which may be paid to recruited workers in respect of advances of wages and regulation of the conditions under which such advances may be made. Finally, if workers are recruited for employment in territories under a different administration, the authorities of the recruiting territory are required, under Article 24 of the Convention, to satisfy themselves that all necessary measures have been taken for the protection of the recruited workers when they have left the territory in which they were recruited. In this connection provision is made for agreements between the authorities of the two territories providing for co-operation between them in supervising the execution of the conditions of recruiting and employment. At its 1936 Session the International Labour Conference also approved a Recommendation concerning the progressive elimination of recruiting. This Recommendation invites the Members of the International Labour Organisation " to direct their policy . . . towards the progressive elimination of the recruiting of labour and to the development of the spontaneous offer of labour ". It recommends that each Member take steps to hasten such elimination by— (a) improvement of the conditions of labour; (b) development of the means of transport; (c) promotion of the settlement of workers and their families in the area of employment, where such settlement is the policy of the competent authority; (d) facilitating the voluntary movement of labour under administrative supervision and control; and (e) the educational development of indigenous peoples and the improvement of their standard of living. It should also be noted that the Protection of Migrant Workers (Underdeveloped Countries) Recommendation, adopted by the Conference at its 1955 Session, lays down in Paragraph 17 (c) that recruiting should be limited " in regions where the withdrawal of labour might have untoward effects on the social and economic organisation, and the health, welfare and development of the population concerned ". 304 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY This Recommendation also contains provisions dealing with various aspects of the protection of migrant workers, both during their journey and during the period of their employment. In practice recruitment is now far less widespread than formerly. In the years immediately preceding the Second World War, coercive recruitment practices had already disappeared to a large extent and African workers clearly preferred direct hiring. This general tendency gained further momentum after the war. As pointed out by the I.L.O. Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations— the most striking illustration of the social evolution of the great majority of non-metropolitan territories is undoubtedly given by the fact that all forms of recruitment in the sense in which this term is used in Convention No. 50 are progressively disappearing and at the same time the manpower of these territories is less and less ready to be bound by longterm contracts.1 Nevertheless, recruitment as defined by the Convention continues to play an important part in some economically and demographically underprivileged or generally underdeveloped areas. National Law and Practice Belgian Territories. The Recruiting of Indigenous Workers Convention has been applied without modification in the Belgian Congo and to Ruanda-Urundi since 1948, and its essential provisions are repeated almost word for word in the legislation in force in these territories. Thus, in the Belgian Congo the legal definition of " recruiting ", given by decree of 19 July 1954, is identical with that of Article 2 of the Convention. All methods of bringing pressure to bear on indigenous workers to ensure their recruitment or engagement by private employers are specifically prohibited, both by the Colonial Charter and by the Royal Order of 19 July 1954. The latter provides for penalties and fines against "whoever uses violence, threats, false promises or fraudulent means, either in the recruitment or in the engagement of Natives ". Moreover, public oificials are prohibited from taking part directly in recruiting operations. In this respect the Commission officially appointed in 1925 to study the manpower problems of the Congo did decide, as a temporary measure, that the authorities could encourage recruitment on behalf of private undertakings. However, the delegation of the Consultative Committee on Manpower of the Belgian Ministry for the Colonies, following its visit to the Congo in 1931, took the view that this transitional period should be terminated. A year later the question was definitely resolved when the Minister for the Colonies issued instructions to the Governor-General of the Belgian Congo laying down that the role of the Administration must be limited to " active and continuous publicity in a general way ", 1 See Report of the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations, 1955, op. cit., p. 8. RECRUITMENT, CONTRACTS OF EMPLOYMENT AND CONDITIONS OF WORK 305 and that the practice of sending an official agent to accompany recruiters for private undertakings could no longer be allowed.1 The provisions of the Convention which forbid indigenous chiefs to act as recruiters or exert any pressure on the persons recruited are also repeated in the Congo legislation (article 10 of the decree of 30 June 1954). Mention has already been made of the various official commissions set up to study manpower problems in the Congo. As a result of the work of these commissions regulations were issued stipulating that the proportion of workers authorised to leave their natural surroundings in order to take up work in a distant region should not be more than 10 per cent, of the total of able-bodied men; another 15 per cent, could be engaged on the spot, making a total of 25 per cent, of the able-bodied adult males authorised to take wage-earning employment. The administration also had the power to prohibit or restrict recruitment in particular regions if they judged it necessary in the light of the demographic, economic, or social circumstances of the population. This power to prohibit or restrict recruitment during a certain period within specified regions was confirmed by the decree of 30 June 1954, which also authorised Provincial Governors and, in cases of emergency. District Commissioners, to apply the same rule to workers seeking engagements spontaneously. Furthermore, according to the legal provisions in force in the Belgian Congo, no one can engage in recruitment activities without obtaining a recruiting licence. This obligation is not imposed, however, on persons who recruit on their own behalf less than 25 workers a year or less than 50 porters or boatmen for a period of less than 30 days. It should be added that the conditions applying to the issue of the licence conform to the standards laid down in the Recruiting of Indigenous Workers Convention. The legislation of the Belgian Congo governing recruitment and contracts of service—which has been applied in its entirety to Ruanda-Urundi—also includes clauses providing for the medical examination of the workers and payment of their travel and repatriation expenses and laying down rules for making wage advances, as well as for lodging and suitable food. For some time the Congo authorities have been making ample use of the powers given them as regards the restriction or prohibition of activities concerned with recruitment or engagement of workers. The policy which they have followed in this respect is to be found in the principle laid down by M. Pétillon, Governor-General of the Belgian Congo, in an address at the opening of the Government Council in 1952, in the following terms: "The preservation of the characteristic atmosphere of the Native village must be the inspiration of our demographic policy and guide us in all questions of manpower." However in spite of the official attitude the maximum percentages of men recruited for work have not been strictly adhered to in practice. On the one hand, the fixing of a base line for such percentages presents great difficulty, while, on the other hand, no account has been taken of voluntary engagements. Thus the rate of able-bodied men engaged has, generally speaking, exceeded the maximum of 25 per cent, laid down in 1925 by the Commission on Manpower. In fact, the total number of wage earners in the Congo during recent years has attained around 38 1 See I.L.O. : The Recruiting of Labour in Colonies and in Other Territories with Analogous Labour Conditions, Report IV, International Labour Conference, 19th Session (Geneva, 1935), (Geneva, 1935), pp. 25-26 and 132-133. 306 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY per cent, of all able-bodied men. In the province of Léopoldville the paid labour force represented in 1952 a proportion of 46 per cent., of which 26 per cent, were employed outside their normal surroundings. Various decrees continue to be issued every year by the provincial authorities with the object of restricting or prohibiting recruitment. As a result of these measures, and because of the general evolution common to other territories, recruitment for work at long distances from the place of residence has steadily diminished, while the number of voluntary engagements, although subject to restrictions similar to those placed on recruitment, has steadily increased. At the present time it appears that remote plantations and mining undertakings have been resorting to recruitment to a certain extent. On the other hand, the engagement of labour in towns and extra-tribal centres by means of recruiting agents has largely fallen into disuse, the great majority of workers being men who seek work of their own accord and who are engaged directly by employers at their places of work. British Territories. The legislation in force in British territories everywhere includes provisions dealing with the recruitment of workers in terms which generally correspond very closely to the standards laid down in the Recruiting of Indigenous Workers Convention, 1936, which was ratified by the Government of the United Kingdom in 1939. It should first be noted that even the definition of recruiting as given in Article 2 (a) of the Convention is applied almost identically in most of the territories. This is the case, for example, in Nigeria1, Sierra Leone2, and Gambia3 , as well as in Kenya 4, Tanganyika5, Uganda6, Southern Rhodesia7, Nyasaland 8 and Swaziland.9 In Northern Rhodesia the legislation in force does not contain any definition of recruiting.10 It does, however, regard as " indigenous recruits " all indigenous workers whose engagements have been secured by the action of a labour agent or of a person working on behalf of such an agent. The law also regards as "labour agents " persons who engage workers in general even when the indigenous workers spontaneously offer their services. It would seem, therefore, that the provisions governing recruitment in Northern Rhodesia cover a wider area than those of other territories. In Kenya the law deals with labour agents in a similar manner, but it only covers persons who engage and direct workers offering their services spontaneously. Recruitment, within the meaning of Article 2 of the Recruiting of Indigenous Workers Convention, is covered by other provisions which authorise its practice either by employers themselves or by professional recruiters. 1 The Labour Code Ordinance (J.L.O. Legislative Series, 1946—Nig. 1). Recruiting of Workers Ordinance. The Recruiting of Workers Ordinance, No. 1 of 1940. 4 Employment Ordinance; Laws of Kenya, Cap. 109. 5 Ordinance No. 47 of 1955 (I.L.O. Legislative Series, 1955—Tan. 1). 6 Employment Ordinance; Laws of Uganda, Cap. 83. 7 Native Labour Regulations; Laws of Southern Rhodesia, Cap. 86. 8 Ordinance No. 3 of 1954 (I.L.O. Legislative Series, 1954—Ny. 1). 9 Proclamation No. 45 of 15 Sep. 1954 (I.L.O. Legislative Series, 1954—Swa. 1). 10 Employment of Natives, Laws of Northern Rhodesia, Cap. 171. 2 3 RECRUITMENT, CONTRACTS OF EMPLOYMENT AND CONDITIONS OF WORK 307 In the majority of territories under the administration of the United Kingdom no statutory provisions exist comparable to Article 9 of the Convention prohibiting public authorities from recruiting workers for private undertakings, but this practice is forbidden by administrative regulations governing the status and duties of officials. Administrative control of recruitment and the methods of issuing licences to recruiters, as well as various measures for protecting recruited workers during their journeys, are always covered by provisions which follow very closely the standards of the Convention. At the present stage in the development of the majority of the territories under British administration it is becoming more and more difficult to discover a demarcation line between " recruited " workers within the terms of the Convention and workers directly engaged by labour agents or recruiters. Moreover, there is little doubt that " recruitment ", strictly speaking, wherever it is still practised, is chiefly carried out by employers and their organisations, professional recruiters having practically disappeared. In Southern Rhodesia the law makes no provision regarding professional recruiters, all recruitment being carried out either through a specially created organisation (the Native Labour Supply Commission) or by employers who have been licensed for this purpose. In Kenya, although professional recruiters are still allowed by the terms of the law to operate, their activity seems to have completely ceased during recent years. Similarly, in Tanganyika, out of a total of 583 recruiting licences issued during the year 1955, only three were issued to professional recruiters.1 In Nyasaland the only organisations authorised to recruit workers going to Southern Rhodesia are the Native Labour Supply Commission and a tobacco-producing undertaking; while the recruiting of workers for the Union of South Africa is confined exclusively to the Witwatersrand Native Labour Association. The present importance of recruitment, regarded as a system designed to secure manpower, varies considerably among the different territories, although everywhere it is diminishing because of the increasing numbers of workers who are voluntarily presenting themselves at the places of work. In the territories of British West Africa, salaried workers, as has already been mentioned, are very few in proportion to the total population. Thus recruitment has never been practised on a considerable scale. It seems to have completely ceased both in Sierra Leone and in Gambia. In Nigeria the only recruitment of any significance concerns workers going either to the island of Fernando Poo or to the Gabon. The numbers of recruits during the year 1953-54, however, were only 4,117 (accompanied by 437 women and 200 children) for Fernando Poo and 404 (accompanied by 51 women and 12 children) for the Gabon. Agreements concluded by the Nigerian Government with both the Spanish authorities and those of French Equatorial Africa guarantee the protection of these workers.2 As regards recruitment for work in the interior of Nigeria, only two licences were issued in 1953-54, dealing respectively with 500 and 20 workers. In the British Cameroons during the same period three recruiting licences were issued to European plantations, covering a total of 1,100 workers.3 1 Tanganyika: Annual Report of the Labour Department, 1955, op. cit., p. 6. The Agreement between Nigeria and Fernando Poo was renewed in October 1957, at which time it was altered to provide, inter alia, for substantial wage increases and the abolition of penal sanctions for breaches of employment contracts. 3 See Federation of Nigeria: Annual Report of the Department of Labour for the Year 1953-54, op. cit., pp. 16-17. 2 308 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY In British East Africa, on the other hand, recruitment takes on a much wider significance. In Tanganyika, for example, 27,777 workers were recruited in 1955, against 30,610 in 1954. These figures correspond to about 67 per cent, of the African wage-earning labour force. In addition, a certain number of workers (2,065 in 1955, accompanied by 1,696 dependants) are regularly recruited in RuandaUrundi for periods of work of three years' duration in the European plantations of Tanganyika.1 In Kenya, although no data is available on which to estimate the volume of recruitment, the present situation is clearly indicated in the following passage from a report by the Government of Kenya to the I.L.O. : Recruiting operations are conducted principally for the plantation industries and agriculture, but the bulk of the labour force seeks employment independently or is forwarded by labour agents after offering itself spontaneously at well-known centres in or adjacent to the tribal areas The volume of recruiting is generally tending to decline as African workers show a greater inclination to settle permanently in centres of employment and employers realise the advantages of stabilising their labour at the place of employment. Africans are also more inclined to travel independently to and from work, as communications develop.2 Finally, in Uganda, a total of 23,378 workers were recruited in the interior of the territory in 1955, against 17,414 during the previous year. Also, 1,857 Africans were recruited in Ruanda-Urundi with contracts of three years' duration, mainly for employment in the sugar-cane plantations of Uganda. The situation in the two Rhodesias in regard to recruitment differs very little from that in Kenya. In fact, the number of recruits in relation to the wage-earning labour force is relatively small. In Northern Rhodesia the annual report of the Department of Labour for 1954 shows that only 8,743 workers were recruited, 2,816 of them by the planters' organisation (the Northern Trust Limited), 3,632 by the Witwatersrand Native Labour Association for transfer to the Union of South Africa, and 2,295 by labour agents or farmers, to whom 66 recruiting licences were issued. Furthermore, in Southern Rhodesia, during the year 1953, the Rhodesia Native Labour Supply Commission provided a total of 13,072 recruited workers to undertakings in various sectors of the economy.3 It is worthy of note that about 50 per cent, of wage earners employed in Southern Rhodesia come from neighbouring territories, the number of migrants arriving in the territory in 1953 being 116,735. Of this total 71,749 workers, all of them voluntary seekers of employment, were transported there by the Southern Rhodesia Government Migrant Labour Transport Services (U.L.E.R.E.). The U.L.E.R.E. is a service under the control of the Department of Native Labour which was set up to provide free transport for all migrants coming from Northern Rhodesia, Nyasaland and Mozambique, who, without previously being recruited, come on their own initiative to Southern Rhodesia to seek work. The number of workers transported by the U.L.E.R.E. doubled between 1943 and 1953. Such a growth demonstrates clearly how the system of recruitment in Central Africa has diminished, for the development of the U.L.E.R.E.'s activities has been 1 2 Tanganyika: Annual Report of the Labour Department, 1955, op. cit. p. 6. I.L.O. : Summary of Reports of Ratified Conventions, Report III (Part I) : International Labour Conference, 38th Session, Geneva, 1955 (Geneva, 1955), p. 340. 3 Southern Rhodesia : Report of the Secretary for Native Affairs, Chief Native Commissioner and Director of Native Development for the Year 1953 (Salisbury, Government Printer, 1954), p. 22. RECRUITMENT, CONTRACTS OF EMPLOYMENT AND CONDITIONS OF WORK 309 due partly—in the opinion of the Southern Rhodesian authorities—to " the migrants' confidence in the service because it has no connection with the recruitment of labour".1 In Swaziland, Bechuanaland, and Basutoland the present legislation is equally in conformity with the fundamental provisions of the 1936 Convention.2 It should be noted in particular, that this legislation reproduces Articles 9 and 10 of the Convention, concerning the prohibition of recruiting either by public authorities or indigenous chiefs, and thus differs from the legislation in force in the majority of other British territories. It would not appear that recruited workers are employed within these territories because nearly the whole of the indigenous population is made up of independent farmers. It is nevertheless true that recruiting plays a significant part as regards migrant labour which moves regularly towards the Union of South Africa to work in the mines and other enterprises there. Thus, out of 21,000 migrants who left Bechuanaland in 1954 to go to the Union, 19,000 were workers under contract, recruited by the recruiting agencies of the Rand mining companies, namely the Witwatersrand Native Labour Association and the Native Recruiting Corporation.3 In Basutoland, there were, during the same year, 62,858 emigrants, of whom 37,771 went to the mines4; while in Swaziland it was estimated (also in 1954) that between 6,000 and 7,000 persons went to the Union of South Africa every year to work in the mines.5 The workers in the Transvaal mines who come from Bechuanaland or Basutoland are engaged on a nine months' contract in an undertaking designated on their arrival in Johannesburg. At the same time, it is open to them to choose a system of recruitment, called the " Assisted Voluntary System ", under which they undertake only to travel to the Union and then to present themselves for work in a mine of their choice. In this case, they receive a money advance to allow them to meet the expenses of transport and food, and in practice they usually work in the mine for less than nine months.6 It appears that a very large proportion of the workers prefer the latter type of engagement. An official agency, called the " Agency for the High Commission Territories ", has been established in Johannesburg and deals with all questions relating to the protection of migrants coming from these three territories. This agency seeks especially to maintain contact between the workers and their villages of origin and to ensure their repatriation once their period of work is ended. One of the principal objectives of the local administrations and of the indigenous chiefs of the three territories is to encourage the migrants not to stay away from their Native villages for long periods. The law in these territories therefore provides that if the employer does not fulfil his obligations in regard to repatriation the worker is to be repatriated by the administration of his territory of 1 Southern Rhodesia : Report of the Secretary for Native Affairs, Chief Native Commissioner and Director of Native Development for the Year 1953 (Salisbury, Government Printer, 1954), p. 23. 2 See Swaziland: Labour Code (I.L.O. Legislative Series, 1954—Swa. 1); Bechuanaland: Native Labour Proclamation; Basutoland: Native Labour Proclamation. 3 Commonwealth Relations Office: Colonial Reports: Bechuanaland Protectorate, 1954 (London, H.M. Stationery Office, 1955), p. 9. "Idem: Colonial Reports: Basutoland, 1954 (London, H.M. Stationery Office, 1955), p. 22. 5 Idem: Colonial Reports: Swaziland, 1954 (London, H.M. Stationery Office, 1955), p. 7. 6 See on this subject M. I. SCHAPERA: Migrant Labour and Tribal Life (London, Oxford University Press, 1947), p. 105. 310 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY origin, who can reclaim the expenses incurred by bringing an action against the employer. Although, generally speaking, the authorities do not oppose the departure of migrants who want to go to the Union of South Africa on their own initiative, the traditional policy followed in each of these three territories is more favourable to recruitment than to the spontaneous migration of workers. It should be borne in mind that the recruited worker, in contrast to the independent migrant, remains always under the supervision and protection of the authorities in regard to his conditions of work, and the latter can ensure that he regularly sends his savings to his relatives and that his absences abroad are generally of shorter duration. Nevertheless, as Professor Schapera1 has stated, independent migration is the only possibility open to Africans who cannot work in the mines or who seek employment in other sectors (such as agriculture or commerce), since recruiting operations in these tenitories are almost entirely restricted to workers going to the mines. Gliana. As regards both the conditions in which recruitment may be carried on and the protective measures applying to the recruited workers it would appear that the legislation in force in Ghana conforms entirely with the provisions of the Recruiting of Indigenous Workers Convention. The practical importance of the system of recruitment in this territory is, however, lessened by the fact that the engagement of paid workers is nearly always carried out at the place of work itself. According to the reports sent to the I.L.O. by the Government on the application of Convention No. 50, only two recruiting licences were issued during the year 1956, covering, respectively, 1,000 and 12 workers, while, during the previous year, only one licence was issued for a total of 80 workers. French Territories. In the French territories, in general, the statutory provisions concerning the recruitment of indigenous workers became void or fell into disuse as a result of the disappearance of the indigénat system and the enactment of the 1952 Labour Code for the Overseas Territories. This Code is based on the principle of freedom in seeking employment and it therefore presupposes the spontaneous engagement of workers to be the general rule, with the corollary that they should enjoy complete freedom of movement throughout the territories. Thus the 1952 Labour Code does not provide for recruitment in the strict sense of the term but lays down special rules covering " contracts of service of more than three months' duration or requiring the settlement of workers away from their normal residences " (article 32). These contracts must be in writing and are not valid unless the workers concerned have been medically examined. They must also be approved by the competent authority under the conditions laid down in article 32 of the Code and the decrees applying it in the various territories. The Code also stipulates that the expenses of the worker's journey from his home to the place of employment and back should be paid by the employer (article 125). 1 See Migrant Labour and Tribal Life, op. cit., p. 114. RECRUITMENT, CONTRACTS OF EMPLOYMENT AND CONDITIONS OF WORK 311 The decrees applying the Code specially stipulate the particular cases where accommodation must be provided for the workers prescribing the standards to which it must conform.1 Furthermore, certain Wrings can be forbidden or restricted in specified regions " as an exceptional measure or for economic or social reasons " (article 29). Orders in this sense have been made in different territories, such as French Equatorial Africa and the Cameroons; in the latter Order No. 4909 of 5 October 1953 restricts " the recruitment of manpower in areas afflicted with endemic-epidemic sleeping sickness ". In practice professional recruiters have disappeared from French territories; nevertheless, it must be admitted that employers take, either directly or by means of organisations created for the purpose, the necessary steps in certain areas to secure the services of workers, whom they sometimes employ at long distances from the centres of engagement. In this connection reference may be made to workers recruited in the Upper Volta Region and, to a lesser extent, in the French Sudan and in French Guinea for employment in plantations in the Ivory Coast. A very large number of workers (about 50,000 a year) is involved. The General Association for Transport of Labour (S.I.A.M.O.), an organisation set up by the principal undertakings of the Ivory Coast, directs the engagement and transport of the workers. It has established an office in the Upper Volta which carries out propaganda on behalf of the engagement of workers and assumes direct responsibility for their medical examination as well as their transport to the Ivory Coast, the full expense being borne by the S.I.A.M.O. Employment contracts usually cover a period of six months and are established in the presence of the employer or his representative, either before the worker's departure or after his arrival at the place of employment. Similarly, in French Equatorial Africa large numbers of workers from Tchad are regularly engaged for work at considerable distances away. In Madagascar it appears that there are also movements of workers on a large scale ; they are taken on in certain parts of the island for work in areas which are sometimes a long way away. Portuguese Territories. The basic legislation regulating the recruitment of workers in African territories under Portuguese administration is contained in the Native Labour Code. The Code is applicable in all territories with the exception of the Cape Verde islands, where the colonial régime is no longer in force. Supplementary provisions have since been enacted in the various territories, but they do not run counter to the principles laid down in the Code. Recruitment is under the control and supervision of the authorities and can only be practised by persons holding licences, although some exceptions are made to this rule. When it is necessary to recruit for work at a considerable distance from the place of recruitment, contracts of service must be concluded " with the co-operation of the authorities ", that is to say in the presence of a public official, who, in accordance with article 120 of the Code, authenticates these contracts " after he has ascertained that the contracting parties mutually and without any coercion accede to each and all of the clauses of the contract ". 1 See, for example. Order No. 1267 of 21 April 1954 (French Sudan). 312 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY The Governor of each territory can prohibit recruitment temporarily " for reasons of an economic character or in connection with Native policies or public health " (article 34). Participation by the authorities in recruitment activities is provided for in several articles of the Code. Public officials cannot recruit indigenous workers for the service of individuals (article 38, paragraph 1). However, the competent authorities " shall be bound to facilitate the operations of all persons wishing to recruit workers, provided that the persons engaged in this calling procure Natives to enter into contracts of employment by lawful means and in an honest manner " (article 36). The assistance to be given by the authorities in the Portuguese territories is more extensive than that provided in other African territories. Public officials can, for instance, suggest to recruiters the areas where recruitment would be easiest, as well as " advise tribal chiefs and Natives, either in the presence of recruiting agents or otherwise, to obtain employment, but explaining to them in all cases that they are not in any way under an obligation to enter into a contract of employment with the recruiting agents in question ". Moreover, although public officials are not allowed to accompany recruiters on their rounds, this prohibition does not apply in cases in which " the authorities or their subordinates travel by chance in the company of recruiting agents, so long as they do so without any intention of coercing the Natives by their presence to enter into contracts or for the purpose of watching and supervising their activities ". The 1928 Code, as well as more recent texts, and especially Ordinance No. 2797 of 31 December 1956, adopted in Angola, contain, in addition, many provisions regulating in detail the payment of the travelling and repatriation expenses of the workers, wage advances, transport of the workers to their places of work, medical examinations, housing, feeding, and other matters pertaining to the protection of the recruits. Recruitment can be carried out by general agencies working on behalf of the employers. Generally speaking, these agencies must not exceed three in number in any given territory. At the same time, employers can establish, in the form of private companies, recruiting companies for the purpose of recruiting workers for services to be rendered either inside or outside a given territory. In the latter case, the activities of these companies are subject either to the provisions of the Code or to agreements, treaties, or conventions concluded with the Administrations of the other interested territories. It would appear, according to available information, that recruitment still plays a very significant role in Portuguese territories. Thus in Angola 142,674 and 99,771 workers were recruited in 1953 and 1954 respectively, that is to say, approximately 35 per cent, and 25 per cent, of all wage earners.1 No doubt the restrictions to which the movements of Africans are subjected are largely responsible for this state of affairs, for workers cannot generally leave the areas of their normal residence in order to seek employment elsewhere, being only authorised to leave after having concluded a contract of service through a recruiter. However, this situation has been modified in Angola by a recently issued regulation concerning indigenous labour, approved by Ordinance No. 2797 of 31 December 1956. 1 20. See F. C. C. EGERTON: Angola without Prejudice (Lisbon, Agenda Geral do Ultramar, 1955), RECRUITMENT, CONTRACTS OF EMPLOYMENT AND CONDITIONS OF WORK 313 Article 78 of this regulation provides that permission to travel can be given to indigenous workers in areas where there are no recruiters to whom they can offer their services. To secure such permission, however, the worker must undertake to enter into a contract of employment for a minimum of nine months with an employer in the district to which he wishes to go and, in addition, he must deposit with the authorities a sum corresponding to the cost of his trip back, in case he is unable to find work in the district in question. In the islands of Sao Tomé and Principe the cocoa plantations have employed for many years workers recruited either from Angola or Mozambique or from the Cape Verde islands. At the present time there are about 20,000 such workers; nearly half of them originally came from Mozambique, the remainder being nearly all Cape Verdians. Workers originating in Angola are now few in number, their recruitment having been interrupted during recent years.1 All the recruiting operations for workers going to Säo Tome and Principe are carried out through the Sociedade de Recrutamento e Emigraçào para Säo Tomé e Principé, a company established by the plantation owners of these two islands. Representatives of this company are permanently established in Mozambique and in the Cape Verde islands. Recruitment is subject, in the former, to the provisions of the Native Labour Code. In the Cape Verde islands, the colonial system being no longer in operation, special legislation applies. At the present time the basic provisions in force are those of Ordinance No. 1270 of 17 March 1956. According to article 1 of this text, contracts of recruited workers are subject to the rules of the Portuguese Civil Code, with the proviso that the benefits due to workers must not be inferior to those provided in the Native Labour Code in force in other territories. Recruitment cannot be carried out by individuals or companies unless a licence has been obtained from the civil authorities. The expenses of lodging, feeding, and medical care of the recruits must be met by the employer, and the conditions which must be observed in the transport of the workers by sea are laid down in detail by the ordinance. The length of contracts is fixed at three years, but their renewal is permissible if the employers and the workers desire it. When contracts are extended, or if new contracts are concluded, the workers' wages must be increased by at least 10 per cent, on the basis of the wages payable in the first contract. A percentage of 25 per cent, of the wages must be retained until the return of the workers to the islands. In Mozambique no information is available concerning the extent of the recruitment of workers intended to be employed inside the territory. It is known, however, that recruiting operations take place on a considerable scale in order to obtain labour for the Union of South Africa and Southern Rhodesia. According to the most recent official figures the number of migrants from Mozambique registered by the Portuguese authorities as going to Southern Rhodesia and the Union of South Africa were in December 1953, 159,735 and 163,964 respectively. Workers going to the Union of South Africa are recruited under conditions laid down in 1 According to information published in the Jornal do Comercio (Lisbon), 23 Aug. 1957, the number of plantation workers officially reported in December 1956 was 18,777. In that year a total of 3,844 workers arrived in the islands, 2,139 of them from the Cape Verde islands and 1,705 from Mozambique. 314 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY agreements between the two governments concerned. The first agreement between Mozambique and the Union of South Africa, dated 1 March 1909, was replaced by a new one in 1928, which is still in force, although some of its clauses were revised in 1934. The number of workers from Mozambique recruited for the gold and coal mines of the Transvaal was fixed by agreement at 80,000 per year, but this figure was raised to 100,000 by a supplementary agreement concluded in 1940. The organisation of recruitment is in the hands of the Witwatersrand Native Labour Association. There also exists an agreement between Mozambique and Southern Rhodesia, but most of the migrants who move to this last territory come without the intervention of recruiters. In fact, out of 23,387 workers who left for Southern Rhodesia in 1953, only 2,486 were recruits.1 Finally, in Portuguese Guinea there exists practically no recruitment, for there are extremely few European agricultural or industrial undertakings, and the African population is occupied almost entirely in traditional agricultural pursuits. Union of South Africa and South-West Africa. The basic legal text covering the recruitment of workers in the Union of South Africa is the Native Labour Regulation Act (No. 15 of 1911). Unlike the provisions in force on the subject in other African countries, this law only covers the recruitment of workers intended for mines or industrial establishments or for employment abroad. No licence is required for recruiting for work in other services, such as agriculture. The industry which employs the greatest number of recruits is gold mining, and the recruiting services engaging workers for this industry are handled in the interior of the Union and of the Protectorates of Basutoland, Bechuanaland and Swaziland, by a single organisation, the Native Recruiting Corporation (N.R.C.), which undertakes the transport of the recruits to the place of work, provides them with food during transport and attends to the necessary administrative formalities. All recruits must conclude contracts of service with the recruiters under conditions laid down by law. Moreover, they must pass a medical examination. The proportion of African workers recruited by the N.R.C. in the interior of the country, in relation to the total manpower employed in mining, is at present below 50 per cent. In fact, undertakings associated with the Witwatersrand Native Labour Association, which in 1955 employed 323,447 Africans out of the total mining labour force of 459,380, recruited only 34 per cent, of them from among workers originating in the Union; the others were migrants coming from other territories.1 The recraiting of workers from outside the Union for work in the South African gold mines is also in the hands of a single organisation, namely the Witwatersrand Native Labour Association. As regards the recruitment of workers intended for other branches of the South African economy, no precise information is available on either the extent of the recruitment or the conditions under which it is carried on. It would appear, however, from the findings of the Tomlinson Report, that farmers especially have resorted on a considerable scale to the recruitment system during recent years.2 1 See A Survey of Race Relations in South Africa, 1955-1956, op. cit., p. 170. See Summary of the Report of the Commission for the Socio-Economic Development of the Bantu Areas within the Union of South Africa, op. cit., p. 93. 2 RECRUITMENT, CONTRACTS OF EMPLOYMENT AND CONDITIONS OF WORK 315 In South-West Africa recruitment is also practised on a large scale. The only recruiting organisation authorised by the Government is the New South-West African Labour Association (Proprietary) (Nuwe Swanla) Limited. In 1955 this organisation recruited 45,500 workers intended for mines, industry, agriculture and other occupations. Under an agreement with the Witwatersrand Native Labour Association, at least 3,000 workers are recruited each year for the mines of the Rand. It also appears that a certain number of Africans migrate on their own initiative to the Union of South Africa to seek employment. INDIVIDUAL CONTRACTS OF EMPLOYMENT; PENAL SANCTIONS International Standards At the time that European economic undertakings were beginning to develop in the various African territories, the system of contracts of employment which prevailed was marked by the length of the periods of service that these generally stipulated—sometimes as much as five or even seven years—and by the fact that they created a relationship of master and servant rather than one based on reciprocity and the free choice of both parties. The position of the employer was always predominant, for he possessed certain disciplinary powers, and the provisions of the contracts consisted almost entirely of obligations undertaken by the workers towards their employers. Moreover, it was extremely difficult for the workers to gain their liberty by denouncing their contracts. Penal sanctions were generally provided in cases of breach of contract. In short, this system of contracts of employment corresponded to a phase in the evolution of the African countries marked, to a great extent, by the use of coercive methods in labour matters. Thus the problem of regulating contracts of employment of indigenous workers came to the forefront at the international level at the same time as the questions of forced labour and recruitment. In 1929 the International Labour Conference decided that the system of labour based on long-term contracts, accompanied by penal sanctions in cases of breach of contract, constituted a form of labour restraint which should be the subject of special study by the I.L.O. This study was undertaken after the adoption of the Forced Labour Convention, 1930, and the Recruiting of Indigenous Workers Convention, 1936.1 In 1938 the problem of labour contracts was included in the agenda of the International Labour Conference, and the following year saw the adoption of the Contracts of Employment (Indigenous Workers) Convention (No. 64). This Convention is based on the principle of the free consent of the parties and is intended to introduce into the system of contracts of employment stipulations tending to increase the possibihty of free choice on the part of the worker. It is, however, of limited range, for it applies only to contracts of six months or longer, which, under Article 3, must be in writing. Such contracts must, under the terms of the Convention, be confirmed by public authority. They can be terminated either by agreement between the parties or at the request of one of them. In the latter case national legislation is to 1 See I.L.O. : Regulation of Contracts of Employment of Indigenous Workers, Report II, International Labour Conference, 24th Session, Geneva, 1938 (Geneva, 1937). 316 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY determine the period of notice necessary to regulate the settlement of any financial or other questions raised by the termination. The Convention also contains provisions governing the medical examination of workers and their right to repatriation, as well as the protection of workers engaged under contract for work in a territory under a different administration. The Convention also supplements the Recruiting of Indigenous Workers Convention, for it applies to the engagement of workers who, since they were not recruited, were not protected under the latter. On the question of the maximum duration of service which can be stipulated in a contract, the 1939 Convention merely states that such duration must be specified in national legislation. However, a more recent Convention—the Contracts of Employment (Indigenous Workers) Convention, 1947 (No. 86)—lays down that, in the case of employment not necessitating a long and expensive journey, the period of service must not, in any case, exceed 12 months if the workers are not accompanied by their families or two years if they are. These maxima are raised, respectively, to two years and three years where the employment necessitates long and expensive journeys. The question of penal sanctions for violation of a contract of employment has formed the subject of two international labour Conventions, namely the Penal Sanctions (Indigenous Workers) Convention, 1939 (No. 65) and the Abolition of Penal Sanctions (Indigenous Workers) Convention, 1955 (No. 104). The latter Convention laid down the principle that all penal sanctions should be abolished " by means of an appropriate measure of immediate application ". There is no doubt that these Conventions now have a field of application which is becoming more and more restricted, since the social evolution of most of the African countries has, to a great extent, removed the causes which led to their adoption. In fact, although written contracts are the rule for European workers employed in Africa, while in certain regions Africans—especially when they are recruited to serve in territories outside their homelands—are still engaged on the basis of written contracts, they are an ever-decreasing minority in relation to the total African labour force. The most general practice in nearly all the territories is that of the oral contract, either of short duration (very often 30 days) or of indeterminate duration. The right of either of the parties to put an end to the contract at any time, provided notice is given, is generally guaranteed by legislation. Moreover, clauses providing penal sanctions applying to indigenous workers in cases of breach of the contract of employment have disappeared from the legislation of many territories, and even where they still exist they nearly always operate on a reduced scale. National Law and Practice Belgian Territories. In the Belgian Congo and in Ruanda-Urundi there are two distinct systems regulating respectively the contracts of employment of European and other non-African workers and the labour contracts of African workers. The former are regulated by the decree of 25 June 1949, while the provisions which are at present applicable to indigenous labour contracts are contained in the decrees of 16 March 1922 and 30 June 1954, co-ordinated by the Royal Order of 19 July 1954. RECRUITMENT, CONTRACTS OF EMPLOYMENT AND CONDITIONS OF WORK 317 When the last-named text was discussed the Belgian Colonial Council expressed the unanimous desire " to see, at the earliest possible moment, the enactment of legislation of general application covering the hiring of services, free from any racial discrimination and intended, while taking account of inherent differences in the various conditions and methods of work, to govern the labour contract and the contract of employment ". One member was of the opinion that this legislation should even ensure identical rights and obligations based on the principle of equal pay for equal work. Pending the enactment of this legislation of general application, which at present appears to be under examination, the legal protection of the African worker has been decidedly improved since the Decree of 16 March 1922 came into force. Moreover, it should be remembered that article 2 of the Decree of 25 June 1949 on the contract of employment, which empowers the Governor-General to extend the benefits arising from the provisions of this decree to indigenous workers in the Belgian Congo, Ruanda-Urundi, and any other African territory, is still in force. In the Belgian Congo and in Ruanda-Urundi all contracts of employment of African workers must be approved by the competent authority if valid for a longer period than six months. The maximum duration of a contract is three years, or one year when the worker is married and is not accompanied by his family. The right to break the contract of employment, even if it is for a fixed period, is recognised by legislation when one of the parties is guilty of a serious violation rendering the execution of the contract or a continuation of contractual relations impossible. Similar provisions applicable to indigenous labour contracts are found in the Order of 19 July 1954; however, article 59 ofthat Order states that the judge, in such cases, can make the termination of the contract subject to notice or to the payment of an indemnity, as he may determine according to the circumstances. Each of the parties to a contract of indeterminate duration has the right to terminate it at any time by giving notice in accordance with the appropriate legislation. In the case of an indigenous labour contract the period of notice is fixed either by custom or agreement but may not be longer than a month. In the absence of such custom or agreement the period of notice is 15 days. As regards penal sanctions for breaches of contracts of employment, the Decree of 16 March 1922 has been revised in a more liberal direction by the Decree of 30 June 1954, which limits the penalty to a maximum period of one month's imprisonment and gives the Governor-General power to abolish sanctions altogether in certain regions, having regard to working conditions and the stage of development of the inhabitants.1 British Territories. In the territories under British administration written contracts of long duration stipulating a fixed term of employment are becoming less and less frequent. Contracts of this kind are usually confined to personnel of European origin of senior rank or to workers recruited for employment in another territory. The most commonly used method of engaging African workers is the oral contract of a maximum duration of a month. Another very common form of contract, particularly in the agricultural districts of British East Africans the "ticket-contract". 1 The regions where penalties have now been abolished are enumerated in Ordinance No. 22/14 of 13 July 1956. 318 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY It consists of an agreement between an employer and worker for the carrying out of 30 days' work within a period which must not exceed 42 days. The days actually worked must be recorded on a " ticket ", which is given to the worker at the beginning of his engagement. At the end of the prescribed period the worker receives wages corresponding to the number of days that he has worked; if he completes his 30-day stint in a shorter time he is immediately paid the wages due to him. The scope of the legislation on contracts of employment varies in the different territories. Thus the legislation in force in Nigeria and in Sierra Leone only applies to manual workers, while in the territories of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland the law only regulates the contracts of indigenous workers. In Kenya (as in Uganda) the Employment Ordinances make no distinction between indigenous and non-indigenous workers. However, they define "wage earner" as any person employed for a wage at a rate not exceeding a sum determined by the Governor-in-Council. These maximum rates have been so fixed that the ordinances in fact apply to the majority of African wage earners. However, in Kenya the number of workers covered by the ordinance has substantially decreased as a result of the rise in wage levels during recent years.1 In Tanganyika Ordinance No. 47 of 10 November 1955, which revises and consolidates labour legislation, makes no distinction between indigenous and non-indigenous wage earners, but the provisions governing written contracts only apply to African wage earners. The law requires that contracts with a maximum duration of more than a month (Kenya, Uganda, Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland), or six months (Nigeria, Tanganyika, British Somaliland, Swaziland, Basutoland and Bechuanaland) be in writing. In Southern Rhodesia, on the other hand, oral contracts may have a duration up to one year. Generally speaking, written contracts of over six months' duration must always be approved by the competent authority. The maximum duration of written contracts in Sierra Leone and Nigeria is one year, although in Nigeria this rule applies only to contracts intended to be executed within the territory. A maximum duration of two years is fixed in Sierra Leone as well as in Northern Rhodesia. In Uganda and in Kenya the maximum period of service is two years if the worker is not accompanied by his family, and three years if he is. In Kenya, a special type of contract exists which concerns " resident labourers ", that is to say, workers who set themselves up with their families on lands generally owned by Europeans, on which they have the right to cultivate their own holdings. The duration of contracts concluded with these workers must not be less than one year or more than five years.2 Ordinances stipulating conditions of employment, adopted during recent years in Tanganyika, Nyasaland and British Somaliland 3, reproduce the rules laid down in the Contracts of Employment (Indigenous Workers) Convention governing the maximum duration of contracts. In Southern Rhodesia the law fixes the maximum duration at three years. Finally, in the Protectorates of Swaziland, Bechuanaland and Basutoland, where the maximum duration of contracts is a year for the first contract or nine months when a contract is renewed on the expiry of the previous one, if the total period of service covered by the two contracts 1 See I.L.O. : Summary of Reports on Ratified Conventions, Report III (Part I), International Labour Conference, 40th Session, Geneva, 1957, (Geneva, 1957), pp. 388-389. 2 See Resident Labourers Ordinance. 3 See I.L.O. Legislative Series, 1955—Tan. 1; 1954—Ny. 1; and 1953—Soin.(Br.) 1. RECRUITMENT, CONTRACTS OF EMPLOYMENT AND CONDITIONS OF WORK 319 results in the worker being separated from his family for more than 18 months he must not begin the execution of the work stipulated in the renewed contract before having had an opportunity of returning to his home at the expense of the employer. Similar provisions also exist in Nyasaland, Tanganyika and British Somaliland. The legislation in force in the majority of the British territories provides for the termination of any oral or written contract on the request of one or other of the parties, by application to a court or the competent authority. Oral contracts, as well as being generally renewable, are also regarded, unless the contrary is stipulated, as coming to an end on the last day of the period which has been agreed upon between the employer and the worker. They do not therefore require any notice if one of the parties wishes to regain his liberty and terminate the contract at the end of the prescribed period. Exceptions to this rule, however, are found in Southern and Northern Rhodesia. The legislation of both these territories lays down that monthly or weekly contracts, renewable from month to month or from week to week, cannot be terminated except by giving one month's or one week's notice as the case may be. Finally, in Nigeria, according to the terms of the Labour Code, labour contracts may be terminated on notice of not less than 14 days for contracts of over a month, or seven days in other cases. Penal sanctions for breaches of contracts of employment have been abolished in most of the territories under British administration. Some of them, however, are still found in Kenya, in the Rhodesias and in the Protectorates of Swaziland, Bechuanaland and Basutoland, although they are rarely applied in practice. The sanctions apply chiefly to cases of desertion, especially on the part of workers who have failed to complete a contract in respect of which they have received an advance of wages. In Southern Rhodesia skilled African workers are not liable to penal sanctions. In a recent report to the I.L.O. the Government of that country stated that : " Penal sanctions are being resorted to less and less as it is realised that they are no short cut to good labour management, but they are still considered necessary for the indigenous labourers' own protection owing to their frequent inability to appreciate their own rights and duties. "1 Ghana. The legislation in force in Ghana concerning labour contracts2 includes provisions applicable separately to manual workers and office employees. Written contracts for definite periods are exceptional in Ghana. However, the rules governing manual labourers stipulate that contracts for recruited labour, as well as those for periods of not less than six months, must be in writing and be approved by the competent authority. The maximum law duration is fixed at one year for contracts intended to be executed inside the territory, and two years otherwise. A written contract can be rescinded at the request of the worker, with the agreement of the competent authority, in cases of wrongful treatment on the part of the employer. The contracts of office employees must be in writing if they are of more than three months' duration. Such contracts must also contain a clause permitting their termination after due notice, which must not be less than 14 days. 1 See I.L.O. : Summary of Reports on Ratified Conventions, Report III (Part 1), International Labour Conference, 39th Session, Geneva, 1956) (Geneva, 1956), pp. 265-266. 2 See Labour Ordinance. 320 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Either party to an oral contract of indeterminate duration may terminate it after giving notice of at least 14 days where the wages are paid monthly and seven days where they are paid by the week. Either party may terminate an oral contract without notice on payment to the other party of the amount of the wages which would have been due for the period of notice. There is no provision for penal sanctions in case of breach of contracts of employment. French Territories. In the French territories of Africa the 1952 Labour Code for Overseas Territories and the subsequent decrees which have been adopted to apply it constitute a single body of legislation covering all workers in regard to contracts of employment. The duration of contracts must not exceed two years for workers originating in the territory and three years for other workers. In addition, every contract for a period longer than three months must be in writing and be approved by the competent authority. It would appear that such contracts are very seldom met with in practice. Fixed-term contracts can be terminated in cases of serious default by either of the parties on application to the appropriate judicial authority. Either party may put an end to a contract of indeterminate duration by giving suitable notice. The length of notice is determined by local regulations which vary from one territory to another except where specifically dealt with by collective agreement. Personnel paid by the month are subject to one month's notice. There are, however, certain exceptions. Thus in the Cameroons two months' notice is required for regular workers with written contracts after one year's service, while 15 days' notice is required for workers engaged by the month without contracts. In Gabon the period of notice is two months for personnel recruited from outside the Federation and three months for those receiving expatriation allowances. In Ubangi-Chari three months' notice is required for technicians and senior staif, while in Madagascar two months' and three months' notice respectively are required for skilled personel whose periods of service range between one-and-a-half years and three years and above three years. One week's notice is usually required for workers not paid by the month. In French West Africa and in Togoland, however, this rule only apphes to unskilled workers. This same period of notice is also required in the case of servants and domestic workers throughout the whole of the territory. Shorter periods of notice are permissible, though they are less frequent. Thus one day's notice is retained in Madagascar for casual manual labourers if the length of their service is at least eight days but does not exceed three months. Finally, an hour's notice is required for occasional workers paid by the hour for a day's work (Gabon) and two hours for manual labourers who have performed less than eight days' service (Madagascar), as well as for workers who have been working for less than eight days and for manual labourers who have been working for less than three months (Ubangi-Chari). Penal sanctions for breaches of contracts of employment do not exist in the French territories. Portuguese Territories. The practice of engaging workers by written contracts of fixed duration is still widespread in certain territories administered by Portugal. In fact, all contracts RECRUITMENT, CONTRACTS OF EMPLOYMENT AND CONDITIONS OF WORK 321 concluded with recruits intended for work outside the district where the worker has his usual domicile must, under the terms of the Native Labour Code of 1928, be put in writing "with the co-operation of the authorities ". The same applies to contracts relating to the employment of workers in another territory. The Native Labour Code of 1928 governs the contracts of employment of African workers in all territories with the exception of the Cape Verde islands. Other legislation, dealing with the contracts of employment of Europeans and assimilated groups, has been adopted in certain territories, including Mozambique and Angola. The maximum duration of written contracts of indigenous workers concluded with the co-operation of the authorities is two years when the work is to be done inside the territory and three years otherwise. The Governor of the territory can order a reduction of the length of contracts. Contracts concluded without the co-operation of the authorities are only permissible when the worker normally lives in the district where the work is to be done or where he spontaneously offers his services to an employer. Such contracts can be either written or oral. In the former case the length of the engagement is fixed by the month and may never be longer than a year. If the contract is an oral one it can be for only an indefinite number of days' work or by the week or the month under the conditions governing domestic service laid down by the Portuguese Civil Code. Any contract can be declared null and void by the decision of the competent authority (i.e. the curador of the indigenous population) if it involves a breach of the law or where there exists some other reason justifying such action. There are no special provisions governing the notice to be given in the event of the termination of contracts of indeterminate duration. The Native Labour Code merely states that oral contracts, whether for the day or the month, can be indefinitely prolonged " by agreement between the worker and the employer ". However, in Angola a recently adopted regulation concerning indigenous workers lays down that monthly contracts can be termined at ten day's notice by either of the parties.1 In Mozambique an Ordinance dated 28 April 1956 prescribes the conditions under which contracts of Europeans and assimilated persons can be terminated. Contracts of indeterminate duration can be dissolved unilaterally, either, in certain specified cases, on grounds of " just cause " or after due notice. The length of this notice, if the request for termination comes from the employer, is one month for contracts of more than six months' and less than three years' duration and one month for every two years of service for contracts longer than three years. If the imtiative comes from the worker the period of notice is half that required of the employer. Penal sanctions are provided for in the Native Labour Code for certain types of breach of the contract of employment as well as for insubordination or indisciphne within the establishment. Union of South Africa. In the Union of South Africa long-term employment contracts, especially those of recruited workers, are normally put in writing. In fact, the Native Labour Regulations Act of 1911, which governs the recruitment of African workers for mining and other industries, lays down that recruiters or manpower agencies must 1 22 Ordinance No. 2797 of 19 Dec. 1956. 322 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY conclude a written contract with every worker whom they recruit. The duration of such contracts may not exceed 360 working days. On the other hand, contracts of indeterminate duration are renewable for periods of 30 days. Such contracts may be terminated at the request of either of the parties if one month's notice is given. The contracts of agricultural workers who live on the farm (labour tenants) have a maximum duration of three years. They may be oral and are renewable by tacit agreement for a year in cases where their duration is not expressly stated by the parties. Either party can put an end to the contract by giving a minimum of three months' notice.1 Penal sanctions for breaches of contracts are applicable to African workers in the Union of South Africa in many circumstances, either on the basis of the aforementioned legislation or by virtue of the Masters and Servants Laws, which are still in force in several provinces of the Union.2 South-West Africa. In South-West Africa the legislation in force fixes the maximum duration of oral contracts at one year and that of written contracts at five years. All recruited workers must conclude written contracts, and the periods of service—determined by a regulation of 1955—may not exceed two-and-a-half years with the same employer for unmarried Natives and two years in other cases. Penal sanctions for breaches of contracts of employment are also applicable to the indigenous workers in this territory. GENERAL CONDITIONS OF WORK As was mentioned in Chapter IV, the structure of the African wage-earning labour force has changed considerably during the past few decades owing to a sharp rise in employment in industries which hitherto were comparatively undeveloped (e.g. manufacturing, construction, transport services and trade). Since these industries are mainly located in urban areas, the process of urbanisation has proceeded very rapidly in most African countries. The majority of African wage earners, even when settled in an urban area, remain essentially migrants attached by economic and social ties to their native environments. Nevertheless, a new type of urban worker is gradually emerging, a type very different from the usual unstable, unskilled migrant for whom normal economic incentives frequently had no meaning. To an increasing extent the chief urban and industrial centres are becoming populated by African workers who have lived there with their families for several years, and have sometimes settled there permanently, who have severed all ties with their native rural environment and now depend solely on work as wage earners for their support and that of their families. Many of them are now skilled workers on a par with their European colleagues and some are to be found in the most highly skilled occupations. They have become adjusted to a way of life completely different from that which still characterises tribal societies. Even though the exact extent to which they have become settled 1 2 Native Service Contract Act (No. 24 of 1932). See, on this subject, I.L.O.: Penal Sanctions for Breach of Contract of Service, Report VI (Part 1), International Labour Conference, 37th Session, Geneva, 1954 (Geneva, 1953), pp. 11-12. RECRUITMENT, CONTRACTS OF EMPLOYMENT AND CONDITIONS OF WORK 323 members of urban society is often difficult to assess, the trend is present in varying degrees in all African territories. This development is both a cause and a consequence of far-reaching changes in the working conditions of African wage earners. Until recently both the administrative authorities and the employers had been concerned essentially with regulating the employment of the traditional type of African migrant; but it was inevitable that the law and practice of the various territories regulating both wages and other conditions of work should be adjusted to meet the situation of workers settling down in centres of employment. The process of legislative adjustment was facilitated in a number of territories by the recognition of the fact that labour stabihsation at the place of employment was preferable to the maintenance of a system based on migrant labour. In Kenya, for example, the committee which examined the problem of African wages in 1953 and 1954 not only came out unequivocally in favour of the stabilisation of African labour but also proposed a series of measures to achieve that end. These measures were mainly concerned with the fixing of minimum family wages (i.e. wages based on the requirements not of the individual worker but of the whole family); the committee also made recommendations covering other aspects of African working conditions, such as housing. Many of these recommendations were accepted and put into practice by the Government. In other territories, such as the Belgian Congo, far-reaching measures have also been taken to promote the creation of a stable labour force in modern industrial centres. Nevertheless, as was shown by the description of the control of the movements of African workers given in Chapter IV, such policies are still far from having gained widespread acceptance in the various African territories. The following section is concerned with law and practice governing certain conditions of work other than wages in the African territories today. First, an attempt will be made to sketch the developments which have taken place as regards the provision of housing, food and medical assistance for workers; this will be followed by a description of the situation regarding hours of work, weekly rest and holidays with pay. HOUSING, FOOD AND MEDICAL ASSISTANCE Ever since European economic undertakings have existed in Africa, employers have found it necessary to provide housing for their African employees. This was a direct consequence of the labour-market conditions obtaining in the days when a worker was nearly always a migrant recruited at a distance—and sometimes a considerable one—from the place of employment for a fixed period and was hardly ever accompanied by his family. As a result employers everywhere were required by law to provide housing for their workers. The relevant laws and regulations are fairly similar in content in all the territories.1 1 For the British territories see the basic texts referred to on page 306, footnotes 1-10. See also : Southern Rhodesia—Urban Areas Natives Employment Regulations, 1958. For the Belgian Congo see Royal Order of 19 July 1954 (I.L.O. Legislative Series, 1954—Bel.C. 2) and Ordinance No. 22/408 of Dec. 1954 (Employment Contracts Administrative Regulations). For the French territories see Labour Code for Overseas Territories, 1952 (I.L.O. Legislative Series, 1952—Fr. 5) and various administrative regulations issued thereunder. For the Portuguese territories see Native Labour Code of 1928 (I.L. O. Legislative Series, 1928—Por. 3) and Legislative Decree No. 2797 of 31 Dec. 1956 (Angola). 324 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY As a rule, housing must be provided only for workers whose usual place of residence is not in the vicinity of the workplace, in which case members of the worker's family living with him must also be accommodated. However, in some territories undertakings which recruit migrant workers from distant places refuse (often with official backing) to pay the cost of providing transport and housing for the workers' families. In South Africa, for instance, there are many restrictions on the movements of Africans 1 which have the effect of preventing a worker's family from accompanying him to a centre of employment in any circumstances. All the regulations in force lay down precise rules concerning the accommodation to be provided, including health standards. At present employers in most territories are permitted by law to pay a daily cash allowance in lieu of housing. The methods of calculating this allowance vary from one country to another. For instance, in the French territories the allowance varies from one-and-a-half times the guaranteed minimum hourly wage (Dahomey and Middle Congo) to one-third of that amount (Ubangi). In the Belgian Congo the value of housing is assessed by district commissioners on the basis of the average level of rentals in the area. Where the worker's family lives with him the allowance payable is calculated according to the composition of the family.2 In Southern Rhodesia workers in urban areas who are not provided with housing by their employers are entitled to claim from them the reimbursement of their rent up to a maximum of £1 per month. On the other hand, in the Portuguese territories employers are not at present under any statutory obligation to pay cash allowances to workers for whom they do not provide housing. There is no doubt that the practice of paying a cash allowance in lieu of housing is in keeping with the evolution of the African workers over the past few decades and that it is becoming increasingly widespread, particularly in the large towns. It is a fact that the African worker, at least in the main centres, prefers as a rule to be paid entirely in cash. The importance of this trend is brought out by the examples quoted in Chapter XII on workers' housing. This, together with the constant influx of Africans from rural areas, has caused a critical shortage of housing in the large African cities. Governments have been increasingly concerned with this problem and have taken various measures to deal with it. These too are described in Chapter XII. A similar trend has developed in most African countries as regards the supply of food. Originally, employers were generally required by law to supply food rations as an integral part of wages. This statutory obligation is still in force in most of the countries and territories of Africa, and the law even specifies the composition, and hence the nutritional value, of the rations. However, in some territories the law permits employers to provide a cash allowance in lieu of rations, and the practice is becoming increasingly widespread. Moreover, in British West Africa (particularly in Nigeria) the statutory minimum wages as a rule no longer include food rations. In the urban areas of Southern Rhodesia the Urban Areas Natives Employment Regulations provide that employers may supply rations for their workers subject to their consent and to that of the labour inspectorate. In such cases the employer may deduct a certain amount from the workers' wages. 1 2 See Chapter IV. See, as an example, Order No. 21/593 of 30 Nov. 1955 concerning the enforcement of the laws and regulations governing contracts of employment in the province of Leopoldville. RECRUITMENT, CONTRACTS OF EMPLOYMENT AND CONDITIONS OF WORK 325 The choice between providing rations in kind or an equivalent cash allowance will depend on local conditions. In rural areas isolation and the lack of local supply facilities often make it indispensable for the employer to provide rations. On the other hand, in urban areas, where trade in indigenous foods is sufficiently developed, the great majority of wage earners are now paid entirely in cash. This seems to be an irreversible trend eveywhere. In the Belgian Congo, for instance, 18 per cent, of all wage earners are paid entirely in cash. Moreover, two-thirds of the remainder draw a cash allowance in lieu of rations.1 In the province of Leopoldville the employer is no longer required to furnish benefits in kind or cash in lieu thereof to workers earning wages above a certain level specified by law. Differing opinions have been expressed concerning the effects of this development on the productivity of African workers. The problem is discussed in Chapter V. Medical assistance for workers in case of sickness or accident is also a statutory obligation of employers in most African countries. Detailed texts deal with this subject in the French, Belgian and Portuguese territories. In the British territories, even though many employers are under no such statutory obligation, most of them do in fact provide medical care for their workers in various forms.3 Here again, the role and responsibilities of employers have changed somewhat. They are no longer exclusively responsible for medical assistance to workers, first because public health services have developed considerably in many territories and secondly as a result of the introduction of contributory sickness-insurance schemes in several countries. HOURS OF WORK, REST AND HOLIDAYS Problems relating to the regulation of hours of work arise mainly in fields of activity usually met with in urban centres and in industrial and mining establishments. In agriculture, as was pointed out in Chapter II, and particularly in plantations, such problems are less important owing to the prevalence of wage systems based on task or piece rates; similarly, the problem of rest and paid holidays scarcely arises owing to the seasonal and casual nature of agricultural employment. The Social Policy in Dependent Territories (Supplementary Provisions) Recommendation (No. 74), adopted by the International Labour Conference in 1945, deals in a fairly flexible manner with hours of work. Articles 14 to 17 in its Annex provide that the maximum hours of work in industrial and commercial undertakings, and as far as practicable in agricultural undertakings, should be fixed by the competent authority. Collective agreements or awards may, however, be accepted as satisfying this obligation. No desirable limit of hours was indicated and, while the intervention of the legislator was contemplated, the machinery of voluntary collective bargaining as an alternative was not excluded. In fact both methods are used in Africa south of the Sahara. The system of control of hours of work is usually twofold. In the first place a maximum limit may be fixed (usually by law) which must always be respected since it is regarded as being the maximum which a worker can be required or permitted to work in any circumstances without endangering his health or otherwise 1 2 See Inter-African Labour Institute: The Human Factors of Productivity in Africa, op. cit., p. 19 For further details see Chapter XI. 326 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY exposing him to serious danger. In the second place there is the notion of normal working hours, which has gradually been adopted by law, custom or agreement and which is used as a point of departure for rules relating to overtime. The situation in fact is little different from that prevailing in the more highly developed countries, where it is well known that actual hours and maximum permitted hours seldom correspond, and that the former vary in accordance with the economic situation in each trade or profession. The international standards relating to rest and holidays are particularly precise. Article 15 of the Annex of the Social Policy in Dependent Territories (Supplementary Provisions) Recommendation provides that workers employed in industrial and commercial undertakings should be granted in every period of seven days a period of rest comprising at least 24 consecutive hours with the proviso that whenever appropriate to the customs of the workers a proportionate period of rest calculated over a longer period than one week is permissible. The Recommendation also calls for the extension of this provision for weekly rest as soon as possible to agricultural undertakings, subject to such adaptations as may be necessary to take account of the requirements of production. Article 16 of the Annex of the same Recommendation indicates that provision should be made entitling workers employed in industrial and commercial undertakings to an annual holiday with pay of at least 12 working days after one year of substantially regular employment, and states that this measure should be extended as soon as practicable to agriculture. There are considerable differences in the conditions of work of Europeans and of indigenous workers in Africa. These differences are particularly marked in the matter of holidays. This can be explained by the fact that the European worker is away from his native country and that work in tropical countries is especially hard for people born outside them. But the difference in treatment does also at times occur in other fields, either as the result of a dual system of regulations or as a result of custom. Belgian Territories In the Belgian Congo the legislation on conditions of work for indigenous workers still differs in some respects from that applying to European workers. The Government has on several occasions made known its intention to end these anomalies, and a first step in the framing of legislation abolishing all racial discrimination was taken by the adoption of the Decree of 14 March 1957 on the limitation of hours of work, weekly rest and public holidays. The statutory discrimination which remains is tempered, at any rate in theory, by the provisions of the Decree of 25 June 19491, which governs conditions of employment for non-indigenous workers. According to article 2 of this decree, the Governor-General of the Belgian Congo can grant to any indigenous worker the benefit of the measures contained in this text in favour of European workers; such a decision may either apply to one individual or to a group of workers. The explanatory preamble to the decree states that the measure is intended to show the public authority's wish to grant equal treatment, in matters concerning employment, to workers of different racial origins when the indigenous workers 1 See in regard to this decree C. BROSSEL: Commentaires sur le décret du 25 juin 1949 (Brussels, Emile Bruylant, 1949). RECRUITMENT, CONTRACTS OF EMPLOYMENT AND CONDITIONS OF WORK 327 have reached a degree of evolution equal to that of European workers. The differences in the regulations are based, therefore, not on the principle of racial segregation but on the fact that the levels of evolution reached by the various groups of workers are not the same. However, the decree does not define the criteria to be used to measure the degree of evolution reached by an indigenous worker or group of indigenous workers. Under the Decree of 17 May 1952 on the registration of Congolese, Africans admitted to the benefits of registration are placed on exactly the same footing as Europeans from the point of view of civil law and consequently as regards contracts of employment. It is for the Governor-General to decide to which Natives of the Belgian Congo, of Ruanda-Urundi or of other African territories the decree should apply. Hours of Work. Until recently there existed in the Belgian Congo no statutory provisions fixing or limiting hours of work. In practice, however, the eight-hour day had tended to be generally adopted, at any rate in the larger firms of the Colony. On the other hand, in the smaller workshops and workplaces longer hours (generally eight-anda-half to nine hours a day) were often worked. This situation came to an end with the introduction of new legislation (the Decree of 14 March 1957), which provides for limitation of hours of work, for weekly rest and for public holidays for all employees. As far as hours of work are concerned, the general principle to be followed is set out in article 4 : " The effective duration of work shall not exceed eight hours per day nor 48 hours per week." Articles 6 to 14 inclusive provide for various exceptions to this general rule. Article 6 empowers the GovernorGeneral to reduce these maximums for underground, dangerous, unhealthy or disagreeable work. Article 7 provides for the possibihty of an extra half-day of rest per week in return for an extension of the working day to nine hours on five days a week provided that the weekly maximum of 48 hours is not exceeded. Article 8 covers undertakings where work is carried out in shifts. There the effective hours of work can be extended, with the written permission of a labour inspector, to ten hours per day but must not exceed 144 hours in any 21 consecutive days. Article 9 deals with work which because of its nature must be continuous. Here the normal daily hours of work can be extended with the written permission of a labour inspector, but the total hours worked must not exceed 168 in any 21 consecutive days. The articles which follow deal respectively with work in undertakings dealing with livestock, in nursing, in seasonal undertakings, etc. In spite of these exceptions an absolute limit is fixed on the hours of work of young persons under 16 years of age, who may not be employed for more than nine hours per day (article 18, paragraph 2). Moreover, there must be provision in their case for rest pauses of a total minimum duration of one hour save in exceptional cases and for a limited time. These exceptional provisions must in any case provide for a break of at least half an hour at the time of the main meal (article 18, paragraphs 2 and 3). Article 15 provides that the day's work should be carried out between 5 a.m. and 7 p.m. This rule is absolute for young persons under 16 years of age. Exceptions to this provision are allowed in order to provide for the special conditions of work to be found in hotels, restaurants, newspapers, etc. However, for women occupied in such undertakings, the working day cannot be extended beyond 11 p.m. 328 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Article 21 fixes the rate of wages for overtime. The first two hours of overtime must be paid at not less than 25 per cent, over the normal rate. Overtime beyond that period must be paid at not less than 50 per cent, above the normal rate.1 Weekly Rest and Public Holidays. The Decree of 14 March 1957 lays down the principle of weekly rest and public holidays as follows: " Employers shall not, on Sundays or on public holidays prescribed by the Governor-General, engage, in work in any undertaking covered by this decree, any person other than a member of their own families " (article 23). The rule can, however, be relaxed in favour of certain specified types of undertakings (hotels, restaurants, etc.), but only if compensatory leave is given within a period of one month (article 24). These holidays may, with the authorisation of the labour inspector, be accumulated and taken annually. Other exceptions can be made for seasonal undertakings and retail shops. The exception in favour of retail shops is subject to compensatory leave's being given, and in both cases time-and-a-half is to be paid for work done on Sundays and public holidays (articles 26 and 27). Finally, the law permits the Governor-General to authorise, subject to compensatory rest's being granted, work in exceptional cases where the statutory provisions dealing with Sunday rest or public holidays are obviously inapplicable. These exceptions do not apply to young persons under 16 years of age. Ordinance No. 22/408 of 12 December 1954 prescribes the public holidays, of which there are 13. The wages of workers in seasonal undertakings and in retail shops must be increased by 50 per cent, for work done on Sundays and public holidays. When, in addition, the permitted daily or weekly number of hours of work is exceeded, thus giving rise to the right to overtime, this overtime must be paid in addition to the higher rate for the days in question. Before the entry into force of the 1957 decree, European workers were accorded weekly rest and public hoUdays in conditions identical with those applying to African workers but by virtue of separate legislation (paragraph 6 of article 14 of the decree on contracts of employment). Since, however, the Decree of 14 March 1957 was intended to introduce in this matter new conditions of work applicable to workers, whether European or African, without discrimination, paragraph 6 of article 14 of the decree on contracts of employment was repealed, as was paragraph 8 of article 19 of the consolidated decrees on work contracts (i.e. those applicable to Africans). Holidays with Pay. The Decree of 30 June 1954 made the provision of holidays with pay for indigenous workers compulsory. Article 43 of the Royal Order of 19 July 1954 states that " after one year of uninterrupted service with the same employer, the worker shall be entitled to paid leave at the rate of one day for every two full months of employment, including public holidays ". During leave the worker is paid an amount equal to that which he receives when employed; after 18 months of 1 This provision has been modified by a legislative Ordinance of 28 Feb. 1958 which has added a new article (24 bis) to the Decree of 14 March 1957. The latter provides that in undertakings where work is carried out in shifts continuously throughout the week, work done on a statutory day of rest need not be compensated by the grant of a special rest period if the workers concerned are given a full 24 hours of rest immediately following each tour of duty. RECRUITMENT, CONTRACTS OF EMPLOYMENT AND CONDITIONS OF WORK 329 uninterrupted service with the same employer a bonus for regular service, the amount of which is equal to the last gross daily wage multiplied by the number of days of leave, is payable in addition to the leave allowance. The worker may allow his leave to accumulate for a period not exceeding four years. After three years of service the period of leave is extended by such time as is necessary for him to travel by normal means from the place of employment to the place of engagement and to return if the contract is continued by tacit agreement or renewed. No leave allowance is due in respect of days spent in travelling, but the worker receives the cash equivalent of the rations which are normally given to him and to his family during employment. The rights of European workers concerning leave, travelling and transport, are defined in section III (articles 17 to 32) of Chapter VI of the Decree of 15 June 1949. The period of employment at the end of which the worker is entitled to leave is normally three years but may be extended to four years. The previous period of leave is not included in the period of employment giving the right to a new period of leave. The period of leave is normally one-twelfth of the period of employment, in other words, three months' leave after three years of employment. An additional three months' leave with pay is granted to the worker whenever he is due to return to the Colony and to work for the same or for another employer. The worker is free to use his leave as he wishes provided he uses it for the purpose of rest. During leave the worker receives an allowance of at least three-quarters of his normal salary; but the employer is not required to pay this allowance if the contract is terminated during employment on grounds of sufficiently blameworthy conduct on the part of the employee, or if a fixed-term contract is broken without sufficient cause, or, in the case of the breaking of a contract of indeterminate duration, when the rules governing the period of notice have not been complied with (Decree of 15 June 1949, article 19, paragraph 3). The same decree provides that the travelling expenses of the worker and his family shall be borne by the employer, at any rate when the contract of employment implies the expatriation of a worker recruited outside the colony. The employer must pay these expenses in advance; but if, within the first 18 months of the period of employment, the contract is denounced on grounds of sufficiently blameworthy conduct on the part of the worker, or if the worker denounces the contract without good reason, the employer may demand repayment of a portion of the travelling expenses from the place of recruitment to that of employment corresponding to the ratio between the period of time during which the worker was according to the contract due to work and the period during which he has in fact worked. In either case the employer is also freed from the obligation of paying repatriation expenses to the worker and his family. Workers who, at the normal end of a contract of employment, wish to settle, on their own account, in the colony, keep for two years the right to have their journey home, and that of their family, paid for by the employer; the main purpose of this provision is to encourage Europeans to settle in the Belgian Congo. British Territories There is, in the territories under United Kingdom administration, a great diversity of regulations concerning conditions of work, which must be looked for 330 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY either among the general employment ordinances, in the ordinances limited to a given branch of the economy, or in the regulations issued under wage ordinances and framed by wages committees. It is largely through wage-fixing machinery that, in most territories, a legal status and an exact meaning have been given to the notion of hours of work. In most cases general employment ordinances include no special provisions on the limitation of hours of work; and the notion of limitation as such is not yet found in the regulations of most of the territories. British West African Territories. Hours of Work. In Gambia there are no regulations fixing hours of work; practice varies according to the branch of the economy, but the maximum is usually eight hours per day. Manual workers in industry work from 43 to 45 hours a week, commercial employees 46 hours, manual workers in the public services 43 hours, civil service clerks 36Yi hours. These limits are seldom exceeded; when they are overtime is paid to workers doing more than eight hours' work a day. Unskilled labourers receive a fixed rate of 6d. an hour extra for overtime ; other workers are paid in accordance with recommendations of the Labour Advisory Board, receiving time-and-a-quarter for every hour of work above eight hours a day or for work done after 1 p.m. on Saturdays, on Sundays or on public holidays ; some employers, however, pay timeand-a-half for overtime on Sundays and public holidays and time-and-a-quarter for overtime worked on other days.1 In Sierra Leone regulations on hours of work are included in the regulations on wages made under the Wages Board Ordinance.2 Normal hours of work vary between 45 and 48 a week, except for maritime workers, who work a 60-hour week. The rate for overtime pay is time-and-a-quarter for the first two hours, timeand-a-half beyond the first two hours and double time for work on Sundays and public holidays. In Nigeria hours of work are fixed by order of the Governor under article 209 of the 1945 Labour Code3, which states that the Governor in Council may, after considering the recommendations of the Labour Advisory Board, make orders in respect of general conditions of employment. Regulations covering most of the kinds of employment encountered in Nigeria have been made under these provisions of the code; they may be summed up as follows : Weekly hours of work are normally 44 (with a maximum of 55 a week and eight a day), in public works, 43 for dockers and stevedores, 44 in retail shops (with a maximum of 45), 55 in food shops and 45 in engineering. The regulations also prescribe maximum daily hours of work and regulate the payment of overtime for hours worked over the normal number and within the maximum permitted limits. In mining undertakings on the Plateau normal hours are 48 a week, with a maximum of eight hours a day. Weekly hours can, however, be increased to a 1 2 Colonial Reports : The Gambia, 1950 and 1951 (London, H.M. Stationery Office, 1953), p. 7. Ordinance No. 16 of 1945. 3 Labour Code Ordinance (No. 58 of 1945) and Ordinance to amend the Labour Code Ordinance, 1945 (No. 8 of 1946) {I.L.O. Legislative Series, 1946—Nig. 1). RECRUITMENT, CONTRACTS OF EMPLOYMENT AND CONDITIONS OF WORK 331 maximum of 52. In practice such limits are seldom reached, at any rate in the large firms. In small firms, however, a 60-hour week is often worked. Articles 148, 149 and 150 of the Labour Code deal with night work; it is defined, as respects industrial undertakings, as a period of at least 11 consecutive hours, including the interval between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. In agricultural undertakings it is defined as a period of at least nine consecutive hours including the interval between 9 p.m. and 4 a.m. The regulations applying to Nigeria also apply to the British Cameroons. Generally speaking, normal hours are 45 a week for all types of undertaking, including the Cameroons Development Corporation, which employs about 80 per cent, of the territory's total labour force. Office workers work about 36{4 hours a week. Weekly Rest and Public Holidays. In the territories of British West Africa there are seldom explicit provisions concerning weekly rest, but they are implicit in the regulations mentioned above concerning hours of work and schedules of work. The number of official public hohdays varies from territory to territory; there are 11 in Gambia and Sierra Leone and six in Nigeria and the Cameroons. There are no regulations forbidding work on public holidays, but for work done on Sundays or public holidays there is an increase in wages which, in Nigeria, is normally of 100 per cent. Holidays with Pay. There are no regulations on holidays with pay in Gambia. In Sierra Leone orders issued under the Wages Boards (Amendment) Ordinance, 1946 and 1947, provide that there shall be 12 days' annual leave with pay in the mining industry and 14 days in the printing trades; in other cases nine days' holiday is given, increasing to 12 days after three years or 14 days after five years of regular service with the same employer. An indemnity is paid to a worker who has to leave his job, against his own will, after six months ; a worker who has been away from work, without good reason, for more than six days loses one day of leave for each day of absence. Workers may, if they so wish, accumulate leave for a period of two years. In Nigeria the various regulations concerning wages generally provide that the worker shall have a week's holiday with pay after 12 months' work; in the mining industry two days' travelling time is also granted. An indemnity in lieu of holiday is paid to the worker who has to leave his job more than six months after recruitment or after his last holiday. British East African Territories. Hours of Work. In Kenya the only regulations on hours of work are contained in Ordinance No. 24 of 1925, amended by Ordinance No. 31 of 1937 on shop hours in towns.1 Under the provisions of the latter ordinance no employee is allowed to work more then eight hours a day, and the total period from the beginning to the end of work (including mealtimes) must not exceed nine hours. In other trades or professions the normal working week varies in practice from 45 to 50 hours; commercial employees have a 421/2-hour week, public employees a 1 There is a special ordinance (No. 26 of 1949) which applies to the town of Mombasa only. 332 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY 40-hour week. An eight-hour day has become the rule in agriculture, except during harvest time, when much longer hours are worked. In the absence of general regulations on hours of work wage committees have tended gradually to standardise existing practices by fixing, for each trade or profession, wage rates for a normal week and thereby fixing maximum working hours beyond which overtime rates must be paid. The limits so fixed vary from trade to trade; thus a 45-hour week is the rule in the clothing industry and a 48-hour week in the road transport industry.1 In Uganda most wage earners are employed in agriculture and work on a piece-work basis. There is therefore no legislation on hours of work in agriculture; the normal task is, as a rule, fairly easy and can be completed in five to six hours. The Government has, however, tried to introduce and generalise the 45-hour week, which has been adopted in the civil service. As regards industry, article 11 of the 1946 Employment Rules stipulates that no worker shall be obliged to work more than 48 hours a week, nor, as far as possible, more than eight hours a day. Additional hours are allowed up to a maximum of 30 a month on payment of a wage increase of 30 per cent. Special regulations apply to shop assistants2, whose normal working week is 54 hours. In Tanganyika the only existing regulations on hours of work also apply to shop assistants3; their normal working week is 48 hours. In the public services in work of an industrial character a 45-hour week spread over five-and-a-half days was introduced in 1954; in private industry more than 48 hours a week are rarely worked. According to the Labour Department Report for 1955, this limit has not been observed by certain establishments connected with the tourist trade or by certain retail shops, where there has, in some cases, been a working week of 60 to 77 hours. As regards agriculture, where task work is the rule, the report of the administration to the General Assembly of the United Nations for 19554 stressed that tasks can as a rule be done in five to six hours, and that the " 30-day ticket " or kipande system, giving every worker the possibility of doing as much work as he wants, has turned out to be satisfactory, so that there is no immediate need for new regulations on hours of work. Weekly Rest and Public Holidays. In Kenya the regulations on weekly rest apply only to retail shops and workshops, which must be closed on Sundays, except when the following Monday is a public holiday.5 These regulations do not, however, apply to cafés, restaurants and pharmacies. A day of weekly rest is, moreover, the general rule even though it has not been made compulsory by law. In Uganda and Tanganyika regulations similar to those in force in Kenya apply to shop assistants. The principle of weekly rest is also applied, in Uganda, to workers in industry under the provisions of the Employment Rules, 1946, which stipulate that every worker must be granted a rest of 24 consecutive hours, wherever possible on Sundays. 1 Colonial Reports: Kenya, 1955 (London, H.M. Stationery Office, 1956), p. 13. Shop Hours Ordinance (No. 21 of 1937). Shop Hours Ordinance (No. 25 of 1945). 4 Colonial Office: Report by Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to the General Assembly of the United Nations on the Trust Territory of Tanganyika under United Kingdom Administration for the Year 1955, op. cit., p. 96. 5 Shop Hours Ordinances of 1925, 1937 and 1949. 2 3 RECRUITMENT, CONTRACTS OF EMPLOYMENT AND CONDITIONS OF WORK 333 Holidays with Pay. In the territories of British East Africa regulations concerning holidays with pay are few. In Kenya the Shop Hours Ordinances stipulate that every employee shall be entitled, during each year in the service of the same employer, to 12 consecutive days' holiday with pay; in Mombasa 14 days are given, which can be taken either in one period or in two periods of seven days each. The Uganda Employment Ordinance (No. 13 of 1946) stipulates in article 17 that the employer must grant every worker at least one week's holiday with pay if the worker has worked at least 240 days during the preceding 12 months; this ordinance, however, applies only to workers whose wages are below a given rate (150 shillings a month in 1955). As far as is known there are no such legal obligations in Tanganyika. It seems, however, that in most firms in East Africa, or at any rate in the larger firms, holidays with pay are given. British Central African Territories. Hours of Work. In Northern Rhodesia the practice in industry is a 48-hour week; manual workers in public services work a 45-hour week, and in some services a good deal less ; on the railways there is a 44-hour week. The mining industry of the Copper Belt has adopted a 48-hour week, which is to be found, incidentally, in most mines in Africa (for instance, in the Witwatersrand, in the coal mines of the Transvaal and in the Province of Natal, in the gold mines of Southern Rhodesia, in the diamond mines of the Union of South Africa and of West Africa, and in the copper mines of the Belgian Congo). For work beyond 48 hours overtime rates are paid ranging from time-and-a-quarter to doubletime and depending on whether overtime work is done on a normal weekday or on a rest day. The figures given above represent current practice, legislation on hours of work being limited. The Shop Assistants Act of 1937 stipulates that the normal week shall be a 47 j/^-hour week and the normal day one of eight-and-a-half-hours. Recent regulations concerning indigenous workers engaged on the construction of the Kariba Dam fix the normal week at 48 hours except for guards and watchmen, who have a 72-hour week; the same regulations stipulate that the addition for overtime shall be 50 per cent, on weekdays and 100 per cent, on Sundays and other rest days.1 In Nyasaland the 48-hour week is customary in most branches of the economy; manual workers receive a 50 per cent, wage increase for overtime. In Southern Rhodesia, on the other hand, a series of regulations have recently been issued fixing the conditions of work in various trades or professions. A 48-hour week is normal. Certain categories of workers, such as guards, watchmen, and supervisors, however, may be required to do a 72-hour week, which is regarded for these categories as the equivalent of a 48-hour week. In shops there is a 45-hour week calculated on the basis of nine hours a day. Work done outside normal hours is considered as overtime, for which timeand-a-half is payable for weekdays and double-time for rest days. 1 Employment of Natives (Kariba) Regulations, 1956. 334 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY In the case of shift work the normal rule is an eight-hour shift. A worker cannot be made to do two shifts in one day unless he has been switched from one gang to another; there must be a 15-minute rest pause every five hours, and no worker may work on night shift for more than a month. Weekly Rest and Public Holidays. Although in Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland it is the custom to grant a weekly day of rest, neither in public nor private enterprise is this normally made compulsory by law. In Northern Rhodesia, however, the Shop Assistants Ordinance stipulates that every worker shall be given a day's rest every week, except in emergencies; there is a similar provision under the Employment of Natives Regulations for workers in the mines. In Southern Rhodesia weekly rest is made compulsory by law in specific branches such as transport, garages and shops. Moreover, a set of regulations governing the employment of indigenous workers in urban areas has recently come into force.1 Holidays with Pay. In Northern Rhodesia shop assistants receive 18 working days' holiday after a year of employment in the service of one employer. The Employment of Natives (Kariba) Regulations, 1956, stipulate that every worker must be given one day's holiday for every month of effective work. In Southern Rhodesia the various regulations in force generally provide that holidays shall be of one working day for every month of actual work and that leave may be accumulated during a period of three years. The worker is only entitled to his holiday after one year of work, and he loses his right if, during this first year, he leaves his work or is dismissed. The employer may not compel the worker to take his holiday before the latter has acquired the right to the whole period. Shop assistants are subject to more favourable provisions than employees in other trades, being entitled to 18 days' holiday after their first year of employment and then three days for every two months' work, with the possibility of accumulating up to 78 days. Civil servants are given leave on the basis of l/26th of their completed service for the first ten years of employment and l/20th of any subsequent period of service.2 European employees in the mining industry have a system of leave which varies according to their category. Manual workers have 21 days' holiday, rising to 30 days for employees earning more than £30 a month. The payment of cash in lieu of leave is, in principle, forbidden. If all parties agree, leave may be accumulated over two or three years so that the European worker may have a longer period of leave and, if he so wishes, return to his country of origin. High Commission Territories. In the High Commission territories (Basutoland, Bechuanaland and Swaziland) industry is still fairly undeveloped and the number of wage earners is small; legislation relating to the conditions of work is therefore not very detailed. The normal working week is in most cases 48 hours, but it is a good deal less in the public services 1 2 Urban Areas Natives Employment Regulations, 1958. Native Employees Leave Regulations, 1951, amended in 1954. Coloured Employees Leave Regulations, 1951, amended in 1952. RECRUITMENT, CONTRACTS OF EMPLOYMENT AND CONDITIONS OF WORK 335 (36 hours). In the Swaziland mines, where about 3,000 men are employed, there is a 50-hour week. Ghana In Ghana the regulation of conditions of work derives from the recommendations of Advisory Boards which are set up under article 89 of the Labour Ordinance, 1948. These recommendations, when approved by the Governor, acquire force of law. Hours of Work. In the retail trade the normal working week is 45 hours. In the absence of special provision to the contrary, the wage increase for overtime is 25 per cent, on weekdays and 50 per cent, on Sundays. In mines and industry the working week is usually 48 hours but in some cases 45. Hours worked outside the normal schedule are considered as overtime; the overtime rate varies from firm to firm but is usually time-and-a-quarter on weekdays and double-time on Sundays or public holidays. Weekly Rest and Public Holidays. The above provisions relating to hours of work in the various activities imply a weekly rest day. Public holidays are paid for under Order No. 396 of 1953 concerning shop assistants in the retail trade and as a generally accepted practice in mining and industry. Holidays with Pay. In the retail trade the following holidays with pay are given; 14 days for workers paid by the day who have been employed for at least a year; 15 days for employees paid by the month on a salary of at least £18 per month; and one month for all other employees. In the mines a worker is only entitled to a holiday if he has worked at least 296 days in the year; he is given 14 days' leave if he has been working less than ten years for his employer and 21 days if he has been working more than ten years. He may accumulate his leave over a period of three years. French Territories In the territories under French administration conditions of work are defined in their general principles by the law and fixed in detail by local regulations. Title V (articles 112 to 132) of the Labour Code for Overseas Territories deals with conditions of employment and has five chapters, dealing respectively with hours of work, night work, employment of women and children, weekly rest, leave and transportation. As the provisions of the Code are relatively comprehensive and rigid, there is little scope for variation in the local regulations. In fact, the federal and territorial orders concerning conditions of work are all rather similar in content, doctrine and inspiration, and in many respects resemble the regulations which apply in metropoütan France. It has also been provided that certain orders which are especially important should, before coming into force, be approved by the Minister for Overseas France. It is natural therefore to find considerable uniformity in the regulations concerning conditions of work. 336 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Hours of Work. Before the Labour Code for Overseas Territories was passed hours of work varied from territory to territory, the normal week being 48 hours except in French Equatorial Africa, which had a ten-hour day. Apart from their mandatory character these limits corresponded to the actual working hours in industry; in commerce and administration, actual working hours fell short of the legal limits, the normal working week being 45 hours; in agriculture it would seem that the normal day seldom exceeded eight hours. The code, following metropolitan legislation, introduced a uniform 40-hour week except for agriculture, in which maximum hours were fixed on the basis of 2,400 hours a year, which means virtually a 48-hour week. The limits fixed were maxima adopted in the general interest and were consequently binding on both workers and employers; exceptions by mutual agreement were forbidden. However, the code provides that exceptions to the normal limits may be authorised by the Governor of each group of territories with the approval of the Minister for Overseas France, provided that the overtime is paid for at an increased rate (article 112). The last paragraph of article 112 empowers the chief of the territory to fix the maximum duration of the overtime. Under the statutory powers thus conferred upon them the local authorities have made rules concerning working hours as a result of which many exceptions of a permanent or temporary nature, depending on the type of work done, are found throughout the French territories of Africa. Overtime rates are, in theory, fixed by collective agreement; the Governor of each territory is, however, authorised to fix a minimum overtime rate when there are no collective agreements or when the collective agreements do not mention the subject. The various overtime orders which have been made fix rates varying according to the days on which overtime is done (weekdays or Sundays and public holidays) and to the time at which the work is done (during the day or during the night). The local regulations made under article 112 of the code also contain details on the organisation of work; they provide that any work schedule established by the employer must, before being put into force, be submitted to a labour inspector and must be posted up at the place of work so that all the workers may become acquainted with it. The employer cannot change it without going again through the same procedure. In practice the local orders issued have in no case set annual limits inferior to the statutory one of 2,400 hours for agriculture; their provisions merely determine the way in which these 2,400 hours are to be spread over the year according to a daily or a seasonal schedule, bearing in mind weekly rest and holidays with pay. The general rule is an eight-hour day with special provisions for all agricultural undertakings other than nursery and market gardens and sisal and rice plantations. For economic activities other than agriculture the territorial regulations as a rule give employers a choice of three schedules to follow: (a) eight hours a day for five days and rest on Saturday or Monday; (b) six hours and 40 minutes on each of the six normal work days; or (c) an uneven distribution of hours over the working days, with a maximum of eight hours on any one day, and a weekly half-holiday. RECRUITMENT, CONTRACTS OF EMPLOYMENT AND CONDITIONS OF WORK 337 These are only general regulations, special provisions being contained in the local orders applying to each trade or profession according to its requirements. Space does not allow of a complete enumeration of the many exceptions to statutory working horn's, temporary or permanent, authorised in the various territories for specified types of work or categories of workers. In the case of agriculture the overtime wage increase rates are as follows: (a) 10 per cent, for day work on weekdays; (b) 25 per cent, for day work on weekly rest days or public holidays; (c) 50 per cent, for night work on weekdays; (d) 100 per cent, for night work on weekly rest days or public holidays. In non-agricultural occupations the rates vary a great deal from territory to territory. For day work on weekdays, they are as follows : (a) from the 41st to the 48th hour: 10 per cent, (in Madagascar and the Cameroons 15 per cent, and in the Upper Volta, Sudan and Niger 5 per cent.). (b) from the 49th hour on: 20 per cent, in Senegal, Mauritania and UbangiChari: 25 per cent, in all other territories of French West Africa and French Equatorial Africa (in the Middle Congo there is a wage increase rate of 25 per cent, from the 46th hour on), in Togoland and in French Somaliland; 30 per cent, in the Cameroons and Madagascar; (c) From the 55th hour on: 50 per cent, in French Somaliland. (d) From the 56th hour on: 40 per cent, in the Cameroons and Madagascar. The overtime rate for day work on Sundays and public holidays is 25 per cent, in all territories except for the Cameroons and Madagascar (40 per cent.), and for Togoland, the Middle Congo and Dahomey (50 per cent.). For night work the rate is 50 per cent, on week days and 100 per cent, on Sundays and public holidays in all territories except Tchad and the Cameroons, where the rate is 50 per cent, for Sundays and public holidays. As regards night work, the Labour Code merely states that the hours when work shall be deemed to be night work shall be fixed by an order in each territory and that the hours when night work begins and ends may vary according to the season (article 113). There are special regulations applying to women and children. Local regulations in the various territories define night work as follows: (a) work done between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. : Senegal, Sudan, Niger, the Upper Volta, the Ivory Coast, Dahomey, Togoland, Ubangi-Chari, Tchad, Somaliland, Madagascar and the Comoro Islands: (b) work done between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. : Mauritania and the Cameroons. In Gabon and the Middle Congo night work is in principle work done between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. Weekly Rest. Article 120 of the Labour Code for Overseas Territories states that weekly rest for wage earners is compulsory; it must consist of 24 consecutive hours; and it must normally fall on Sunday. However, there may be local exceptions to these rules. The following are examples of exceptional circumstances in which the suspension of weekly rest may be authorised; urgent rescue work or work to prevent imminent 338 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY accidents in an undertaking; cases where an exceptional amount of extra work has to be done ; work in undertakings dealing with perishable goods (in the last two cases, only twice a month and at most six times a year, and the hours worked are to be paid as overtime); work on loading in harbours, at landing stages and in railway stations, with the same limitations as in the two previous cases (in the Middle Congo and Gabon a compensatory rest day must be given during the following month). Moreover, article 120 of the code empowers the Governor of each territory to issue orders authorising the granting of weekly rest at intervals of longer than one week. In French West Africa weekly rest in agriculture may be suspended for a period of at most four months, the worker who works on a weekly rest day being granted a compensatory leave which may be added to and accumulated with annual leave; the possibility of accumulating this extra leave also exists in the Cameroons, for workers who work on a Sunday or a normal rest day. In the Cameroons Tchad, the Middle Congo, Madagascar and the Comoro Islands, weekly rest may also be suspended in agriculture, when there is an exceptional amount of extra work to do; the compensating rest day must be granted during the following month. Apart from agriculture, exceptions are also allowed for certain other categories of workers provided that compensatory rest is given. This applies for instance to watchmen and caretakers, to people doing maintenance work which has to be done on a day when the other workers are resting in order to avoid any delay in the normal work of the firm, and to some categories of skilled workers in factories which must be kept going continuously. There are few exceptions to the rule requiring that the weekly rest period must consist of 24 consecutive hours; they apply to domestic servants, who, by mutual agreement, may be given two half-days of rest a week, usually in the form of halfa-day's rest on Sunday afternoon plus one full day's rest per fortnight on a rotation system. On the other hand, there are many exceptions to the Sunday rest rule, though none are allowed in the case of apprentices. There are general exceptions applying to certain types of activity, such as transport and maritime work, arising from the nature of the work. In other trades or professions weekly rest may be taken on a rotation system, e.g. in hotels and restaurants, water and electric light and power companies, industries where goods are handled which are liable to perish quickly, etc. There are temporary exceptions applying to undertakings where the simultaneous rest on Sundays of all the staff members might be harmful to the public or interfere with the normal functioning of the undertaking. Weekly rest may thus be given on a day other than Sunday to all employees, or from Sunday noon to Monday noon, or on Sunday afternoon only with an extra day's leave each fortnight on a rotation system, or by rotation and once a fortnight, or by rotation for some or all of the employees. Holidays with Pay and Transportation. Articles 121 to 125 of the Labour Code, amended by the Decree of 20 May 1953 and by Act No. 56 of 27 March 1956, lay down the general principles governing holidays with pay. In the 1956 Act there are a number of provisions which apply both to metropolitan France and to the overseas territories; this is an exceptional case of metropolitan labour legislation applying also to the territories of Africa. RECRUITMENT, CONTRACTS OF EMPLOYMENT AND CONDITIONS OF WORK 339 The 1956 Act replaces previous regulations issued under the Labour Code1; the new provisions regulate the length of hohdays, the right to holidays, the manner of taking holidays and the leave allowances granted to workers. Five days' leave is granted for each month of effective employment to workers whose normal place of residence is outside the boundaries of the territory or group of territories concerned; one-and-a-half days are granted to other workers, except for workers aged less than 18 years and apprentices, who get two days. Two extra working days are granted to workers who have more than 20 years of employment, whether interrupted or uninterrupted, with the same employer; an extra four days are given for more than 25 years of employment and six days for more than 30 years. The right to a holiday is granted after a year, except in the case of the workers who receive five days per month. In their case leave is calculated on the basis of a period which varies from territory to territory; it is at most two years in French West Africa, Togoland, the Cameroons, French Equatorial Africa and French Somaliland and three years in Madagascar and the Comoro Islands. Being a matter of public concern holidays are compulsory; they cannot be replaced by the payment of an indemnity to a worker who gives up his holiday. Holidays must be taken at one stretch unless they are longer than 12 working days, in which case they may be divided into periods, by mutual agreement, provided that at least one period is of not less than 12 days (including two days of weekly rest). During the period of leave the worker is entitled to receive pay at least equal to the wages paid for an equivalent period of work, but not including output bonuses; in the case of expatriate workers who are entitled to five days' leave per month of employment, the special risk allowance for climate which they get for working overseas is not included. The time taken to return to the country of origin is added to the period of leave. As regards transportation rights, the Labour Code, like the Belgian Congo legislation, contains a number of provisions for the recruiting of workers who normally reside outside the territory or group of territories where they will be employed; they get extra leave and a special displacement allowance. These regulations mainly concern European workers, normally domiciled in Europe, who are given travelling conditions similar to those of civil servants. Article 125 of the code, as amended by the Decree of 20 May 1955, makes the employer liable for the travelling expenses of the worker and his wife and children under age normally residing with him and also for the cost of transporting their luggage between the normal place of residence and the place of employment. The employer must also pay for the return journey when the contract expires. If the employee goes home on leave during the period of validity of the contract his travelling expenses and those of his family (if any) must also be paid by the employer. If the contract is terminated before it is due to expire the regulations vary according to the causes of the termination; if the contract is terminated by the worker or as a result of serious negligence on his part the amount of travelling expenses for which the employer is hable is in proportion to the period of actual service ; if the contract is terminated as a result oí force majeure or if the worker is dismissed for a reason other than serious negligence, the employer has to pay the entire cost of the return journey. 1 See the Orders of 17 Dec. 1956 for French West Africa and of 29 Oct. 1956 for Madagascar. 340 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY It is further stipulated that time spent on travelling is not included in the period of employment or the period of leave. A worker whose service has ceased is entitled to claim travelling and transportation expenses from his former employer up to two years after the date on which he ceased work. Somalia Labour legislation in this territory is still in process of revision, and there is, for the time being, no single and comprehensive code of rules on contracts, hours of work, wages or other workers' rights.1 Under an old regulation (Governor's Order No. 7486, dated 15 May 1929) one day's rest must be granted each week. The usual practice is an eight-hour day in private enterprise and a six-hour day in the civil service. Overtime is paid for at higher rates, and it is generally accepted that overtime should not exceed two hours per day. Certain public holidays must be paid for as if worked : they are 1 May, 2 June (the Italian National day), United Nations Day and Somalia Day. On these days both public and private employers must pay their workers a normal day's wage, including all allowances; if the latter have to work they receive their normal day's pay plus a special wage increase. Liberia The Act of 29 January 1943 stipulates that the number of hours worked shall not be more than eight per day and 48 per week; if work has to be done beyond those limits, the employer must obtain an authorisation from the competent authority and the worker is entitled to overtime pay. An Order of 10 May 1953 issued under the above Act provides that the employer shall not have to pay wages for hours not worked when work has been interrupted by force majeure. The rate of increase for overtime is 50 per cent. (Act of 3 April 1944). Portuguese Territories In the territories under Portuguese administration there are two different sets of regulations, applying respectively to indigenous and to European or assimilated workers. The basic provisions covering indigenous workers are to be found in the Native Labour Code of 1928, which applies to the territories of Africa under Portuguese administration (except the Cape Verde islands), and contains detailed provisions concerning hours of work and rest days; the detailed application of the Code is effected by a series of special territorial regulations. There is no general code of conditions of work for Europeans and assimilated persons, but the various local regulations are strikingly similar from territory to territory. 1 Rapport du gouvernement italien à l'Assemblée générale des Nations Unies sur l'administration de tutelle de la Somalie, 1955, op. cit., p. 91. RECRUITMENT, CONTRACTS OF EMPLOYMENT AND CONDITIONS OF WORK 341 Hours of Work. Article 110 of the Native Labour Code stipulates that indigenous workers may not be compelled to do more than nine hours of effective work a day. In application of this article a Mozambique Order dated 6 August 1953 contains a certain number of special rules on hours of work in agriculture and industry. In agriculture the rule is a nine-hour day, to which there can be no exception without permission from the public authorities and only to the extent of an additional 12 hours a week and three hours a day. The day's work must, in principle, be divided into two parts with a break of one-hour-and-a-half in the winter and two hours in the summer for a meal and rest. In industry the rule is an eight-hour day; overtime is allowed, by special permission, to the extent of 12 hours a week and four hours a day. In Angola Legislative Order No. 2797 of 31 December 1956 concerning indigenous labour empowers the competent authority to authorise overtime on condition that the worker be given a compensatory rest period. Time-and-a-quarter is payable for overtime. In the Cape Verde islands conditions of work have been fixed by a Governor's Order issued in 1952; the regulations are, in their general principles, similar to those in Mozambique which have just been mentioned. In the islands of Sao Tomé and Principe there are special regulations governing hours of work.1 There are two different work schedules, one for men, the other for women; a nine-hour day with rest pauses is fixed. In the case of permanent and continuous work which has to be carried on in shifts, no shift may last more than eight hours and there must be 16 hours' rest between two shifts. There are special regulations applying to certain categories of workers such as those doing maintenance or cleaning work or looking after livestock. Hours of work for European and assimilated workers are fixed, in Mozambique by an Order dated 28 April 1956 and in Angola by an Order dated 5 June 1957, in fairly similar terms. These orders confirm previous regulations according to which the maximum hours were eight a day and 48 a week, except for special cases where exceptions were permitted by the public authorities. It is also stipulated that the working day may be shortened once or twice a week in order to provide a half-holiday. These reductions can be made up for by prolonging the hours worked on other days provided that the nine-hour limit is not exceeded. There must be a rest break of at least one-and-a-half hours after four or five hours of uninterrupted work. During this break the worker is not allowed to remain at the place of employment except in the case of building or public works. If need be the Governor-General may authorise longer rest periods or, conversely, days without breaks. The regulations mentioned above also contain provisions on overtime pay. Time-and-a-half is payable for overtime worked by day and double-time for overtime at night. Night work is defined as work done between 8 p.m. and the time at which work normally starts. It is classified as overtime with a special rate of pay, except in the case of work which cannot normally be done by day or in the case of continuous process industries. In principle, only workers who have not worked during the 1 Order No. 1825 of 13 Dec. 1952. 342 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY day are allowed to do night work. The night shift also lasts eight hours and there can be no exception to this rule except in cases of absolute necessity. Time-anda-half is usually payable for night work. Weekly Rest and Public Holidays. Under article 110 of the 1928 Native Labour Code, "when the contract is made by the month or the year, indigenous workers will be entitled to a weekly day of rest and will not have to work on public holidays. They will, on those days, be entitled to their wages or rations." The regulations concerning European workers also provide that there shall be a weekly day of rest, normally taken on Sundays, and that public holidays shall be days of rest. Workers can only be compelled to work on those days if the employer gets special permission from the competent authority and pays double-time for the work done. Holidays with Pay. The 1928 Native Labour Code contains no special provisions on holidays with pay for indigenous workers, and no details of practice are available. On the other hand, the orders mentioned above regulating conditions of work for Europeans and assimilated workers in Mozambique and in Angola stipulate that such workers shall be entitled to holidays with pay after a year of effective employment; two weeks' leave are granted during the second year of employment, 20 days during the third, and 30 days during each succeeding year. It is also stipulated that in undertakings whose taxable income is above a certain figure the employer must pay at least once every six years the travelling expenses of employees who wish to take their leave in a country of their choice outside the territory where they are employed. Union of South Africa It was stated in Chapter VIII that the industrial councils, wages committees and other bodies dealing both with European and African workers were largely responsible for fixing conditions of work as well as wages. The following is a description of current practice. Hours of Work. In the mining industry there is an eight-hour day; beyond this limit overtime rates are paid. Work underground for more than eight hours a day or 48 hours a week (not including the time needed to go and return from the workplace) is forbidden, but these limits do not apply in case of accidents, when work is necessary for urgent reasons of safety, or in coal or base-metal mines. In industry the Factories, Machinery and Building Work Act, 19411, provides that there shall be a maximum 46-hour week and working hours shall not exceed eight per day. Several exceptions are, however, allowed. Thus, in undertakings where work is necessarily continuous, 48 hours a week are allowed, organised in three eight-hour shifts; the Minister of Labour has specified the types of undertakings entitled to apply this rule. In undertakings where a five-day week is worked workers may be required to work a nine-and-a-quarter hour day ; when only five hours are 1 No. 22 of 1941. RECRUITMENT, CONTRACTS OF EMPLOYMENT AND CONDITIONS OF WORK 343 worked on one day an extra half-hour may be worked on the other days of that week. The employer may, at his discretion, demand an additional ten hours of work a week and he may, with the agreement of the competent authority, even go beyond this limit in a case of great necessity or for reasons of general interest. A worker may not work more than five hours without being given a rest pause of at least one hour; however, if workers are unable to leave the place of work during normal rest pauses they may continue working. Hours worked over and above the normal work schedule must be paid for at time-and-a-third if performed on weekdays and double-time if performed on Sundays unless the worker is given a compensatory rest day within one week, in which case only time-and-a-third is payable. Shop assistants and office workers normally work a 46-hour week, though employers may increase this amount by one hour a week. The normal working day is eight hours, with an additional quarter-hour if a 47-hour week is worked. After five consecutive hours of work the employee is entitled to a rest pause of at least one hour. He may not be compelled to work later than 1 p.m. on more than five days of the week; this, coupled with the principle of weekly rest, means in fact that he works a five-and-half-day week. Exceptions to the above rules are allowed in cases of urgency or of absolute necessity. Employers may also require their employees to work overtime, within maximum limits of 30 hours a year, six hours a week and three hours a day. Time-and-a-half is paid for overtime done on ordinary working days and double-time on Sundays and public holidays. The regulations mentioned above contain no definition of night work in regard to adults; such a definition, however, is contained in the regulations for the protection of young persons, who are not allowed to work between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. Weekly Rest and Public Holidays. The Mines and Works Act, 1956, makes weekly rest compulsory; Christmas Day and Good Friday are treated as public holidays and are paid for as normal working days. Exceptions to this rule are only allowed for indispensable services (pumping, ventilation, light, heating and power), for work the postponement of which might cause injury to personnel and damage to equipment, and for preparatory or complementary work necessary to enable work to start or finish according to the normal schedule. The principle of weekly rest is also embodied in the Factories, Machinery and Building Work Act, 1941; work on Sundays is forbidden except by special official permission. Good Friday, Dingaan's Day, Christmas Day and New Year's Day are public holidays, paid for as normal working days; an employee who has, in exceptional cases, to work on those days gets an extra payment of not less than 100 per cent, of his normal wage. Work in shops and offices on Sundays and on public hohdays is forbidden, except where employers are allowed to keep their shops open on those days. In such cases employees must be given a compensatory rest day in such a way that the principle of weekly rest is respected; in the case of work done on a public holiday, the compensatory day of rest must be given within the following fortnight. Employees may not be required to do inventory work on Sundays or public holidays.1 1 Shops and Offices Act, No. 41 of 1939. 344 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Holidays with Pay. Available information indicates that the practice of granting holidays with pay is widely followed and that in certain cases it is a statutory obligation. In industry every employee must be given at least two weeks' holiday with pay for each year of service; the worker is entitled to demand his holiday in the two months following the year of employment which has given him his right to it. When a public holiday falls during the leave the worker is entitled to an additional day of leave. The holiday allowance must be paid in advance. When the contract of employment is terminated or when the period of employment comes to an end for any reason whatever, the employer must pay the worker an allowance proportionate to the number of months worked since the beginning of employment or the date of his return from his previous holiday. Similar regulations apply to shop assistants and office workers. CHILDREN AND YOUNG PERSONS GENERAL All over the world, the need to protect the young and to help them to reach full physical and intellectual maturity has led to the adoption of a number of measures essentially meant to lighten the burden on the family, to give children proper social and health protection and to provide them with general and vocational education. It is only when seen in this context that the problem of the employment of young workers can usefully be studied; but such a study goes beyond the field of the International Labour Organisation's responsibilities and to a great extent into the territory of the other international organisations. A few brief remarks directly concerning the conditions of work of young workers in Africa south of the Sahara are, however, appropriate at this point. The Support of Children and Young Persons The problem of the support of children and young persons is especially acute in Africa, where the working-class standard of living is, as a rule, fairly low and, at times, very low. Poverty often leads the parents to force their children to work from an early age and the latter to seek it. Thus children may find themselves living in harmful conditions which may impair both their physical and their intellectual development. There are various ways of giving assistance to the family. A general rise in the standard of living, especially that of the economically weaker part of the population, is clearly of primary importance. Family allowances are the most direct way of helping towards the upkeep of children, but this type of measure, as is stated in Chapter XI, is seldom to be found in Africa, and in fact such allowances are paid to indigenous workers only in the Belgian Congo, Ruanda-Urundi and the territories under French administration. In the latter allowances are paid in principle until the children have reached the legal age for admission to employment, or beyond this age in a very few cases where the child remains dependent on his parents. RECRUITMENT, CONTRACTS OF EMPLOYMENT AND CONDITIONS OF WORK 345 Health and Welfare of Children In Africa as a whole the shortage of medical and public health staff seriously hampers the fight against disease. The low density of population and the state of health of children and young persons underline even more the necessity for proper facilities to protect the health of the young. Though the relevant information available is both incomplete and unreliable, statistics concerning the juvenile mortality rate show how serious the problems are. In many of the countries of Africa health and medico-social services for children still appear to be rudimentary. The medical control of young workers, though still imperfect in many cases, seems, on the whole, more satisfactory. For instance, in the territories under French administration there is compulsory medical examination of children before admission to employment at the expense and on the responsibility of the employer to ensure that the child is fit for employment, and after admission to employment medical examinations are given at regular intervals. Similar measures are to be found, to a greater or lesser extent, in other African countries, along the lines of the minimum standards adopted by the International Labour Organisation. The child's moral health is as important as his physical health. It has often been observed that the conditions of work imposed upon children and young persons may make for juvenile delinquency. Among the factors which here come into play must be mentioned the premature employment of children, the discrepancy between the age for admission to employment and the school-leaving age and the pursuit of activities which may be morally dangerous. The situation in Africa is not, in this respect, very different from that in other parts of the world, but remedies seem even more difficult to find, because a large proportion of the young come under the control neither of the school nor of the family. Child Labour and Education The abolition of child labour, considered as one of the first aims of social progress, is meaningless if it is not linked to general or vocational education. Even if the employment of children is forbidden by law, it will not in fact be prevented unless the children attend school and unless the school-leaving age closely corresponds to the age for admission to employment. Child labour legislation and the law on school attendance are therefore closely interrelated. If the school-leaving age is below the minimum age for admission to employment, the child will have nothing useful to do during the intervening period; he will either face the physical and moral danger of a roving life or he will be employed illegally and exploited. Thus, when the age for admission to employment is raised, the school-leaving age should be raised by a similar amount. In accordance with this principle the International Conference on Public Education, in its Recommendation No. 1 adopted in 1934, stated that the two problems of school-leaving age and admission to employment must be solved together; that, at the national level, the measures to be taken in this respect by Labour and Education Departments should be closely co-ordinated; and that, at the international level, studies on the age for admission to employment should be carried out in parallel with those on compulsory schooling. 346 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY The problem of school attendance in Africa will not be examined here; in a few cases, which are the exception rather than the rule, there are regulations making elementary school education compulsory and stipulating a minimum schoolleaving age. This age limit is, for instance, 14 years in French West Africa and 12 in Northern Rhodesia. In any case, only a small proportion of children in Africa attend school. According to the most recent information the school attendance rate is 45.3 per cent, for Africans in the Belgian Congo, 20 per cent, in Nigeria, 9 per cent, in Sierra Leone, 33.8 per cent, in Uganda, 34 per cent, in Kenya, 43.7 per cent, in Northern Rhodesia, 10.3 per cent, in Nyasaland, 10.8 per cent, in French Equatorial Africa and 5.2 per cent, in French West Africa. These few figures show that any affirmation about the need to co-ordinate the school-leaving age with the age for admission to employment has still a very academic character as far as Africa is concerned.1 It is difficult to gauge, even approximately, the present-day importance of juvenile labour in Africa as a whole. Except in a few territories, manpower statistics do not contain a clear indication of the number of young wage earners or of their distribution throughout the economy. It would be of little use to study the demographic tables showing the population's distribution by age category. The figures shown in these tables are for the most part incomplete and unreliable because of the gaps in the registration and because censuses are rare.2 Very roughly it may be estimated that young workers make up rather less than 10 per cent, of the whole wage-earning labour force.3 This calcination only takes into account young workers permanently employed in undertakings over which some degree of supervision can be exercised; it leaves out the floating labour force, especially seasonal workers employed for short periods only, about whom no information is available. The proportion of young wage earners is probably highest in agriculture; in the other branches of the economy, in most cases, the use of child labour is not so easy. In agriculture children, by tradition, do certain types of work, such as picking and sorting, which require no special training. At harvest time large numbers of children are also employed in plantations and in other kinds of agricultural undertakings because of the excessive amount of work to be done and the difficulty of recruiting adult workers. Though much of the work normally done by children and young persons is light work, abuses are to be feared and some, such as nonpayment of wages or payment of very low wages and working of excessively long hours, are still frequent and often reported. The employment of young workers in industry, especially in heavy industries and mining, is rarer but is quite common in small workshops and in handicrafts. The conditions of work of children employed in industry vary a good deal according to the type of firm, for the larger firms are systematically inspected by officials, 1 United Nations: Special Study on Educational Conditions in the Non-Self-Governing Territories (New York, 1954), pp. 18 ff. 2 The figures for some of the countries of Africa given in the United Nations Demographic Yearbook only apply to the European population as regards the distribution by age group. 3 The following examples bear out this assertion to some extent. In Kenya the total number of adult workers employed in sectors other than agriculture in 1956 was estimated at 152,000 as against 4,100 male juvenile workers; in Tanganyika, also in 1956, the total number of adult workers was 361,365 (domestic workers not included) as against 25,462 juvenile workers; and for the whole of the territories of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland the corresponding figures for the same year were 885,883 and 85,836. RECRUITMENT, CONTRACTS OF EMPLOYMENT AND CONDITIONS OF WORK 347 whereas the smaller undertakings often escape any type of control. Young workers are often employed as pseudo-apprentices. This is certainly one of the most harmful employment practices followed in Africa, for it is generally agreed that the young persons employed in this way not only receive no real training but are made to do work which is much too hard in view of their age. Often their so-called " masters " merely use them as servants, imposing upon them most deplorable living and working conditions. In most African countries it seems that a fairly high proportion of children work in commerce (especially in small shops) and as domestic servants. Children and young persons are employed as errand boys, general helps, " boys ", etc. It is here that the most obvious abuses occur; in African shops, for instance, young children are often exploited in a shocking manner, having to work much too hard for their age and receiving very low wages or even no wages at all. They are often forced to work during the evening or part of the night, to the detriment of their health and physical development. In spite of the efforts made in many African territories to remedy this state of affairs, the situation seems to be improving only very slowly. Labour regulations hardly touch this sector of employment. In many cases no effective control is possible, since children working in these conditions are not declared as employees and it is difficult to prove that they are. What has been said above shows that a high proportion of young workers in Africa are employed in conditions under which it is difficult for the time being to afford them sufficient protection. Only a small proportion of them, working in sufficiently large firms, are protected by labour legislation; in the other cases improvement of conditions of work is a matter of slow, long-term work which will only gradually show results. Nevertheless labour legislation, even if it is for the time being but an imperfect instrument effectively covering only a small proportion of those subject to abuses, is bound to have a most useful effect. But the only way in which real progress can be made is the reinforcement of inspection services, and in most African countries this is difficult to do, at any rate in the short run, because of the expense involved. The problem of the rational organisation of employment and placement reveals another aspect of the difficulties faced by young workers in Africa. Because of chronic underemployment in the towns, many young persons are unable to find regular jobs; the rapid increase of the population in the towns aggravates this situation and leads to abuses, and particularly to certain forms of exploitation of human labour of which it is well known that young people are the victims more often than adults. It is only through the operations of official employment and placement services that this state of affairs can be remedied. But in the few countries where such services exist in Africa they are of too recent creation to be fully effective. A certain degree of speciaüsation in employment offices would almost certainly facilitate the placement of young persons seeking work; in most cases it would suffice to instruct one employment department official to deal with all cases concerning young persons. Such a measure, apart from its practical results, would draw the attention of the public authorities and of public opinion to the acuteness of the problem. At the same time a campaign could profitably be launched against certain traditional ways of recruiting young workers, such as the selling and hiring of children, a practice still to be found in certain parts of Africa and the form of apprenticeship mentioned above, which often leads to the exploitation of young 348 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY workers. These abuses could also be tackled by making written contracts compulsory and by strengthening existing inspection services. The problem of determining age accurately for the purpose of the enforcement of labour legislation on the minimum age for admission to employment is of special importance in Africa. Registration offices are still badly organised, and many children have no birth certificates ; this makes it difficult to establish age with complete accuracy. In the territories under French administration and certain British territories, admission to employment is preceded by a medical examination to confirm the child's fitness for employment; this provides an opportunity of making at any rate a rough estimate of the child's age.1 In the absence of a birth cerifícate, or of a medical certificate, the child's age can be ascertained through certificates of identity or civil status or other reliable documents. At any rate the employer should be required to show that he has made an effort to ascertain the ages of the young workers in his service, but he should not be held responsible for possible mistakes nor for false statements made to him. In Africa, regulations usually tend to be based on the idea of " apparent age ", a notion too vague to enable any effective check to be made on whether the regulations concerning the minimum age set for admission to the various types of employment are being complied with. NATIONAL LAW AND PKACTICE The Minimum Age for Admission to Employment General. In the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi it is absolutely forbidden to recruit or employ a child less than 12 years old, and the employment of persons under 16 is only allowed if the work in question is light and healthy and if the labour inspectorate gives its permission. Thus the regulations make no distinction between industry and other branches of activity as regards admission to employment. The rule that no child aged less than 12 shall be employed is to be found in the Gambia, Nigeria and the British Cameroons; in these territories the rule does not apply to light family work in agriculture, market gardening or domestic work. In Tanganyika the regulations also provide that no child aged less than 12 shall be employed except when working with one or both of his parents or with his guardian and except on light agricultural work or any type of light work defined as such and approved by the authorities. In Sierra Leone the Employment Ordinance of 1934 merely forbids employment of workers aged less than 15 in industry or at sea; similar legislation is to be found in Kenya and Uganda applying to workers aged less than 16. In Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesia, the minimum age for admission is fixed only in industrial undertakings and is normally 14 years. In Southern Rhodesia it is merely stipulated that no African aged less than 16 may be employed without having first obtained an employment certificate from the Native Affairs Department and his father's or his guardian's consent. 1 Under the direction of the International Children's Centre, research has been undertaken to see if it is possible accurately to determine a child's age through medical examination; experiments have been carried out at Dakar (French West Africa) and Kampala (Uganda). RECRUITMENT, CONTRACTS OF EMPLOYMENT AND CONDITIONS OF WORK 349 In Ghana the minimum age for admission to employment is 15 years in all trades and professions except when the child is to do light agricultural work with members of his family. In the territories under French administration the age for admission to employment is 14 years—the same as in metropolitan France—in all trades or professions; this rule, which is laid down in the 1952 Labour Code for Overseas Territories, applies to all territories. The Code, however, provides that the Governor of each territory may, by order, make exceptions to this rule, taking into account local circumstances and the type of work required. The local orders in question provide, as a rule, that the age limit of 14 years may be reduced to 12 in the case of light work, particularly in agriculture and domestic service. In industry the employment of children between 12 and 14 years of age may also be authorised provided that the work done is light work, that the parents or the guardian agree and that the labour inspector gives his consent. No exception to the general rule is allowed which may interfere with schooling. In the territories under Portuguese administration no African aged less than 14 may be employed either in industry or in agriculture, except when accompanying his father or his uncle who has been hired to do such work. The regulations in Somalia are similar to those in the territories under French administration. Children may not be employed under the age of 14 except that, between 12 and 14 years of age, they may be employed on light work in agriculture, commerce, industry or on light domestic work and particularly for picking and sorting. In the Union of South Africa the law contains no general rule on the minimum age for admission to employment; such provisions as exist in this respect apply only to industry. There are, in many cases, special provisions concerning the admission to employment of young workers to certain trades or professions (e.g. industry or employment at sea) in which normal work might harm both the child's health and his physical development. Such measures, though their necessity is obvious, may be dangerous ; experience in other parts of the world has shown both the nature and the extent of this danger. For it has been observed that when different ages for admission are fixed in different trades or professions, children and young persons will tend to look for work as soon as they can in the trades with the lowest age for admission, where, as a rule, the conditions of work are worst and the prevention of abuses most difficult. The indications already given on the minimum age for admission to employment in Africa show that, in some cases, a minimum age is fixed for all branches of activity, that in others there is a minimum age for industry higher than that for agriculture and domestic service, while in yet other cases the minimum age for admission is only fixed in certain trades or professions, with no minimum applying to the others. But this discrepancy is only apparent; in the best of cases, that is to say when the age for admission is fixed fairly high and applies to all branches of activity, the legislation is as a rule tempered by a series of exceptions which re-establish a de facto differentiation. In practice the situation in the territories where there is no minimum age for certain sectors, such as agriculture or domestic service, does not seem to differ substantially from that in the other countries. Family employment, in prac- 350 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY tice, escapes both legislation and control ; in agriculture, too, official control is difficult. In fact, it is only with respect to paid employment that a sound appreciation of the situation in Africa can be made. Industry. There are no special regulations in the Belgian Congo nor in Ruanda-Urundi. In the territories under British administration the minimum age for admission into industry is 15 years in Sierra Leone, Nigeria, the British Cameroons and Tanganyika, and 16 years in Kenya and Uganda. In Nyasaland the age for admission, which is normally 14 years, may be reduced to 12 by order of the Governor; in Northern Rhodesia, unless special permission is granted by the authorities, young workers aged less than 16 may only be employed in family undertakings. As has already been indicated, there are no provisions specifically dealing with the age for admission to industrial employment in Ghana, in the territories under French and Portuguese administration or in Somalia, the minimum age fixed being the same for all branches of activity. In the Union of South Africa the Factories, Machinery and Building Work Act, 1941, fixes the minimum age for admission at 15 years; similar provisions exist concerning the mining industry. Employment at Sea. Only in some of the territories under British administration are there special provisions relating to the minimum age for admission to employment at sea. In Nigeria, the British Cameroons and Sierra Leone this type of work is absolutely forbidden to children aged less than 14 years. The Nigerian legislation also stipulates that young persons under 18 shall not be employed as trimmers or stokers except in case of absolute necessity and after production of a medical certificate declaring them fit for such work, in which case two young persons must be assigned to do the work normally done by one adult. In Kenya young persons may only be employed at sea with the special permission of the Minister in charge of labour matters; the minimum age is, in any case, fixed at 15 years, and employment of young persons as trimmers or stokers is forbidden. The regulations in Tanganyika are similar, but a medical certificate is also required. In the territories under French administration local orders concerning the employment of young workers stipulate that workers aged less than 18 may not be employed as trimmers or stokers, but there are no special provisions concerning other types of work at sea. Mining. As a rule there are, in Africa, no provisions specifically dealing with the age for employment in the mining industry, but when there are they usually fix a higher minimum age for underground work. This minimum age for underground work has been fixed at 15 years in Nigeria, the British Cameroons and Tanganyika and at 16 years in the Union of South Africa. In the territories under French administration young persons can only be employed in mining proper as assistants or apprentices and, when aged less than 16, only in the lightest work. Underground work is also forbidden to young persons in the territories under Spanish administration. In other territories the conditions of work of children in the mining industry do not differ from those in other branches of activity. RECRUITMENT, CONTRACTS OF EMPLOYMENT AND CONDITIONS OF WORK 351 Night Work The law in most African territories stipulates that children and young persons are not allowed to do night work. In many territories, however, the legislation on night work merely defines the period during which all work is forbidden and does not provide for compulsory rest over a longer period including the night hours. In Kenya, in Somalia and in the territories under French administration, there are provisions on the lines of the appropriate international labour standards which make 11 consecutive hours of night rest (12 hours in Kenya) compulsory and also forbid any kind of work during the night. In some countries night work is only forbidden in certain sectors of the economy and, as a rule, not in agriculture; thus in the Belgian Congo Ordinance No. 21, dated 20 January 1948, on night work performed by African children, only applies to public or private industry. In the territories under British administration the prohibition of night work applies, as a rule, to activities other than agriculture or, in some cases, only to industry and the retail trade. There are few exceptions to the prohibition of night work, and they only apply in cases of urgency or absolute necessity. The Nigerian Labour Code of 1945 provides that the employment of young workers at night may be allowed in undertakings where work is necessarily continuous ; this exception, which is in accordance with the international labour standards on the matter, is also to be found in the French Labour Code for Overseas Territories; in both cases only young workers over 16 years of age are affected. Conditions of Work The need to protect the health and physical development of young persons in employment has led to the adoption of restrictions on the kinds of work they are allowed to do so as to ensure them conditions of work which are less rigorous than those applying to adult workers. It is, above all, with respect to the length of working hours, rest and holidays that the appropriate measures are most obviously needed and should be taken. Such measures are more difficult to enforce in agriculture than in other branches of activity. On the other hand, in industry or commerce, while efficient control is easier, the limitation of the hours of work is even more necessary because of the rigorous discipline and the possibility of abuses. Hours of Work and Rest. The hours normally worked by children are the same as those worked by adults ; there seem, on this point, to be no special provisions. The legislation of some countries, however, provides that children may not work overtime, this prohibition being either general or applicable to certain types of work only. This rule is to be found in Nigeria, in the territories under French administration and in Somalia, where the maximum allowed is eight hours' work a day. In the mines of the Union of South Africa young workers aged less than 16 years may not work more than eight hours a day, excluding the time taken to go to and return from the place of work. In Kenya maximum hours of work for young persons are fixed at six a day. In some countries there are special regulations applying to girls; thus in the territories under French administration girls between the ages of 16 and 18 352 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY may not work more than six hours a day and not for periods of more than two consecutive hours, separated by rest pauses of at least an hour. As regards breaks during work, weekly rest and holidays with pay, some countries have special regulations applying to young workers. In Nigeria children may not be employed for more than four consecutive hours; breaks during work (of varying length) are also compulsory in most of the territories under British administration. In the territories under French administration the local regulations all provide for a compulsory break of one hour during the day's work. Weekly rest is, in all cases, the same for young persons as for adults ; however, in some territories the weekly rest rule is more strictly enforced in the case of children, no exceptions being allowed; thus in Somalia and in the territories under French administration Sunday work for children is strictly forbidden. It is rare in Africa to find special holiday provisions affecting young workers; it would appear that only in the territories under French administration do young workers get more leave than adults, being given two working days of leave per month of work as against a day-and-a-half for adults. Prohibition of Certain Types of Work. The existing regulations on this subject are rather limited in scope. It must, however, be borne in mind that the extended powers given to the labour departments to grant or to withhold permission to work and their power to control conditions of work do, to a large extent, fill this gap. What prohibitions there are apply mainly to unhealthy and dangerous work in which young workers run special risks, such as underground work in the mines. In the territories under British administration children are, as a rule, not allowed to do this type of work unless they have a medical certificate declaring them physically fit for it; in the other territories young workers are protected by the regulations which have already been mentioned. In a limited number of cases children are forbidden to perform certain types of industrial work for which they are too inexperienced, but the existing regulations usually contain merely interdictions of principle and are not as explicit as might be desirable. In the territories under French administration, however, the regulations are, in this respect, extremely precise. Young workers may not be employed in greasing, cleaning, examining or repairing running machinery; nor may they work at shearing or pressing steel nor use circular or ribbon saws, or use or handle explosives. They may not work in places where there are unguarded machines or motors, or in glass works, in gathering, blowing or stretching glass. Children aged less than 16 are not allowed to turn vertical wheels, winches or pulleys, or to work on flying scaffolds. There are further restrictions applying to girls under 16, who may not work with treadle-operated sewing machines or serve behind open-air stalls. More examples of the same kind could be given. The regulations also contain lists of undertakings where access to places where certain types of work are done is forbidden to young workers and in which special precautions must be taken to protect the health of young persons. Carrying of Loads. Regulations governing the maximum weight of loads to be carried by young workers are the exception in Africa. Such provisions are, however, to be found RECRUITMENT, CONTRACTS OF EMPLOYMENT AND CONDITIONS OF WORK 353 in the territories under French administration; the Umits vary according to sex and age and according to the type of work. Medical Examination of Young Persons The medical examination of young workers may take two forms: either a medical examination prior to employment or examinations at set intervals or from time to time during employment. The relevant international labour standards require that both should be done; they prescribe an initial examination to check the young worker's fitness for employment and annual examinations thereafter. In most of Africa the shortage of trained medical staff is a serious handicap; only by increasing the staff of the appropriate departments will it be possible to institute effective medical supervision of young workers, whatever the existing regulations may be. The usefulness of such control is of course undeniable, especially in Africa, where the conditions of public hygiene and of work are in some places very poor. Medical examinations prior to employment are only to be found in the territories under French administration. Although if they are not compulsory under the Labour Code for Overseas Territories they have been made so in most territories under local regulations on the employment of young workers. In more numerous cases medical examination only takes place after the young worker enters employment, to ensure that he is fit for a particular job; regulations to that effect are to be found in Kenya, where the employer is compelled to arrange for medical examination of the child at the request of the authorities ; they are also to be found in the territories under French administration, examination being compulsory at the request of the parents or of the inspector of labour and social legislation. The French Labour Code for Overseas Territories provides that a child or adolescent may not be compelled to do work which is beyond his strength and that, when found to be doing such work, he must be given another job; if another job cannot be found, the contract must be terminated immediately, but wages in lieu of notice must be paid. Other Special Regulations on the Employment of Young Workers Special regulations requiring the permission of parents or guardians to be obtained before a young person is engaged and safeguarding their authority are rare in the labour legislation of the various African countries. In the Belgian Congo, however, the Royal Order dated 19 July 1954 provides that a worker who is not an adult, or who is less than 21 years old and does not possess adult status, may not be recruited without the permission of his parent or guardian or, in their absence, of a representative of the Governor-General authorised to grant it. In the territories under Portuguese administration the Native Labour Code provides that children between the ages of 14 and 18 may only be employed with their father's, their mother's or their guardian's permission. Similar regulations exist in the territories under Spanish administration. In Kenya parents living in the reserves must be notified of the employment of their children. In certain territories the labour regulations also stipulate that the young worker must be able to return every day to his family and that his work obligations should 24 354 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY not prevent him from doing so; such a rule exists in Kenya, Nigeria, the British Cameroons and Tanganyika. In addition, the authorities are sometimes given wider powers of intervention to protect young workers than they have regarding adult workers. In all the territories under British administration and in Ghana the head of every industrial undertaking must keep a book in which are recorded the names of all young persons in his employment, their dates of birth or, if this is not known, their apparent ages, and information concerning their conditions of work and the nature of their employment. The employment offices and the Labour Department thus know the number of young workers employed in each undertaking and can supervise their working conditions. In each of the territories under French administration employers are bound to notify the Labour Department whenever they engage a worker aged less than 18 within one week of the date of engagement; at the same time, they must forward the medical certificate required by law and the documents needed to establish the young worker's age. In Kenya, before engaging a young worker aged less than 16, the employer is bound to obtain written authorisation from the Labour Department and, in undertakings employing more than 50 workers, to have special staff in charge of the welfare of young workers both at and outside the place of work. EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN The employment of women as wage earners in sectors other than agriculture is still the exception rather than the rule in Africa. In the early years of European penetration employers and professional recruiters primarily wanted men workers for the construction of workshops, the clearing of wasteland or the mining of precious metals, while government recruiting agents wanted soldiers and road workers. Later on, with the expansion of manufacturing industries, more male workers were needed. Various economic and demographic factors, among them the fact that the men had to secure resources for the payment of taxes for which they alone were liable, helped to ensure that there was no lack of African men seeking work. The women remained at home, not only to raise the children, but also to carry on traditional farming activities. It was largely their responsibility to provide food not only for the villages but also for the newly established centres of employment. Their tasks in village communities were regulated in detail by custom. They were forbidden to engage in certain occupations, and others could be carried out only at certain times and according to certain rules. Generally speaking, the clearing of land was done by men, while the cultivation of crops was the responsibility of women. Prolonged contact with Europeans completely upset the rhythm of rural life and the most carefully preserved traditional rules. Women in particular began to shake off their bonds. By indigenous custom they had always been permitted to dispose freely of the yield of their own property (e.g. a field reserved for their personal use) or gainful activity (e.g. pottery or market gardening). This custom ultimately gave birth, particularly in West Africa, to a regular class of female traders, many of them grouped in powerful occupational associations or co-operatives. In addition to those engaged in this type of work a number of women educated in mission schools are now employed as nurses, teachers or day-nursery workers. Some work in government offices or private industry as typists or telephone operators, RECRUITMENT, CONTRACTS OF EMPLOYMENT AND CONDITIONS OF WORK 355 others have become salesgirls in shops.1 These, however, constitute only a very small minority. Most women wage earners are found in agriculture, usually in seasonal occupations and mostly in European-owned plantations. In most cases their job is limited to the picking of coffee beans, tea leaves, pyrethrum flowers, etc., and they are paid by the day. Many of these women have husbands employed on the same plantation or somewhere in the vicinity. The percentage of African women employed in non-agricultural work, and particularly in manufacturing industries, is very small. This is clearly illustrated by figures as given in table XVIII. There are many reasons why women wage earners represent such a small proportion of the employed African labour force, particularly in the industrial sector. One reason is that vast areas of Africa are still governed by a subsistence economy in which women, as already mentioned, have tasks strictly limited by family farming customs and traditions. Wherever tribal rules are still enforced—and they are justified, in such cases, by obvious economic need—any substantial sizeable increase in the supply of female labour for the money economy is clearly out of the question. As has already been mentioned several times, migrant labour still predominates nearly everywhere in Africa. However, the wages of migrant workers are usually insufficient to support their families at the place of employment. The men must therefore leave their wives in their native villages to raise subsistence crops for family consumption. TABLE XVIII. Territory and year of reference Ghana (1954) . Kenya (1956) . Nigeria (1953) . Nyasaland (1956) . Northern Rhodesia (1956) . Southern Rhodesia (1956) . Tanganyika (1955) . Uganda (1956) . WOMEN WAGE EARNERS IN THE MAIN INDUSTRIES Manufacturing industries Agriculture and forestry Building and con- Transport struction Domestic service. etc. Public administration Total 451 172 500 714 381 410 3,829 — 6,457 57,577 92 2,726 391 281 2,843 5,482! 10,123 79,511 922 126 807 50 149 445 142 1,367 4,079 11,101 4 1,264 461 13 192 2,0532 — 15,088 1,672 53 205 164 16 72 3,3233 — 5,545 29,450 642 2,292 237 27 248 12)3244 — 44,991 5 17,776 281 475 94 — 389 629 1,133 20,777 1,889 54 444 14 10 50 3,430 143 6,034 1 s 3 4 5 Including 1,781 in private domestic service. Including 699 in private domestic service. Including 1,187 in private domestic service. Including 7,994 in private domestic service. Not including private domestic service, in which about 4,000 women were employed, according to an estimate based on the 1952 census results. 1 See " L'évolution de la femme et de la famille africaine ", a paper read by Miss J. A. at the International Meeting on Africa (Paris, 23-28 Oct. 1950), in Notes fit études documentaires. La documentation française (Paris), No. 1578, 28 Feb. 1952, p. 25. OGILVIE 356 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Moreover, women engaged in the growing of cash crops are assured of comparatively high incomes, at least in some territories, and the wages paid to women in modern European undertakings are still far too low to compete effectively with the profits which can be earned by independent agricultural producers. It may be further recalled that, in addition to such independent agricultural activity, and often in close conjunction with it, many women engage in small-scale business in a great variety of forms. This is true particularly of West Africa, but also of other areas. Another factor which limits the access of women to occupations traditionally reserved for them, such as teaching, nursing and some types of industrial work, is the inadequate education, including vocational training, of most African women. The exercise of these occupations requires a minimum level of skill which under present circumstances the overwhelming majority of women in African territories have unfortunately not been able to acquire. This, of course, is due to the shortage of vocational training facilities, which are even more inadequate for women than for men. Finally, women are held back from wage-earning employment by certain strong and deeply-rooted traditional principles and beliefs typical of African societies. A recent study on women workers in Uganda has shown that men are hostile to the employment of women in industry not only on the grounds that women should not take jobs away from men but also because they believe that life in urban centres is necessarily immoral and that a woman wage earner will stop having children, who are regarded as the greatest source of wealth of the country.1 These statements would seem to apply by and large to many other African countries. The fact nevertheless remains that the employment of women as wage earners in Africa is definitely on the increase. This is no doubt a result of the weakening of social patterns based on a subsistence economy and the concomitant settlement of workers in the cities and centres of employment. The African woman is being called upon to play an increasingly important part as a wage earner in the various branches of modern economic activity. The figures given in table XVIII, although they relate only to a few territories, show that the number of women employed in sectors such as manufacturing industry or service activities is comparatively greater in areas where economic expansion and city growth have gone farthest. No figures are available for the Belgian Congo or for the French and Portuguese territories, but the 1946 census in the Union of South Africa showed that there were 1,181,649 African women in employment, and there can be little doubt that the number has increased considerably since then. Both in South Africa and in other African countries the conditions obtaining in urban areas undoubtedly facilitate the access of women to wage-earning employment. In such areas men as a rule no longer oppose the taking up of gainful employment by their womenfolk. The traditional division of labour between the various members of the family according to the customs of African society is impracticable in an urban environment. The woman who can no longer contribute to the expenses of the household through agricultural work naturally tends to seek 1 See W. ELKAN : " The Employment of Women in Uganda ", in Inter-African Labour Institute : Bulletin, Vol. IV, No. 4, July 1957. RECRUITMENT, CONTRACTS OF EMPLOYMENT AND CONDITIONS OF WORK 357 wage-earning employment, the additional income from which is often indispensable for the support of the family. Therefore, as workers accompanied by their families become more permanently settled in urban areas, a marked increase in the number of African women employed as wage earners can be expected. Several international labour Conventions deal with the protection of women workers. They include the Maternity Protection Convention, 1919 (No. 3), the Night Work (Women) Convention, 1919 (No. 4), as revised by Conventions Nos. 41 of 1934 and 89 of 1948 bearing the same title, and finally the Underground Work (Women) Convention, 1935 (No. 45). Mention may also be made to the Lead Poisoning (Women and Children) Recommendation, 1919 (No. 4) and the Night Work of Women (Agriculture) Recommendation, 1921 (No. 13). Detailed information concerning the measures taken in the various territories for the protection of mothers will be found in Chapter XI, dealing with social security. It will therefore suffice at this point to mention the more general provisions and to the regulations governing night work and underground, unhealthy or insalubrious occupations. In the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi article 1, paragraph 4, of the Royal Order of 19 July 1954 provides that "a woman married civilly, religiously or according to indigenous custom can validly hire out her services only with the explicit or tacit permission of her husband ". There is also an ordinance (No. 21/16 of 20 January 1948) which prohibits the employment of indigenous women on night work. Its terms are almost precisely the same as those of the international labour Conventions concerning the night work of women. As regards underground work, although there is no statutory provision on the subject, the Government of the Belgian Congo has declared, in conformity with article 19 of the I.L.O. Constitution, that no women are engaged in this type of work in the Congo or in RuandaUrundi. The employment of women in Nigeria is governed by the Labour Code, article 144 of which provides that a woman may conclude a contract of employment only if such a contract is— (a) for employment not involving departure from her usual place of residence, or (b) for employment involving departure from her usual place of residence if she is to be employed in the same undertaking or in the same neighbourhood as her adult male relatives or as a domestic servant: Provided that the Commissioner of Labour may by order specify such conditions subject to which such other contracts may be concluded as he may think fit either generally or in respect of any particular undertaking or group of undertakings or in respect of any particular type or types of employment. Apart from this general provision, the provisions of the Code relating to the night work and underground work of women are patterned after the relevant international labour Conventions. Night work for women is also forbidden in agriculture. In Northern and Southern Rhodesia both a married indigenous woman and her husband must sign the contract of employment if they live together. If the husband dies the woman's contract may be terminated. Similarly, an employer may terminate the contract of a woman employee living and working in his establishment if and when she marries. In practically all British territories the employment of women on night work in industrial undertakings is prohibited either under ordinances dealing with the 358 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY employment of women, young persons and children or under general legislation on the employment of Africans. Finally, as regards the prohibition of underground work in the case of women, the provisions of the Underground Work (Women) Convention are embodied in the legislation of all territories where the possibility of such employment exists and in particular that of Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Kenya, Tanganyika, Northern Rhodesia, Southern Rhodesia and Nyasaland. All the provisions applicable in these territories are based essentially on the international labour Conventions mentioned above. This is also true of the exceptions which they provide for. In Ghana, article 76 (Part VI) of the Labour Ordinance, 1948, prohibits the employment of women underground (except in special circumstances and with the written permission of a labour officer) and the night work of women in industrial establishments. In the French territories, under article 115 of the Labour Code for Overseas Territories, " the Governor of the group of territories, territory or trust territory concerned shall, by orders made after receiving the recommendations of the Labour Advisory Board, specify the types of work on which women and pregnant women shall not be employed ". Orders issued under this article provide that women may in no circumstances be employed at night in industrial establishments between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. They also embody the other provisions of international labour Conventions dealing with the night work and underground work of women and enumerate various types of work on which women may not be employed, including the carrying, hauling or pushing of loads exceeding a specified weight and work in places considered as unhealthy or unsafe.1 Finally, article 119 of the Code provides that the inspector of labour and social legislation may order women to undergo medical examinations in order to ascertain that the work which they are given is not beyond their strength. A woman whose job has been found to be beyond her strength must be transferred to more suitable work. If this is impossible the contract must be terminated and compensation paid in lieu of notice. In the Portuguese territories, under article 99 of the Native Labour Code of 1928, women may not enter into contracts for employment elsewhere than at the place where they reside unless they are accompanied by their husband, father, uncle or adult brother, except where the contract is for domestic service. Moreover, when a woman accompanies a male worker and works with him she must be covered by the same contract and may not be repatriated separately. The minimum wage fixed for women is one-half of that fixed for men. In Mozambique a recent ordinance applicable to European and assimilated workers2 provides that the Governor-General shall determine the types of work in which women may not be employed in accordance with principles laid down either in the national Portuguese Labour Statute or in international Conventions. The ordinance also prohibits the night work of women. In Angola the types of work in which women may not be employed are specified in an order (No. 9934 of 23 October 1957, which applies to Europeans and assimilated persons). In the islands of Sao Tomé and Principe Order No. 1825 of 13 December 1952, which regulates the employment of women in agricultural plantations, stipulates that they 1 See Pierre CHAULEUR: Le régime du travail dans les territoires d'outre-mer (Paris, Encyclopédie d'outre-mer, 1956), p. 396. 2 Ordinance No. 1595 of 28 April 1956. RECRUITMENT, CONTRACTS OF EMPLOYMENT AND CONDITIONS OF WORK 359 may not be employed at night and specifies the types of work to which they may not be assigned at any time. Moreover, it prohibits the practice of requiring women carrying their children to work in the rain. In Somalia Ordinance No. 4 of 27 February 1954, which regulates the employment of women, embodies the provisions of the international labour Conventions dealing with night work and underground work. In the Union of South Africa the Mines and Works Act, 1956, prohibits the employment of women underground, and the Factories, Machinery and Building Work Act (No. 22 of 1941) contains provisions very similar to those of the Conventions on the night work of women in industry. Moreover, women workers in factories may be required to work after 1 p.m. only for five days out of the week, and limits are placed on the amount of overtime to be worked by women in factories and workshops. CHAPTER X OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH GENERAL In considering occupational safety and health problems in the area south of the Sahara one must bear in mind the fact that the majority of the population still subsists on a peasant form of economy. At the same time, because of the growth of population and development of natural resources, and also because of other important political and economic factors, an ever-increasing proportion of the population is becoming involved in the process of industrial development. It is therefore necessary to plan ahead to ensure that the social evolution from the present form of economy to a wage-earning one should proceed smoothly without the unfortunate effects that accompanied the industrial revolution in some European countries. The existing situation provides a unique opportunity for the creation of occupational safety and health services and for the application of the accumulated knowledge and experience of more than 150 years of industrialisation in Europe and elsewhere. To do this, however, it is of the utmost importance to have a proper understanding of local problems in Africa, for the methods which have proved successful in other parts of the world will not always be suitable to Africa. Africa south of the Sahara is composed of a large number of territories inhabited by people of different races, cultures and creeds, with characteristics at least as diverse as those of the peoples of Europe. The impact of industrial development is beginning to be felt to some extent in most parts of the area, but there are wide variations from regions with no industrialisation to those, still relatively small in number, where there is some participation in or complete dependence upon an industrial way of life. Most of the countries in the area, however, have only a limited industrial experience which is usually associated with the construction industry, the treatment of agricultural products, or mining. The Native of Africa does not enter the ginnery or the mine, the sisal or sugar mill with a long tradition and experience of performing corresponding jobs by hand or with the use of simple tools behind him; he comes straight from a rural economy into a world of complicated machinery the purpose of which is often completely beyond his understanding. Even his attitude to work is entirely different from that of a member of an industrialised country. The social structure of the tribe with its community effort, together with the fact that crops grow relatively easily and that manual labour is generally despised by the man, leads to an absence of conscious need, contentment with little and a consequent happy improvidence. The new form of occupation is unfamiliar to him; it frequently means that for a time at least he must abandon the way of life which he has always known with its tribal unity and customs. OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH 361 Accordingly the health of Africans engaged in industrial occupations demands special care of a different kind from that usually provided by occupational health services. In Africa occupational health can never be dissociated from the social and general health problems of the country. Disease The communicable diseases, malaria, bilharzia, the enteric diseases, venereal diseases and sleeping sickness still affect the people to such an extent that normal health in the African, from the standpoint of infection alone, is a meaningless abstraction. For example, in 1953 in a firm employing 330 workers in the Union of South Africa the incidence of disease was as follows : Endemic diseases: Bilharzia Amoebic dysentery Bacillary dysentery Helminthiasis : Tapeworm Hookworm Roundworm Venereal diseases: Syphilis Gonorrhoea Per cent. 18.7 9.3 0.8 23.4 23.4 67.2 7.8 16.4 In the Gold Coast in 1950 a typical cocoa village showed the following incidence of disease: Per cent. Malaria Hookworm Roundworm Yaws 32 52 76 75 In the Nigerian railways ten to 15 working days per man year are lost owing to malaria alone. While in many cases Africans seem to have achieved an equilibrium with many of these diseases, the balance is often upset or destroyed when migrants are confronted with unfamiliar diseases or even with variants of the same disease. Where medical services are provided one of the great difficulties is that, even if employees are successfully treated for these conditions, they rapidly become reinfected. Climate It is difficult to generalise about climate in Africa, though in general the climate favours the existence and dissemination of parasites. Leprosy tends to be more frequent in hot, humid areas. The Africans acclimatise to hot conditions (for example, in mines) faster than Europeans, but at high altitudes, where the mornings are cold, the African has difficulty in adapting himself. Generally speaking, however, the climate has very little effect on work. It is dirt, disease and malnutrition that kill in the tropics, not the climate. 362 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Nutrition Nutritional habits in Africa vary to an extraordinary degree within relatively short distances, principally because of the ease with which certain crops can be grown in particular areas. It may happen, therefore, that the migrant labourer only a few hundred miles from his home has to adjust himself to an entirely different type of diet, and he cannot take with him his wife, who could prepare his meals or discover the best way of cooking the strange food. Too rapid changes in diet can and do result in digestive disorders and serious states of malnutrition, largely because when faced with an unknown food the African will be unwilling to eat it and will not eat enough to keep his strength up. The general low standard of nutrition in Africa lowers the resistance to infection and reduces the output of energy of which an individual might otherwise be capable. At present the health of the indigenous worker outside industry is primarily the concern of the health services of each of the various territories, all of which are improving and becoming more efficient. The impact of industrial development will, however, have an effect on the health of the indigenous population and may make profound changes in the morbidity pattern. Environmental Control It is in the realm of control of the industrial environment—which will, of course, affect every type of worker—that experience from outside Africa can be of the greatest value. It should be possible, for instance, to avoid poisoning from metals and toxic substances. On the other hand, there is very little knowledge of the effects of dust or fumes rising during the processing of the many and varied agricultural products of the area; the effect on the lungs of cotton and sisal dust and the effects on the skin of crops such as pineapples and paw-paw have still to be determined. It must be appreciated also that in many cases the processes connected with agricultural production are carried on in unsuitable premises where the necessary improvements are only introduced under pressure from government officials, though there are, of course, many excellent undertakings conducted on the most modern lines in which all reasonable steps are taken to safeguard the health, safety and welfare of the working population. The education of all participants in industry to give them a proper understanding of the possible effects upon health of industrial environment is an enormous but essential undertaking. Experience in other countries has shown that the training of doctors and others is often incomplete so far as occupational diseases are concerned, and it may well be that there are many occupational diseases in African industries which so far have simply not been recognised as such. Another possibility is that the African and the European may be affected in different ways by certain industrial products. Although the safety of the men at work has been dealt with in the legislation of most African countries and territories the people themselves have not yet fully realised the need for such measures in spite of the fact that, as in other parts of the world, accidents at work are far more common than cases of occupational disease. In African industry accidents are often due to ignorance, and sometimes to a completely irresponsible attitude towards all mechanical things. Education is the key to the reduction of the accident rate in Africa as it is elsewhere, and any plan to raise the general level of education throughout the area must leave a place OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH 363 for specialised education of this kind. The working of modern machinery can seldom be adequately explained in a vernacular language, and explanations given in English or some other European language are often understood imperfectly or not at all. While the general level of education of the worker remains low management must exercise perpetual vigilance where potentially dangerous machinery or processes are being used, as the danger inherent in any given process or piece of machinery is often heightened because the African worker is unable to appreciate its potential. For the moment at least the authorities should continue to direct their efforts towards promoting safety in industry through the education and enlightenment of employers, for until the employer has done everything he can to render the work safe there is little the employee can do. The employers in Africa, as elsewhere, have to be convinced that safety measures are worth while before they are likely to give wholehearted support to costly protective measures. A great deal of valuable educational work is being done by government factory inspectors, but at the present time most insurance companies carrying occupational risks take no active part in prevention work, and employees in most areas are usually indifferent. Proneness to Accident and Disease The Inter-African Labour Institute has assembled and published information regarding the accident proneness of Africans.1 ... there is no evidence that Africans are more prone to industrial accidents than workers of other races. Like all workers entering industry, the African is vulnerable through unfamiliarity with tools, machinery and their hazards and, it may be, rather more vulnerable in proportion as the dimensions and relations of moving parts are totally strange and imperfectly understood The Belgian Congo explains its low accident rate as follows: (a) Africans usually work slowly; (b) they have excellent reflexes enabling them if an accident occurs to minimise the danger; (c) they concentrate fairly well on the work in hand; Europeans, in contrast, for whom the work has become a mere routine, often allow their attention to be distracted In Northern Rhodesia the African is not unduly prone to accidents It has been found in Southern Rhodesia, however, that the African is most prone to accidents during the third or fifth month of his employment, when he gives the impression of having become familiar with his work and surroundings far more rapidly than one would expect and acquires a lack of caution and carelessness towards the danger of injury at his work South African experience is that African workers are not specially prone to accidents. According to the same report, industrial diseases have so far scarcely made their appearance on the African scene, and the evidence pointing to any special proneness to them among Africans is nil. However, industrial dermatitis, silicosis in some mining industries, and occasional cases of anthrax in territories where the hide and skin industry has been developed are reported. LEGISLATION For the most part the legislation in force in the countries and territories of Africa has been drawn up on the basis of experience in other parts of the world See Inter-African Labour Institute: The Human Factors ofProductivity in Africa, op. cit., p. 97. 364 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY and consequently does not always reflect the usual practice in the territories concerned; this is one of the main difficulties faced by most of the underdeveloped territories in the area. The legislation that exists concerning health often lays on the employer the burden for the protection of communities created by the development of new industrial projects. The services set up for this purpose are often intended to relieve the government of the burden of extending health services which are already overburdened. Even in territories where industry has been established for a number of years, enforcement of the law on safety often falls far short of the standards achieved in more highly developed countries. Among the factors influencing good practice and compliance with the law are the degree of experience and knowledge of the employers and employees and the extent of public interest. The influence of these factors is practically negligible at the present time, particularly in those areas which are only just being introduced to the problems of industrial development or organised agricultural work. The standard of enforcement, therefore, depends on the number, efficiency and keenness of the enforcement officers—and in some territories such officers are few and far between. Measures for the protection of workers in these territories were only introduced as a result of the development of large industrial and agricultural undertakings employing considerable numbers of workers. At first the workers health was safeguarded—and in some cases still is—by applying existing public health legislation to the particular circumstances of the employed section of the population; it was not until industrial development had reached a high level that separate legislation was enacted to cover special problems of employment. Only in a few of the territories has the protection of labour been taken out of the hands of the public health or medical services and entrusted to a special government agency concerned solely with the problems of health and safety at work. Safety has been the first aspect of protection to have separate provision made for it, and in many of the territories factory inspectorates or other agencies responsible for ensuring safety in places of employment have been set up ; but in only a few of the territories concerned have these agencies developed sufficiently for it to be possible to regard the situation as satisfactory even for the present stage of industrialisation. The following is a description of the law and practice concerning occupational safety and health in African territories south of the Sahara. It should be remembered, however, that the scarcity of legislation and of factual information on the actual situation in many territories makes it very difficult to give anything like a complete picture of existing practice or of the real problems facing these territories today. Attention will be focused here mainly on problems of safety and hygiene in places of employment; questions relating to public health and medical services as well as compensation for industrial accidents and occupational diseases are dealt with elsewhere. Belgian Territories Statutory Provisions. In the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi many statutory instruments concerning technical safety and hygiene at places of work have been issued by the Governor-General in virtue of the powers conferred on him by a Decree dated 21 March 1950. General provisions for the implementation of this decree are laid down in OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH 365 Ordinance No. 23/146, dated 6 May 1953. They apply, without prejudice to the special provisions governing underground mines and quarries, to industrial undertakings, to public and semi-public services and establishments and to establishments classified as dangerous or unhealthy or as public nuisances. These provisions are aimed, among other things, at protecting workers against accidents caused by machinery, falls, fires and noxious or inflammable gases. Ordinance No. 41/48 dated 12 February 1953 gives a list of the types of estabhshments which cannot be operated, converted or moved without a licence. In addition, various ordinances prescribe special safety and health measures for certain branches of activity such as construction (ordinance of 5 February 1953 modified by an ordinance of 16 August 1955), transport (ordinance of 23 August 1951), open quarries (ordinance of 13 May 1955) and spray painting (ordinance of 1 February 1951). Mineworkers are protected by mining regulations which came into force in 1930 (ordinance of 4 October 1930).1 Silicosis prevention is dealt with in an ordinance dated 14 February 1952 (amended by an ordinance of 7 August 1953), which provides that workplaces involving a silicosis hazard shall be designated as such by provincial governors after investigation. For the purposes of this ordinance all underground work in mines is deemed to involve a risk of silicosis. Before assigning any worker to a workplace where such a risk is present the employer must ensure that he undergoes a clinical and X-ray examination. Safety measures are also laid down in respect of electrical installations, which may not be operated without a licence. The same appües to steam boilers. Other regulations govern safety in transport operations and in the handling of dangerous substances such as inflammable liquids, calcium carbide and explosives. Enforcement. In the Belgian Congo the enforcement of safety and health legislation is in the hands of engineer-inspectors attached to the labour inspectorate who report to the engineer in charge of the study of safety regulations in the Labour Department. In 1954 there were four such inspectors with headquarters in Leopoldville, Stanleyville, Bukavu and Elizabethville respectively; during the year they visited 398 undertakings with a total labour force of 36,936 indigenous and 1,086 non-indigenous employees. A marked improvement in general safety and health conditions was found to have occurred.2 Moreover, engineers from the Department of Mines are entrusted with the enforcement of safety and health legislation not only in mines but in metallurgical works, permanent quarries and their subsidiary installations. In 1954, 250 inspections took place and 35 inquiries were made into serious accidents which occurred in mines and metallurgical plant. Under an ordinance dated 6 April 19543 provincial governors both in the Belgian Congo and in Ruanda-Urundi may set up safety and health committees in specified undertakings on the advice of the engineer-inspector of labour, the mining inspector or the industrial medical officer. The duties of these committees include 1 1.L.O. Legislative Series, 1930—Bel. 14. See Chambre des représentants: Rapport sur l'administration de la colonie du Congo belge pendant l'année 1954, présenté aux Chambres législatives (Brussels, 1955), p. 111. 3 1.L.O. Legislative Series, 1954—Bel.C. 1. 2 366 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY recommending to the head of the undertaking the adoption of any safety and health measures deemed necessary and promoting safety consciousness among the staff through appropriate propaganda methods. British Territories Statutory Provisions. In most British territories basic occupational safety and health prescriptions are usually embodied in a Factories Ordinance, the main provisions of which are much the same in the various territories, being largely inspired by British metropolitan legislation. On the other hand, the regulations issued under these texts vary somewhat from one territory to another. The general health prescriptions contained in the Factories Ordinances relate to such matters as cleanliness, Ughting, ventilation and sanitary installations at workplaces. They also include special provisions concerning protection against dust and fumes, the use of protective clothing and the protection of the eyes of workers engaged in certain dangerous occupations. Finally, all the ordinances prescribe detailed measures for the prevention of accidents caused by various types of machinery and by boilers, inflammable substances, dangerous gases, fires, etc. In British West Africa, where industry, and particularly mechanised industry, is still in the earlier stages of development, occupational safety and health legislation is less comprehensive than in British East Africa and in the Rhodesias. However, in Nigeria a Factories Ordinance similar to those of Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika came into force in 1956. The texts applicable in Gambia and Sierra Leone are older and comparatively limited in scope. Nevertheless, in Sierra Leone the Machinery (Safe Working and Inspection) Rules, 1953, contain many general provisions concerning the prevention of accidents caused by the use of machinery as well as detailed provisions relating more specifically to boilers, electrical installations and transport operations. The general provisions mentioned above apply also to mining undertakings, which play an important part in the economy of this territory. There are special regulations deahng with sawmills and other types of woodworking machinery. In the Federation of Nigeria, occupational safety in mines is governed by the Safe Mining Regulations, 1946. Other relevant texts are the Explosives Regulations of 1946 and the Mineral Oils (Safety of Labourers) Regulations, 1952. Finally, in all territories of British West Africa, many special measures of prevention and protection have been adopted with respect to dockworkers. In the three territories of British East Africa the Factories Ordinances constitute the basic enactments on occupational safety and health; their provisions are everywhere identical and are as described above. Moreover, there are special regulations applying to electrical installations and to the handling of explosives. Similarly, in Kenya and Tanganyika there are special regulations concerning safety in mines and in dock work. Some industries having achieved a comparatively high degree of development have their own occupational safety and health regulations, e.g. cotton ginning in Uganda, which is governed by the Cotton Ginneries Fires Special Rules, 1955. Also in Uganda, special provisions regulate the use of woodworking machinery, particularly in sawmills (Woodworking Machinery Special Rules, 1957). OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH 367 In Northern Rhodesia the Factories Ordinance (which came into force in 1942) has been supplemented by subsequent regulations, the most important of which are the Factories (Safety) Regulations. In this territory the problem of silicosis has received special attention ever since the first cases of the disease were reported in the Copper Belt in 1943. Comprehensive regulations were issued, the basic text being the Silicosis Ordinance, 1950, which applies to all cases of pneumoconiosis caused by the absorption of mineral dust. This ordinance provides that mine workers must undergo regular medical examinations and that their initial engagement shall be contingent on the delivery of a certificate by the competent medical authority. These regulations are closely patterned on the legislation dealing with the same subject in Southern Rhodesia and the Union of South Africa. In Southern Rhodesia the Silicosis Act, 1949, lays down similar rules. Moreover, a Factories Act has been in force since 1948. It provides for measures of inspection for boilers and machinery and measures for the prevention of accidents in construction work. These provisions are supplemented by the Factories and Works Regulations, 1951, and the Factories and Works (Amendment) Regulations, 1956, which specify the safety measures to be taken in construction work. In Nyasaland, even though the economy of the territory is almost exclusively agricultural, a Factories Ordinance is also in force. It is supplemented by a set of rules prescribing general safety and health measures for all establishments using mechanised equipment. Enforcement. Under the Factories Ordinances in force in most of the British territories the enforcement of laws and regulations dealing with occupational safety and health is entrusted primarily to the Labour Commissioner, whose functions correspond to those of the chief labour inspector in the French territories. Moreover, the Governor in each territory may appoint a chief factory inspector and a certain number of factory inspectors to assist him; these are specialised technicians concerned exclusively with the enforcement of the law in undertakings. These officials are attached to the Labour Department of the territory concerned. In territories where mining is important workplaces are usually inspected and statutory provisions enforced by mining inspectors and officials of the Department of Mines. The importance of the factory inspectorate and, in particular, the size of the technical staff employed varies from one territory to another. In Sierra Leone and Gambia, for instance, there are no such services at present, the enforcement of safety and health measures being entrusted to officials of the Labour Department in the former and to the chief inspector of mines in the latter. In Nigeria a chief inspector of factories has already been appointed even though the Factories Ordinance dates back only to 1955. The registration of establishments falling under the jurisdiction of the factory inspectorate under the terms of the new legislation is now under way; at the end of the first quarter of 1957, 700 certificates of registration had already been issued. The reports of the Department of Labour of the Federation of Nigeria show that workers are generally well protected against accidents in the more modern industrial establishments, where the machinery is usually equipped with appropriate protective devices. This, however, is not the case in a number of smaller establishments such as cotton ginneries, oil works and sawmills which are using old machinery. 368 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Little information is available concerning the frequency of occupational diseases in Nigeria. However, two cases of silicosis were reported for the first time in 1952-53. Similarly, in a cotton ginnery, it was reported that a worker with 30 years' service in the establishment was found to be suffering from chronic respiratory disorders which might have been due to the dusty atmosphere in which he worked. Masks had been provided by the employer but had proved ineffectual. It does seem desirable, as stated in the leport of the Department of Labour, to require the installation of apphances designed to eliminate dangerous dust completely in cotton ginneries and similar establishments.1 There are not at present in Nigeria any medical services concerned especially with the prevention of occupational diseases. Miners and other workers receive general medical care either in establishments belonging to undertakings (e.g. the major mining companies) or in hospitals and government health establishments. The three territories of British East Africa have factory inspectorates within the Department of Labour. In Kenya the factory inspectorate is staSed by a chief inspector and four inspectors; in Uganda there is one chief inspector assisted by five inspectors and two assistant inspectors; and in Tanganyika there are to be four inspectors. Generally speaking, inspection services in these territories seem inadequate when viewed in the light of the rapid industrialisation of the past decade. Inspectors must devote considerable time to their administrative duties and accident investigations at the expense of plant visits and on-the-spot inspections. However, the law allows the periodical inspections prescribed for certain types of machinery, such as boilers and lifts, to be conducted by persons designated for the purpose by the chief inspector of factories; these persons need not be government officials. The information available discloses that safety at workplaces, though still inadequate in many establishments, is gradually improving, particularly in the more modern establishments, which are generally planned in consultation with the factory inspectorate and equipped with properly fenced machinery. As regards occupational health, the progress achieved over the past few years is also apparent. No doubt the importance of proper cleaning and ventilation is not always recognised in industrial practice. However, the problem of dust, in particular, is receiving increasing attention from the inspection services as well as from employers. In Kenya, for example, a factory manufacturing sisal bags and cordage has recently installed a system which eliminates dust completely. Similar improvements have taken place in coffee-cleaning establishments. In Tanganyika, where sisal manufacturing is a major industry, a number of undertakings have installed modern dust-extraction plants. In British East Africa there are no health services concerned specifically with occupational diseases. Occupational health questions are usually dealt with by public health services. However, in Uganda a government physician bearing the title of Senior Medical Officer (Labour) is entrusted specifically with occupational health in the various industries. Similarly, in Kenya the Labour Department staff includes a specialist medical officer who conducts inspections in undertakings where cases of occupational disease have been notified, as he did in 1955 when several cases of anthrax occurred in the hides and skins industry. In Kenya there are other activities involving health hazards. For instance, a 1 Federation of Nigeria: Annual Report of the Department of Labour, 1952-53, and idem, 1953-54, op. cit. OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH 369 committee set up in 1954 to study the consequences resulting from the use of certain toxic substances in agriculture, particularly insecticides, came to the conclusion that the uncontrolled use of such substances might have adverse effects on the health of workers. Cases of poisoning were in fact reported and preventive measures were subsequently taken. In Kenya, and also in Uganda, some cases of anthrax and silicosis occurred recently. In the latter territory silicosis and other forms of pneumoconiosis likely to result from inhaling vegetable dust in the sisal industry and in cotton ginning have received special attention. Research and inquiries on the subject have been under way for several years. In the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland there are factory inspection services in the Labour Departments of each of the three member territories. In Northern Rhodesia, for example, the enforcement of occupational safety and health legislation is entrusted to two factory inspectors and one boiler inspector. Moreover, safety and health in mines is the responsibility of the Mines Department, which has two machinery inspectors and one inspector of lamps. In Nyasaland two factory inspectors are attached to the Labour Department. Moreover, in some inland areas District Commissioners may be entrusted with the inspection of flour mills driven by machinery whose brake horsepower is less than 12. Similarly, persons not belonging to the inspectorate staff may be authorised to conduct boiler inspections. As already stated, silicosis constitutes a serious health hazard for workers in both Rhodesias and more particularly in the copper belt mining area of Northern Rhodesia. The enforcement of legislation is primarily the responsibility of the Silicosis Medical Bureaux, both in Northern and in Southern Rhodesia. The latter conduct all statutorily prescribed medical examinations of mineworkers. They are also responsible for issuing workers' health certificates and for preparing the reports required by law. Moreover, in each of the two territories there is a Silicosis Compensation Board, which deals with all matters pertaining to compensation and other benefits due to silicosis victims. Finally, a Silicosis Commissioner, reporting directly to the Director of Medical Services, is responsible for the enforcement of all laws and regulations dealing with silicosis. Ghana A Factories Ordinance similar to those of most British territories came into force in Ghana in September 1953. It would appear to apply at present only to establishments where ten or more persons are employed. By 1953, two factories inspectors had been appointed. At the end of 1954, 250 industrial establishments were registered, as required by the Factories Ordinance. According to the annual report of the Department of Labour for 1952-53, safety equipment in mechanised establishments varied considerably from one plant to another and in some cases was clearly inadequate. However, most undertakings had received copies of the Factories Ordinance and were planning appropriate preventive and protective measures. Very little information is available concerning the frequency of occupational diseases in Ghana. However, 19 cases of anthrax and several cases of cellulitis were reported. 25 370 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY French Territories Statutory Provisions. Before the publication of the 1952 Labour Code for Overseas Territories the situation in the French territories as regards occupational safety and health appears to have been unsatisfactory, owing to the vagueness and incompleteness of existing statutes and to the shortage of technically qualified inspectors. The code provides that any regulations governing safety and hygiene at workplaces shall be issued by the Governors of territories or groups of territories and shall, having regard to local conditions, " ensure for the workers conditions of safety and hygiene equivalent to those enjoyed by workers in the home country " (article 134 of the code). Accordingly in French West Africa, French Equatorial Africa, the Cameroons and Madagascar general orders were issued in 1954 covering the entire field of hygiene and accident prevention at workplaces.1 They apply to industrial and commercial establishments of all types and also, in French West Africa, to underground and surface mines and, in French Equatorial Africa and Madagascar, to agricultural undertakings as well. Although the rules laid down in these texts vary from one territory to another, they all include a number of basic provisions dealing with such matters as cleanliness, the ventilation and lighting of workplaces, protection against dust and fumes, consumption of alcoholic beverages in places of employment (forbidden in all cases), provision of locker rooms with showers and wash basins, etc. The orders also contain detailed provisions concerning the prevention of fires and of accidents resulting from the use of machinery and lifts. These provisions need not be analysed here; they are usually inspired by French metropolitan legislation. Finally, special provisions apply in the various territories to certain occupations or types of activity where special protection is needed. Such regulations are most numerous in French West Africa, where a wide range of activities is covered. Two industries which are directly dependent on agriculture and are particularly important in the economy of French West Africa are the shelling of groundnuts and the ginning of cotton and kapok. They are governed by special safety and health rules2, which provide that employers must supply their workers with protective clothing and respirators of a specified design. The workers must in addition undergo a lung X-ray every six months. Diseases medically certified as being attributable to vegetable dust and fibre (e.g. in the case of cotton, byssinosis, lung fibrosis, chronic bronchitis or emphysema) are treated at the expense of the employer, subject to the provisions of the law. Other special regulations issued in French West Africa apply to building and public works sites, establishments using electric current, spray painting or varnishing, the manufacture of quick-setting cement, work in compressed air, mining and prospecting, use of white lead, lead sulphite and linseed oil containing lead in paint work, diving, and the use of X-rays and radium. 1 See, for French West Africa, Order No. 5253 of 19 July 1954 (Legislative Series, 1954 —F.W.A. 1); for French Equatorial Africa, Order No. 3758 of 25 November 1954; for the Cameroons, Order No. 3323 of 28 June 1954 amended by Order No. 3378 dated 3 June 1955; and for Madagascar, Order No. 2187 of 5 November 1954 supplemented by Order No. 1261 dated 2 September 1955. 2 See, for the shelling of groundnuts. General Order No. 8830 of 14 November 1955 and for the ginning of cotton and kapok, General Order No. 9135 of 23 November 1955. OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH 371 Special measures of prevention are also laid down in respect of establishments using processes which involve a silicosis, lead poisoning, benzolism or anthrax hazard. Finally, General Order No. 8845 of 15 November 1955 lists occupations considered as " dirty or unhealthy " and contains detailed provisions regarding the provision of baths and showers. Enforcement. In the French territories the enforcement of occupational safety and health regulations is the responsibility of the Inspectorate of Labour and Social Legislation. Labour inspectors may, in the performance of their duties, seek the advice of technicians and, where necessary, require them to take part in plant inspections. Moreover, article 133 of the Labour Code provides for the setting up in each territory and group of territories of an advisory technical committee for the study of questions affecting the safety and health of workers. These committees are attached to the labour inspectorate. The chairman of the committee set up at the federal level is the chief inspector of labour; at the territorial level the chairman is the territorial inspector. The committees are made up of employers' representatives, workers' representatives and technical members in equal numbers (in French West Africa, the technical members are the DirectorGeneral of Public Health, the Federal Director of Mines and Geological Services and the Chief Medical Officer of the Psychotechnical Mission). By law the committees are competent to deal with all questions likely to affect safety and health in the territories and are called upon to give an opinion on all proposed regulations dealing with the subject. Committees were set up in all the French territories during the years 1954 and 1955. Efforts have also been made in the French territories to develop safety consciousness among the workers. For instance, a publicity campaign was undertaken in French Equatorial Africa in 1956; educational films were shown and posters displayed. Pamphlets were distributed and talks given at workplaces on the fundamentals of safety. Union of South Africa Statutory Provisions. The basic statutory instrument dealing with occupational safety and health is the Factories, Machinery and Building Work Act, 1941. In addition two sets of regulations have been issued under the Act, one of which deals with hygiene and the other with safety at workplaces.1 As regards hygiene, measures are laid down to ensure proper standards of cleanliness and ventilation in establishments, and employers are required to provide workers doing certain jobs with protective clothing and footwear free of charge. There are a number of clauses dealing with accident prevention in establishments using machinery, boilers or lifts, in electrical installations and on railways. Mines in particular, in view of their special importance in the Union of South Africa have long been the subject of elaborate laws and regulations dealing, among other things, with safety and health. In this connection, the Mines and Works 1 Government Notices Nos. 1227 of 4 September 1941 and 965 of 22 May 1942. 372 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Act, 1911, and its later amendments have recently been superseded by the Mines and Works Act, 1956, which has now come into force. Generally speaking, machinery used in mines is governed by the general safety provisions applicable to machinery everywhere. Thus the general safety regulations for electrical installations apply to mines as well as to other undertakings, although there are also a number of provisions which deal specifically with electrical installations in mines, e.g. prescribing the fireproofing of such installations wherever there is a danger of ignition of gas, dust, coal or other substances, and the protection of all electric wires and cables by metallic covers. Special safety rules exist for underground tunnels. Workers assigned to particularly dangerous workplaces must be equipped with safety chains or ropes. No one may be assigned to a position of responsibihty in mines unless he has suitable training and experience; for example, mineworkers may not handle explosives unless they are in possession of a blasting certificate. The silicosis problem has received particular attention from the authorities and mining undertakings in the Union of South Africa ever since the first cases occurred in the gold mines of the Transvaal over 50 years ago. Beginning in 1903, various committees were appointed by the Government to study means of combating the disease. As a result of these studies many measures were taken both in the field of legislation and in that of prevention and scientific research. The relevant basic statute now in force is the Pneumoconiosis Act, 1956, which has superseded all earlier legislation on the subject. It defines pneumoconiosis as any disease of the circulatory and respiratory organs caused by the absorption of dust in the course of work in a dusty atmosphere. The Pneumoconiosis Act, as mentioned earlier, contains provisions similar to those of corresponding legislation in Southern and Northern Rhodesia. Miners are required both before their engagement and at regular intervals during their employment to undergo medical examinations, which are given by a special agency set up under the Act and known as the Pneumoconiosis Bureau; they must then obtain from another body (the Pneumoconiosis Certification Committee) certificates authorising their employment in mines. These provisions apply only to miners of European origin. In the case of African miners medical examinations are also prescribed prior to employment and subsequently at regular intervals. The examinations, however, are carried out by medical practitioners under contract to the employers. The nature of the examinations and the particulars to be furnished by the examining medical practitioners are laid down by the authorities. In addition, the Director of the Pneumoconiosis Bureau may, whenever he considers it necessary, select a medical practitioner to visit mines for the purpose of examining African workers. Finally, a Pneumoconiosis Board has been set up similar to those in the two Rhodesias. It is responsible for all matters relating to silicosis compensation and benefit for miners. Enforcement. The Ministry of Labour of the Union of South Africa includes a factory inspectorate which is responsible for the enforcement of safety and health legislation. All plans for the construction or conversion of industrial establishments are subject to prior approval by the inspectorate. Inspectors visit plants regularly and frequently in order to ensure that the regulations are being duly complied with. In 1954 there were 11,985 such inspections, and 18,476 notices of requirement were OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH 373 served on employers, most of which were concerned with hygiene and the protection of workers. Technical inspections of machinery, boilers and elevators were also carried out regularly, the figures for 1954 being the following: machinery, 2,717; boilers, 11,556; and elevators, 3,248.1 Under the Mines and Works Act occupational safety and health inspection in mines is the responsibility of the Government Mining Engineer and of the inspectors who report to him. The inspection service is attached to the Mining Engineer's Division, which also includes a Government Mechanical Laboratory and a Silicosis Research Committee entrusted with the study of all problems relating to the health of workers employed in mines, including research into methods of eliminating dust and all other factors likely to cause silicosis. Private Bodies concerned with the Prevention of Industrial Accidents and Occupational Diseases. The public authorities concerned with the prevention of industrial accidents and occupational diseases work in co-operation with a number of private bodies such as the National Safety Council of South Africa and the South African Red Cross. The National Occupational Safety Association—a non-profit-making society financed by the Accident Fund—has been set up on the initiative of the Ministry of Labour. This Association devotes itself to various activities to improve the safety of workers, such as the organisation of training courses, the distribution of posters and the carrying out of inquiries. Moreover, the preparation and distribution of large numbers of pamphlets and articles dealing with occupational health and safety are also undertaken by the competent government service with the co-operation of employers' and workers' organisations and other bodies.2 In addition, works safety committees exist in the biggest industrial establishments. They consist of members elected by the workers under the chairmanship of a management representative. Finally, the Prevention of Accidents Committee of the Transvaal Chamber of Mines has for many years been concerned with the various aspects of accident prevention in mines. It has carried out frequent publicity campaigns on the fundamental aspects of the protection of safety and health. It also has laboratories engaged in scientific research and a subcommittee for the study of dust problems and ventilation in mines. CONCLUSIONS It is clear that the problems of industrial accident prevention and occupational disease control will be felt with increasing urgency in Africa as the economic development of the various territories progresses, bringing with it new industries and processes involving the use of dangerous machinery or substances, for example, some of the chemicals used in agriculture. Even though African workers everywhere have shown a remarkable degree of adaptability to the work done in mechanised industry, it must never be forgotten 1 See Report of the Department of Labour for the Year Ended 31st December 1954 (Pretoria, Government Printer), pp. 49-50. 2 See on this subject Dr. Gerald MACHANIK : " The Safety and Health of the Worker in South African Industry ", in Inter-African Labour Institute: Bulletin, Vol. Ill, No. 6, 1 Nov. 1956. 374 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY that many of those who enter modern industrial employment are migrants who have just left their traditional environments and have no prior knowledge of the working processes to which they are assigned. Such workers cannot be expected to have any clear idea of the hazards involved in their work. The basic safety rules must therefore be publicised by all available means, e.g. films, radio, posters, pamphlets and talks held in factories. The authorities should clearly specify in laws and regulations suited to the local conditions of each territory what measures of prevention and protection should be taken to ensure safety and hygiene at workplaces. From the available information, it appears that in some territories there is no legislation on the subject, while in others the law has lagged behind economic and social developments or is still incomplete. The problem of effective enforcement is undoubtedly one of prime importance and appears to raise considerable difficulties in most territories, for plant inspection personnel is deficient in numbers and not always up to the requisite standards. Inspection services should therefore be developed and should be staffed, apart from the labour inspectors, with sufficient and qualified technical personnel for the inspection of machinery and health conditions in factories. As regards occupational diseases, the harmful effects of certain dusts of vegetable origin, particularly sisal and cotton, appear to merit further study. Industries processing these materials play such an important part in the economies of some territories that measures to protect the workers employed in them are urgently needed. Similarly, the use of toxic substances as insecticides or for agricultural purposes constitutes an undeniable danger for workers, as has been discovered in British East Africa, and additional precautions and further research in this field seem to be required. Of all occupational diseases, silicosis is at present probably the most serious. The importance of mining in African economies and the size of the mining labour force are such that unceasing vigilance and the study and introduction in mines of the most modern processes aimed at the complete elimination of the dusts which cause silicosis are essential. The experience of countries such as the Belgian Congo, the Union of South Africa and Northern and Southern Rhodesia might afford useful guidance for other territories. The general improvement of workers' health in Africa is a matter of prime importance. To some extent, then, specific problems affecting workers' health may be appropriately dealt with by general health services. Nevertheless, the setting up of special services to deal with workers' health problems might be usefully considered, at least in some territories. Such services could, among other things, provide leadership in the field of medical assistance to workers, which in certain territories is now largely the responsibility of employers. CHAPTER XI SOCIAL SECURITY There have been many attempts to define social security, but no definition has so far been generally accepted. In this study, the term " social security " will be used as meaning the sum of measures aimed at guaranteeing to the population the maintenance of its means of subsistence, supplemented by adequate facilities for the protection and restoration of its health. The introduction of social security schemes has for some decades been one of the main aims of social policy. Since 1919 the International Labour Conference has adopted 23 Conventions and 17 Recommendations dealing with various aspects of the problem, which is now a very topical and pressing one in relation to underdeveloped areas generally. Admissible departures from the general standards for countries " whose economy and medical facilities are insufficiently developed " are defined in the Social Security (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1952; two Recommendations of 1944 and 1945 as well as two Conventions adopted in 1947, all of which deal with social policy and international labour standards in non-metropolitan territories, contain many provisions relating to the social security measures to be applied in these territories. The Protection of Migrant Workers (Underdeveloped Countries) Recommendation, 1955, also contains a number of provisions on the same subject. In Africa the problem has been increasingly felt with the emergence of a growing class of permanently employed persons, a section of the population which particularly needs protection against the various contingencies liable to affect its living and working conditions; this section no longer has the traditional security derived from the collective responsibility of the family, tribe or clan for the welfare of all its members. The great number of schemes that have been worked out or amended over the last ten years, as well as the various schemes that are now in hand, can be taken as evidence of the interest of the authorities in Africa in the possibility of introducing social security measures and their awareness of the urgency and growing importance of the question. The present study, in principle, is restricted to matters which come within the scope of social security according to the meaning given to that expression in the Social Security (Minimum Standards) Convention. For this reason it would seem useful to stress at this point the great importance, in almost all African countries, of securing efficient protection against those risks which, by reason of the special economic and social situation, are liable to deprive the greater part of the populations whose activities are still purely agricultural in character of their means of subsistence. No one will deny that these populations depend for their livelihood, for the most part, on the productive capacity of the soil and on protection against natural accidents or diseases which might lead to the destruction of crops or herds. 376 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY A brief summary is given here of the special conditions obtaining in African territories which have a decisive influence on the social security needs of the various population groups and which, to some extent, determine what measures should be taken to cover the various contingencies. This will be followed by a description of the existing situation in law and practice in the various territories and the most recent trends in government policy regarding social security. To conclude, it indicates the main progress made during the last two years towards providing coverage of the various contingencies. CONDITIONS PECULIAR TO AFRICA In spite of the extreme diversity of the situations found in the various African territories, there are a few general considerations which apply to most territories and certain general factors determining the various needs of the populations with respect to social security. First of all, physical environment—the climate, the nature of the soil and the communications (almost always poor) within the area and with other areas—has an effect on health as well as on social organisation and human labour. As regards the human factor, the outstanding feature as a rule is the very low and uneven density of population resulting in a lack of balance between the density of population and economic resources. However, the economic and social structures are to some extent similar in almost all territories. The units of social organisation are founded, according to custom, on the clan, the tribe or the family, and collective responsibility gives their members some protection against a number of contingencies such as old age, death of the breadwinner, sickness and invalidity. The economy is still essentially an agricultural one, and independent workers engaged in family or tribal agriculture generally make up the largest section of the active population. In most territories, however, the authorities have, over the last ten years or so, speeded up the pace of economic and social development, planning for a steady increase of industrialisation and of agricultural mechanisation which is leading to considerable changes in certain traditional aspects of society. Thus almost everywhere there is a steady movement of population to the neighbourhood of the industrial centres.1 Some of those drawn to the large towns become full-time workers and soon go through a metamorphosis similar to that caused in Europe by the drift away from the land. Except for the very few cases where they belong to racial, religious or tribal groups which are strongly integrated, they very soon lose touch with tribal life and become real proletarians. They no longer take part in any form of community life ; the fact that, in many cases, the tribal ties to which they were accustomed are loosened before they have found their place in a new system makes them all the more vulnerable to the contingencies of private and working life. Industrialisation also has an effect on the employment situation. Over the last few years, many reports on non-metropolitan territories sent to the International Labour Organisation by the authorities have mentioned the everincreasing need for that stabilisation of labour which is essential to the development of modern economic structures. In view of the greater need for skilled workers, ways of remedying this traditional instability have been sought. 1 For example, in the space of 20 years the populations of Dakar and Brazzaville have increased fivefold. SOCIAL SECURITY 377 In spite, then, of the factors which militate against the successful introduction of social security—for instance, the instability of the labour force, the low level of wages, the absence or inadequacy of population registers, polygamy, the illiteracy of workers and even of small employers in rural areas, poor communications and the difficulty of supervising migrant workers who, at times, disappear, never to be heard of again—it is generally accepted that one way of stabilising labour is to give workers effective protection against occupational and other risks. It is therefore right and desirable in present circumstances that the scope of existing legislation should be developed and indeed extended to cover certain contingencies, such as old age, which up to now have not been covered. These, in broad outline, are some of the economic and human considerations which condition the African situation and of which account must be taken in introducing social security measures. THE LAW AND ITS APPLICATION The situation in law and in practice is examined here by treating each contingency separately. There is no general social security system for wage earners comparable to those in the highly industrialised countries, except in a few cases where such a system has been set up for the benefit of particular classes of workers, such as in the Belgian Congo and in Somalia, where the main metropolitan social security legislation has been made applicable to European workers. Before examining the law and practice with respect to the different contingencies it should be mentioned that, in almost all the territories, many private undertakings have frequently contributed and still contribute on their own initiative towards social security measures extending beyond the standards fixed by law, e.g. by providing medical services for workers and their families, granting pensions or allowances to old workers and giving assistance to workers' families. Compensation for Industrial Accidents and Occupational Diseases In almost all African territories, workmen's compensation has grown up as a right deriving from employment, founded on the principle of employers' liability. It is governed by legislative provisions which, in most cases, were drawn up gradually as mechanisation made progress and the need to compensate the ever-growing number of workers injured by accident became more urgent. In recent years there has been a very steady increase in the numbers of accidents reported and recorded; the explanation for this lies not merely in the enactment of new and the extension of existing legislation, in the use of better reporting methods and in the stricter application of the law, but in the increasing frequency of industrial accidents, which is itself a result of the introduction of industries in which risks are greater and of the greater employment of wage-earning labour. Up to now the problem of compensation for occupational diseases has not been as urgent as that of compensation for accidents. Cases of disease resulting from employment are still rare in most territories. Measures have, however, recently been taken to cover these risks, especially in many of the territories under Belgian, British and French administration. This is in addition to legislation which has been in existence for many years covering particular diseases (such as silicosis in the Union of South Africa). 378 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Although, as in many highly industrialised countries, workmen's compensation was one of the first branches of social security to be developed in a large number of territories, it is worth noting that the legislation of most of them has been amended during the last ten years and that in certain territories proposals to establish more comprehensive systems are now under consideration. Since the beginning of 1955 great progress has been made in many territories. In the Belgian Congo and in Ruanda-Urundi pensions and allowances paid for industrial accidents and occupational diseases of employees have been raised by a Royal Order dated 21 January 1957. In most of the territories under British administration, ordinances adopted since 1955 have improved the earlier systems, extended their scope by increasing benefits and made the lists of occupational diseases more complete.1 In the territories under French administration 1957 legislation2 has laid down provisions dealing with safety and workmen's compensation which will come into force in 1958 and will supersede present texts. These new provisions will apply to all territories and to all workers without discrimination of sex, race, nationality, legal status or occupation and will replace legislation which was incomplete and varied from territory to territory. In Angola an Ordinance dated 31 December 1956 (No. 2797), regulating Native labour, has considerably improved existing legislation on workmen's compensation. In Somalia Ordinance No. 11-1955 raised the benefit rate for temporary incapacity. In the Union of South Africa an amending Act of 19563 made the 1941 Workmen's Compensation Act applicable to South-West Africa as well as to the Union of South Africa, widened the scope of application and raised benefit rates. Scope of Legislation. The scop e of legislation varies a good deal, and there are often considerable diiferences between the law in neighbouring territories administered by the same government. This, however, will not be the case, from 1958 onwards, in the territories under French a dministration, since the new regulations will apply to all wage earners in all territories except for those working permanently in government service. Under the new leg.slation, the term " industrial accident " will cover any accident, whatever its cause, which arises out of or in the course of employment, as well as any accident suffered by the worker while travelling from his place of residence to his place of work and back. Separate legislation sometimes exists covering indigenous and non-indigenous workers. This is so in the Belgian Congo, Ruanda-Urundi, Portuguese Guinea, Angola and Mozambique. In a number of territories, a single law governs workmen's compensation for indigenous and non-indigenous workers but different scales of compensation are provided : this is the case in the Union of South Africa, in South-West Africa and in both Rhodesias. In Northern Rhodesia, however, recent legislation provides the same compensation scale for Europeans and Africans whose monthly income is £50 or more. In most territories under British administration the regulations contain no discrimination based on race, but the worker is protected only when his earnings do not exceed a certain sum, which varies from 1 See the following Ordinances or Proclamations: Sierra Leone (No. 21 of 1955), Gambia (No. 9 of 1956), Kenya (No. 45 of 1955), Uganda (No. 43 of 1955), Tanganyika (No. 28 of 1954), Northern Rhodesia (No. 35 of 1955, Nos. 7 and 45 of 1956), Swaziland (No. 89 of 1955), Nigeria (No. 225 of 1957). In Zanzibar new legislation is under consideration. Decree No. 57-245 dated 24 February 1957 and No. 57-829 dated 23 July 1957. 8 Workmen's Compensation Amendment Act, No. 51 of 1956. SOCIAL SECURITY 379 territory to territory and is usually between £600 and £1,500 a year. In other territories this restrictive clause applies only to non-manual workers; this is the case in Sudan, Sierra Leone, Kenya, Uganda, Tanganyika and Swaziland. In the Union of South Africa workers earning more than £1,560 a year are not covered by the legislation. As a result of these provisions a large proportion of the nonindigenous workers, among them European non-manual workers, are not covered by the workmen's compensation laws. In all territories under British administration a worker has the option either of bringing a court case for damages when the employer or some third party becomes liable therefor in law, or of claiming under workmen's compensation law, but he cannot claim both damages and workmen's compensation at the same time. In the territories under French administration, up till now, workers, whether Africans or not, could always claim civil damages, a principle which was confirmed by a ruling of the Court of Cassation on 9 April 1948. However, in practice the persons concerned, in most cases, did not choose to embark upon legal proceedings, which were both long and costly. A provision of the new legislation expressly stipulates that legal proceedings may be taken in respect of an accident due to the employer's wilful negligence or misconduct. Restrictions Due to the Nature of the Employment Contract. Certain systems cover all accidents taking place during the performance of an employment or service contract; others limit the application of the law to a greater or lesser extent by formulating restrictive clauses in respect either of the category of undertaking to which the law applies, the cause of the accident or the nature of the employment contract. Generally speaking, the legislation in territories under British administration takes into account the exceptions provided for by the Workmen's Compensation (Accidents) Convention, adopted by the International Labour Conference in 1925. This means that the legislation does not apply to the following persons: those performing casual jobs not related to the employer's business, homeworkers, members of the employer's family working exclusively on his behalf and living under his roof, and non-manual workers whose earnings are above a certain limit. Restrictions Due to Occupation. Besides these exceptions, certain occupational categories are not covered. This is the case, for example, of seamen (who are, however, covered under the regulations in Nigeria and Ghana) and fishermen (who, as an exception, are included in Nigeria). Domestic servants employed by private persons are not entitled to compensation for accidents during employment in Northern Rhodesia, Mauritius, the Union of South Africa and South-West Africa; in the last two territories miners are not covered by the regulations unless they use explosives or machines operated by mechanical power. The " tributer " or prospector for minerals who draws a percentage on the minerals he finds is generally not entitled to protection in the territories under British administration. In Portuguese territories no compensation is paid for accidents arising out of cases oí force majeure resulting from " irresistible natural forces ". Agricultural Workers. In the same way, agricultural workers are not always covered or are covered 380 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY only under certain conditions.1 In Ghana and Sierra Leone agricultural workers are protected only if they are employed in undertakings with a staff of more than ten or 25 persons respectively; unless the accident is caused by machinery operated by a static engine workers in agricultural undertakings are not covered in Somalia, the Union of South Africa or South-West Africa. Special Arrangements. As a rule the various laws on industrial accident compensation do not apply to persons already covered under special arrangements, such as members of the armed forces, the police force or the public services apart from civilian labour under local contracts. This, for instance, is the case in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Northern Rhodesia, Sudan and Uganda. Inexcusable or Wilful Negligence or Misconduct. The scope of application of ratione personae is generally restricted when there is inexcusable or wilful negligence or misconduct on the part of a worker; this, for example, is the case of the term " serious and wilful misconduct " in Northern Rhodesia and Kenya, which embraces, inter alia, drunkenness, deliberate infringement of safety regulations or negligence in using safety devices. Portuguese legislation stipulates that an accident is not covered when it is brought about by an act or an omission by the victim contrary to, and deliberately infringing, the express orders of those in authority over him in his trade or occupation, or when it follows upon acts tending to reduce the effectiveness of safety precautions prescribed by the employer or rendered necessary by the special nature of the work. Cover likewise does not extend to accidents which are the result of bodily injury caused by voluntary exposure to risk unless the latter is directly connected with another accident or unless the victim suffered such injury in the course of managerial or supervisory duties. In all Portuguese territories accidents are not covered if they result from the permanent or temporary loss of the victim's reason, provided that that loss of reason is not to be attributed to the work performed. In the territories under French administration the law explicitly provides that wilful misconduct by the victim removes the right to benefit and that inexcusable negligence or misconduct by the worker may lead to a reduction or refusal of compensation ; provision is made for an increase in favour of the injured person in the event of inexcusable negligence or misconduct on the part of the employer in the territories under French administration, the Belgian Congo, Ruanda-Urundi, the Union of South Africa and Northern Rhodesia. In Kenya the Governor in Council and in Sudan the Council of Ministers have power to extend or to restrict the scope of the legislation (in other words, any person may be declared a " non-workman " by the authorities). Accidents on the Way to or from Work. With some exceptions, such as in the territories under French administration, accidents which take place while the worker is travelling between his place of residence and his place of work do not come under the provisions of the law. Since 1956, 1 The percentage of wage earners employed in agriculture and in forestry is, as a rule, high: it averages 30 per cent, in French overseas territories as a whole, 43 per cent, in Madagascar, 24 per cent, in French West Africa, 22 per cent, in the Belgian Congo, 44 per cent, in Kenya, 25 per cent, in Uganda and 23 per cent, in Northern Rhodesia. SOCIAL SECURITY 381 however, workers in the Union of South Africa have been covered for accidents during transit in transport provided by the employer. Equality of Treatment for Nationals and Foreigners. In most cases the law contains no special provisions regarding equality of treatment as between nationals and foreigners; however, the absence of any discriminatory provisions implies equality of treatment. In the majority of territories, the practice has grown up of applying the Equality of Treatment (Accident Compensation) Convention, adopted by the International Labour Conference in 1925, whenever the foreign workers concerned are nationals of a State which grants equivalent rights. Medical Treatment. In a large number of territories the law makes medical, surgical and pharmaceutical treatment in the event of industrial accidents a responsibility of the employer; the same applies to the expense of transport to a medical unit or first-aid post and, if need be, of hospitalisation. In exceptional cases, for instance, in Ghana and in Swaziland, injured persons receive free treatment in government hospitals in the absence of provisions establishing the employer's liability for medical care. In the territories under French administration, the new legislation provides, whether or not there has been any interruption of work, that the employer should pay for treatment, functional readaptation, vocational retraining and the reclassification of the victim. In the territories under British administration as a whole the employer is required to pay medical treatment up to a given maximum which varies according to the victim's race in the Rhodesias and in the Union of South Africa. The time during which medical, surgical and pharmaceutical treatment may be supplied at the expense of the employer is limited to three years in the Belgian Congo and in Ruanda-Urundi and two years in the Union of South Africa. Legislation in certain territories, notably those under French administration, provides for the supply, repair and normal replacement of artificial limbs, prosthetic and orthopaedic appliances needed by the disabled victim of an accident; in most of the territories under British administration, the cost of appliances is only charged to the employer up to and including a certain sum, varying from £50 to £125. In Mozambique the relevant provisions only apply to Europeans and assimilated persons, but in Angola they apply to all workers. One provision appearing in the legislation of certain territories under British administration, for example Northern Rhodesia, may be mentioned. This stipulates that the employer may not accept any contribution from the injured person for medical treatment. Temporary Incapacity. Waiting Period for Benefits. As a rule, the various regulations distinguish between the temporary or permanent nature of incapacity for work. The principles governing the payment of benefits in the event of temporary disability vary a great deal from territory to territory. In many cases, and in particular in all territories under Belgian, French or Portuguese administration and in Southern Rhodesia, benefits are payable as from the day after that on which the accident took place, the day of the accident being paid in full as a working day. In other territories incapacity for work, when it lasts less 382 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY than a certain number of days (three days in Sudan, Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika, four days in Sierra Leone and Somalia, for instance), is not the employer's responsibility and does not entitle a worker to benefit. In some of the territories under British administration the waiting period, which is usually three or four days, is waived when incapacity lasts more than a certain period of time (as a rule four weeks but in some cases two); since 1956 in Kenya, Tanganyika and Uganda benefit has been payable from the first day of incapacity if it lasts three days or more. In the Union of South Africa and in South-West Africa no benefit is due to a worker earning less than £13 6s. a month, unless incapacity lasts more than seven days in normal cases (or, for an African fed and housed by his employer, more than 14 days). Amount of Benefit. The benefit payable always represents either the whole or a percentage of the average over-all wages, including any payment in kind, such as rations or housing, which the worker was receiving at the time of the accident. Usually the daily benefit payable is equal to half-pay; in some cases it is two-thirds, as in the territories under Belgian administration and in Somalia; in the Union of South Africa it is threequarters of normal wages. In some cases the benefit payable increases or diminishes according to the period of incapacity. It is generally admitted that benefit is due during the whole period of incapacity until complete cure, consolidation of the injury or death; sometimes, however, a time limit is fixed to the period during which benefit is payable. In some cases the benefit paid may not be more than a given sum, whatever the victim's wages. Benefits are generally paid weekly, fortnightly or monthly in the case of temporary incapacity ; in a few cases, however, the law allows the replacement of periodic payments by a lump-sum payment on the decision of the judicial authorities, either after agreement between the parties or at the request of the injured worker or the employer. Permanent Incapacity and Death. The benefits payable in respect of an injured workman in the event of permanent incapacity or death may be either in the form of a pension or of a lump sum, payable either in one sum or in several instalments. Pensions. The payment of pensions is the rule, inter alia, in the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi, Somalia, all the territories under French and Portuguese administration, the Union of South Africa and Southern and Northern Rhodesia. However, the individual legislative systems make the granting of a pension subject to certain conditions, which vary widely according to the territory concerned, and specify the cases in which a lump-sum payment is to be substituted for the pension, either compulsorily or by option at the request of the parties. In Southern Rhodesia and the Union of South Africa no provision is made for granting pensions to Africans; the same is true in the event of death for Africans in Portuguese territories. In Somalia pensions are not granted to the dependants of victims of fatal accidents, but it is permissible for the lump-sum compensation to be converted into a pension if all the dependants expressly request it. In Northern Rhodesia the only beneficiaries who may claim pensions are the widow, the dependent invalid widower and the children. SOCIAL SECURITY 383 Lump-sum compensation is substituted for a pension if the degree of invalidity is below 15 per cent, in Somalia and in the territories under Belgian administration, below 10 per cent, in Northern Rhodesia1 and below 25 per cent, in the Union of South Africa. In Mozambique a provision applying to Africans makes it compulsory to convert the pension into a lump-sum payment, amounting to between six and 12 times the value of the annual pension, when the employer is not insured against the risk of industrial accident or when there is sufficient reason to doubt whether he will be able to make regular payment of the annual pensions. Conversion of pensions into capital. Provision is made in some cases, exceptionally or otherwise, depending on the territory, for the total or partial conversion of pensions into capital, either at the request of one or both of the parties, by a judicial or administrative decision. This can be done when the pension is a small one (for instance in the territories under Portuguese administration and in the Rhodesias), when the victim or his heir leaves the territory for good (territories under Belgian administration), or when the surviving spouse in receipt of the pension remarries. In the territories under Portuguese administration the legislation applicable to non-Africans makes a distinction, based on the amount of the pension, between cases in which it must be converted into capital, cases where it may be so converted at the request of one of the parties and cases where the agreement of both parties is required before a lump-sum payment may be substituted for a pension; in Angola similar provisions apply to Africans. In Somalia pensioners whose degree of permanent incapacity is not above 30 per cent, may receive a lump-sum payment equal to the capital value of the pensions to which they are entitled. Amount of pensions. The amount of the pensions provided for by law is everywhere proportionate to the worker's usual remuneration at the time of the accident; the most common basis for assessment is a theoretical annual wage representing only a proportion of the actual wage, as that part of the wage above certain fixed ceilings is taken into account only in part or not at all. The amount of the pension is usually calculated by multiplying the theoretical wage by the degree of disability; in practice the amount payable in cases of permanent total disability varies from one-third to two-thirds of the actual wage. In addition to the prescribed maximum a minimum theoretical wage is usually fixed, which is applicable in cases where the actual wage is lower than this minimum. Legislation often differentiates between African workers and others as regards the wage limits laid down in respect of the calculation of pensions. Lump-sum Payments. Where provision is made for the payment of a lump sum in the case of permanent incapacity or death, it is usually left to the court or the local administration to determine whether the benefit should be paid in a lump sum or in periodic instalments. This is the case in many of the territories under British administration. In some instances, as in Uganda, payment of a lump sum is authorised provided the sum is invested in a manner deemed by the competent authorities to be both judicious and favourable to the worker's interests. In some of the territories under British administration the investment of permanent-incapacity and death benefits in savings 1 Before 1955 the rate was 35 per cent. 384 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY funds has been encouraged by the authorities; in particular, funds invested in post office savings banks have increased appreciably during the past few years, especially in Kenya. On the other hand, there is sometimes no special provision to ensure the judicious use of lump-sum benefits; this is true, for instance, of Portuguese laws relating to the dependants of indigenous workers who die as the result of industrial accidents; it is also to some extent true in Ghana, where compensation may take the form of periodic instalments only when both parties agree. Amount of lump sums. The amount of lump-sum payments is based on the normal earnings of the worker at the time of the accident and varies from territory to territory. In Mozambique the dependants of a deceased African worker are entitled to an amount which is fixed by the curador having regard to " the victim's age, the number of his dependants, the wage which he was receiving at the time of the accident and the employer's economic situation ". In most of the territories under British administration the compensation paid in the case of permanent total disablement is usually 42 to 48 times the monthly wage (54 times in Nigeria), with a maximum limit which varies between £700 and £1,700; in the case of death, the compensation paid is lower, being between 30 and 36 times the monthly wage (42 times in Nigeria), with a maximum limit varying between £600 and fl^OO.1 Since 1956 the maximum compensation payment has been raised to £1,700 in the case of permanent total disablement and in the case of death to £1,200 in Kenya, Tanganyika and Uganda. In the Union of South Africa the lump-sum payment made to an African worker in the case of permanent total disablement is 30 times the monthly wage when the wage is less than £20 a month or 15 times the monthly wage where it exceeds that amount, with a minimum limit of £150 and a maximum limit of £800. In the case of death the dependants may claim up to 80 per cent, of the lump sum which would have been payable in the event of total permanent disablement. Assistance of a Third Person. In some territories additional compensation is granted in the case of permanent total disablement where the victim needs the help of a third person to perform the acts of everyday life. This is the case in the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi, Somalia, the territories under Portuguese administration, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanganyika, Uganda and the two Rhodesias. As a rule the amount varies from 20 to 25 per cent, of the ordinary benefit; however, in the territories under Portuguese administration this benefit is not granted to Africans and in the two Rhodesias it is left to a magistrate to fix the amount. Funeral Expenses. In some African territories the employer is required to pay a special sum covering the funeral expenses of a worker killed in an industrial accident. In almost every case an upper limit has been fixed to this sum, and in addition different ceilings are sometimes fixed for Africans and non-Africans. Dependants. Most regulations require the dependants of African workers claiming pensions or lump-sum payments to show certain proofs of their status in relation to the victim, 1 In Southern Rhodesia the compensation payable to the dependants of a deceased African worker may not exceed £130. SOCIAL SECURITY 385 i.e. in the case of a surviving spouse, proof of marriage prior to the accident; in the case of descendants, evidence of parentage or adoption in accordance with local registration procedures; in the case of parents, proof of age, infirmity and dependency upon the victim at the time of the accident. Generally speaking, persons recognised as dependants are the surviving spouse, provided that there has been no divorce or separation, legitimate and illegitimate children, recognised natural children or adopted children under 16 years of age1, descendants, children taken into the home of the victim and parents dependent on him at the time of the accident. When a pension is granted the amount allotted to each dependant usually varies, depending on the degree of family relationship, between 10 and 30 per cent, of the victim's annual wage; but the sum of the pensions payable to the various dependants is limited either to a given fraction of the wage, or to the pension granted in the case of permanent disability (Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi). In the Union of South Africa a non-African worker's widow is granted a pension equal to 35 per cent, of the pension which the victim himself might have claimed in the case of total permanent disablement; as regards children, the amount payable depends on the number and varies between 20 and 70 per cent. Administration, Financing and Supervision. Notification. Provision is usually made for the reporting of employment accidents. Sometimes, as in the territories under French administration, the law applies to all accidents, whether serious or not; in other cases it applies only to accidents which result in death or in a specified degree of disablement. In Ghana and Nigeria, for instance, only the reporting of fatal accidents is compulsory. In several territories under British administration, such as Sierra Leone and Kenya, only accidents giving rise to the payment of compensation need be reported. Usually, when notification is compulsory, it must, in principle, be sent by the employer to the administrative or judicial authorities; failure to do so is punishable by law. As a rule similar notification must be sent to the insurance company or fund when the employer is insured; this is the case in Somalia and in the territories under Portuguese administration as regards European and assimilated workers. In some territories under British administration, in the case of non-fatal accidents, the victim must notify the employer. In the territories under French and Portuguese administration and in Somalia notification must be made within 48 hours; in Kenya the law merely provides that an accident must be reported as soon as possible. In Angola, any accident suffered by an African worker must be notified within three days to the curador or his representative. Investigations. As a rule, administrative or judicial investigations are only compulsory in the case of accidents likely to cause, or having actually caused, the victim's death or permanent disablement; in the territories under Portuguese administration the curador decides, in the case of employment accidents suffered by Africans, whether or not to investigate ; in Somalia investigation is only compulsory when the incapacity caused by the accident lasts more than 30 days. In the territories under French 1 This age limit is sometimes raised to 17 years in the case of apprentices and to 20 years in the case of children attending school and cripples. 26 386 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY administration, in the case of any industrial accident leading to death, or which appears likely to lead to death or to permanent disablement, there must, under the new legislation, be an investigation carried out by a sworn investigator appointed by the administrative authorities. Revision of Compensation. Usually it is the judicial authorities who examine applications for revision of compensation submitted either by the employer or by the victim or his dependants. In almost all territories applications based on an increase or decrease in the degree of disability may be made after the date of the permanent cure or after the apparent consolidation of the injury; they may be submitted within a given time limit and at specified periods, or they may be submitted at any time, as the differing provisions specify. In Ghana, Sudan, Kenya, Tanganyika and Uganda adjustment is possible at any time. It may take place at any time during a three-year period in the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi, at any time during a five-year period in the territories under Portuguese administration and at any time during a ten-year period in Northern Rhodesia. In Somalia, the first adjustment may not take place before one year after the granting of the pension, nor may subsequent adjustments take place at intervals of less than one year; after four years have elapsed not more than two applications for readjustment may be submitted. Guarantees respecting Payment. In most territories permanent disability pension or lump-sum payments are non-transferable and may not be attached; monies due to the victim as compensation for temporary disablement or in respect of medical, pharmaceutical or hospital expenses are treated as privileged debts in the same manner as wages. In the territories under Portuguese administration there is a procedure for compulsory recovery through fiscal channels of compensation which has not been paid within the prescribed period. In Ghana, Sudan, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda and Northern Rhodesia the law specifically provides that if an insured employer becomes bankrupt his rights vis-à-vis the insurance company are transferred to the worker; in the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi a special guarantee fund pays the compensation in the place of an insolvent debtor, whether the latter be the employer or the insurance company. Disputes. Disputes relating to the right to and the granting of compensation and to the nature or extent of the consequences of accidents are, in the vast majority of cases, settled by an administrative authority which is generally the labour inspectorate; the inspectorate's decisions may be the subject of final appeal to a judicial authority, that is to say a judge or a tribunal. The new legislation in the territories under French administration provides that the Labour Court is the competent body to deal with disputes and that the victim or his dependants are automatically entitled to legal assistance. In Somalia disputes are submitted to an arbitration board made up of experts against whose decisions there is no appeal, although applications for their annulment may be made to a court. In most of the territories under British administration and in Sudan, compensation may be agreed upon out of court and in writing by the parties themselves; such agreements are subject to review by a magistrate when they appear to be unfair or less favourable to the victim than a settlement resulting from a strict application of the law; however, if the parties so wish, a decision thus taken by a SOCIAL SECURITY 387 magistrate may be appealed to the High Court. In Northern Rhodesia special commissioners have been appointed to supervise workmen's compensation. Administration and Financing: Compulsory Nature of Insurance. In all territories, compensation for industrial accidents is exclusively at the employer's charge; depending on the territory, the employer may or may not be free to transfer his responsibility to an insurance agency. Where insurance is compulsory, the premiums which the employer is required to pay to insurance funds or companies vary, in principle, with the risk involved in the occupation. In Somalia the Social Insurance Fund administers compensation and is required to fix the premiums payable by employers; these are related to the thoroughness of the measures taken by the employer to prevent accidents and to the accident record of the undertakings; the same occurs in the territories under French administration, where the law provides that the Social Insurance Board may raise or lower premiums in accordance with the efforts made by the employer as regards prevention of accidents. In the Union of South Africa the employers' premiums are fixed every year by the Labour Department. The employer is required to insure himself, either through government insurance funds or with approved insurance companies, in the following territories: the Belgian Congo, Ruanda-Urundi, the territories under French administration, Somalia, Northern Rhodesia, the Union of South Africa and South-West Africa. In the territories under French administration compensation is, in theory, administered by the equalisation funds for family allowances, which collect subscriptions and pay benefits. There is a General Workmen's Compensation Board, which guarantees payment by the local boards and underwrites the risks. This Board is financed by a quota of the premiums, which are entirely paid by employers and are based on the workers' earnings from all sources. In Northern Rhodesia employers who can prove that they are able to meet all their commitments may be exempted from the compulsory insurance requirements; in Ghana insurance is compulsory only in the case of public contracts concluded with the Government or with municipal authorities. In other territories, such as Kenya, Tanganyika, Uganda and Sudan, insurance is not compulsory, but the Govemor-in-Council (the Council of Ministers in Sudan) may require employers, or certain classes of employers, to insure themselves. A similar provision is to be found in the laws relating to African workers in Sao Tomé and Principe, under which the Governor may order employers to set up employment accident insurance institutions, the membership of which is compulsory for all employers employing more than ten workers. In the other territories under Portuguese administration there is no compulsory insurance, but the legislation applying to Europeans and assimilated persons enables employers to transfer their responsibility to insurance companies recognised by the law and also to corporate organisations set up by the trade unions; uninsured employers are required to pay a deposit covering their responsibility unless they can offer satisfactory evidence of their financial ability to cover the risks which they incur. In practice many employers are insured even in territories where insurance is not compulsory. Insurance funds operating under public supervision and guarantee are to be found, in particular in the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi (Colonial Invalidity Fund), the territories under French administration (General Workmen's Compensation Fund), Somalia (Somalia Social Insurance Fund) and the Union of South 388 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Africa (Workmen's Compensation Fund). In some of these territories the law gives employers the option of taking out insurance policies with certain approved private companies. This is the case, for example, in the territories under Belgian administration as regards non-African workers; in the case of African workers insurance may be taken out with mutual indemnity associations or funds set up jointly by at least five employers, employing at least 10,000 workers. Under a 1957 Act applying to the territories under French administration, each Territorial Assembly may, after consulting the Labour Advisory Board, allow the transfer of responsibiUty for workmen's compensation to certain approved insurance companies; in this case, the employer must take out an insurance policy covering his responsibility for all workers in his employment. Another provision of the same Act provides that certain undertakings may act as their own insurers. Occupational Diseases. Workmen's compensation schemes covering occupational diseases are fewer in number than those for industrial accidents; it is true that so far cases of occupational disease have been relatively infrequent in many of the African territories, owing to the low degree of industrialisation (for example, in Kenya, Nigeria, Northern Rhodesia and Uganda, no cases of occupational disease were recorded in 1953); thus the need for positive action is not so urgent. However, compensation is increasingly provided for occupational diseases. Thus, during the last two years, measures have been taken either to remedy the total absence of provision or to fill up gaps in the existing systems of numerous territories under British administration as well as of all territories under Belgian and French administration and of Angola. In most of the territories where occupational diseases are covered, the relevant statutory provisions are included in those concerning industrial accidents and the same compensation standards are applied to the two causes of incapacity. In certain territories such as Sudan, Nigeria and Gambia it is simply provided that the competent authority may, by order, extend the coverage of the workmen's compensation scheme covering accidents to cases of permanent incapacity or death caused by occupational disease. In some cases certain methods of providing benefit not applicable to industrial accidents are stipulated; thus in the Belgian Congo it is possible to submit a claim for revision of the compensation rate within ten years for diseases, as compared with three for accidents, in view of the fact that occupational diseases often develop very slowly. In a number of territories there are also special arrangements or special regulations concerning workmen's compensation in cases of silicosis and tuberculosis; it is generally held that these diseases must have been contracted in undertakings determined by the competent authority. In the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi compensation for pneumoconiosis is paid only in respect of permanent incapacity or death; in Northern Rhodesia, under the Silicosis Act, the amount of the pension or the lump sum granted (according to the seriousness of the case) is not the same for Africans as for non-Africans. The silicosis risks in mines have been investigated during the last few years in Tanganyika and Kenya; the investigation has shown that in Kenya the number of silicosis cases was negligible, since the time spent working in a mine averaged two-and-a-half years and very seldom exceeded ten years (this ten-year period being regarded as the minimum below which silicosis cannot as a rule be contracted). In the Union of South Africa the Pneumoconiosis Act, 1956, applies to both Europeans and Africans, but, in the case SOCIAL SECURITY 389 of Africans, it is provided that compensation will be paid in the form of a lump sum and not as a pension, with a maximum of £180 for workers who do not earn more than £5 a month. The list of diseases regarded as being occupational diseases and as falling within the scope of the law is not as comprehensive in some territories as in others. Specifically tropical diseases are, as a rule, excluded. Sickness and Invalidity In most African territories the protection of the population against sickness and invalidity is limited to free medical care by the public health services. This includes vaccination, medical and surgical care, the distribution of medicines for immediate consumption, and hospitalisation. In addition to the above facilities there are, as a rule, official or private welfare services and a variety of institutions for invalids—for example, invalid homes, rehabilitation centres and schools for the blind. In most cases it is a condition of free medical or social assistance that a patient or invalid should be a person of insufficient means. In the Union of South Africa assistance is given to persons who cannot work because of bodily or mental incapacity1 and pensions are also paid to blind persons.2 In both cases beneficiaries must satisfy certain conditions as to residence in the Union and must not have more than a specified income. Forms of Coverage for Workers. Special assistance for workers in case of sickness is, in most cases, paid for by the employer; it generally consists of both sickness benefit and medical care, the supply of drugs and hospitalisation in public health clinics or hospitals or sometimes in medical or health centres set up by private undertakings. Certain regulations in the territories under French and Portuguese administration, for instance, require undertakings to have medical and health personnel and a supply of drugs and to set up medical facilities corresponding in nature and extent to the number of workers employed. (It seems to be an accepted principle in several schemes that all workers should be guaranteed the same care, irrespective of their numbers, in every undertaking; but it has not been regarded as possible under systems whereby the medical service in each undertaking is paid for by the employer to require that small establishments should provide the same health facilities and the same medical staff as can reasonably be expected of large undertakings.) In some territories provident funds or mutual benefit societies run sickness insurance schemes financed by voluntary contributions paid half by the employer and half by the insured person. This is the case in Northern Rhodesia, for instance, for non-African workers. In more exceptional cases there are systems of insurance covering sickness and invalidity to which both workers and employers are compelled to contribute: this is the case in Somalia for non-Africans and also in the Belgian Congo and RuandaUrundi, where a decree dated 19 February 1957 set up a system of invalidity allowances for African workers, whereas before invalidity insurance only existed for the benefit of European employees. 1 2 Disability Grants Act No. 36 of 1946 as amended. Blind Persons Act No. 11 of 1936 as amended. 390 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Scope of Existing Schemes. In the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi there is a sickness and invalidity insurance scheme for non-Africans financed by contributions totalling 2.5 per cent. It covers all employed persons of either sex who are not natives of the Belgian Congo or Ruanda-Urundi. The Governor-General may grant the same benefits to indigenous workers whose pay is equal to at least half the lowest salary paid to European civil servants. A so-called " health care insurance " scheme which covers only medical care has recently been instituted for Europeans formerly employed in the territory and their dependent family members for the disabled, for family members who cannot live with the person employed in the Belgian Congo or in RuandaUrundi, for widows and orphans and for employed persons on leave, as well as for members of their families. This recent measure filled the gaps in the existing legislation on sickness and invalidity insurance, especially as regards non-payment of the cost of medical care for the wife and children of the insured person. To be eligible for sickness or invalidity benefit a worker must be unable to maintain himself by his own work and his incapacity for work must have been caused by a disease that was contracted, or by an accident which took place, during the period of employment—but this excludes employment injuries and incapacity resulting from failure to comply with instructions, participation in a dangerous sport, war, drunkenness or paid work for a third party. The beneficiary must also be effectively and normally resident in the Belgian Congo, Ruanda-Urundi or a country with which a reciprocal agreement has been signed. Similar provisions as to the nature of the illness and residence apply to African workers who are entitled to benefits under the decree dated 19 February 1957. Workers who, as a result of their profession or occupation, are entitled to an oldage pension will only draw benefit under the decree when the value of the pension is below that of the benefit therein prescribed. Workmen's compensation for accident or disease is treated as an old-age pension when it is more than 200 francs a month. The insurance system is administered by the Colonial Invalidity Fund, which pays the benefits; it is financed by equal contributions from employers and workers under provisions similar to those which apply to pensions. There are three categories of beneficiaries : those insured under the scheme, retired workers, and widows and orphans. The provisions apply to each of these categories under prescribed conditions. In order to qualify a worker must have been employed at least six years in the Belgian Congo or Ruanda-Urundi, he must have been insured for a period of at least 18 months during the three years preceding the end of his period of insurance, he must not be liable for income tax, he must not be currently employed and must receive no pay from government sources. Retired workers are entitled to a benefit under the same conditions, except that they must have worked at least 12 years and must have stopped working sometime between 1940 and 1957; in the last category, benefits go only to a monogamous wife who is not divorced and to children under 16 years of age. In Somalia sickness insurance is limited to immigrants from countries where this type of insurance is compulsory. The Social Security Fund administers a sickness and invalidity insurance scheme for about 1,800 Italian workers and their families. The contributions of the insured person and of the employer are equal, and total 5 per cent, of gross earnings for the wage earner and 3 per cent, for a salaried employee. SOCIAL SECURITY 391 In Angola sickness benefit is paid to non-African workers who have been employed at least a month; in Mozambique the worker must, in certain occupations (building trades, commerce and drivers, for example), have been a registered trade union member for more than three months. In the Union of South Africa workers in industry and commerce are protected in case of sickness up to a limit of 30 days' absence over 12 months of service. Moreover in terms of the Unemployment Insurance Act1, sickness benefit is payable to insured persons who have not been employed for at least four weeks because of sickness and who are not able to resume work. Medical Treatment. Medical care, drugs or medicine and hospitalisation are generally granted to workers and, sometimes, to their families. A free and very comprehensive occupational medical service, consisting of curative and preventive medical services in the undertakings and of a workers' medical inspection service, was provided for in recent legislation applying to all French overseas territories. Under this legislation every undertaking must provide for its workers a medical and health service providing, among other things, first-aid and treatment facihties and the drugs required for treating the workers and their families, if they are housed by the employer; free board is also provided for any sick worker treated in the undertaking, as is transport, at the expense of the undertaking, to the nearest medical unit for patients who can stand the journey and who cannot be treated in the undertaking. In the Belgian Congo, Ruanda-Urundi and Somalia medical, surgical, pharmaceutical, hospital and transport costs, including the cost of any dental care that may be considered essential and that of prosthetic and orthopaedic appliances which are recognised to be necessary, are reimbursed to non-African insured persons according to a prescribed scale. In the territories under British administration, while there is often no legal compulsion on employers to provide medical benefits to their workers, most undertakings do provide various forms of assistance in case of sickness and invalidity. Where they have responsibilities by law the following limitations may be noted: in Tanganyika the employer is liable for the cost of hospitalisation for only 14 days; in Uganda medical benefit is payable by the employer only in respect of resident workers whose wages do not exceed 150 shillings a month and their families; in Mauritius, employers on sugar plantations are legally bound to meet the expenses of medical care for the workers and their families and to supply the necessary drugs; benefits in cash and kind are granted in the case of sickness. In most territories, when the employer has ceased to provide medical care, it becomes the liability of the public health authorities. Cash Benefits. In addition to free medical care, the sick worker receives, in many territories, cash benefits which vary according to each particular scheme. As a ride, the benefits 1 Act No. 53 of 1946 (I.L.O. Legislative Series, 1946—S.A. 1), amended by Act No. 36 of 1949 (ibid., 1949—S.A. 1), No. 48 of 1952 (ibid., 1952—S.A. 1), and No. 9 of 1957. 392 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY paid to public servants are more generous than those paid to workers in private employment. This is the case, for instance, in Tanganyika, Kenya and Nigeria, where public servants with at least 20 years' service also receive annual allowances in cases of infirmity or permanent physical incapacity. In Tanganyika most public servants, including certain manual workers, are entitled, if they fall ill, to receive full pay for a period of 28 to 90 days, according to the length of service, and half-pay for the following 12 months. In all territories under French administration the employer is bound by law to pay the worker, during the latter's absence on account of duly certified sickness and until the normal notice period expires, an allowance equal to the worker's pay for that period. In all territories under Portuguese administration an allowance of up to six days' wages is paid per quarter to African workers who fall ill; for Europeans and assimilated persons the benefit, which varies from one occupation to another, is payable only after a certain period of employment, generally two years. The allowance granted to Europeans by the Colonial Invalidity Fund in the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi amounts to 3,000 francs a month plus an additional 600 francs a month if the invalid needs the constant help of another person. There is also an additional allowance of 600 francs a month per dependent child aged less than 18 (or less than 21, if the child is still a student). The allowance may be reduced if the beneficiary is receiving any remuneration or earned income, a retirement pension or allowance or a family allowance. It is reduced by 50 per cent, when the sick or invalid person enters hospital or some other institution, at the expense of the Colonial Invalidity Fund. If a disabled worker dies, a funeral grant of 3,000 francs is paid. Additional allowances amounting to a sum between 1,000 francs and 1,500 francs a month per beneficiary are paid to the widow and orphans of a deceased invalid or sick worker. The benefit paid to workers insured under the decree of 19 February 1957 varies with average wages; pensions are of the order of 1,800, 2,700 or 3,700 francs, according to what has been their level of skill as workmen; a widow is entitled to a lump-sum payment equal to the yearly benefit which was being paid to the worker at the time of his death; orphans may claim benefits up to a total of 200 per cent, of the benefit paid to the widow. In the copper mines of Northern Rhodesia a pension is granted to invalids having 15 years of service. Safeguarding of the Job during Sickness. Provision is sometimes made for safeguarding the worker's job while he is sick. For example, the French Labour Code for Overseas Territories stipulates that the contract is suspended when the worker is absent on account of sickness for a period of not more than six months; this period is extended until another worker takes his place. Maternity In most territories public health and social welfare services jointly cover the contingency of maternity for the population as a whole. As a state requiring medical care, maternity is covered by medical assistance measures in case of sickness. This protection is frequently supplemented by the existence of a corps of specialised public health personnel consisting of midwives and visiting nurses, of maternity clinics, or SOCIAL SECURITY 393 mother and child welfare centres and also, in many territories, by the work of charitable institutions. The regulations protecting pregnant women workers vary a great deal from territory to territory. Whereas entitlement to free medical care is generally admitted, it is only in a limited number of territories that the law stipulates that a pregnant woman may absent herself for a certain period from work without giving notice. In all territories under French administration this period is 14 consecutive weeks, six of them following confinement, whereas it is only 12 weeks in Somalia and eight weeks, four of them following confinement, in Angola, Mozambique, Portuguese Guinea, Sao Tomé and Principe. In the Union of South Africa a pregnant woman may not be employed in a factory, shop or office for a period of 12 weeks, of which eight weeks must be after confinement. The law generally provides that, during this suspension of the contract of employment, the employer may not discharge the worker. In Somalia a statutory provision extends this prohibition until one year after the child's birth, except in cases of misconduct on the worker's part or if the undertaking goes out of business or if the contract expires during this period. Maternity leave may be extended in the case of duly certified illness arising out of pregnancy or confinement; this extension is limited to three weeks in territories under French administration. When a cash benefit is payable, it generally amounts to half the wage. This is so in all territories under French administration and in Somalia. In the territories under French administration, where the worker is also entitled to benefits in kind, the cash equivalent is paid throughout the period of absence (a maximum of 17 weeks). In Somalia an allowance is paid during absence only if the worker has completed six months of employment before the period of absence begins; the same applies in Nigeria, where the cash benefit is equal to a quarter of the wage. In Mozambique the maternity allowance, which is paid only to non-African workers, amounts to a month's wages. In the Union of South Africa a maternity allowance equal to the wage of the worker, but not exceeding 25 shillings a week in the case of factory workers and 20 shillings a week in the case of workers in commerce and offices, is paid, but the allowance, which is for 12 weeks, is only paid if the worker has completed 30 weeks of continuous work, or 130 days during the previous 12 months in the case of seasonal work. Since 1954, the Unemployment Insurance Act makes provision for the payment of maternity benefits for insured persons whose contract of employment has expired. Free medical care and cash benefits are generally provided at the employer's expense. A decree dated 20 May 1955, amending the 1952 French Labour Code for Overseas Territories, provided that the obligation to grant free maternity care could be discharged by medical services set up jointly by a number of undertakings instead of separate services set up by individual employers. It also provided that maternity allowances equivalent to half the normal wage should be paid out of the Family Allowances Fund provided for in article 237 of the code. A special account for this purpose was to be set up within the Fund and financed by employers' contributions. Provision is made for nursing breaks not exceeding one hour per working day for a period of 15 months from the child's birth in all territories under French administration and for a period of one year in Somalia. The mother may, during this period, stop work for this purpose without warning and without loss of wages. In most territories the legislation includes a list of the types of employment which 394 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY are prohibited to pregnant women. Payment of maternity grants on the birth of a child seem to be rare, except in the territories under French administration where, under the family allowance scheme, a maternity allowance and a household allowance are paid on the birth of each of the first three children of a first marriage. Old Age The coverage afforded for the contingency of old age takes many forms in the various African territories. Assistance to Indigent Aged Persons. Assistance to indigent aged persons is generally part of social welfare work in the various territories. It may take the form of relief payments or it may consist in the establishing of rest homes or institutions. As a rule, schemes financed exclusively by the government and consisting of regular pension grants, subject only to personal resources and the obligation of residence, are the exception. This type of scheme is to be found in Mauritius and in the Union of South Africa. In Northern Rhodesia Europeans 60 years of age or more, who have completed 15 years' residence during the 20 years preceding the date of submission of the claim, or five years' residence if they are domiciled in the territory, are entitled to an old-age pension amounting to not more than £150 a year if their annual income is less than £60. The pension rate is proportionately reduced for an income of £60 to £300 a year. Beneficiaries are also entitled to free medical care, dental care, hospitalisation, the supply of glasses and travelling expenses within reasonable limits. In the Union of South Africa old-age pensions1 are provided for the whole population, subject to certain conditions as regards age, residence and means. Men must be not less than 65 years of age and women not less than 60, domiciled in the Union and having resided there during 15 of the last 20 years in the case of a national or British subject and during 25 of the last 30 years in the case of an alien. The amount of the pension varies according to the race of the recipient. In 1955 the maximum annual pensions were £114 for a White, £49 10s. for Coloureds, £43 10s. for Indians and £12 15s. to £18 15s. for Africans, depending on whether they lived in a rural or urban area. At the same date, means including the pension were required to be not more than £162 for a white person, £81 for Coloureds, £66 for Indians and £12 to £24 for Africans according to their place of residence. Table XIX shows the total number of recipients of old-age pensions and the amount of payments made in 1954. TABLE XIX. Race Whites Coloureds Indians Natives UNION OF SOUTH AFRICA: OLD-AGE PENSIONERS AND TOTAL PENSIONS PAID IN 1954 Number of pensions 80,114 40,892 6,165 214,224 Amount of sums paid 7,774,000 1,504,000 214,000 2,493,000 1 Old Age Pensions Act (No. 22 of 1928), amended by No. 34 of 1931, No. 34 of 1937, No. 33 of 1943, No. 43 of 1944, No. 43 of 1946, No. 47 of 1951 and No. 52 of 1954. SOCIAL SECURITY 395 Non-Contributory Old-Age Pension Schemes for Workers. There are schemes under which the beneficiaries do not have to pay contributions and under which retirement pensions are paid as a right arising out of contract obligations. Such a system has been in force since 1954 for African workers employed in the copper mines of Northern Rhodesia, who are entitled, at the age of 50 and after 20 years of employment, to a pension of £48 a year (the average earnings of an African worker in Northern Rhodesia amount to £60 a year). This pension may be increased to a maximum of £72 a year for more than 20 years of employment; similarly, bonuses are granted in certain circumstances after shorter periods of employment. In Tanganyika a sisal firm launched in 1952 a pension scheme under which a lump sum is granted to old workers at the time when the ground is being prepared before the planting season; a council of elders makes recommendations to the employer as to which workers should receive such a pension. Contributory Pension Schemes. In most African territories civil servants and sometimes manual workers in the public service receive a retirement pension. In the private sector there are schemes applying to particular industries or groups of industries and a few more comprehensive schemes which fit into the general social security system. In the Belgian Congo and Ruandi-Urundi a decree issued in 1945 set up a scheme under which insured persons receive benefits proportionate to their contributions. The scheme is financed jointly by employers and the insured. The decree applies only to workers of either sex who are not natives of the Belgian Congo or of the neighbouring territories and who are employed in the Belgian Congo or Ruanda-Urundi. The Governor-General has the power to bring within the scheme Africans whose pay is equal to at least half the lowest salary paid to a European civil servant. The qualifying age for benefit varies according to the length of service; for men it is 55 years after 20 years' service or 60 years after ten years' service. For women employees the qualifying age is between 45 and 55. The pension granted to the widow of an insured person amounts to between 35 and 50 per cent, of the insured person's pension, according to the age at which he died. A decree establishing a pension scheme for workers in the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi was issued on 6 June 1956 and came into force on 1 January 1957.1 This is the first statutory retirement pension scheme for African workers in private industry in Africa. The decree applies in theory to all workers of 16 years of age or over who are bound by a contract of employment (or a contract of service on waterways); workers who cannot be expected to have a normal career as wage earners, that is to say temporary workers and day labourers, are excluded, as well as " unstabilised " workers. Three types of persons are entitled to benefit : workers who have become members of the scheme, i.e. who have performed services after 1 January 1957; persons who retired permanently from employment before 1 January 1957; and widows and orphans of workers in these two categories. Workers insured under the scheme 1 See Association des intérêts coloniaux belges : Bulletin bimensuel (Brussels), 15 May 1956, and the report issued by the Colonial Council after considering the draft decree at its sitting of 27 April 1956 (Bulletin officiel du Congo belge. Part I, 49th Year, No. Wbis, 10 June 1956, op. cit., pp. 846-885). See also Industry and Labour, Vol. XVI, No. 8, 15 Oct. 1956, p. 349. 396 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY will be entitled to a retirement pension in respect of services performed after 1 January 1957, together with an allowance, payable in addition to the pension, in respect of services performed before 1 January 1957. In view of the population situation in the territory at the present time, however, the pensionable age has been provisionally fixed at 55 years; the pension earned in respect of each year of service will not be liable to reduction on the ground that it is payable earlier than would normally be the case. In addition, the pension payable is, for the time being, the same whether the worker is married or not. A supplementary allowance is payable if the person has worked for at least 20 years (including leave) in the Belgian Congo or RuandaUrundi, worked for at least six months during 1956 and belonged to the scheme for three consecutive months before 1 January 1959 or, failing that, been a member of the scheme for three years. A worker who permanently retired from employment before 1 January 1957 is entitled to an allowance provided that: he is not a party to a contract of service and is not receiving a wage or salary from the colony; he is not liable to taxation on earned income; he is residing in the Belgian Congo or Ruanda-Urundi; he has completed 20 years of service (including leave) in the Belgian Congo or Ruanda-Urundi before 1 January 1957; and he has reached the age of 55. The allowance varies between 60 and 120 francs a year for each year of service, the rate depending on the worker's occupational qualifications. In the event of the death of a member of the scheme, his wife, provided that she was his only wife and not divorced or separated from him, is entitled to a lump sum of three times his monthly wage as assessed for the purpose of contributions to the scheme or 1,200 francs, whichever is the greater. In the event of the death of a member drawing a retirement pension or allowance, his wife is entitled, under the same conditions, to a lump sum equal to the total amount which the deceased was entitled to draw in pensions and allowances during a period of one year. When an allowance is payable to a widow and there are children under 16 years of age covered by the statutory provisions concerning family allowances, a lump-sum payment is made in respect of them. The allowance payable for one child is 10 per cent, of the widow's allowance; for two children, 25 per cent.; for three, 50 per cent.; for four, 75 per cent, and for five or more children, 100 per cent. In the event of the death of an insured worker (or pensioner) whose spouse is already dead, each child is entitled to a lump sum equal to 40 per cent, of a widow's allowance. Half the contributions are payable by the employer and half by the worker. The worker's contribution is deducted from his wage. The total contributions are paid every three months to the insured by the employer. Orders dated 25 July 1956 have provided that the daily wage on which contributions are to be based should itself be limited to 200 francs and have fixed the amount of the worker's monthly contribution. This varies according to wages; for instance, the monthly contribution is 19 francs for a daily wage of less than 7 francs and 330 francs if the daily wage is 200 francs or more. It is also provided that the territory should contribute about 1,500 million francs to the financing of the scheme, which is run jointly by the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi Workers' Pension Fund and by the Colonial Employees' Pensions and Family Allowances Fund, which have been merged into one administrative body. In the territories under French administration all public servants, whether or not on the established staff, qualify for retirement pensions, as do a large number of Europeans in private undertakings whose employers are affiliated to the Metropolitan Pension Fund for Expatriate Metropolitan Workers. In these territories SOCIAL SECURITY 397 the voluntary payment, at the employers' discretion, of a retirement pension to former workers is becoming an increasingly common practice in a large number of private firms. A big step forward was made in French West Africa in 1958 in pursuance of two federal collective agreements for the building trades and commerce, signed in 19561, which required the employers "to prepare and submit for approval by the signatory employers' and workers' organisations a pension scheme for workers based on joint contributions ". An agreement was signed on 27 March 1958 by the federal employers' and workers' organisations setting up the French West African Provident and Retirement Institution with effect from 1 January 1958. This constitutes a compulsory pension scheme for all workers in private employment. The Institution, which is run by a joint board, provides a retirement pension for wage earners, a pension for widows or orphans in the event of the death of a wage earner or pensioner and an allowance for aged workers. The pensionable age is 55 and the full pension is payable after 30 years' service. The annual rate of pension may be as high as 40 per cent, of the individual's earnings during the last year of his employment; this figure is increased by 10 per cent, for each dependent child. Widows of deceased wage earners or pensioners are entitled, if they are 50 years of age or over or have two children or are disabled, to 50 per cent, of their husband's pension. Initially the rate of contribution has been fixed at 3 per cent, of the gross earnings up to a maximum of 25,000 C.F.A. francs. The employer pays 60 per cent, of the total contribution, i.e. 1.8 per cent, of the gross wage, while the worker's share is equal to 40 per cent, of the total contribution, i.e. 1.2 per cent, of the gross wage. In 1956 the Overseas Provident Association Mutual Benefit Society established a pension scheme in favour of non-established civil servants in French Equatorial Africa, the Cameroons and Madagascar, financed by contributions from the workers and the administration. In the same way an old-age pension scheme on a mutual benefit basis was established in Madagascar for workers in private enterprise which may apply to any category of worker except those who already have a special retirement pension scheme. This was set up in 1957 and came into force on 1 January 1958.2 For the purpose of the scheme a local friendly society was set up (la Mutuelle interprofessionnelle de retraite des travailleurs de Madagascar). The beneficiaries of this society are salaried employees who do not belong to any local or metropolitan old-age pension scheme, employers of undertakings not affiliated to any metropolitan scheme and self-employed persons. The scheme is financed by compulsory minimum premiums fixed by the board of the friendly society. For 1958 the premium was fixed at 2 per cent, of salaries, half of which is paid by the worker. The principal object of the scheme is to pay an old-age pension equal to 30 per cent, of the average salary after 30 years of insured work, that is 1 per cent, per year of service, at the age of 60 years (or 55 years in the case of incapacity). Transitional arrangements make provision for the payment of a token pension to workers who can show over 15 years' service in an undertaking or occupation belonging to the scheme. In Somalia a contributory pension scheme financed from employers' and insured persons' contributions is run by the Somalia Social Security Fund. Pensions are 1 " Convention collective du bâtiment et des travaux publics " dated 6 July 1956 and the " convention collective du commerce " dated 16 Nov. 1956. 2 See Chroniques d'outre-mer (Paris), No. 40, Dec. 1957, pp. 14-16 and the Nouvelle revue française d'outre-mer (Paris), No. 12, Dec. 1957, pp. 587-592. 398 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY granted to Italian workers and in the event of their death, to their widows or orphans under the same terms as those of Italian legislation. In Mozambique and Angola, apart from retirement pension schemes for public servants, there are mutual benefit societies which afford relief to European and assimilated settlers of small means. In Mauritius provident schemes managed by the Government and financed by compulsory contributions from employers and workers have been established; an ordinance, issued in 1945, set up a scheme for workers in the sugar industry. The scheme is financed by equal employers' and workers' contributions which amount to 10 per cent, of wages for all workers earning more than £45 a year; the pension is equal to 8.5 per cent, of the sum to the credit of the worker when he reaches the age of 60. In most of the territories under British administration the large private firms have voluntary or contributory pension or provident fund schemes, mainly for their European workers. In Sierra Leone the Government and the larger firms have pension or bonus schemes for their former employees. The same applies in Kenya, where, in 1953, about 17,000 African workers were members of provident funds (13,000 workers in public employment and 4,000 in private employment). At that time the total number of workers entitled to pensions was estimated at 14,000, of whom 7,000 were Africans and the other 7,000 Europeans or Asians. In Kenya the private provident funds are financed by equal employers' and workers' contributions amounting together to between 5 and 8 per cent, of wages. In Nigeria and Tanganyika public servants, including certain manual workers, are covered by rules drawn up by the government which give legal recognition to existing practice; on the recommendation of the government grants are paid annually to officials with 20 years of service if they are suffering from some permanent physical disability or if they have reached the age of 55. Provision is made for assisting the dependants of a deceased employee. As regards private employment, legislation in force in Nigeria allows the employer to make deductions from wages, subject to the workers' agreement and to the labour inspector's approval, for the purpose of building up pension or provident funds. There were 24 private provident funds in Tanganyika in 1953. In the Union of South Africa a pension scheme covering some 100,000 workers in the South Transvaal came into force on 1 February 1957. This scheme, established by the Transvaal Chamber of Industry, applies to all employees without distinction as to race and guarantees the payment of pensions calculated in accordance with the number of years of service and the remuneration of the employee. In Kenya, since an increasingly large section of the labour force (including workers' families) is settling down in centres of employment in spite of the migrant labour system, investigations have been undertaken to ascertain how a general pension scheme might be set up for old or disabled workers. A Social Security Committee was appointed early in 1954 to examine under what conditions a provident fund or old-age pension scheme could be introduced for workers of all races. The Committee was instructed to ascertain— (a) whether an old-age insurance scheme for employed persons could be set up immediately or in the near future; (b) to what races and to what occupations such a scheme should apply; (c) the age at which people should become entitled to an old-age pension; SOCIAL SECURITY 399 (d) how the scheme should operate; (e) what proportion of the scheme's cost should be borne by employers, what proportion by workers; and (f) to what extent a voluntary provident fund would be acceptable. At the beginning of 1958 the Committee reported proposing the setting up of an official compulsory old-age insurance system providing for the payment of pensions to employed persons of 60 years of age or over irrespective of race. Higher pensions were proposed for persons over 65 years of age. The proposals involve equal contributions from employers and workers, the Government being responsible for all administrative expenses. The payment of pensions of half the standard rate is envisaged after five years of contributions, pensions at the standard rate after ten years and supplementary pensions after 20 years. The amount of contributions will vary, according to earnings, between 4 shillings and 21 shillings a month. Wives, widows and other dependants are excluded. Voluntary contributions are provided for in the case of persons aged over 55 years who cannot make ten years' contributions before retiring. All workers over 18 years of age are to become contributors. The scheme is to be put into operation progressively, the objective being to include in the first few years about one-third of all workers in Kenya. Agricultural workers are to participate in the system, but with lower contributions and pensions. Pending the institution of this system it has been suggested that in urban areas, where the problem is most pressing, old people's homes should immediately be set up in the suburbs for old people who have no relatives or whose families have no room for them. The possibility has also been considered of building villages or homes for the aged in rural areas, these homes preferably to be linked to African welfare centres. Death of the Breadwinner and Funeral Expenses Except for certain specified categories of workers, including public servants and European workers in a few territories, provision is very seldom made for the death of the breadwinner if not caused by his work. The main cases in which, at the breadwinner's death, a funeral grant is made or benefits in the form of a pension or lump sum are payable to the widow and orphans have been dealt with in previous sections. These cases relate to death arising out of and in the course of employment through accident or disease and sometimes to cases where the deceased was already an invalid, or sick or an old-age pensioner. Child Maintenance The grant of family allowances in African territories is generally confined to public servants, especially non-Africans. In the territories under French administration all discrimination between French and African public servants, whatever the latter's personal status, was abolished some years ago ; all public employees are entitled to family allowances, irrespective of the number of wives and of legitimate children or acknowledged natural children. Under the legislation the number of adopted children eligible for family benefits is limited to two. In the private sector only a few territories make provision for family allowances. In practice, however, and in the absence of legislation, undertakings in a growing number of territories are tending more and more frequently to grant children's 400 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY allowances to their staff. It should be noted that in many territories special assistance is granted to the children of the poor. This is the case for example in the Union of South Africa, where an Act of 19371 dealing with social assistance provides for grants for the upkeep of children in cases where the breadwinner is incapable of providing for their needs and for the upkeep of orphans. Since 1947 family allowances have been paid to needy families in respect of the third child and subsequent children. Scope of Legislation. In the Belgian Congo and in Ruanda-Urundi, there are two distinct schemes, one for African workers and one for non-African workers.2 In Mozambique allowances are only paid to certain categories of European or assimilated workers. In the territories under French administration3 the provisions of the 1952 Overseas Labour Code (article 237) came into force in 1956 4; all wage earners can now claim family allowances except those with permanent posts in the public administration, to whom a special allowance scheme applies. Liability to Contribute and Eligibility for Allowances. In the Belgian Congo and in Ruanda-Urundi employers of one or more persons contributing to the old-age insurance scheme are liable to contribute in respect of child maintenance. This does not apply to the territorial administration itself, since its staff is covered by a special scheme. Under the scheme, which applies to nonAfricans 6, all employees are eligible for allowances during the time when they are compulsorily covered by statutory pensions schemes, as well as former employees aged 57 or more with at least 16 years of employment behind them and victims of an industrial accident or an occupational disease, when their degree of invalidity is 66 per cent, or more. Under the scheme for African workers, allowances are granted during the period of employment to African workers engaged under a contract of employment, articles of apprenticeship or articles of employment for inland navigation, including trainees, even if not paid. Domestic servants are excluded from the scheme unless their employer has to insure other workers. In Mozambique the only categories entitled to family allowances are European and assimilated persons who form the supervisory staff in agricultural undertakings, in stevedoring firms and in building and public works, in addition to salaried employees in commerce, cinemas and the printing trades. In the territories under French administration any employer who has wage earners in his employment in the territory itself automatically comes under the scheme. In order to be entitled to the allowances a worker must have worked in the territory for a certain period which varies between three and six consecutive months, according to the territory; he can have been employed by one or several 1 Children's Act, No. 31 of 1937, as amended. "According to a Colonial Council report dated 6 July 1956, on the decree of 19 September 1956 amending the decree of 26 May 1951 on family allowances for African workers, it seems that the family allowance scheme for Africans has not yet been put into force in Ruanda-Urundi. 3 See Revue juridique et politique de l'Union française (Paris), No. 1, Jan.-Mar. 1957, pp. 47-80. 4 Since 1 January 1956 in French West Africa; since 1 April 1956 in Togo and Madagascar; since 1 July 1956 in French Equatorial Africa and in the Cameroons; since 1 October 1956 in the Comoro Islands. 6 Decree dated 8 December 1954 to reorganise the family allowance scheme for non-African employees. SOCIAL SECURITY 401 employers, whatever their legal status, whether incorporated or an individual or whether public or private; and he must have in his charge one or more children residing in the same territory or, under certain conditions, in another territory or country administered by the Ministry for Overseas France. Children covered. In the Belgian Congo and in Ruanda-Urundi, the scheme for non-African workers covers legitimate children, acknowledged natural children, adopted children, orphans or abandoned children who have been taken into a family's care, and dependent grandchildren who are not eligible for family allowances on any other score. The allowances are payable up to the age of 18, or 21 if the child is still a student or if his physical or mental condition makes him in fact a dependant. As regards Africans, allowances are payable in respect of the legitimate issue of a monogamous marriage—whether civil, tribal or religious— recognised by law. They are also payable for a ward under ordinary or tribal law and for an adopted or an acknowledged child. Allowances are granted not only for children of the marriage but also for the children of either spouse, including the issue of a dissolved polygamous marriage who have been accepted as members of the monogamous family founded by either spouse. In population centres outside tribal areas an allowance is also payable to the wife in a monogamous marriage—not being divorced or separated—who looks after a child on whose behalf benefit is payable; elsewhere an allowance is payable to a woman in the same situation provided she looks after at least three such children. Women and children who already receive rations in connection with work done for the employer are not eligible for allowances. As in the scheme for Europeans, allowances are payable by the employer until the child reaches the age of 16, or 21 if he is a student. One provision, which is no doubt due to the unreliability of census figures and to a desire to guard against the consequences of underestimating the number of children, gives provincial governors the power to prescribe, for any region or employer, an average number of wives and children (in proportion to the number of workers) who are eligible for allowances. In the territories under French administration a worker is entitled to a family allowance for all children who are truly dependent, whether the children are the issue of the worker's marriage (provided that this marriage has been registered) or whether they have been adopted according to the provisions of the Civil Code. The same applies to the children of the worker's wife by a previous marriage when there has been a registered death or a legal divorce. In Togoland, however, family allowances are only paid in respect of the issue of a monogamous marriage, or up to six children by various marriages, whatever the beneficiary's status, provided that these marriages have been registered. Nature and Amount of Benefit; Methods of Payment; Administration. In the Belgian Congo and in Ruanda-Urundi, benefits under the scheme for Europeans are paid in cash. In 1954, monthly amounts, which were reduced by half in the case of the children of a former employee, were as follows : first child : 750 francs; second child: 900 francs; third child: 1,150 francs; fourth child: 1,300 francs; fifth and succeeding children: 1,400 francs. As a rule family allowances are paid directly to the beneficiaries by the Colonial Employees' Pension and Family Allowances Fund, but the latter may authorise employers to pay the allowances. Payment is normally made at the end of each 402 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY quarter. As regards Africans, the Belgian administration took the view that family allowances could more profitably be paid in the form of " good and adequate food " and the benefits are, as a rule, paid in kind, payment in cash being authorised in exceptional cases by the provincial governor. The wife receives a ration equal to half that of the worker and each eligible child quarter rations. These benefits may be reduced by half when the workers live near the place of work or in tribal areas, or when the workers have housing and allotments at their place of work. Allowances are paid twice a week if in kind and once a week if in cash, generally to the worker himself, though they can be paid to his wife. The scheme is run by a special fund, financed by employers' contributions; three equalisation funds have been set up during the last few years. These come into the picture after the employer has paid his contribution; they make adjustments based on returns sent in by the undertakings. After recent investigations it was decided to give up the idea of making this equalisation scheme compulsory, which had been mooted so as to equate differences in production costs caused through the employment of an unfavourable ratio of fathers of large families to bachelors—a situation which threatened to give rise to discrimination in employment against workers with families. A decree dated 19 September 1956 merely provides that the Governor-General may permit the creation of equalisation funds, provided that they comprise at least five employers, who together must employ at least 5,000 workers, that caution money is deposited, that the operations of the funds are supervised, and, finally, that the funds are open to membership by any employer on a voluntary basis. In Mozambique employees in commerce and cinemas, as well as printers, receive a flat-rate monthly allowance of 250 escudos if they are married or have children under 18 years, however much the worker may earn and however many children he may have, provided the spouse is not gainfully employed and that any income the worker may have in addition to his wage or salary does not exceed 200 escudos a month. Supervisory staff in agricultural undertakings, stevedoring firms, public works and the building trade are entitled to a monthly allowance in proportion to their wages; the allowance is 275 escudos per child for workers earning less than 400 escudos a month and 375 escudos per child for workers earning more than 2,000 escudos a month. In the territories under French administration the scheme provides for the following types of benefit: (a) In French West and Equatorial Africa, in Togoland and in the Cameroons a household allowance is paid to every member of the scheme on the birth of each of the first three children by the first marriage, or by a later marriage if the death of the previous spouse was duly notified. (b) In all territories, except the Comoro Islands, pregnancy grants are paid to every woman wage earner or male wage earner's wife from the date of notification of her pregnancy and in respect of the nine months preceding her confinement; to qualify, a woman is required to undergo a medical examination. (c) Except in French Equatorial Africa and in the Comoro Islands, every woman wage earner or male wage earner's wife receives a maternity grant payable in three instalments—half at the time of her confinement, a quarter when the child is six months old, and a quarter on the child's first birthday; in Madagascar only one payment is made. SOCIAL SECURITY 403 (d) In all territories family allowances are paid in respect of each dependent child over 1 and under 14 years of age. The upper limit is raised to 18 if the child is serving an apprenticeship and to 21 if he is continuing his studies or is unable to take up gainful employment by reason of infirmity or incurable disease. The child is also required to attend a school or an educational or vocational training institution unless the competent authority certifies that he is unable to do so. The fact that the child is awarded a scholarship or apprentice-training bursary does not disqualify him from benefiting under the scheme unless the scholarship or bursary covers his full maintenance, or unless his pay as an apprentice is equal to 50 per cent, or more of the guaranteed minimum wage. (e) Throughout the period immediately preceding and following their confinement (14 weeks in all) women wage earners receive a daily allowance equal to onehalf of their effective wage at the time their contract of employment was suspended. (f) In addition to these cash allowances, there are certain benefits in kind that may be granted to the worker's family; these are awarded for the child's wellbeing exclusively, and are paid for out of the money allocated by the equalisation funds for health activities and community and family welfare work. These moneys are also used to organise, run and maintain each fund's socio-medical and welfare services and may be drawn upon to improve the environmental conditions of the working population. Each year the board of each fund draws up a health, community and family welfare programme which, after being discussed by the territorial assembly, is submitted for approval to the chief officer of the territory and the Minister concerned. The implementation of this programme is supervised by the Inspectorate of Labour and Social Legislation. Certain conditions have to be fulfilled before the grants are paid. The medical regulations issued to protect the health of women and children, for example, have to be complied with. Similarly, no maternity or family allowance—both of which must be used for the child's benefit—is payable unless the child's particulars have been recorded at the registry office, its birth certified by a medical practitioner and the baby itself undergoes periodical examinations. The grant of family allowances is also subject to certain conditions: the beneficiary must be employed as a wage earner for periods which vary from territory to territory (18 days or 120 hours a month in some territories, 22 days or 150 hours a month in others), and the child, on reaching school age, must attend classes regularly; he must also be taken for periodical medical examinations until he is old enough to be taken over by the school medical service. Pregnancy and maternity grants are payable to the mothers. In the case of family allowances, however, exceptions to this rule may be made and the benefit paid to any other person who is effectively responsible for the child. The scheme is managed by a territorial compensation fund, one-third of whose board consists of delegates from the territorial assembly, one-third of workers' and one-third of employers' representatives. Administration and benefit costs are financed by employer contributions to which may be added annual grants from the local or general budget. The latter may also make payments to cover the initial expenses of the fund and its socio-medical services. The benefit rates are fixed by order of the Governor of the territory after consultation with the labour advisory board and the territorial assembly. 404 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Table XX shows the various benefit rates (in C.F.A. francs) in each territory, as at 1 April 1957. TABLE XX. MATERNITY AND FAMILY ALLOWANCES PAYABLE IN FRENCH TERRITORIES ON 1 APRIL 1957 (In C.F.A. francs) Pregnancy grant Household allowance Maternity allowance Family allowances per month and per child j Territories 1 French Equatorial Africa For each of the first three children of the first marriage ; between 1,050 and 2,000 for each child Between 1,800 and 3,150 French West Africa For each of the first three children : between 2,700 and 4,800 Between 2,340 and 3,600 Between 3,120 and 4,800 Between 260 and 400 according to territory Togo For each of the first three children : 4,200 3,150 4,200 350 Cameroons For each of the first marriage's first three children: 3,120 2,340 3,120 260 Madagascar Nil 2,70o1 3,60o1 3001 Comoro Islands Nil Nil Nil 100 i Í Nil Between 200 and 400 according to tenitory Since 1 October 1957. Unemployment While considerable underemployment exists throughout the area, unemployment, except in a few towns in the form known in highly industrialised countries, exists only to a limited extent; there are usually more offers of employment than applications for jobs. This is particularly true in plantations and in agriculture, where low wages have encouraged a prodigal use of labour. There are generally legislative provisions dealing with the placing of migrant workers and their repatriation at the end of the contract which in present circumstances help to bring supply and demand into balance. This situation, caused also by the demands of an expanding economy, is now tending to change as territories become less exclusively agricultural in character and as a permanent and stable working class is formed. Recently difficulties in finding employment have been encountered in a number of terriories for certain categories of workers—as, for example, for some European workers in Northern Rhodesia, for certain types of skilled workers in Tanganyika, for office workers, checkers and store clerks in Nigeria. There are a few schemes to cover unemployment. In the Belgian Congo an unemployment fund was set up as a provisional measure during the war to protect Belgian citizens only. It is still in existence, but in practice there are very few calls on it; there are few unemployed Europeans since, in most cases, repatriation at SOCIAL SECURITY 405 the employer's expense is compulsory when an employee's contract is cancelled or not renewed. In Somalia, where unemployed persons are also very few, Italian workers are insured against unemployment to the same extent as they would be in Italy. In the Union of South Africa there is an Unemployment Insurance Fund1, which, however, does not cover persons going to the Union in order to carry out the terms of a contract of employment which contains repatriation provisions, Natives employed in gold or coal mines for whom the employer provides both food and housing. Natives employed wholly or mainly in a rural area, except those working in factories, mines or wor-kyards, persons working in agriculture except for those working exclusively in forestry, permanent civil servants, domestic servants, temporary workers and those employed less than one day per week, persons who earn more than £1,250 a year (£750 till 1957) and Africans who earn less than £273 a year (£182 until 1957). The Unemployment Insurance Fund is financed by government, employers' and workers' contributions. Public Health It is not intended here to deal with achievements in such fields as the prevention of infectious and social diseases, social medicine, urban and rural hygiene, the organisation of welfare services and particularly women's and children's welfare. Nevertheless, in many countries these aspects of public health have become a separate branch of certain social security schemes because of the growing importance of preventive action to counter disease and its consequences. It has, therefore, seemed desirable to give a brief and very general summary, which does not claim to be exhaustive, of the work done in African territories to maintain the health of the population as a whole and, more particularly, the health of workers. It is commonly recognised that health conditions in underdeveloped countries depend on general living standards, which are mostly very low as far as the indigenous peoples are concerned. There can be no doubt that lack of hygiene and the incidence of certain diseases which are endemic in tropical and equatorial regions tend to reduce the physical resistance of people whose diet, lacking in certain essential foods, is often inadequate and inappropriate. Preventive medicine has an increasingly important part to play in the work of public health services; it is governed by the fundamental need to restore and maintain health, to improve poor housing, diet and hygiene and to counteract the high rate of infant mortality, which is due in the main to bad sanitary conditions, to a total ignorance of hygiene and to epidemic, endemic and social diseases. In most territories a considerable amount of such curative and preventive work is being done. On the average 15 to 20 per cent, of local annual budgets is absorbed by medical services, which comprise free medical assistance, including vaccination, consultations, medical care, the distribution of medicines, and hospitalisation for all Africans. There are certain circumstances which make the organisation and development of health services for Africans difficult ; the main difficulties are the limited 1 Act No. 53, dated 21 June 1946, to provide for the establishment of an Unemployment Insurance Fund and for the payment of benefits to certain unemployed persons {I.L.O. Legislative Series, 1946—S.A. 1), amended by Act No. 36 dated 24 June 1949 (ibid., 1949—S.A. 1), Act No. 48 dated 24 June 1952 (ibid., 1952—S.A. 1), and by Act No. 9, dated 5 March 1957. 406 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY number of physicians, the shortage of trained African medical staff, the fact that the African communities are widely scattered, poor communications and, at times, a certain hostility on the part of the population which is due to traditional, empirical medical practices based on religious beliefs. In the last few years a valuable addition to the static medical facilities available has been provided by the mass-treatment method, under which medical survey and treatment teams have succeeded in reaching the rural population, and health education has made substantial strides as a result of a series of mobile health and preventive medicine projects. In countries where the population is chiefly rural, the infant mortality rate is being steadily and considerably reduced by modern health measures; the birth rate is, as a rule, unchanged. The fall in the death rate has coincided with a sharp increase in the cost of health services and medical facilities. Although the number of doctors and nurses is still low in relation to the population as a whole, there has been, in most territories, a steady increase in medical and public health staff as well as in the number of hospitals, dispensaries, maternity clinics and special medical centres. At present, throughout the African territories, public health work is remarkable for three main features. The first is action against epidemic diseases such as yellow fever, smallpox and plague. Spectacular results have been achieved in this field; for example, there has been no case of smallpox in Madagascar since 1918, although this disease formerly raged in the form of epidemics which decimated the population; yellow fever and the plague have practically disappeared from West Africa in the last ten years or so. The second feature is the campaign against the main endemic diseases such as sleeping sickness, malaria and leprosy. This work has been done chiefly by mobile health and preventive medical teams with special equipment and transport. In many territories large-scale mass prophylactic campaigns have been carried out during the last few years and have radically changed the public health situation; for example, in Madagascar, where an increase of population was previously impossible owing to malaria, the excess of births over deaths in 1953 was 92,000 for a population of 4 million inhabitants. Action against social diseases such as tuberculosis, syphilis and mental disorders is the third feature of public health work. The prevention of tuberculosis is based simultaneously on the use of B.C.G. vaccination, the detection of cases by systematic X-ray examinations in population centres and by the treatment of contagious patients. Mobile teams treat many cases of yaws and syphilis. Increasing attention is being paid to the organisation of services for the rural population by means of mobile units or rural health centres doing curative work, preventive work and health education. For a long time workers' health has received special attention in all territories. There are statutory provisions on the technical aspects of safety, hygiene and welfare in undertakings. Health and safety committees have, for instance, been set up in the territories under Belgian and French administration; there are also medical examinations for workers before employment, or periodically during employment. Other measures which have been taken in most territories to protect the workers' health are especially designed for women and children and ensure that they are not made to do work which is beyond their strength, prohibit night work and impose a minimum age of employment; medical inspection at schools has also been introduced as well as the control of company stores, the opening of pilot shops (magasins-témoins) and community canteens and the setting up, within undertakings, of welfare services which help to improve the workers' diet and hygiene. SOCIAL SECURITY 407 Mutual Aid Although the activities of mutual or para-mutual organisations in many territories have been mentioned in relation to the risks covered, the information is so piecemeal that it is difficult to gauge the full importance of mutual aid and friendly society systems with respect to social protection. For this reason it would seem expedient, at the outset, to stress the fact that co-operative or friendly societies exist almost everywhere and that some of them have been operating for many years. These societies help in affording cover against social and occupational risks to certain categories of the populations which it is, as a rule, difficult to bring within the compass of a social security system, particularly self-employed workers, whether they be small craftsmen, husbandmen or tradesmen. From the point of view of social security it would seem that the first task of co-operative or mutual benefit societies in Africa should be to protect the population against disease and invalidity and to insure farmers against epidemics and natural catastrophes. While in most cases co-operative and mutual benefit societies are not very different from one another, it seems that co-operation has, for the time being, made much more progress than the mutual benefit societies. Only a few groups act together to ensure the social welfare of their members; the majority are either production or consumer co-operatives or saving and credit societies. This seems to correspond to the fact, which has been generally observed, that the earliest " get together " groups are always co-operative in character, since man's first preoccupation is to find food, clothes and lodging. There are, however, institutions which are first and foremost mutual benefit societies, especially in the Belgian Congo, Ruanda-Urundi, some of the territories under British administration such as Sierra Leone, Kenya and Nigeria and in several French territories, as for example in Madagascar, where there were, in 1957 about 30 societies, including the Mutuelle interprofessionnelle de retraites des travailleurs. It is, however, in the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi that mutual benefit societies have mainly flourished. On the initiative of the Union nationale de mutualité chrétienne de Belgique, an African Mutual Benefit Secretariat was founded in 1953 at Leopoldville; its aim is to propagate knowledge of the principles of mutual benefit, to study all questions connected with the organisation and work of mutual benefit societies, to promote the founding of such societies, to help in their development and to co-ordinate their work. Mutual benefit societies at present exist mainly to give financial help in case of sickness and hospitalisation and also in case of certain events which might be a heavy burden on low incomes, such as deaths, births or marriages. Recently there has been talk in the Belgian Congo of setting up mutual benefit societies to help members to buy, build or improve their houses. In a recent study of the work of these societies in the Belgian Congo1 Father Bruyns has put the question as to whether present conditions in Africa are favourable to the development of mutual benefit societies. He mentions that, in case of sickness, most of the Congo population receive free medical care and that, on other occasions, Africans still derive sufficient support from their traditional 1 Father BRUYNS, S. J. : " Expérience mutualiste au Congo belge ", in Revue du clergé, (Leopoldville) Mar. 1957. 408 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY social organisation, in spite of the fact that family ties are slackening. He points out that the expenses associated with the important events of life have risen considerably and cannot, therefore, be borne by the traditional system of mutual aid. He lists the obstacles which mutual benefit societies now have to face but concludes that these societies are most useful not only in giving security to their members but in developing the habit of thrift and a sense of social responsibility. CONCLUSIONS During its Fourth Session (Dakar, December 1955) the Committee of Experts on Social Policy in Non-Metropolitan Territories studied possible social security developments in the non-metropolitan territories and submitted a series of conclusions and suggestions.1 In this study on current law and practice, an account has been given of progress during the last two years as regards the coverage of the various contingencies. It may be helpful to conclude the study by showing the extent to which the principles laid down in 1955 by the Committee of Experts have led, in some territories, to the adoption of new laws or regulations. The main improvements during the last two years cover the following contingencies: workmen's compensation for accidents and occupational diseases, invalidity, old age and child maintenance. Workmen's Compensation. The Committee of Experts recommended, among other things, that discrimination on account of race or national origin in relation to workmen's compensation in general should be abolished, that it should be an aim of policy to eliminate the restrictions which exclude from the scope of existing legislation workers in certain occupations, in particular agricultural workers; that there should be progressive elimination of limitations due to the cause or type of the accident and to the nature of the undertaking. It was further recommended that there should be compensation schemes for occupational diseases based on the same general principles as compensation for industrial accidents, the compensation being not inferior to that granted for injury resulting from industrial accidents. The new legislation in the territories under French administration corresponds entirely to these recommendations. In Angola, in the Union of South Africa and in numerous territories under British administration, such as Sierra Leone, Gambia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanganyika, Northern Rhodesia and Swaziland, recent legislation has broadened the scope of the workmen's compensation systems which were in force in 1955; thus, in Northern Rhodesia, the compensation rate is now the same for Europeans and for Africans who earn £50 a month or more ; the income limit up to which workers are entitled to compensation has been raised in Kenya, in Tanganyika and in Uganda; since 1956, in the Union of South Africa, accidents which take place during transit to or from the worker's home to his place of work are treated as industrial accidents when transport is provided by the employer. There have been new provisions to improve compensation for occupational diseases in numerous territories under British administration, in Angola, and in the territories under Belgian and under French administration. 1 See Appendix T. SOCIAL SECURITY 409 Other conclusions of the Committee covered the medical treatment to be provided for the victims of industrial accidents or occupational diseases. In this field some progress has been made since 1955 in some of the territories under British administration, such as Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika; in Angola an Act providing that the employer must pay for medical apparatus the use of which has been made necessary as a result of an industrial accident was recently amended to cover all workers, whether Africans or non-Africans. In Kenya, Tanganyika and Uganda, medical treatment is now paid by the employer up to £200 instead of £100; in the same territories the cost of providing, repairing or renewing prosthetic and orthopaedic apparatus is paid by the employer up to £100 instead of £50 as before. As regards the Committee's conclusions covering compensation in the case of temporary incapacity, there have been improvements since 1955 in Somalia and in the Union of South Africa, where the benefit rate has been raised; in Kenya, Tanganyika and Uganda the waiting period has been reduced from five to three days (the period recommended by the Committee); in the same three territories the amount of compensation due to the victim for temporary incapacity has been raised and the compensation is to be paid as from the first day if the period of incapacity lasts three days or more. As regards compensation for permanent incapacity or death, it was recommended that it should be the aim of social policy to eliminate, as far as possible, the system of lump-sum payments and to provide, as a general rule, for the payment of benefits in periodical instalments, these periodical payments to be converted into a lump sum only when the degree of incapacity was slight or when the competent authorities were satisfied that a lump sum would be judiciously used. Since 1955 there has been marked progress in this field. The new legislation applying to the territories under French administration as a whole confirms the principle of a pension in the case of permanent incapacity or death. In Northern Rhodesia recent legislation provides that a lump-sum payment should replace a pension only when the degree of incapacity is below 10 per cent, instead of 35 per cent, as before; in Kenya, Tanganyika and Uganda the amounts of the lump sums paid for death or permanent incapacity have been considerably raised. In the Belgian Congo and in Ruanda-Urundi the benefit rate has also been raised as the result of a rise in the wage scales on which the pension is based. Among the other improvements made to compensation schemes since 1955 there are the improvements in Angola which provide that the employer must notify the curador or his representative within three days of any accident to an African worker. The new legislation in the territories under French administration provides for an investigation of any accident which causes a worker's death or seems likely to lead to death or permanent incapacity. In Northern Rhodesia the period during which one of the parties is entitled to submit a demand for compensation adjustment has been extended from five to ten days. In the territories under French administration the new legislation also provides that workmen's compensation, including the collection of premiums and the payment of benefits, should be administered by the family-allowance funds as a separate part of their duties; a general workmen's compensation fund has also been set up under public supervision to act as a guarantee fund. Each territorial assembly is, however, free to transfer the responsibility for workmen's compensation to approved private insurance companies; in this case employers must take out an insurance 410 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY policy covering all workers in their employment. These provisions are a considerable improvement on the existing systems in force in the territories under French administration; to a great extent they are in line with the Committee's recommendations concerning compulsory insurance, non-profit-making systems of insurance, a special guarantee fund to be administered by the public authorities and insurance schemes supervised by the public authorities. Invalidity. In the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi a contributory invalidity insurance system, similar to that which already existed in 1955 for European employees, has now been set up for African workers. Invalidity benefits are only paid provided the potential beneficiaries are not already receiving an old-age pension equal to or higher than the amount of the invalidity benefit or are not receiving workmen's compensation. This shows the marked progress made by social security in the territories under Belgian administration. It is the first time that an invalidity insurance system which is based on compulsory contributions from both employers and workers has been tried out by an African country for the benefit of African workers. Old Age. The Committee of Experts in its conclusions recommended that governments should consider the advisability of creating old-age insurance schemes for wage earners permanently employed, such schemes to be operated by way of government provident funds supported by contributions from employers and workers. The Committee also mentioned various transitional measures which might be adopted to facilitate the introduction of such schemes when existing conditions prevented their establishment otherwise than by stages. Since 1957 marked progress has been made in this connection in the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi, where a system of old-age pensions has been set up for the benefit of African workers; the scheme is financed by equal contributions from workers and employers and by government grants. It is administered by a Workers' Pension Fund, which has for the purpose been merged with the Colonial Pensions and Family Allowances Fund for Employees. Similarly the establishment in 1958 of the French West African Provident and Retirement Institution, which operates a compulsory retirement scheme for all workers in private employment, marks a considerable step forward. As the number of permanent wage earners cut off from their traditional or tribal life increases, the authorities in some territories are showing greater interest in the possibilities of introducing systems of contributory old-age pensions. Thus, in 1954, a Social Security Committee was appointed in Kenya to determine the conditions under which it might be desirable to set up an old-age insurance scheme for wage earners. The Committee's report was submitted for study to the government departments in 1956 and it seems likely that a decision will soon be taken by the appropriate authority. Child Maintenance. The Committee noted that everywhere there was a need further to develop forms of social assistance rendered to the family, but that the diversity of the existing economic and social structures and the differences in wages policies rendered SOCIAL SECURITY 411 it inappropriate to make concrete proposals applying to all territories in regard to the introduction of any formal system to provide family benefits for child maintenance. Great progress has been made as regards child maintenance and family social welfare in all the territories under French administration. In the course of the year 1956 the family allowances and grants system provided by the Labour Code for Overseas Territories was put into force. Under the present legislation all wage earners may claim various grants for pregnancy or maternity as well as family allowances. The legislation in question has already been described in another part of this report and need not be again studied in detail here, but it is worth recalling that the scheme is financed by employers' contiibutions, supplemented as necessary by annual government grants. It is administered by the territorial compensation fund, whose board is a tripartite body with employers' and workers' representatives as well as representatives of the local authorities. The new legislation on workmen's compensation provides that this too should be administered by the same territorial fund. As a result a multi-purpose insurance scheme supervised and guaranteed by the government and administered by boards including both workers' and employers' representatives will soon be operating for the first time in Africa. CHAPTER XII WORKERS' HOUSING THE HOUSING PROBLEM TODAY General Housing constitutes one of the most acute economic and social problems facing the governments of African countries at the present day.1 There is a widespread shortage of adequate housing which affects the whole population, including the self-employed as well as wage earners; it exists both in urban centres and in rural areas, and particularly affects the lower-income brackets. In Africa, as elsewhere, the housing problem is primarily a local one, and the extent and urgency of the need varies not only from one country to another but also from one region to another within the same country. The factors that account for this local character of the problem include climate, population growth and density, the customs of the inhabitants, the state of housing legislation and the extent to which it is applied, the structure of employment and the degree of industrial and commercial development of the economy. Since all these factors vary from one territory to another, housing methods which are successful in one African country are not necessarily applicable in others. Despite all these variations, however, it is usually possible in Africa to distinguish three broad types of areas in which the position is similar, irrespective of geographical location. These types are the following: rural areas where the inhabitants are still living in what is essentially a subsistence economy; places of employment in rural areas that are undergoing a process of change as a result of the establishment of agricultural undertakings producing cash crops or the arrival of mining or manufacturing industries; and urban centres. In areas of the first type, where employment in the Western sense is unknown, the inhabitants put up their own family dwellings with local materials assembled by primitive methods. Dwellings built in this way are not only inadequate but also in many cases unhealthy ; there are often no internal partitions, windows or sanitary conveniences. Although the kind of building and the method of construction varies greatly from one part of the continent to another, particularly according to the kind 1 Under the integrated programme of international action in the field of housing and town and country planning approved in 1949 by the United Nations Economic and Social Council and the Governing Body of the International Labour Office, and under the programme of concerted practical action in the social field of the United Nations and the specialised agencies approved in 1953 by the Economic and Social Council and the Governing Body of the International Labour Office, leadership in the field of housing and town and country planning is assigned to the United Nations. In addition to the functions attributed in the field of housing to the Economic and Social Council and the regional economic commissions of the United Nations, as well as to various specialised agencies such as the Food and Agriculture Organisation or the World Health Organisation, the International Labour Organisation is recognised to have a major role in certain fields, including that of workers' housing. WORKERS' HOUSING 413 of material available locally, the most common type of housing is probably the wattle-and-daub hut with a thatched roof. In the drier regions mud is used not only for the walls but also for the flat roof. The family home generally consists of a number of small detached huts, the exposure and layout of which are determined by custom. Each wife in a polygamous household, the grown-up children, dependent relatives or passing guests can sleep in separate huts, while some are used as kitchens, storehouses and so forth. Besides workers recruited on the spot, undertakings in centres of employment in rural areas generally also employ migrant workers whose homes are a long way from their place of employment. It is very common for employers to supply these workers with housing, whether under a statutory obligation, because it is the local custom or out of intelligent self-interest: when an undertaking depends for efficient operation on workers some of whom are recruited a great distance from the place of employment and are still in touch with their native villages, many employers have found that to attract and retain them and increase their output it is essential to provide them with accommodation and even to go beyond traditional standards in this regard. This applies particularly to workers on whom the employer must be able to rely and whom he wishes to retain in his service in view of their abihties. In most towns there has been very rapid population growth over the last decades. In addition the temporary labour force has increased and a permanent working class has emerged which has lost all contact with tribal society; the result has been overpopulation and the overcrowding of existing dwellings. In most cases the employers' incentive to provide housing for their workers in rural undertakings has no parallel in the towns, where labour is plentiful and partly settled. Competition for jobs keeps wages very low; at the same time the keen demand for housing tends to push rents up. Land values and house rents are higher in urban areas than in rural districts, so that the urban worker is worse off than his counterpart in the country. Main Causes of Bad Housing Conditions The bad housing conditions that are met with throughout the African Continent can be attributed to social and economic factors. The social causes may vary as between urban and rural or industrialised and non-industrialised areas. In a tribal society there is no such thing as a housing shortage, but living habits often prevent the improvement of existing housing, since a permanent house of European design, built of durable materials and necessarily small in view of the limited resources of the African farmer, does not fit in with the traditional way of life. What the Native wants is a hut that is narrow, low, dark and snug, without windows through which spirits or the cold can get in, and where a fire can be lit at night. Moreover, in many regions the husbandmen in a village till the surrounding land until its fertility is exhausted, and after a few years they let the land lie fallow and move the village. Where this form of land use survives it is difficult to plan permanent buildings, and solid housing cannot be built until better agricultural techniques (e.g. crop rotation, the use of fertiliser and continuous use of land previously left fallow) have been introduced. Particularly in the towns, but also in rural employment centres, the progress of civilisation has given rise to a desire for a higher standard of living. In the African countries a steadily increasing proportion of the population is influenced by the 414 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY European ideas with which it is in daily contact, and is assimilating and adopting the European way of life. Among this part of the population, which includes most wage earners, the feeling is gaining ground that traditional housing is out-of-date and unsuited to a new, more civilised way of life. Both in the countryside and in the towns African workers who have severed their tribal ties are showing an increasing preference for houses built on Western lines rather than by the ancient and very primitive methods used in their countries from time immemorial. The result is that in many cases houses of the traditional type are allowed to fall into disrepair, but the backlog in housing construction is not eliminated, since the average worker is not in a position to replace his tumbledown home with a house that comes up to his new expectations. Among the other social causes that account for the existing unsatisfactory housing conditions is the population increase in general, particularly the overpopulation of the towns and the overcrowding of urban dwellings. This overcrowding is often aggravated by relatives and friends who are out of work, and are put up by those in jobs—in keeping with their communal traditions. A consequence of the drift to the towns and industrial areas by Africans looking for jobs has been the partial abandonment of homes in rural areas. It does seem, however, that in most towns demographic pressure does not altogether account for the increase in the demand for housing, which comes chiefly from the lower middle class, that is, from salaried workers and the better-paid wage earners. Housing accommodation for these groups is generally dilapidated and expensive, and in many cases the amount of accommodation available for them diminishes as modern business quarters and residential areas expand. It is precisely persons in these groups, particularly skilled workers, who are most conscious of being badly housed and whose incomes and standard of living are rising as a result of economic development. Yet another factor to be borne in mind is the increasingly marked tendency for Africans who leave tribal society to loosen their ties with the broader family group; each couple wants its own home. One of the main economic factors that has an effect on all housing conditions is the very low income level of the overwhelming majority of Africans. Even if they want to, they cannot afford to buy a decent house or pay a normal rent without outside assistance from the State or the employer. The fact that ever-increasing numbers of Africans are leaving their places of birth to look for work elsewhere, particularly in the towns, has given rise to a housing shortage that can hardly be met out of the limited budgets of most of the territories. In each country's development plan expenditure on housing has to compete with other urgent economic or social needs, such as transport, communications, health, education and essential public services. Lack of experience in building organisation and planning is fairly widespread, and causes difficulties over specifications, tenders and site development. Very often there is inadequate appreciation of the value of technical advice in ensuring sensible design and proper utilisation of materials. In the past this has resulted in shoddily built houses which are bound to fall quickly into disrepair, as well as in a certain wastage of resources. In addition it is only recently that a beginning has been made in a few territories on the provision of vocational training facilities for building workers. Even the few carpenters and masons who seem to be really skilled workers have no theoretical knowledge of their trades and know only the merest rudiments of modern building technique. It should be added that in most regions the climate, WORKERS' HOUSING 415 whatever its particular character may be, soon causes damage to housing and makes it necessary to use a variety of building processes and techniques that are rather different from those commonly used in temperate regions. Initial experience with these processes and techniques adapted to local conditions is generally of fairly recent date, and has sometimes been disappointing. Owing to the high cost of most imported materials an effort is made in many countries to use local raw materials as much as possible, but their availability or usefulness is often limited, and expensive imports, which swell building costs considerably, must be resorted to. In many territories the shortage of skilled men at all levels in the building trade, particularly during the Second World War and the post-war period, was aggravated by the scarcity of imported materials such as steel and cement. In fact the resulting backlog has generally not been made up, owing largely to increased housing needs and the tremendous influx into many urban centres. Other factors make the housing problem in Africa even more complex. For example, land-tenure systems in certain territories rule out individual ownership of the land or are so complicated and burdensome that they seriously hamper housing development. The greatest difficulties in obtaining the right to long-term occupation of building lots have generally arisen in urban areas with a high population density. In very many African towns the enforcement of building standards, particularly over the last 15 years or so, has led to the pulling down of accommodation and the eviction of many Africans who could not comply with these standards ; and the evicted Africans have usually not been rehoused. This has led either to extreme overcrowding in the poorest quarters or, more commonly, to the uncontrolled growth of African townships in the vicinity. Since there has been no proper town planning, and not even the most rudimentary sanitation has been provided, the situation in these suburbs is often completely out of hand, and the shortage of suitable housing makes it very difficult to eliminate existing slums. Even when there is no rehousing problem it is generally found that owing to the high rents in town many workers prefer to live in distant suburbs where rents are comparatively low. In certain territories in central and southern Africa the legal segregation of European and African residential areas is still the rule and generally compels Africans, apart from a small number of domestic servants, to live at a distance from their work. Whatever the reasons for this isolation, it creates problems as regards the transport of a large proportion of the town workers from their homes to their place of work. RESPONSIBILITY FOR HOUSING The notion of responsibility for the provision of suitable housing and the improvement of existing accommodation has grown in African countries side by side with the transformation of social and economic conditions. As a general rule it is up to the individual to find accommodation; thus from time immemorial, particularly in African rural areas where the inhabitants are engaged in subsistence farming and live in a more or less closed economy, men have built their homes with their own hands, often with the assistance of members of their families, clans or tribes. The same applied originally in most of the towns founded by Europeans, where housing for the African population generally consisted of temporary dwellings either within the town or in existing villages on the outskirts. The introduction of Western-type industrial, commercial or agricultural under- 416 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY takings led to the establishment of rural employment centres and the concentration of wage earners in the towns. Employers naturally became responsible for housing part of their labour force when some of their workers were recruited a long way from their place of employment or when the undertakings themselves were far from any population centre. In fact, in almost all African countries this employer's responsibility was generally confirmed by statutory provisions which have usually made it compulsory for the employer to house the worker when the latter is not employed at his place of origin or usual residence or cannot find adequate housing for himself and his family. The idea that effective action to deal with the housing problem called for a co-ordinated policy by the public authorities emerged and gained wider acceptance as housing needs became more pressing, owing to population pressure, industrialisation, the increase in the labour force, the influx into the towns and centres of employment and changing views with regard to housing. Much the same problems have arisen everywhere, particularly in the towns but to a lesser degree in major rural employment centres, e.g. slum clearance, the provision of low-cost housing for the workers and the installation or extension of ancillary services such as water supply and sewerage or sanitary conveniences. It became clear that such extensive problems could not be solved without the assistance and participation of the public authorities; at the same time there emerged a new concept of human welfare, whereby governments are in the last resort responsible for ensuring that the peoples they administer have a decent minimum standard of living. In the years that followed the First World War it had already become accepted in many African countries that in population centres the local authorities should lay down minimum building standards in the general interest, and this resulted in town planning and the adoption of building regulations by the municipal authorities in most large towns in course of development. As industrialisation progressed and the towns became overpopulated, the inabüity of local authorities to implement housing plans revealed the need for financial assistance from the provincial or territorial authorities. By the end of the Second World War it was generally recognised that the governments of metropolitan countries must shoulder part of the responsibihty for over-all development and welfare plans, including housing. While it is considered that the housing problem is of immediate concern to the public authorities as well as to employers and workers and calls for their active participation and concerted efforts, it is felt nowadays in almost all African countries that housing is an essential social service and that it is for governments to lay down a general housing policy, organise planning activities, co-ordinate action, find the necessary funds and set up appropriate bodies in order to provide decent housing for all and to safeguard the freedom, self-respect and security of the population in general and wage earners in particular. ACTION BY THE PUBLIC AUTHORITIES Attempts by governments to implement a co-ordinated housing policy have run up against great difficulties. In the first place the authorities often have only sketchy information regarding the nature and extent of housing needs and the construction methods best suited to local conditions. In the second place there has been a serious shortage of personnel with technical training and no organised building trade to carry out large-scale construction programmes. The main obstacle, WORKERS' HOUSING 417 however, has generally been the shortage of money for housing schemes, which inevitably have to fit into wider economic and social development plans. In allocating the available funds the planners have to take account of other needs that are sometimes considered as urgent as housing, if not more so. In some countries governments have set up central agencies to survey housing needs and to prepare long-term plans for meeting them. In other territories action has so far been taken only at the municipal or district level. Generally speaking, action by the public authorities takes many different forms : it may involve the preparation of surveys of housing requirements; the establishment of minimum standards for planning, building, health and space requirements ; the construction of low-rent housing for the worst-paid workers; and encouragement to building societies, housing co-operatives or small contractors. Assistance may also be given to workers who wish to build their own homes or have their own homes built, as well as to employers in specified cases, by facilitating the purchase of building lots at a fair price, supplying certain materials and granting long-term loans. It may also include the promotion of vocational training in the building trades. The following is an account of the work done by the public authorities in the various African countries, together with the results achieved. Belgian Territories In the Belgian territories an African Housing Agency was established in 19521 and operates in the towns. This institution is incorporated as a public agency. It is directed by a governing body which meets in Belgium and by a management committee and several branch managers in the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi. These local managers are assisted by advisory committees, which include African members. The Agency is entitled to carry out all the operations required to service construction sites and to build and equip houses and other buildings for the inhabitants on land made available by the Governments of the Belgian Congo and RuandaUrundi. With such a purpose in view the Agency may (a) sell the buildings it has built or acquired or let them with or without charge and (b) grant mortgage loans to the inhabitants for the construction or reconversion of housing on terms approved by the governing body. Between 1950 and 1959 the agency will have spent about 4,320 million Congolese francs on the erection of houses and flats and on the preparation of building sites in the towns or their vicinity. By 31 December 1956 it had built over 23,000 houses in the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi.2 It also supervises African townships to ensure that building and town-planning rules are observed. In 19543 the local authorities in Leopoldville, Stanleyville and Bukavu reported that housing built by the Agency was not acceptable to all Africans and that many houses remained uninhabited in spite of the housing shortage. The reasons given included the following: the dwellings did not always suit the Africans' tastes and desires, the rents were higher than the potential tenants could afford, certain housing estates were too remote or awkward to get to and community services were inadequate or non-existent. To remedy the situation instruc1 2 Decree dated 30 March 1952. Belgian reports to the I.L.O. on the application of the Social Policy (Non-Metropohtan Territories) Convention, 1947, in the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi for 1955-56. 3 Rapport sur l'administration de la colonie du Congo belge pendant Vannée 1954 (Brussels, Établissements généraux d'imprimerie, 1955). 28 418 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY tions were issued that efforts should be concentrated on completing the preparatory work and providing community services on new estates as well as on fixing the purchase prices and rents at levels within the reach of persons in the lower-income brackets. In addition to income from the sale and letting of houses and the sale of building materials, the resources of the Agency consist of an initial grant from the Governments of the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi, loans raised with the authorisation of the Minister for the Colonies, subsidies, and bequests or gifts inter vivos.1 In houses built by the Agency the rent paid by the tenants is proportionate to their monthly income. It amounts to 22 per cent, of their pay but may not exceed the economic rent fixed for each type of dwelling. The difference between the social rent and the economic rent is met by the Government. A loan fund financed by the Government enables Africans, both in the countryside and in the towns, to construct, reconstruct, buy or remodel housing built of durable or semi-durable materials with the help of loans repayable within 15 years. Many Africans living in the countryside appear to be unable to take advantage of this fund owing to the smallness of their cash incomes. A royal fund was set up at the end of 1955 to give assistance in the form of grants ranging from 9,000 to 18,000 francs to deserving Congolese who are not sufficiently well off to pay the whole cost of their houses. The difference between the value of the house and the grant from the royal fund must be repaid by the recipient within 15 years and must amount to at least 20 per cent, of his annual income. The fund will probably be of value only to Africans with annual incomes of 4,000 francs or more.2 British Territories Since 1952 a study of the general problem of housing development in Africa has been made by the Housing Adviser to the Colonial Office.3 Housing plans are financed with the assistance of advances from the Colonial Development and Welfare Fund or with funds collected locally. The following information on the work done by the public authorities in the various British territories is mainly derived from the annual reports of the departments of labour of the territories and the Colonial Office as well as from the reports of the United Kingdom to the International Labour Office on the application of Conventions. In Sierra Leone the Government has built houses for public service personnel. In 1954 there was no government assistance scheme other than a system of loans for government servants wishing to build their own homes, but by means of an advance from the Government the municipality of Freetown supplied the same kind of assistance as is provided by building societies in the United Kingdom. At that time there was also a plan for the grant of loans to members of rural communities for the purchase of building materials that would be more durable than those generally used. In 1957 a sum of £209,000 was spent on housing development, and of this sum £40,000 was earmarked for a workers' rehousing scheme. For a number of years building loans and loans for the purchase of building 1 Rapport soumis par le gouvernement belge à VAssemblée générale des Nations Unies au sujet de Vadministration du Ruanda-Urundi pendant Vannée 1956 (Brussels, Fr. van Muysewinkel, 1957), pp. 242-244. 2 See H. BECKERS: " L'habitation rurale indigène au Congo belge ", in Bulletin de la Société belge d'études et d'expansion. No. 172, Third Quarter 1956. 3 Colonial Office: The Colonial Territories, 1953-54, Cmd. 9169 (London, H.M. Stationery Office, 1954), p. 115. WORKERS' HOUSING 419 lots have been granted to government servants in Gambia. Houses built with such assistance must comply with certain standards laid down by regulations. In Nigeria housing built by the Government for letting to public servants was not sufficient to meet the demand in 1955. Loans are also granted to public servants to enable them to build their own homes. In addition, under the Town and Country Planning Ordinance, 1955, housing programmes have been launched in many towns to relieve overcrowding and clear away the slums. In Lagos in 1955 the Government set aside £1 million for the establishment of a workers' housing scheme. Also in 1955 a committee of inquiry was appointed to study the problem of the high level of rents. A building society, the Nigerian Housing Development Society Limited, set up ¡by the federal Government and the Colonial Development Corporation, grants loans to future owners.1 In British Somaliland there is a Central Town Planning Board as well as local planning boards. In 1955 so many applications had been lodged by officials under the housing loans scheme introduced for their benefit that there were not enough funds available to satisfy all of them. In the same year it was noted that in spite of the efforts made to build permanent houses in the towns and in spite of a marked improvement in the position during the last few years, there were still many insanitary old houses which could not be replaced owing to the housing shortage. In Kenya a Central Housing Board has been established. The Labour Commissioner is a member of the Board, which is empowered by ordinance to make loans to local authorities, employers and individual applicants for housing construction. A number of housing surveys have been made. One of these surveys was made by the Vasey Committee on African Housing. In its report2 this Committee recommended, inter alia, that the Government should make grants of land to employers of labour for the construction of houses for their workers and that the Government should itself build and lease houses to Africans on a rent-purchase system. The Committee also recommended that the Government should make plots for the building of private houses available to Africans on easy terms; that the Government should make available, either directly or through local authorities, funds for lending to Africans to build their own houses; that communal services such as sanitation, drainage, roads, etc., should be installed prior to or parallel with the development of the housing scheme; and that housing technicians to advise and supervise Africans building their own houses should be recruited and paid by the Government. Various other forms of assistance were proposed, especially the waiving of survey fees, ground rents, customs duties and similar charges and the supply of materials at cheap rates. The Committee on African Wages also emphasised that one of the basic conditions for the stabilisation of African labour was the provision of suitable family housing at rents which were within the workers' means. Among the more positive measures which it recommended were a comprehensive survey of urban African housing needs, followed by the introduction of a planned ten-year housing programme and the planning of housing schemes on the basis of the neighbourhood unit, with provision for schools, health centres, shops, recreational and other amenities and security services.3 In accordance with these different recommendations, building plans were launched in the main towns of Kenya. The housing fund, which may be used only 1 2 3 Overseas Review (Barclays Bank, D.C.O.), June 1957, p. 70. E. A. VASEY: Report on African Housing in Townships and Trading Centres (Nairobi, 1950). Report of the Committee on African Wages, op. cit., p. 98. 420 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY for African housing and is administered by the Central Housing Board, made large sums available to municipalities which have built housing for renting-out in the ordinary manner or for rent-purchase. In addition, the Government has granted loans to the municipal councils of certain towns so that they, in turn, may make loans to employers for the construction of housing for their African workers.1 It was reported that in Nairobi in 1955 this scheme, although popular, had had to be abandoned for lack of funds.2 The annual report of the Department of Labour for the year 1955 3 stated that the provision of adequate housing for African workers in towns was still one of the main problems confronting both the Government and the local authorities. In respect of new building only very slow progress was being made towards the objective of housing all workers with their families at rents corresponding to their means. In Nairobi and Mombasa there were signs of growing restiveness among the Africans with regard to housing. The report estimated that unless the tempo of housebuilding could be stepped up this unrest might be expected to grow as wage rates rose and as the social and political consciousness of the workers increased. In Uganda there is a Department of African Housing operating chiefly in certain towns. The Government has equipped suburban housing estates with water supply, lighting and sewerage, and Africans may lease lots on which to build their own homes to approved plans. A rent-purchase scheme was introduced in 1956 by the Department: on sites distinct from rental housing estates prospective owners need pay only 20 per cent, of the cost of the house, an advance being arranged for the remaining 80 per cent, to a limit of £500. The loan is repayable over a maximum period of 20 years. There is a further scheme to assist prospective owners who are unable to raise 20 per cent, of the cost of a house; this is the tenant-purchase plan by which the tenant, by paying an increased monthly rental, acquires ownership of his house over a period of up to 30 years. In addition the Government grants subsidies in respect of housing for rental built by the African Housing Department. For this accommodation the monthly rent in 1956 ranged from 10 shillings for a single room to 70 shillings for a four-room house. At the same time the monthly rent payable by a large number of urban workers housed in mud or grass huts in the suburbs ranged from 1 shilling for sharing a hut with six or eight bachelors to 25 shillings for the use of a single room. It should be added that at such rents as these the occupiers had neither running water nor sanitation. In Tanganyika a Town and Country Planning Board has been established. Over 3,000 houses were built by the Government from 1952 to 1955.4 Housing sites have been equipped for leasing to Africans wishing to build their own homes. One system which is very popular among urban workers consists of granting an initial lease of five years for parcels of land at a nominal rent of 5 shillings a year; by the terms of their lease tenants must build solid houses, generally as a prerequisite for obtaining a second lease for a longer term. In urban areas loans up to an amount of £500 for the construction of permanent houses may be obtained by Africans 1 p. 460. 2 Commonwealth Survey (London, Central Office of Information), Vol. I, No. 10, 18 May 1955, Colonial Reports: Kenya, 1955 (London, H.M. Stationery Office, 1956). Colony and Protectorate of Kenya: Labour Department Annual Report, 1955 (Nairobi, Government Printer, 1956), p. 19. 4 Report from the United Kingdom Government to the International Labour Office on the application of the Social Policy (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention, 1947, in Tanganyika for the period 1955-56. 3 WORKERS' HOUSING 421 subject to a minimum initial deposit of £25. Repayment is spread over a period of 20 years, with interest at the rate of 454 per cent. One of the greatest difficulties met with in running this scheme is that of obtaining the right to long-term occupancy areas where surveys had not previously been necessary.1 It was noted that the trend which impelled Africans towards home ownership was promoted by the construction of houses of the traditional type built of improved materials for sale or tenant purchase.2 It was recently decided to form a company of which 51 per cent, of the shares would be in government hands, with a board of directors consisting of bankers, businessmen, etc. The capital is to be about £2 million and the company is to spend some £300,000 a year on the construction of rental housing, on the introduction of a scheme to enable Africans to buy their own homes and on loans to individuals or for housing schemes.3 In Mauritius housing schemes have been launched in urban areas by the local authorities. Two co-operative building societies make loans at low rates for housing construction. In rural areas, apart from action taken by employers to house plantation workers, the Sugar Industry Labour Welfare Fund builds groups of 50 to 70 houses in the vicinity of the larger villages. Model villages have been built and houses are let to agricultural workers. In 1954 it was estimated that over a million rupees had been spent by the sugar industry on the erection of new quarters and camps on plantations. In Northern Rhodesia an ordinance enacted in 1956 provides for the establishment of an African Housing Board to make grants of land for building purposes, to approve building plans submitted by local authorities and to carry out research on African housing generally. Most of the houses built by the Government are handed over to the local authorities for lease to the public; the others are used to house public servants. Rental housing is financed by loans at interest of 3% per cent, repayable over a period of 40 years. By the end of 1956 a programme for the building of 23,000 houses at a cost of £6,550,000 had been practically completed.4 For a number of years rents have been subsidised by the Government; this practice was to cease on 30 June 1957 and a system of building loans was contemplated to encourage Africans to build and own their own houses. A credit plan to improve rural housing is now in operation, and independent producers, tenants or tradespeople can obtain loans to improve their housing.5 In Southern Rhodesia the Government has introduced schemes for promoting private ownership. A plan prepared and financed by the Housing Department was carried out in 1956. The aim was to build on village lands in Salisbury 2,600 cheap cottages for sale to Africans on the basis of a 99-year lease of the land. The purchase price is payable in monthly instalments over 25 years. It is anticipated that the total cost to a purchaser, including administration and service charges, 1 Annual Report of the Labour Department, 1955 (Dar-es-Salaam, 1956), p. 18. Tanganyika Development Plan 1955-1960: Tanganyika Capital Works Programme (Government Printer, Dar-es-Salaam), pp. 28-29. 3 Report from the United Kingdom Government to the International Labour Office on the application of the Social Policy (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention, 1947, in Tanganyika for the period 1955-56. 4 Colonial Office: Report on Northern Rhodesia for the Year 1956 (London, H.M. Stationery Office, 1957), pp. 38, 49. 5 Report from the United Kingdom Government to the International Labour Office on the application of the Social Policy (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention, 1947, in Northern Rhodesia for the period 1955-56. 2 422 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY will fall between about £3 and £3 10s. a month. Each cottage has a room with a separate entrance, which may be used to accommodate lodgers whose rent will assist the householder to meet his commitments.1 In Nyasaland, where the Government does a great deal to house its employees, there are schemes under which loans are granted to assist Africans to build their own homes or to buy houses built by the Government. In the main towns the public authorities have arranged to equip sites where Africans can build their own homes and where employers can build houses for their staff. Ghana Under a housing plan prepared in 1951, a sum of £5,985,000 was allocated to housing. This sum included the following items: £2,500,000 for the completion of current building plans, £2 million for building loans and £500,000 for slum clearance in the larger towns. At the time when it was preparing this plan, which also provided for the improvement of rural housing, the Government had announced its intention of carrying out experiments in the mass production of houses for sale and of developing vocational training schemes in the building trade. Difficulties soon arose in practice, particularly as regards slum clearance and the granting of loans. In 1955 only 36 loans had been granted, amounting to £39,500. The new allocation of the available funds became eifective in 1955, the main changes being the following: £317,000 instead of £2 million for building loans; £137,000 instead of £500,000 for slum clearance; £854,000 earmarked for land-purchase schemes; and an estimated £895,000 for the launching of a building society, instead of £5,000 previously.2 In view of the increased demand for an improvement in rural housing a separate Department of Rural Housing was formed in 1953. The Department's functions include the grant of development loans to persons wishing to build, the preparation, free of charge, of village improvement plans and house plans suited to local needs, the assessment of construction costs, the gradual establishment of an organisation to supply building materials and the training of skilled craftsmen to provide instruction in the most suitable building methods. It is interesting to note that at the end of 1954 a mission of experts was sent to Ghana at the Government's request under the United Nations Technical Assistance Programme to study housing problems. French Territories The public authorities have promoted housing development in French territories in a number of ways. Modernisation and development plans have provided for investment in housing. Generally speaking, efforts have so far been mainly concentrated on urban and suburban housing, which is regarded as having a high degree of priority owing to the overpopulation of the larger towns ; the overhaul of rural facilities has, however, also been taken in hand in the various territories. Under an Act of 30 April 1946 arrangements have been made to enable welfare credits to be used for financing the erection or modernisation of housing and the establishment of special housing agencies. In addition to the various government 1 Report of the Secretary for Native Affairs for the Year 1955 (Salisbury, Government Printer, 1956), p. 76. 2 Gold Coast Government: Development Progress Report, 1955 (Accra, Government Printer, 1956). WORKERS' HOUSING 423 housing departments, public low-cost housing bureaux have been established.1 Their duties include building standard houses that will enable the lowest-paid African to obtain hygienic accommodation in a solid building at the lowest possible cost, and furthering building operations undertaken by individuals and construction firms. Semi-public building societies have been established in six major towns. They are financed by a combination of private and public capital but public bodies hold a majority of the shares. Such societies now exist in Dakar, Conakry and Abidjan in French West Africa, at Yaounde in the Cameroons, in Brazzaville in French Equatorial Africa and in Tananarive in Madagascar. These societies prepare projects for the development of housing estates, purchase building sites, prepare the plans, build model houses and initiate building operations in major projects. So far they have tended to concentrate on large-scale housing schemes with a view to subsequent sale on the instalment system, particularly in the form of rent-purchase. There has been a separation of functions between the social welfare funds, which specialise in loans to individuals, and the building societies, which have special responsibility for community building on organised estates. To promote private building activity the federal and territorial governments have been empowered to guarantee borrowing for a certain period and up to a specified amount (for example for ten years and up to 1,500 million francs a year in French West Africa) from financial establishments by persons or companies intending to engage in the construction of housing exclusively for sale or for rent. The Central Fund for French Overseas Territories makes a financial contribution towards housing schemes by granting loans to undertakings that set up offices abroad, by rediscounting credits granted by banks (which enables banks to make medium-term loans without endangering their liquidity) and by investing directly in private building firms. The Economic and Social Investment Fund gives financial assistance to the territorial governments. In addition to subsidies from the Economic and Social Investment Fund and loans from the Central Fund for French Overseas Territories, funds are made available from the budgets of various local public bodies. Public housing policy also includes certain fiscal measures such as exemption in respect of new buildings over a period of between five and ten years from the special tax on built-up land; the introduction of an additional tax on unbuilt or under-built land in urban areas; and granting of permission to firms that have erected housing of a specified standard for their personnel to deduct up to 40 per cent, of the final construction cost from their net profits for the purpose of calculating profits tax. In French West Africa a federal housing service, with local branches in the various territories of the Federation, was set up in 1952.2 It co-ordinates and supervises all housing and town and country planning and has prepared a plan for the construction within 15 years, in the principal towns, of 45,000 rooms to be let in the ordinary way and 18,000 private homes to be let either in the ordinary way or under a rent-purchase system. In 1953 work on a large-scale sanitation programme was begun in the towns; it includes provision for permanent roads, a network of storm-water drains and sewers and the introduction of a water supply. Rural development work has also been undertaken in the smaller centres of the various 1 See, for example. Decree No. 52-1149, dated 14 October 1952, to establish public local low-cost housing bureaux in French West Africa. 2 Order No. 1685 SET, dated 10 March 1952. 424 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY territories in the Federation, and whole villages have been resettled in suitable sites where provision has been made for a housing plan and ancillary services. The building loans scheme launched in 1954 has from the first been very popular with Africans who already had plots of land and wanted to choose their own type of house. This scheme enables assistance to be given to all those who can and wish to own a home, whether in town or in the bush. Loans are granted to individuals or to companies that already own building land. These loans are for a maximum term of five years and are proportionate to the borrower's income. They are granted for the construction of new houses, the completion of work in progress, the improvement of housing of the traditional type or the installation of modern conveniences. It was estimated that the development of the housing programme for French West Africa as a whole would in 1957 involve expenditure of 4,400,000 francs, of which 1,500,000 were earmarked for the provision of the necessary services, 1,200,000 for the development of building sites and 1,700,000 for loans.1 In French Equatorial Africa the Credit Bank is authorised to grant short, medium or long term loans to small and medium-sized undertakings and to persons wishing to purchase real estate. In 1955 this body lent 50 million francs for housing purposes; in 1956 the figure was over 146 million, representing 610 loans, almost all of them small loans to Africans. In addition, between July 1954, when it was set up, and June 1957 the Building Society of French Equatorial Africa put up 850 buildings. This represents 1,000 private homes with a floor area of about 645,000 square feet and 3,659 main living rooms. Ever since its foundation in 1949 the Credit Bank of French Equatorial Africa has fostered the establishment of building co-operatives consisting of all the persons who have been granted building loans in any one locality. These co-operatives supply their members with the materials required to build houses. They also prepare the plans and estimates and supervise the technical side of the work; their establishment has led to a considerable reduction in the cost of bunding with durable materials. In Togoland a mutual joint provident society has been established which grants building loans for the erection of low-cost houses. The territory has guaranteed borrowing by this fund from the Central Fund for French Overseas Territories up to an amount of 100 million francs. In July 1956 the fund had built a residential centre comprising a number of dwellings. At Lomé a housing estate outside the town has been developed by the municipality with a grant from the Economic and Social Investment Fund. In the Cameroons the local building society, which began to implement its programme in 1952, has equipped housing estates and erected houses in the principal towns. During the financial year 1954-55 the Cameroons Credit Bank granted loans totalling over 35 million francs; out of 30 loans granted, 22 were to African borrowers. In 1955 a new credit scheme was tried out at Douala with a view to helping the many Africans who wished to improve their homes or to complete a building on which work had already begun. This scheme has had a remarkably enthusiastic reception, and 162 loans totalling over 48 million francs were granted in the space of four months. 1 Report of the French Government to the International Labour Office on the application of the Social Policy (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention, 1947, in French West Africa over the period 1955-56. WORKERS' HOUSING 425 Mention should also be made of the work of the provident societies (S.A.P.), which deal more particularly with the improvement of rural housing. The schemes adopted by the provident societies are very flexible and within the means of the poorest applicant; in particular they comprise the grant of purchase loans and organise group purchasing of materials, the mass production of doors and windows for African housing and the erection of six different models of prefabricated huts. In 1955 the price of such huts ranged from 160,000 to 500,000 francs; 83 huts had been completed and 150 were under construction or on order. In Madagascar the low-cost housing bureau and the joint housing corporation have low-cost housing for indigenous workers built in the main urban centres. This accommodation is either rented in the ordinary way or available for rentpurchase. In 1954 a number of new buildings comprising about 100 flats, together with 150 cottages, were opened for African members of the public service. Somalia In Somalia the municipalities generally undertake to improve housing in their areas, but the Government may subsidise projects it considers useful if its budget permits. A number of municipalities have begun to apply comparatively smallscale plans, some of which have already been implemented. To cope with the danger of overcrowding in urban and suburban areas the authorities have taken measures to regulate housing construction in the main village in each district and in areas of intensive cultivation. In many of these villages, housing estates have been laid out. The administration has also encouraged the formation of building co-operatives by indigenous employees. Portuguese Territories The Portuguese Government has adapted the legislation applicable in Portugal1 to conditions in Angola and Mozambique and has made the public works departments in those territories statutorily responsible for the construction of low-cost housing. Regulations have been issued stipulating the type of houses to be built, the level of rents, etc.2 The Government supervises the construction of houses, which are then made over to individuals under a rent-purchase scheme. The list of beneficiaries is drawn up every year on the basis of size of family income, number of dependants and order of receipt of applications. In some of the large towns the public authorities have encouraged the building of workers' quarters (bairros operarios) mainly for European workers.3 In all the towns quarters have been built exclusively for African workers (bairros indígenas).*' Houses built for the bairros operarios are let to the workers under a rentpurchase scheme and become the property of the tenants after 20 years. In Mozambique a building fund has been established.5 It is financed from the budget of the territory, from contributions by the municipalities and by borrowing. The fund grants loans to municipalities and private persons for the construction of detached houses, preference being given to persons with small incomes and large numbers of dependants. 1 2 3 4 5 Act. No. 2007 dated 7 May 1945. As regards Angola, Order No. 2822, dated 1 May 1957. As regards Angola, Legislative Order No. 2415, dated 1 October 1952. As regards Angola, Order No. 2097, dated 17 November 1948. Legislative Order No. 1131 dated 31 December 1948. 426 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY In a number of territories Native farmers' co-operatives build houses for their members; in Angola the Montepío gérai de Angola, which is a mutual benefit society, does the same for its members. Sudan The Government makes a direct contribution to urban housing in Khartoum. Evicted slum dwellers are granted building lots of an area of about 2,000 square feet if, among other conditions, they have permanent jobs and are living with their families.1 Provision has also been made for the construction of cheap houses which are sold to workers with low incomes either for cash or on the instalment plan; in the latter case the purchaser must immediately pay a deposit amounting to at least 10 per cent, of the total price, the balance being payable in monthly instalments spread over a period of not more than 15 years, interest accruing at the rate of 6 per cent.2 Union of South Africa For several decades the authorities in the Union of South Africa have had to take action with regard to housing, particularly as regards the urban population. As far back as 1920 the Housing Act provided that the municipalities might borrow money either from the Government or from other sources for housing construction and the provision of housing estates in accordance with an approved plan. In fact, for a long time only very limited action was taken to use the statutory facilities for housing the Coloured and Native population.3 Various building loan schemes were in operation from 1930 onwards: some of these loans, known as sub-economic loans, were granted by the Government to municipalities at % per cent, interest on condition that in fixing rents the municipalities took a loss equal to half that suffered by the Government. Between 1930 and 1940 about 18,000 houses (16,000 of them for non-Europeans) were built by the local authorities with the help of such loans. After the Second World War the housing problem became increasingly acute as large numbers of Africans and Coloureds moved to the neighbourhood of the towns, where they crowded into shanties built to no particular plan and without permits to occupy the land. In 1947 the Department of Native Affairs estimated that 154,000 houses would need to be built to meet the more urgent needs of the indigenous population, and in 1953 it was estimated that the building rate for Africans alone would have to reach 35,000 houses a year over a ten-year period.4 In view of the extent of the problem and the sheer inabihty of the local authorities to supervise health conditions effectively in these overcrowded suburbs, it quickly became apparent that only a national housing plan could remedy the situation. In 1954 the Housing Board was superseded by a more powerful body, the National Housing and Planning Commission, and new legislation (the Housing Act of 1945) was enacted to enable the public authorities to expand their activities in the field of housing. Building costs were considerably reduced through research undertaken in particular by the National Building Housing Institute. To assist private building 1 See SA'AD ED DIN FAWZI: " Social Aspects of Low-Cost Housing in the Northern Sudan' in Sudan Notes and Records Vol. XXV, Part I, 1954, pp. 91-106. 2 See Ministry of Social Affairs : Low-cost Housing in the Sudan (Khartoum). 3 Handbook on Race Relations in South Africa, op. cit., p. 242. 4 A Survey of Race Relations in South Africa, 1953-54, op. cit., p. 73. WORKERS' HOUSING 427 this body prepared booklets for prospective house-owners containing house designs and plans, together with instructions concerning the method to be followed at each stage of construction. The results appear to have been encouraging and there has been a remarkable improvement in the position over the last few years as regards African housing.1 It is estimated that 250,000 Bantus have been housed over the past nine years in urban centres and in 13 townships built in Bantu areas; since 1948, 59 Bantu municipalities have been founded, generally to rehouse Bantus living in squatters' camps or in badly located housing, and in these municipalities the local authorities have built over 55,000 houses and the Bantus themselves about 25,000. The method used by the local authorities in most of the large towns (site and service schemes) is for the future occupants of a new house to be authorised, until the house is completed, to put up a provisional hut on the site equipped with the necessary services. This has helped to solve part of the squatter problem. However, the housing problem in urban centres is still a long way from being solved and is one of the main headaches of the public authorities. Sub-economic loans, which are reserved for the poorest families, are not nearly numerous enough, and in general Africans have to pay much more than they can afford for accommodation. In Johannesburg, for example, where an extensive Native housing programme has been launched, largely thanks to an additional loan of £3 million granted by a mining company, Africans can acquire ownership of a house but not property rights over land. Moreover, under this plan new housing for Africans is designed on an economic basis, i.e. with the rent or purchase price calculated so that over a 30-year period the Africans pay not only the interest on the loan as well as the principal, but also the cost of providing primary schools in the area. PROVISION OF HOUSING BY THE EMPLOYER General As previously stated, the employer's responsibility with regard to housing has generally been sanctioned in almost all African countries by statutory provisions, which require the employer in certain cases to make housing available subject to certain conditions and in accordance with specified standards. Although the regulations adopted on the matter differ from one territory to another2, it may be said that it generally puts employers, including the State and the municipalities, under an obligation to provide housing, in most cases free of charge, for those of their workers whose wages do not exceed a specified figure and who cannot return each day to their usual places of residence. The practice of providing housing for the workers is tending to be confined nowadays to undertakings located outside the larger towns or employing labour recruited at considerable distances from the place of work. It is becoming increasingly common for the law to authorise the payment of cash allowances or bonuses in lieu of housing, and this procedure, which seems to correspond to the wishes of Africans, is becoming more and more widespread. In the 1 See Muriel HORREIX: " Union Sud Africaine ", in Civilisations (Brussels, International Institute of Differing Civilisations), Vol. VII (1957), No. 4, pp. 636-637; see also African World (London), Feb. 1958, p. 7. 2 As regards the statutory provisions relating to the provision of housing by the employer see Chapter IX. 428 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Belgian Congo, for example, a survey of Native labour made in Leopoldville in November 19521 showed that of 72,000 workers employed by European firms only about 2 per cent, were housed by their employers. Similarly, according to a recent study2 of the Dakar area in 1954 no employer in manufacturing industry made housing available directly for his African workers. In certain territories, however, the proportion of workers for whom the employer provides housing is still quite considerable. In Kenya, for example, a survey carried out in 1954 showed that at that time 83 per cent, of the Africans employed in public services in Nairobi were housed by their employers, whereas the proportion was only 57 per cent, for industry, 26 per cent, for commerce and banking and 15 per cent, for transport3; in 1956 it was estimated that in Kenya as a whole 51 per cent, of workers in the private sector and 67 per cent, in the public sector were housed by their employers.4 In Tanganyika in 1954 the proportion of workers housed by their employers, apart from domestic servants, was about 48 per cent.5 The action taken by employers with a view to housing their workers sometimes takes other forms than the direct provision of housing on land belonging to the undertaking or the payment of an allowance in lieu. For example, consideration has been given to the construction of houses on land lying outside the employer's property; general housing funds have been established; and employers have taken part in the financing of housing plans. The quality of the housing made available by the employer can vary considerably according to the location, activity or size of the establishment. In many territories the larger undertakings originally put up housing of the camp, compound or barracks type, which consisted essentially of dormitories for unmarried migrant or temporary workers. For some years work has been going on to replace or supplement this type of accommodation, which is still often met with, particularly in mining districts, by housing for semi-permanent unmarried or married workers, the married ones being housed with their families. The houses are generally equipped with all the requisite services, including running water, dispensaries, sports grounds, bazaars and so forth; it is built by the employer on his own property. In some of these compounds the employers remain responsible for the workers' behaviour outside working hours; the workers are housed free of charge or against payment of a modest sum which is deducted from their wages. In agricultural undertakings workers, who, particularly in small undertakings, are still frequently housed in huts of the traditional type, are as a rule provided with a plot of land which they can cultivate on their own account but which belongs to the employer. By and large, a gradual improvement has for some years been noted in the standard of accommodation made available by employers, particularly in the large undertakings where the housing standards established by law are almost always observed and often improved upon. In many territories employers with large numbers of workers are gradually substituting permanent houses for their workers' temporary dwellings, in accordance with the standards applied in model planned villages. 1 Bulletin mensuel des statistiques du Congo belge et du Ruanda-Urundi, Fourth Year, No. 34, Aug. 1953. 2 A. HAUSER: " Les industries de transformation de la région de Dakar ", in Bulletin de l'Institut français d'Afrique Noire (Etudes Sénégalaises), No. 5, 1954. 3 East African Statistical Department: Reported Employment and Wages in Kenya, 1954 (Nairobi, Oct. 1955). 4 Ibid., 1955-1956 (Nairobi, Sep. 1957). 5 Tanganyika: Annual Report of the Labour Department, 1954 (Dar-es-Salaam, 1955). WORKERS' HOUSING 429 Problems Connected with the Provision of Housing The provision of housing by employers involves certain difficulties and gives rise to economic or social problems with which it is sometimes difficult to cope. First of all, employers launching a new undertaking or employing only a limited number of workers cannot always afford to spend the sums required for decent housing and ancillary services for their workers. The capital required is larger in the case of polygamous communities, such as are often met with in Africa, where the worker has several wives and many children, not all of whom work on the plantation or in the mine or factory. Moreover, the prosperity of most firms in African countries is dependent on fluctuations in world commodity prices, particularly vegetable products, and this may adversely affect the employers' housing plans: in Tanganyika, for example, it was feared that the fall in the price of sisal in the second half of 1952 might result in the employers' reconstruction plans being abandoned or drastically overhauled. In some cases the standard of housing under construction has been reduced to the minimum prescribed by the Department of Labour, whereas previously the intention had been to build more comfortable accommodation.1 There are other factors that may limit the action taken by the employer to provide housing for his workers—for example, the difficulties that almost always arise when an undertaking's labour force comes from different communities or is of different racial origins. (This factor is apt to reduce employment openings for certain groups of workers.) Where employers have provided decent houses there is still the problem of persuading the occupants to remain at work for much longer periods than customary, preferably with their families, so that the employer can get the return in the shape of better attendance and output which he deserves for providing good housing rent free. The provision of housing by the employer also has the serious social disadvantage of making the worker dependent on the employer, so that not only his earnings but also his residence are affected by the terms of employment. The day the worker leaves his employer he may find himself in the street along with his family. This position is apt to diminish the worker's freedom, since there is no legal safeguard to protect him against the possibility of arbitrary action on the employer's part: this occurs, for example, when the contract of employment is broken for such reasons as sickness, invalidity or death and when the worker or his family is not guaranteed occupancy for a certain period, and also when the right of entry to a housing area is not guaranteed, subject to reasonable conditions, to the occupants and to persons who come into contact with them for employment, trade union or personal reasons. In certain territories such safeguards are not yet embodied in legislation, especially where trade unionism is backward or nonexistent. It seems, moreover, that rather than live in dwellings provided by their employers the workers increasingly prefer to receive a housing allowance and to settle in the Native quarters, where they feel more at home. However, while there may be difficulties and drawbacks involved in the provision of housing by the employer directly, it remains, in African countries generally, the only possible solution to the problem of housing the workers in certain circumstances. This is true particularly when industries are some distance from wageTanganyika: Report of the Labour Department, 1952 (Dar-es-Salaam, 1953). 430 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY earning population centres or must make use of migrant workers (in regions where there is no suitable labour on the spot), or where it is essential that if certain categories of workers are to do their jobs properly they should live at their places of employment. It is of course for the public authorities to make appropriate regulations to safeguard the workers' freedom when housing must of necessity be provided by the employer. ESSENTIALS OF HOUSING POLICY The previous sections provide an account of the bad housing conditions prevailing in African countries generally and show the urgent need to improve the housing situation. In most towns and centres of employment at the present time the tremendous increase in the population has far outstripped the growth of accommodation and has resulted in a housing shortage and overcrowding in insanitary premises; in rural areas the income of the African peasant is so low that he can hardly improve on his traditional primitive dwelling even if he wants to. Although it is generally accepted that workers, employers and governments have responsibilities for workers' housing and ancillary services, the complexity and extent of the problem, as well as its urgency, have led the authorities in certain African countries to regard workers' housing increasingly as an essential social service calling for government action, either directly or through an appropriate public agency, to co-ordinate housing policy. In fact, nowhere in Africa at the present day can the authorities leave it to the employers and workers alone to cope with the housing problem; it is recognised that this is a matter which deeply concerns governments as well as employers and workers and calls for their active participation and concerted efforts. This means that governments have a responsibility for general policy planning and co-ordination, for creating the necessary financial machinery and for finding the resources, if need be, to make adequate housing available for all. Only the State is qualified to issue regulations dealing with housing (e.g. to clear slum areas, to assign certain responsibilities to employers or to introduce rent control). The need for a housing policy has led to the setting up in a number of African countries of central public agencies to deal either directly or through the local authorities with all matters connected with housing, including the execution of comprehensive town and country planning programmes. Generally speaking, the priority given to workers' housing in a balanced policy of economic and social development varies according to local circumstances. In view of the often limited financial resources available it depends mainly on the urgency of providing other facilities, for example, in the fields of communications, health, education, vocational training or essential public services. Whatever the scope of the action taken by the public authorities in the different African countries and whatever the method used, whether at the central government, municipal or district level, in the view of many authorities one of the main objects of housing policy is to enable the largest possible number of families to own the houses they live in, since it is considered that workers with their own homes are more likely to take an active interest in the affairs of the community to which they belong and to settle down at their place of work. As far back as 1950 the delegates to the Inter-African Labour Conference, held in Elizabethville under the auspices of the Commission for Technical Co-operation in Africa south of the Sahara, expressed the hope that as large a number of Africans as possible would in WORKERS' HOUSING 431 the near future become home owners; while the I.L.O. Committee of Experts on Social Policy in Non-Metropolitan Territories, after discussing the question of workers' housing at its Third Session, held in Lisbon in 1953, reached the following conclusion on this point : " In order to assure responsibility for human dignity, to give maximum freedom and security and as incentives to stability and better living, governments should take all possible steps to encourage home ownership by workers, and this should be regarded as the aim of policy." In practice, however, private house ownership, particularly in towns and employment centres, is only possible for the better-paid categories of workers in permanent jobs who have already settled at their places of work. In existing circumstances most labourers, domestic servants and junior clerical workers can only be ordinary tenants owing to their inadequate incomes. For the lower-income groups in particular it should therefore be an essential aim of any housing policy to make rental housing available, at a rent not exceeding a reasonable percentage of earnings, to all workers who owing to the nature of their employment or for any other reason cannot or will not purchase houses. As is shown elsewhere in this chapter, in most African countries public housing policy has taken a wide variety of forms. One of them, which appears essential in existing circumstances, is government participation in the financing of housing programmes through subsidies or fairly long-term loans at low rates of interest granted to building agencies, municipalities or the workers themselves. Financial assistance from the administering country has in certain non-métropolitan territories been needed to supplement local resources, which are in most cases insufficient to carry out the proposed building plans. It is obvious that owing to the extremely low incomes of the overwhelming majority of the African population, the amount that can be done to house the workers largely depends on the financial assistance granted by the public authorities. A comprehensive housing policy entails study and research on housing needs, minimum standards of accommodation and the building methods, processes and materials to be used. In towns with an undue tendency to grow, for example, priority in public housing policy should be given to the establishment of satellite towns and the introduction of cheap transport facilities that will make it easier for the workers to commute between their homes and their places of employment. In overcrowded towns where land is very scarce and where the nature of the employment calls for rental housing the erection of multi-storey buildings should have priority. Although as a general rule the use of durable materials, so far as possible of local origin, is recommended in order to reduce building costs, in certain cases the only possible solution, owing to the urgency of the need or a lack of funds, will be to erect temporary or semi-permanent housing. While such housing is admittedly apt to degenerate quickly into slums, particularly in urban areas, its erection will sometimes provide work for an underemployed labour force and enable a use to be found for untapped material resources. It was stated in previous sections that under existing systems of land tenure in certain territories individual acquisition of land was not possible or was at any rate subject to complex and burdensome restrictions. There can be no doubt that if a sense of ownership is to be developed among Africans it is important that they should be given an unchallengeable legal title to the land where their houses stand and that their wives and descendants should be given succession rights. To ensure this, it would be necessary in many African countries to introduce a system of registration of land titles; in this respect there has already been some limited 432 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY progress, but much still remains to be done. The registration of a land title may be desirable, not to say essential, before building loans to individuals can be made by governments or other bodies. It is necessary, for example, to enable persons having an interest in, a right over or a title to the land where the borrower intends to build to have their claims registered. In any case it is important that land registration procedure in African countries should be as simple and inexpensive as possible and that workers and employers, as the case may be, should be able to acquire easily and at a fair price the land they need to erect workers' housing. In many territories it has been shown that the construction of private homes with the help of subsidies is the quickest way of enabling the workers to become owner-occupiers. Assistance to private building initiative has taken a variety of forms, such as the grant of loans, the procurement of materials, the introduction of rent-purchase schemes, etc. In some cases the public authorities have prepared building sites beforehand and equipped them with ancillary services. Co-operatives and building societies have turned out to be of great potential value in both urban and rural areas since they enable building costs to be reduced and houses to be built to proper plans in conformity with approved standards. The shortage of skilled personnel, which prevails at all levels in the building industry in African countries, shows the need for expanding vocational guidance and training both for technical and supervisory staff and for skilled workers (if necessary through accelerated apprentice training courses for the latter). Experience has shown that, in general, Africans are very receptive to intensive training for the building trades, and to facilitate self-help building schemes it is advisable, and even necessary, to provide all possible technical assistance to builders, whether the workers themselves or small contractors, for example in the form of simplified vocational training, information on the building materials and methods best adapted to local conditions and so forth. In this field it is important that trade unions should as far as possible be associated with the preparation and implementation of housing plans, amongst other things so that the houses built meet the workers' wishes; the unions can also play an important part in promoting vocational training schemes in the building trades and in encouraging their members to build their own homes. It has already been indicated that its provision by the employer is in certain circumstances the only way of ensuring that the workers will have decent housing but that this solution to the problem almost always leads to difficulties and generally does not seem be what the workers themselves want. It has also been emphasised that when housing has to be provided by the employer it is the duty of the authorities to take steps to safeguard the worker and his family against any possibility of arbitrary action on the employer's part. Finally, it has been pointed out that the responsibility of employers for workers' dwellings can be fulfilled in various ways which seem preferable, circumstances permitting, to the direct provision thereof, e.g. the payment of a reasonable allowance in lieu of housing the reservation of building lots equipped with the necessary services, the supply of building materials, the grant of loans to individuals or participation in the financing of housing schemes. As was stated at the beginning of this chapter, housing today is one of the most difficult economic and social problems facing the governments of African countries. The difficulty lies above all in the fact that the available resources are generally inadequate. On the one hand, national income in all the territories is extremely WORKERS' HOUSING 433 low and the average income per head is not suiBcient to finance the construction of dwellings that meet the requirements of health and decency. On the other hand, the resources available on the spot, even backed up by substantial outside aid such as is given to certain non-metropolitan territories, have to be shared among various competing needs, a number of which are as important as housing, if not more so ; the result is that so far the funds allocated to housing in the development plans of African countries have generally turned out to be inadequate to cope with the need. In spite of the great progress made in many territories there is still much to be done, for housing is one of the key elements in the standard of living. In coming years the problem will undoubtedly lose none of its importance, since the consequences of economic development—particularly rising incomes and the workers' growing needs—are bound to require an increase in the number of dwellings and the improvement of existing ones. 29 CHAPTER XIII THE CO-OPERATIVE MOVEMENT The present situation of the rural communities in Africa has already been fully described in Chapter II and their main problems and the inadequacy of many rural institutional arrangements indicated. They can be summarised in the words of the Hon. K. O. Mbadiwe, Central Minister for Lands and Natural Resources in the Federation of Nigeria, when he addressed the C.C.T.A. Conference on Cooperation in Ibadan (Western Nigeria) in December 1954— Many millions of farm families have only a small acreage of land, few tools, little equipment and few livestock. They have learned over scores of years through experience and trial how to wrest from the land food, clothing and shelter, but not in amounts and qualities adequate to prevent malnutrition, disease and often early death. The opportunities which technical progress in farming open up—for the fuller use of soils and of water resources, the raising and maintenance of soil fertility, improvement in seeds and breeding stock, better feeding and management of livestock, fuller control of diseases and pests, better processing and storage of products—all these opportunities are grasped too slowly or often not at all. The remedy is to have ready live institutions which can put across to the people all the benefits accruing from the technical progress that is being made in agriculture today. To me, co-operative institutions seem ideally suited for such purposes.1 To the problems just cited must be added, as far as the primary producer is concerned, those of distribution and marketing and, in relation to the consumer, those of passing on to him benefits resulting from reductions in cost through greater productive efficiency and an equitable supply of goods at fair prices. The problem of raising the standard of living of the town dweller and of the country dweller through the improvement of housing and nutritional conditions, protection of health, safeguards against social risks and hazards and even the organisation of cultural amenities and community activities, is equally important. To the solution of all of them co-operative methods can also contribute much. In spite of the potential advantages of co-operative action for the African peoples, African co-operative societies have developed slowly. In the Belgian Congo, it was not until 1949 that the first African co-operative was established for the sale of cotton. The earlier decree of 23 March 1921 did not encourage the setting up of indigenous co-operatives. In British West African territories the first cocoa producers' co-operative societies appeared in the Gold Coast in 1929. About the same period, 1929-30, marketing co-operative societies were created in Nigeria. In Tanganyika the African Coffee Planters' Association of Kilimanjaro was set up 1 C.C.T.A. : Co-operative Societies, Inter-African Conference (Ibadan, 1954) Report IE2, Appendix I, p. 26. For further reference see also I.L.O.: An Introduction to Co-operative Practice, Studies and Reports (New Series), No. 32 (Geneva, 1952); idem: Co-operation: A Workers' Education Manual (Geneva, 1956). THE CO-OPERATIVE MOVEMENT 435 in 1922, but it did not take on a co-operative form until 1932. In Kenya, before the Second World War, some co-operatives reserved for Europeans were set up, but an ordinance of 1932 on co-operatives did not result in the setting up of any African co-operatives. The situation was the same in the Rhodesias before the Second World War; there were only a dozen European planters' co-operatives in existence. In French West Africa the history of the co-operative movement should be distinguished from that of provident societies, which are not really co-operatives in the true sense of the word. The first co-operatives were consumers' co-operatives, consisting only of European civil servants. They appeared in the Niger in 1926. The first consumers' societies for Africans appeared during the Second World War to overcome the difficulties of food control. As regards agricultural producers' co-operatives, the first African societies were set up in 1945, following the establishment of European planters' co-operatives, which were created chiefly in the Ivory Coast from 1931 onwards. In the African territories under Portuguese administration there is no indication of the existence of co-operative activity before 1950. The first African credit co-operatives were established in the Union of South Africa about 1926, but it was necessary to wait until 1934 for legislation permitting the registration of these societies and even then the law applied only to the Transkei reserve and to credit societies. The reason for this slow development is easy to discern. Co-operation is a science whose technique cannot be learned in a day. In order to launch a co-operative enterprise it is necessary not only to have a deep understanding of the principles and practice of co-operation, but also to study carefully the technical aspects of the task to be performed, and this study requires the assistance of many experts : agriculturists, veterinarians and afforestation experts for producers' co-operatives covering agriculture, stock-raising and forestry; economic experts for credit and thrift co-operatives; graduate teachers for school co-operatives; and so forth.1 Moreover, the managers or the secretaries and treasurers of co-operatives must receive proper training and this training means not only book learning but training of character and creation of a sense of responsibility. Finally, the principles of co-operation must be explained clearly and repeatedly to the whole body of cooperators. It may also be added that the co-operative movement must be watched closely during the first years of its development, that is to say, until the time when the movement has developed enough to produce experienced organisers and ensure its own supervision. If the establishment of co-operatives in Africa has been and remains in some territories slow, it should be pointed out that where co-operatives have been firmly established their progress has been most striking. The following pages will provide some convincing examples. LEGISLATION ON CO-OPERATIVES The organisation of co-operatives cannot be separated from the historical, geographical, economic and cultural framework of the countries and territories in 1 Co-operation in the Colonies, Report of a Special Committee to the Fabian Colonial Bureau (London, George Allen & Unwin, 1945), p. 167. 436 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY which the movement has developed. Long experience has already shown that it is not possible to diverge without danger from the application of the fundamental principles adopted by the Rochdale Pioneers. It is true that in underdeveloped countries administrations are compelled to play an educational role and exercise much closer supervision than in more advanced regions. Nevertheless, apart from this factor, the classical structure is the rule for co-operative societies in African countries and territories. The powers and functions of the governing board or the committee of management, the prerogatives and competence of the general meeting and the rights and duties of co-operators remain the same in all latitudes. In these circumstances it is perhaps not necessary to analyse in detail the co-operative legislation in the African countries and territories. An attempt is made, however, to distinguish one system from another, while underlining their particular characteristics and the circumstances which have shaped their development. The legal position of co-operatives in the Belgian Congo and in Ruanda-Urundi is marked by one peculiarity—namely, that co-operatives can be regulated by two quite different legal procedures and, in certain cases, co-operators have a choice between two systems of co-operation based on completely different principles. This situation is explained by the history of co-operative development in the Congo. The first legal provision regulating co-operatives was a single article added to article 6 of the Royal Decree of 27 February 1887 dealing with commercial companies. This article constituted the decree of 23 March 1921, dealing with co-operative and mutual benefit societies. The first paragraph of the text, which is still in force, is phrased as follows : " No co-operative society can be founded in the Congo unless it has been authorised by the Governor-General or by the Vice-Governor-General designated by him. The authorising authority shall verify whether the by-laws submitted for approval are in conformity with the general principles of Belgian law in regard to the matter." By means of this provision Belgian law was extended to the Congo without any attempt to adjust it to local circumstances. It provided, it is true, for prior examination by the Governor-General; but his powers were limited to verifying whether the by-laws conformed to the principles of Belgian law on the subject and, as Belgian law permits practically every possible departure from the basic principles of co-operation, the examination can hardly be said to have been effective. However, some control was necessary in the interests of the co-operators themselves, as much to preserve the true character of the co-operatives as to permit them to survive. The failings of this legislation may justifiably be blamed for the partial check to the growth of co-operatives in the Belgian Congo between 1921 and 1944. During this period co-operatives of Europeans were able to establish themselves, but only three attempts to form indigenous co-operatives are recorded, and they lasted only a short time.1 In 1947 the Governor of the Belgian Congo authorised a Provincial Commissioner, Breuls de Tiecken, to examine the question of co-operatives and their adaptation to the needs of the indigenous population. This mission led to the creation of two groups of " pilot co-operatives " for the sale of cotton and the preparation of a draft decree on indigenous co-operatives which was finally adopted on 16 August 1949. It may be noted that, according to the report of the Colonial Council which preceded the issue of the decree, it was designed to apply the provisions of article 45 1 See " La nouvelle législation coopérative au Congo ", in La Vie économique et sociale (Antwerp, Institut supérieur de Commerce St. Ignace), July-Sep. 1956, p. 210. THE CO-OPERATIVE MOVEMENT 437 of the Social Policy in Dependent Territories Recommendation (No. 70), adopted by the International Labour Conference in 1944, adapted in the light of experience.1 The 1949 decree laid down the character and functions of the different organs of a co-operative—general meeting, committee of management, and manager— and, above all, it provided for extremely detailed administrative supervision. It was replaced by a decree of 24 March 1956, which was intended essentially to strengthen the individual activities of co-operators and co-operative organs, as well as to limit the intervention of the administration to what was strictly necessary, while taking account of the duties of supervision and education that the latter must continue to exercise. While this legislation has resulted in a real reduction of administrative intervention, the powers of the authorities remain considerable. Thus the representative of the provincal governor possesses, in addition to his unlimited right of supervision, a right of suspensive veto in regard to any decision of the manager, the committee of management or the general meeting which may be contrary to the law or to the by-laws, or even to what he believes to be the interests of the association or the group of associations. The manager or the committee of management can appeal against this decision to the provincial governor. The decree gives the managers themselves very considerable powers, and since they are usually Europeans it will be appreciated that in practice the powers of African members of the co-operatives are not very great. The laws on co-operatives in British territories are marked by a common unity of spirit. In this regard the unifying influence of the Colonial Office is directly felt. In 1946 the Secretary of State for the Colonies, stressing the beneficial influence the co-operative movement could have in the underdeveloped territories, drew the attention of the Governors of British territories2 to the value of promoting and developing co-operative activities within their territories. To the dispatches were annexed a model ordinance and a model set of regulations on co-operatives. These models have not, however, been followed uniformly. In quite a number of territories laws and regulations relating to co-operatives were already in force. The Secretary of State was careful to indicate that, in these cases, it was not necessary to change existing texts if they had proved satisfactory. The standard ordinance and regulations could, however, prove useful even in these cases by providing new suggestions. In fact, the ordinances which have been adopted, both before and since 1946, owe, without doubt, their similarity mainly to the legislation in force in the United Kingdom which inspired them. One significant difference exists, however, between the system which prevails in the United Kingdom and that which has been set up in the territories under the Colonial Office. It concerns the work of the registrar. Although in a developed country the activity of this official is limited largely to registering the associations which apply to him and which fulfil the conditions laid down, in the less advanced territories he performs a very complex task of education and supervision. The Secretary of State's dispatch emphasised the importance of this function and asked the governments of the territories where co-operation was practicable and where no registrar had been appointed to consider the appointment of such an officer and of the necessary staff to assist him. It added : " The task of these officials will not be easy. Quite apart from a general aptitude for administration, they must have, on the one hand, imagination and enthusiasm 1 2 For the text of this article see Appendix I. The Co-operative Movement in the Colonies. Office, 1946. Col. No. 99. London, H.M. Stationery 438 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY for their work and a clear idea of its significance, qualities without which the administration will be ineffective, but also, on the other hand, an ability to adapt their methods to the varying needs of the societies so as to aid them in creating the organisms needed for social progress." In another passage of the same dispatch the Secretary of State pointed out that the duty of the registrar must be both to teach methods of co-operation and to see that the existing co-operative societies are properly managed. He also emphasised that each administration should set up a separate department to look after co-operative affairs. " The institution of cooperatives must be built up from the beginning and the spirit of this institution requires a technique and a freedom of action which does not lend itself to integration with other departments of an economic character."1 It is already possible to indicate some of the differences which distinguish the legislation of the Belgian Congo from that of the British territories taken as a whole, for, as has been stated above, the latter legislation shows a broadly uniform spirit. In the first place, the secretary of the committee of management in British territories is far from having the same powers as the manager appointed by the committee of management of the Congolese co-operatives. It is not the secretary but the committee of management as such which represents the co-operative legally or in transactions with third parties. The secretary has no managerial powers. He records the transactions as they are carried out in the proper books, attends to correspondence, makes such payments as the committee authorises and obtains the necessary receipts, etc. The secretary, like the treasurer, can have in his charge a sum of money for use as determined by the committee. This subordinate role of the secretary is due to the fact that British legislation takes the attitude that the control of co-operatives must be a collective responsibility of the committee of management and, beyond the committee, the responsibility of all the co-operators, who at the general meeting elect the committee which exercises control on their behalf. The Congolese legislation, on the other hand, lays down rules for the running of a recently introduced institution, and it would appear that the wide sphere of competence of the manager (who is frequently a European) is the result of fears of the inexperience of Congolese co-operators. These fears can be appreciated if one recalls the many failures sustained by co-operatives throughout the world because of the mistakes, incompetence and malpractices of their committees of management. It should be recognised, however, that one cannot hope to educate such a collective body unless it enjoys a reasonable degree of freedom and responsibility. A second point should also be noted: there does not exist in the Belgian Congo an exact equivalent to the registrar, who is so important in the British territories. The instructions of the British Secretary of State for the Colonies specify that the registrar should be at the head of a separate administrative department and enjoy considerable freedom of action. By and large he should be an official of high rank trained in co-operative theory and having extensive experience. The official who is responsible in the Belgian Congo for directing the African co-operative movement is the chief of the provincial office of the Service for Indigenous Affairs and Labour. He has not necessarily any special co-operative training. In dealing with important matters he must refer to the provincial governor, who makes the decisions. However, he can impose his suspensive veto on certain actions of the co-operatives, as mentioned above, without first referring to higher authority. 1 The Co-operative Movement in the Colonies, op. cit., pp. 4 and 5. THE CO-OPERATIVE MOVEMENT 439 The British and Belgian Congo officials both have practically unlimited powers of supervision, but the manner in which this supervision is exercised is very different in each case. Apart from the right to examine and audit the accounts, the Belgian Congo official possesses a right of suspensive veto in respect of any decision of the manager, the board of management or the general meeting which he deems contrary to the law, to the by-laws or even to the interests of the association. Here again, it would appear that the legislator has tried to guard against the dangers of inexperienced management. The registrar does not seem to have the right of suspensive veto, but he possesses two very powerful weapons. He can cancel the registration of a society, and this puts an end to its legal existence and normally leads to its dissolution. He can also deal with any differences which arise between cooperators (or former co-operators) and between a co-operator and the society, its committee of management or its staff, between the society or its committee and a member of the staff, or between two societies. He can settle the difference himself, in which case his decision is final and without appeal; or, better still, he can have it settled by an arbitrator, reserving to himself the possibility of a final decision. He can also act on a written complaint by a third party who believes himself to be injured by a co-operative society; in this case the decision arrived at is enforceable in the same way as a court judgment. The law in the Belgian Congo does not give any of these powers to the representative of the provincial governor. He can merely refer the matter to the Governor, who can order the dissolution of the association only in certain definite circumstances (insufficient turnover, inability to fulfil its contracts, etc.). The legal position of co-operatives in French territories is not easy to define. These co-operatives arose and developed in French West Africa and in the French Cameroons before any coherent legislation on co-operatives had been put into force. An Act of 10 September 1947, dealing with the general status of co-operatives in France, which did not contain any particular provisions regarding overseas territories, was applied to all the territories of the French Union including overseas territories, by the addition of an article 28bis. In practice this Act proved to have serious drawbacks, and it was amended by Decree No. 55-184 of 2 February 1955, issued by the Minister for Overseas France, covering co-operation in territories under his jurisdiction. This decree was itself amended by Decrees Nos. 56-1136 of 13 November 1956 and 27-209 of 23 February 1957. Article 28 of the decree of 1955 provided that administrative regulations should determine the procedures governing its application— ... especially as concerns the appointment of the management, the duration and renewal of their authority, their powers and responsibilities, the working rules and quorum of the ordinary and extraordinary general meetings, the conditions for the organising and functioning of sectional meetings, the appointment of auditors and the scope of their authority, the keeping of account books, the reserves, and the division and distribution of surpluses, as well as the rules for the dissolution and liquidation of co-operative societies and their unions. The article added—" The same regulations shall determine the rules for the operation of the service of technical assistance to co-operatives." The second paragraph of the same article, amended by the decree of 23 February 1957, provided that " local assemblies may determine how the legislation relating to co-operatives is to be adapted to conditions in the territory ". Moreover, the decrees of 4 April 1957, which determine the functions of the territorial assemblies in French West 440 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Africa and in French Equatorial Africa and the Representative Assembly of Madagascar, gave jurisdiction to these assemblies as regards legislation on co-operatives. Similarly, the decree of 16 April 1957, dealing with the status of the Cameroons, lays down that the Legislative Assembly shall exercise jurisdiction in the sphere of co-operation. It appears that the administrative regulations envisaged by article 28 of the decree of 1955, the object of which was to make possible the application of the decree, have not yet been issued and will only be issued in the form and within the terms decided upon by the territorial assemblies or other competent authority. In spite, however, of the incomplete nature of the legislation co-operatives have been and are still being set up in the French territories. The decree of 1955 provides for exactly this situation, laying down in article 30: " The provisions of the Act of 10 September 1947, as well as article 24, remain provisionally applicable in toto pending the publication of the prescribed administrative instrument." This state of affairs has caused some inconvenience, since, as already indicated, the 1947 Act does not include any provision relating to the special situation of overseas territories. Taken as a whole the legislation in the French overseas territories concerning co-operatives has been marked, up till now, by the extreme freedom allowed to co-operators to organise and develop their associations in accordance with their wishes or the prevailing circumstances. Abuses have arisen, as will be shown later. The legislative authority has indeed acted, but the application of the reforms has not yet been worked out. Meanwhile the administration itself has endeavoured to straighten out the co-operative situation in a makeshift fashion. Some particulars follow later on this topic. In Somalia co-operatives are apparently treated as limited companies, and no special legislative provisions exist concerning them. Information concerning Portuguese territories in Africa is scarce. In Angola Decree No. 40405 of 24 November 1955 has provided for the development of the co-operative movement, while linking this development to that of the production of cotton. However, the decree lays down that the constitution of agricultural co-operative societies authorised to buy, store, gin, and sell cotton must be subordinated to the advancement of the indigenous population. The provincial governors have responsibility for promoting the co-operative movement (article 34 of the decree). In the Union of South Africa two different sets of laws on co-operatives exist. One regulates the functioning of European co-operatives and of certain African co-operatives. The other governs the working of credit co-operatives in the Transkei reserve. The events which gave rise to these two legal procedures must be described separately. In 1904 the Government of Natal was authorised by the Agricultural Development Act to make advances to co-operative societies created by planters, and some societies availed themselves of the loans thus placed at their disposal. In Cape Colony an Act of 1905 permitted the Government to make loans to co-operative societies. During the same year the Government of that colony appointed a superintendent of agricultural co-operation. At that time there was no special legislation in this field, and the co-operatives were registered in accordance with the regulations issued under the Companies Act. In the Transvaal an Act on agricultural co-operative societies was passed in 1908, and a similar one was enacted in the Orange Free State in 1910. In 1922 all these laws were repealed and a new THE CO-OPERATIVE MOVEMENT 441 Act applying to the whole of the Union was put into force. Finally, in 1939, the Co-operative Societies Act, which superseded all earlier legislation, was adopted.1 This Act follows the same lines as those in force in British territories. In general, co-operative organisations which can be registered under this Act may be divided into two categories: producers' organisations and commercial organisations (including, above all, consumers' co-operatives with limited liability). Producers' co-operatives include agricultural co-operative societies with unlimited liability, agricultural co-operatives with limited liability and special planters' cooperatives. These societies were established with the object of ensuring the processing and disposal of agricultural produce and of providing supplies for members employed in agriculture. The Act also provides for the constitution of central and federal societies. The special department responsible for carrying out the Act consists of a registrar, an assistant registrar and a number of inspectors. These officials come under the Department of Agriculture and are responsible to the Minister. No society can be registered without the approval of the Minister, who also approves the rules of newly constituted societies. Supervision is exercised, so that the only societies which are registered are those which have a fair chance of success. This administrative supervision aims at the avoidance of duplication and of competition between co-operatives, the encouragement of specialisation, and seeing that genuine co-operative principles are applied. The inspectors endeavour to advise the co-operators, serve as arbitrators in disputes, are present at meetings, give their help in the drafting of by-laws, conduct inquiries into misuse of funds and irregularities in the accounts and give advice on the running of the organisations. They also examine the annual accounts of the co-operatives and comment upon them where necessary. These legal provisions proved too complicated and too restrictive for another category of co-operatives which developed in the Transkei region, namely credit co-operatives. Separate legislation was accordingly adopted2 underwhich an organiser of indigenous credit co-operatives in the Transkei region must be appointed from among the employees of the General Council of the territory (Bunga). This officer is empowered to register the societies, audit their accounts, examine their books and exercise general supervision over them. These credit societies are, in certain respects, similar to the Raiffeisen organisations. They provide for the joint liability of their members in regard to the debts and obligations of the society. They should, however, be distinguished from societies of the Raiffeisen type in that members are required to contribute collectively a minimum capital of £20 and are prohibited from contracting outside loans. To sum up, the legal and administrative attitude of the governments of the African territories concerning co-operation is determined by the importance they place upon administrative supervision. In Portuguese and Belgian territories this occupies a prominent place; the administration follows closely, advises or directs the management of co-operatives, supervises nearly all their actions and is represented on their committees or at their meetings. In French territories the opposite 1 The Co-operative Societies Act, No. 29 of 1939 (amended by sections 27 and 28 of the Finance Act, No. 46 of 1944). 2 Proclamation No. 191 of 1934 as amended by No. 215 of 1946. 442 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY situation prevails, so much so that the new legislation has not yet been brought into force. There co-operators enjoy almost absolute freedom and manage their undertakings at their own risk and peril. In all the British territories great importance is attached to the training of co-operators. This task requires much patience, for such training cannot be imparted quickly, but the evolution of the cooperative movement proceeds eventually more easily and more fruitfully. DEVELOPMENT OF THE CO-OPERATIVE MOVEMENT IN AFRICA Belgian Territories On 31 December 1955 there were in the Belgian Congo 39 co-operatives recognised under the 1949 decree, totalling 100,560 members. Supply and consumers' co-operatives numbered 15, but only amounted to 2,422 members. The great majority of members (about 98 per cent.) came from the rural areas. Moreover, there were on that date 16 co-operatives set up under the decree of 1921, totalling 5,009 members, of which 292 were from indigenous districts or chefs de terres. In Ruanda-Urundi there were on the same date four consumers' cooperatives with 1,142 members and five rural producers' co-operatives with 18,593 members, making a total of nine societies and 19,735 co-operators. There were also two co-operatives, authorised under the decree of 1921, with 134 members. There have been some failures and the development of the co-operative movement has not been very fast. These failures and this slow development have generally been attributed to the following causes: (a) a number of co-operatives were founded without adequate preliminary preparation ; (b) the supervision provided by the decree of 1949 was too strict. On the other hand, in certain provinces it was non-existent; (c) members of co-operatives have not participated sufficiently in their management ; (d) competent staif, European or African, has been lacking, both within the co-operatives and the administration; and (e) the methods of financing laid down in the decree of 1949 were hedged around with too many restrictions. These last two points are regarded as the most important.1 British Territories Gambia. The legislation in force 2 in Gambia is chiefly marked by its very precise indications as to the procedure to be followed by the committee of management and the duties of the secretary and the treasurer appointed by the committee. By 1957 Gambia had 25 co-operative societies, totalling 1,560 members. Fourteen of these societies are village produce-marketing societies which in the 1956-57 season handled almost £16,000 worth of produce. 1 2 "La nouvelle législation coopérative au Congo ", loe cit., pp. 224 and 225. The System of co-operatives in Gambia is regulated by Ordinance No. 4 of 1950 (the Cooperative Societies' Ordinance), and Regulation No. 6 of 1951 (the Co-operative Societies' Rules, 1951). THE CO-OPERATIVE MOVEMENT 443 Nigeria. The first efforts to set up co-operatives in Nigeria took place during the years 1922-23. These resulted in a co-operative for the production and marketing of cocoa. Legislation concerning co-operatives dates from 1935.1 A service, transformed later into a Department of Co-operation, was set up and played a leading role in the promotion and supervision of the co-operative movement. At the beginning of the movement, the co-operative societies played a double role. They enabled the farmers to bypass the numerous Syrian and African intermediaries who had controlled, up to that time, the marketing of the cocoa when harvested. Later, a certain number began to specialise as thrift and credit co-operatives. They thus had three objectives: (a) to reduce the heavy weight of indebtedness among the wage earners; (b) to collect capital, so as to allow the subsequent development of the cooperatives ; (c) to instruct the more educated members in co-operative methods and so create a more valuable staff for existing and future co-operatives.2 In 1951, as a result of decentralisation measures which had been adopted, the Department of Co-operation was replaced by several regional departments. In the Northern Region, however, the Co-operation Service was brought under the general administration. From 1951 to 1955 the total number of co-operatives in the Northern Region grew from 125 to 247, and the number of members, which was 5,347 in 1953, rose to 7,969 by 1955. At the end of the year 1953 there were 32 thrift and credit cooperatives, 88 thrift co-operatives, 20 consumers' co-operatives and four agricultural marketing co-operatives. There were, in addition, four unions of thrift co-operatives and one union of consumers' co-operatives. From 1951 to October 1954 the total number of co-operatives in the Western Region increased from 350 to 586. In this region agricultural marketing co-operatives occupy the leading place. In 1951 they already numbered 276 out of a total of 350. These co-operatives are proof of a remarkable spirit of initiative. They showed this specially in founding the Nigerian Association of Export Co-operatives. In 1953 this Association attained third place among the licensed buyers attached to the Cocoa Marketing Board. By October 1954 the Co-operative Bank of Western Nigeria, which was set up to make up for the lack of available capital, already had 300 member co-operatives in the region. Also to be recorded is the increase in the number of agricultural producers' co-operatives there. The funds put at the disposal of the Cocoa Marketing Board have been used by it for the development of Western Nigerian production. The Board undertakes the work of surveying and registering individual plots of land as a prelude to their being worked communally, and meets the expenses of clearing the land and sowing the first crop. Advances are liquidated from the amounts accruing from the first crop. In the Eastern Region the number of primary co-operatives rose between March 1 The following legislation applies to co-operatives in Nigeria: Ordinance on Co-operative Societies (No. 39 of 1935), amended in 1938 (No. 11 of 1938) and 1945 (No. 68 of 1945), and replaced in the Northern Region by an Ordinance of 1956 (No. 9 of 1956). The Regulations of 1936 (No. 6 of 1936), amended in 1939 (No. 13 of 1939) and in 1945 (No. 32 of 1945), lay down how this legislation is to be applied. 2 Co-operation in the Colonies, op. cit., p. 62. 444 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY 1951 and March 1955 from 537 to 850, the number of their members from 31,803 to 41,993, and the number of their unions or federations from 22 to 42 (including two banks, 31 local and one regional audit unions, seven marketing unions and supply unions). The most striking development has been that of the rural thrift and credit co-operatives, which, increasing in number from 313 to 682, represented at the end of this period four-fifths of the total number of co-operatives in the region. The number of their members almost doubled (from 14,105 to 26,283). They are, taken as a whole, remarkably well run.1 Some of these co-operatives engage in secondary activities such as the preparation of palm oil by means of hand presses. One union of marketing co-operatives received a loan of £2,000 from the regional loans office to allow it to build and work a mill for the processing of coffee beans. There also exist maternity co-operatives, which contribute to the improvement of public health in the rural areas. Attempts at setting up handicraft co-operatives and agricultural producers' co-operatives have also been made. British Cameroons. In the Cameroons the Government has adopted a definite policy of encouraging peasant agriculture and of giving the co-operative movement a major place in economic development. To this end it has allowed co-operative societies to participate in new economic ventures and has encouraged among other things co-operative processing and provision of credit. As a result the number of primary cocoa co-operatives has increased from 21 in 1952 to 50 in 1956, membership from 1,000 to 3,000, and the amount of cocoa marketed from 471 to 1,450 tons. Coffee is marketed by the Cameroons Co-operative Exports for its members, who are, however, equally free to sell through private channels. The number of primary societies among coffee farmers increased from seven to 30 between 1952 and 1956. Membership was 2,500 in the latter year and the amount of coffee marketed was 475 tons out of a total crop in 1955-56 of 750 tons. Banana co-operatives now export the total peasant production of bananas, which in 1956 amounted to 443,000 stems or one-tenth of the total production of the territory (the rest being from plantations) and are handling more every year. Sierra Leone. In its main features the Sierra Leone system closely approaches that of Nigeria. The Sierra Leone Ordinance 2 is, however, a little less detailed than the ordinance of 1956 applying to the Northern Region of Nigeria, and does not prescribe, for example, what matters must be included in the by-laws. But, as the registrar will not accept for registration a society whose by-laws do not conform to the legal stipulations, this difference is not of great importance. From 1950 to 1953, the number of recognised co-operatives rose from 29 to 87, and the number of their members from 1,824 to 4,047. The most numerous societies are the producers' and marketing co-operatives, which grew from 12 in 1950 to 68 in 1953. Their membership in the same period expanded from 287 to 3,072; the members were for the most part producers of piassava and cocoa. The second group of co-operatives, in order of importance, is the group of credit societies 1 See M. COLOMBAIN: "Comment implanter la coopération en Afrique: l'exemple de la Nigeria ", in Coopération (Paris), p. 18. 2 Co-operative Societies Ordinance, No. 20 of 1939, and Regulation of 1950. THE CO-OPERATIVE MOVEMENT 445 with unlimited liability. These co-operatives grew from three in number in 1950 to 12 in 1953, and their membership from 205 to 550. Kenya. The legislative authority which governed the system of co-operatives in Kenya was, for many years, the Co-operative Ordinance (No. 24 of 1931). This ordinance was inadequate for the regulation of the African societies because it made no provision for their guidance during their early stages. In 1944 a specialist of wide experience, Mr. W. K. H. Campbell, was sent to Kenya by the Colonial Office to conduct an inquiry into the possibilities of developing co-operation in the territory. In 1945 a new instrument, the Co-operative Societies Ordinance (No. 38 of 1945), was put into force, followed in 1946 by regulations (the Co-operative Societies Rules, 1946) issued as a Government Notice (No. 812). These new texts are similar in content to those in force in British West Africa. But even before the enactment of these provisions European associations had already been formed in Kenya on a co-operative basis. The oldest and most prosperous of these is The Kenya Farmers' Association, founded in 1924 to ensure the processing and marketing of the agricultural products of the European farmers (principally wheat and maize). Mention should also be made of a co-operative dairy, The Kenya Co-operative Creameries, and a co-operative of planters, the Kenya Planters' Co-operative Union, which are also very important. The Kenya Farmers' Association numbered 3,751 members at the end of the year 1953. The registered share capital subscribed by the co-operators had reached £864,881, reinvested capital totalled £561,909, and total reserves amounted to £376,265. The Asian population of Kenya has its own co-operatives, among which may be cited a producers' co-operative, the Nyanza Farmers' Co-operative Society (which is devoted to the production of sugar cane) and several consumers' co-operatives. Some African co-operative groups were already in existence prior to the Second World War to carry out the marketing of vegetable produce and coffee of their members, but the co-operative movement did not expand until after the end of the war. At the end of 1945, when the new Co-operatives Ordinance was put into effect, a registrar was appointed and a Co-operation Department was set up. The first task of the registrar and his administration was to instruct members and the secretaries of the committees of management in the conduct of affairs and the keeping of account books. African co-operatives, particularly producers' and marketing co-operatives, thereupon made rapid progress. In 1946 the number of registered African co-operatives was nine and the number of members 2,515, while their total assets amounted to £16,395. In December 1955 the number of registered co-operatives had grown to 333, of which 294 were producers' and marketing co-operative societies, 18 were consumers' societies, 12 were credit societies, and nine were miscellaneous. The membership had grown to 51,039 and the registered share capital subscribed by members to £1,493,778. Producers' co-operatives specialise in various fields, including coffee, pyrethrum, tanning, maize, dairy products and fruit, while others confine themselves to the raising of pigs and poultry. A school for instructing the African personnel attached to the co-operation departments in the various territories of East Africa was established at Kabete at the beginning of 1952. A considerable number of officials of the co-operation service have already taken its courses. 446 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Mauritius. The first piece of legislation in this territory relating to co-operative societies was enacted in July 1913 and laid down rules for the constitution and control of credit co-operative societies. The most recent legislative instrument is the Co-operative Societies Ordinance No. 51 of 1945, amended by Ordinances Nos. 66 of 1946 and 3 of 1956. There also exist Co-operative Regulations dating from 1947. These regulations are very detailed, and some of the clauses are of a special nature. Thus, one of them expressly gives power to co-operatives to enter into agreements for the sale of sugar cane. The value of this clause is clear when it is recalled that the majority of the societies registered are credit co-operatives and that many of the members are cultivators of sugar cane and have received from these societies advances on their crops. The co-operator who is thus indebted to the society sells his sugar-cane crop through the society to a factory unless he has already entered into a similar agreement and authorised the society in writing to receive the proceeds of the sale. Co-operators who are not so indebted are free to make individual contracts with the factory. Another clause in the regulations enables societies to obtain financial assistance from the Government. Loans are granted free of interest during the first two years, but carry interest after that at the rate of Z1/^ per cent. Other clauses, just as detailed, lay down the conditions in which credit societies can make loans to their members and the manner in which repayment must be effected. The progress of the co-operative movement in the island is revealed by the following figures : in 1937 there existed 35 registered co-operatives with 2,078 members, and in December 1956 there were 332, with 31,252 members. Among these societies there were one co-operative union (consisting of 193 primary societies), an agricultural co-operative federation (consisting of 130 agricultural credit and marketing societies), one central co-operative bank, one wholesale society, 161 credit societies with unlimited liability, three credit societies with limited liability, 35 thrift societies, 16 school savings banks, 73 retail consumers' co-operatives, one marketing society, four housing societies, one printing society, 11 transport societies and one provident society (including a tailoring shop and a kindergarten). Total turnover amounted to Rs.33,843,164, while the registered share capital subscribed by the co-operators amounted to Rs. 1,324,656. During recent years the principal task of the co-operatives in Mauritius has been to reduce and make more bearable the indebtedness of a large part of the population devoted to the cultivation of sugar cane. Sugar-cane planters badly need credit to subsist through the slack period during which the crop ripens. The instability of the sugar market has made the assistance of the co-operative societies especially valuable. Tanganyika. Co-operative organisation was developed in Tanganyika1 from an association which brought together African farmers in the Kilimanjaro district. This association, founded in 1922, was first called The Association of African Planters of Kilimanjaro. It was formed to oppose a campaign organised by the European 1 The legislation dealing with co-operative societies in Tanganyika is: Ordinance No. 7 of 1932 on Co-operative Societies, amended particularly by Ordinance No. 26 of 1944 and by Ordinance No. 12 of 1955. These texts follow the Colonial Office model. THE CO-OPERATIVE MOVEMENT 447 colonists against the cultivation of coffee by indigenous inhabitants. The campaign in question arose from the planters' fears of the possible spread of epidemic diseases from the coffee shrubs in the poorly maintained plantations of the Africans. The Association of African Planters took on a co-operative character in 1932 when the Co-operative Societies Ordinance came into force. The Association was divided into several primary producers' co-operatives, all of them belonging to the African Co-operative Union of Kilimanjaro. Since then many other co-operatives have been created and a number of African Coffee Boards have been established to maintain the quality of coffee produced by Africans. The growth of the co-operative movement in Tanganyika is revealed by the following figures: at the end of the year 1947 there were in Tanganyika 70 cooperative societies, of which 55 were African primary marketing co-operatives, two African co-operative unions, two primary European marketing societies, two European consumers' societies, one African consumers' society, five Indian credit societies, two African wholesale societies and one African transport society. In December 1955 the co-operative societies of Tanganyika numbered 311, among which were 228 African primary marketing societies affiliated to one union, 53 African primary marketing societies which were not affiliated, 16 African unions of marketing co-operatives, three multi-racial primary marketing societies which were not affiliated, and also five Asian credit societies, two African wholesale societies, three African consumers' societies and one European consumers' society. The total number of members attained 237,823 and the subscribed share capital amounted to £130,575. The Union of Marketing Co-operatives of Ngoni Matengo has its own tobacco manufacturing plant, while the Victoria Federation of Unions has started to build a cotton-ginning factory. The shares of the Tanganyika Coffee Processing Company belong half to the Association of Coffee Planters and half to the Native Coffee Board of Moshi. The African Co-operative Union of Rungwe holds 75 per cent, of the capital shares of the Rice Milling Company of Ipinda. Finally, the Native Co-operative Union of Bukoba possesses 51 per cent, of the capital shares of the Coffee Processing Company of Bukoba. Uganda. The history of the legislation of Uganda in regard to co-operation is closely linked with the history of the co-operative movement itself. In 1920 certain Uganda Africans joined together to form the Buganda Planters' Association. Their object was to make known to the Government the views of the African cotton planters—an extremely important step, as the branch was dominated by a powerful financial consortium which had invested capital in cotton growing. In 1922 the Association became a society for marketing the cotton crop. It grew, bringing in planters from the various parts of Buganda, which later resulted in the formation of a series of primary producers' and marketing co-operatives affiliated to the Uganda Planters' Co-operative Union. In 1935 the Co-operative Union was formally constituted. A draft Co-operative Ordinance was drawn up, but at its first reading in the Legislative Council on 12 March 1937 strong opposition came from the non-official members of the Council. A special Commission of Inquiry was set up and the draft ordinance was withdrawn. At the end of the Second World War, as a result of an inquiry undertaken by Mr. W. K. H. Campbell, a new draft was drawn up on the lines of the model ordinance sent out by the Secretary of State for the Colonies, and this draft later became the Co-operative Societies 448 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Ordinance No. 5 of 1946. This legislation, as well as the regulations which accompanied it, worked well for several years. In 1952 there were various signs that new developments were taking place in the territory and that the law should take account of them. These developments resulted from the setting up of co-operative groups or quasi-co-operatives of planters, which, on account of their nature, could not be registered under the terms of the existing ordinance. A Commission of Inquiry was set up at the beginning of 1952, following on which new legislation was passed amending the earlier Co-operative Societies Ordinance. Co-operative development in Uganda can be summarised as follows. At the end of 1946 no society had yet been registered, but there existed in fact a certain number of co-operative groups which were not recognised, and in particular a little over 50 agricultural produce marketing societies (of which 23 were affiliated to the Uganda Planters' Co-operative Union), three or four retail supply co-operative societies, and six consumers' co-operative societies. In December 1950 there were already 273 registered societies, including two co-operative unions, 255 primary marketing societies, ten consumers' and supply societies, four thrift societies and two fisheries' societies. There were altogether 24,993 co-operators, who had subscribed a share capital of £23,147 17s. In December 1955 there were 1,110 registered societies, of which 1,066 were marketing societies. The number of co-operators had risen to 117,911, money transactions exceeded £4 million and the share capital subscribed by the co-operatives amounted to £218,372. By 1956 the co-operators had bought or built ten cotton-ginning plants and six of the 12 licensed coffee-processing undertakings in the territory. The cotton-ginning plants were in part acquired by the Government1 and then transferred to the co-operatives on certain conditions. The societies were required to pay to the Government one-third of the necessary capital for the purchase, the balance being lent by the Government against an undertaking to repay within 30 years, on the basis of 5.75 per cent, a year, to cover interest and the liquidation of the debt. At the moment of transfer to the co-operatives, the latter are required to pay a sum equivalent to the total value of the shares on the basis of an estimate made at the time of acquisition. The average cost of such a transfer comes to about £40,000. By April 1957 11 ginning plants had become the property of six co-operative unions. In operating plants, the unions have to employ as far as possible African personnel, but generally they engage non-African directors and engineers. Twenty thousand bales of cotton are processed annually by the co-operatives. The Co-operative Union of Bugisu, consisting of 103 primary societies and 47,543 members, deals with the processing and marketing of the whole coffee crop of the area. Apart from cotton and coffee, producers' marketing societies also deal in tobacco, groundnuts, milk, fish and cattle on a small scale. A start has been made on co-operative farming societies. There is a tendency for the producers' societies to take up new activities such as the supply of materials and the operation of savings and credit schemes. 1 Under the Cotton Ginning Act of April 1952. It is interesting to notice how the marketing co-operatives came to undertake the purchase of ginning plant. A registrar estimated that if a member of a cotton co-operative of 50 members received annually about 400 shillings for his crop, he could, without much sacrifice, contribute 20 shillings (about £1) towards the purchase of a £1 share in his society. The co-operative on this basis could invest £50, and, when 100 co-operatives grouped together to form a union, the accumulated funds of all these societies (£5,000) could allow the union to undertake the purchase of a plant. This is what was done. See A. G. KERR: " Agricultural Co-operation in Uganda ", in Tropical Agriculture (London, Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture), Vol. 34, No. 2, Apr. 1957, p. 106. THE CO-OPERATIVE MOVEMENT 449 Zanzibar. The development of the co-operative movement in Zanzibar has been slow.1 In 1952 small groups of rice farmers joined together to form co-operative societies and were thus able to secure credit facilities to finance the mechanisation of their lands. The co-operative movement tended thus towards the formation of credit societies, whose principal function is to aid the fanners. In December 1955 there existed in Zanzibar 21 co-operative societies, including 11 credit societies, two consumers' societies, one marketing society and seven general purpose societies. The number of members was 678 and the share capital amounted to £ 2,156. Northern Rhodesia. In Northern Rhodesia, as in some of the other African territories, the legislation governing co-operative affairs has been enacted piecemeal. The Co-operative Societies Ordinance (No. 11 of 1914) contained little to encourage the promotion of African co-operatives. Up to 1947 there existed only European co-operatives chiefly devoted to the production and marketing of tobacco, coffee and maize, or stock rearing and the sale of cattle. In February 1948 a new ordinance, the Co-operative Societies Ordinance (No. 4 of 1948), drawn up on the basis of the model provided by the Secretary of State for the Colonies, was enacted. It was later amended by Ordinances No. 35 of 1948 and No. 53 of 1950. Its scope was almost identical to that of the ordinances of the other territories framed on the basis of the same model. The appearance of this legislation permitted the formation of a certain number of African co-operatives. Although on 31 December 1947 only nine co-operatives had been registered, all European (of which seven were marketing co-operatives, one a consumers' co-operative, and one a credit co-operative), at the end of 1948 there were already 35 registered co-operatives, including 23 African societies, of which eight were consumers' societies, six marketing societies, two co-operative wholesale societies, six thrift and loan societies, and one a provident society. Since that time the African co-operative movement has to some extent changed its character. The producers' and marketing co-operatives have unmistakably developed more rapidly than other co-operatives, and are now by far the most numerous. They cover the marketing of the maize, tobacco, cassava, groundnuts, cotton, and rice grown by African farmers. On 31 December 1955 there existed in Northern Rhodesia 140 registered co-operative societies, including 89 marketing societies, 19 consumers' and supplies societies, one credit society, and 31 general purpose co-operatives. The number of their membership reached 15,482. The European marketing societies, on their side, continued to prosper. A large part of the Virginia and Turkish tobacco harvest gathered by the European planters is disposed of through the Tobacco Co-operative Society of Northern Rhodesia, which also maintains the quality of the produce and thus fulfils the function of a Tobacco Board. Dairy produce is dealt with by the powerful Creamery Cooperative Society of Northern Rhodesia. Nyasaland. A Co-operatives Registrar was appointed in Nyasaland2 in the early part of 1947. At the beginning of 1948 there were in Nyasaland 14 registered 1 Co-operative legislation in Zanzibar is the Co-operative Societies Decree No. 7 of 1948 and regulations of the same year. 2 The legislation on co-operatives is the Co-operatives Societies Ordinance No. 20 of 1946. 450 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY co-operative societies, of which 12 were consumers' societies, one a producers' society (dairy produce) and one a mutual benefit society. In Nyasaland, as in the neighbouring territories, producers' and marketing societies grew much more rapidly than other co-operatives. At the end of 1954 there were 66 registered co-operative societies, including 16 consumers' societies, 44 producers' and marketing societies (among which there were 36 dairies, two coffee producers' societies and six rice-growers' societies), one supplies society, four co-operative unions, and one flour-milling society (maize). At the end of 1956, there were 81 registered co-operatives, of which 65 were marketing societies, 13 consumers' societies, and three miscellaneous co-operatives. The number of members amounted to 6,075. Southern Rhodesia. Three pieces of legislation deal with co-operation in Southern Rhodesia. The first two are the Africultural Co-operative Societies Ordinance No. 7 of 19091, and Act No. 34 of 1925 on Co-operative Organisations (amended by Act No. 44 of 1938). These two instruments diner in that the Co-operative Organisations Act deals only with co-operatives with limited liability, while the Co-operative Societies Ordinance covers co-operatives with unlimited liability. These two texts could not easily be applied to African co-operatives. Accordingly a Co-operative Societies Act (No 13 of 1956) was passed which came into force on 1 June 1956. Co-operative Society Regulations were also issued in 1956. This Act and the regulations follow the lines of the legislation prevailing in other British territories. It is not yet possible to say how the co-operative movement has developed in Southern Rhodesia since this Act came into operation. A registrar, who has oversight over the co-operative societies, has been appointed, as well as two African inspectors of co-operatives. The European agricultural co-operatives deal mainly with the production and marketing of Turkish tobacco, potatoes and sunflower seeds. Most of them receive financial assistance from the Land Bank of Southern Rhodesia. High Commission Territories (Bechuanaland, Swaziland and Basutoland). The only one of these territories which possesses any co-operative movement is Basutoland. In this territory the movement was non-existent, practically speaking, until the year 1948. Certain groups which tried to adopt co-operative principles found themselves hampered by the absence of adequate legislation or administrative supervision. In January 1948 a registrar was appointed and spent several months instructing interested Africans in the technique and advantages of co-operative societies. On 27 August 1948 a proclamation was issued and regulations were published on the basis of models in use in the other British territories. The co-operatives which seemed to succeed best were marketing co-operatives. They promoted the sale of wool and mohair (the hair of angora goats), wool being the principal export product of the territory. In 1949 there existed three of these co-operatives, the number of members being 142 and the subscribed share capital amounting to £142. In 1955 they numbered 14, the total membership being 2,438 and the subscribed share capital amounting to £2,270. The number of consumers' co-operatives declined slightly from 14 in 1949 to ten in 1955, and their activity has been limited. There also exist agricultural co-operative societies which are at the 1 No. 7 of 1909 amended by No. 18 of 1911, No. 16 of 1917, No. 7 of 1919 and No. 37 of 1938. THE CO-OPERATIVE MOVEMENT 451 same time marketing societies, supply societies, and thrift societies. These increased from four in 1949 to nine in 1955. Twelve mechanised-farming co-operatives and two thrift societies were recently set up. Taken as a whole the co-operative movement appears to be prospering. Ghana The first co-operative experiment in this territory1, which was then the Gold Coast, goes back to 1929. From the beginning, the co-operative movement in the country was closely linked to the production and marketing of cocoa from African plantations. Of the 419 societies existing in 1938, 385 depended on the cultivation of cocoa. This explains why, during the early years, administrative supervision of co-operatives was exercised by the Department of Agriculture, whose head acted in the capacity of registrar. It seems that the Administration placed too heavy a hand on the working of co-operatives at the beginning. The result naturally was that a certain indifference was shown by the Africans to organisations whose accounts and administration were almost entirely handled by officials. From 1934 onwards a movement developed to " democratise " the co-operatives, which took over the responsibility of paying their secretaries and, later, of managing their organisations by means of committees elected from the members. On 1 March 1944 a special Co-operatives Department was created. The growth of the movement can be summed up as follows. In 1930 there existed 31 societies, with 946 members. The subscribed share capital amounted to £1,329. In 1938 the number of co-operatives amounted to 419, the membership to 11,155, and the subscribed share capital to £29,042. The war period brought about a decline in the movement. In 1944 the number of co-operatives had fallen to not more than 250, the number of members to 7,021, and the subscribed share capital to £25,608. The movement expanded again after the war; in March 1955 the number of registered co-operatives reached the total of 443, the number of members had risen to 41,500, and the subscribed share capital amounted to £576,000. Among the societies registered, marketing co-operatives formed the great majority. In March 1955 there existed 376 of them, grouped into 16 co-operative unions. These 16 unions formed, in their turn, a central association, the Co-operative Marketing Association, which is at the present time, it would seem, the chief agency in the territory for the purchase of cocoa from the farmers. This Association covers the marketing of more than a fifth of the total cocoa crop of Ghana. Another very important central organisation is the Co-operative Bank, created in 1944, which serves both as a clearing-house for the marketing co-operatives and as a medium of credit and finance for organisations or individuals, whether attached or not to the co-operative movement. This banking unit, which has succeeded in giving a high interest rate on its deposits, realised net profits of £9,644 in 1953-54. Finally, the existence of a third central organisation should be noted, namely the Co-operative Union (now the Alliance of Ghana Co-operatives), registered in December 1951. The object of this Alliance is to promote knowledge of co-operation and to give co-operative instruction to the members and staff of the co-operatives. It publishes a monthly periodical called Co-operative News and gives financial 1 Here an ordinance of 1931 on Co-operatives was repealed and replaced by Ordinance No. 15 of 1937, amended by Ordinance No. 11 of 1938, No. 4 of 1944, No. 10 of 1950 and No. 26 of 1951. This ordinance differs only in detail from the legislation in Nigeria and in other British territories. 452 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY assistance to employees of the co-operatives who attend the Co-operative College at Loughborough, England. The Alliance, which is supported by the Government, acts in a liaison capacity between the Administration and the co-operative movement. In June 1954 it appointed two of its employees to undertake various functions exercised until that time by the Co-operatives Department, especially work preparatory to the actual formation of the co-operatives. The number of the Alliances' employees and their functions is progressively expanding in such a manner that a large part of the supervisory duties and the administration of co-operatives are being taken over by the Alliance. Consumers' co-operatives have steadily declined in number and importance in the territory. In 1951-52 there still existed 39 primary societies, but in 1955 there were not more than six. The prevailing credit conditions in the territory are not favourable to this type of co-operative. French Territories French West Africa. The history of the co-operative movement in French West Africa is complex. In its beginnings it was chiefly European. In fact, the first consumers' co-operatives, opened in 1926 in the Niger region, were co-operatives of European officials. Similar co-operatives were founded in 1931 in the Ivory Coast and in 1936 in Guinea. The war and the ensuing difficulties of obtaining supplies favoured the growth of the movement, which began to spread among Africans, but the return to normal slowed up the activity of these organisations. Among the 80 consumers' co-operatives which existed at the beginning of 1957 were some which were also producers' co-operatives (particularly in Senegal). Most of these were co-operatives of officials and thus were composed of members already used to discipline. Several had only a very small number of members.1 It was the producers' agricultural co-operatives which had most success, but their development was hindered by many difficulties. As with the consumers' co-operatives, the movement was chiefly European to begin with. Following the world economic crisis of 1929-31, a decree reorganising agricultural credit was issued in 1931. As a result of this, European planters' co-operatives were set up in the Ivory Coast, from 1932 onwards, to benefit from the new provisions in regard to loans. However, with the return of economic stability, several of these co-operatives went out of existence. It was only after the war, in 1945, that a general cooperative movement, bringing together not only European producers but African farmers as well, was able to gather force. The movement appeared to draw its strength from a reaction against the activities of the provident societies and the commercial methods of the local middlemen. A provident society, which is sometimes referred to as a pre-co-operative organisation, is " an association inspired by administrative action, whose purpose is to improve and encourage indigenous agricultural production and, generally speaking, to get the African farmer into the right attitude towards co-operation ".'■ä 1 See on this subject Fernand WIBAUX: " L'organisation des coopératives en Afrique occidentale française ", in Revue des études coopératives (Paris, Presses universitaires de France), No. 94, Oct.-Dec. 1953, pp. 210-212. 2 Fernand WIBAUX : " Le mouvement coopératif en Afrique occidentale française ", Doctorate Thesis of the Faculty of Law, Paris, deposited on 14 March 1953, pp. 29 and 30. THE CO-OPERATIVE MOVEMENT 453 In their present form they are regulated by a decree of 4 July 1919, amended by decrees of 5 December 1923 and 9 November 1933. The author just quoted clearly shows what a hold the public authorities have on the provident societies, drawing his evidence from the conditions imposed on the founding of these societies as well as from their internal structure. They are established under orders issued by the Governor and are approved by the Governor-General; in addition, it is the Governor who decides their financial procedure, fixes contribution rates and lays down the dates for the opening and closing of their financial year. The committee of management is presided over by the area officer, the district officer or some other official appointed by the Governor. The secretary-treasurer himself is an official or government agent, designated by the Governor on the recommendation of the area officer. The vice-chairman of the committee of management is chosen by the Governor, on the advice of the area officer, from a list of three meiAbers submitted by the committee of management. Moreover, the transactions of the societies are subject to strict control by a supervisory board, the majority of whose members are officials, and also to periodic inspection carried out by the inspectors of Overseas France and by the inspectors of administrative affairs. It is none the less true that these organisations remain, legally, private associations endowed with corporate personality, and it would be wrong to regard them as essentially of the nature of a public service.1 It is not necessary to describe in detail here the working of the provident societies, which cannot properly be called co-operatives. It is sufficient to note that these societies have important functions in relation to agricultural development, socially and economically. They have, without question, rendered great services to the Africans. Unfortunately, during the Second World War, they were used as a means for requisitioning, and this departure from their proper functions produced considerable dissatisfaction.2 Moreover, in addition to bearing the stigma of their wartime functions, the provident societies have had the misfortune to be, in the eyes of the Africans, mere off-shoots of the government and it is a fact that the officials who direct them have often had a tendency to look upon them simply as a government agency.3 The unpopularity to which their activities have given rise has been still further enhanced by the contrast between the compulsory character of membership of the provident societies and the political freedoms granted under the Constitution of 1946 to the peoples of Overseas France.4 African peasants want to participate in organisations which are independent of the administration and free from all red tape. They also need organisations which are capable of competing successfully with, and replacing, the local middlementraders, whose activities have become really oppressive. This situation has been described as follows: The fact is that the big exporting firms, either directly or using Lebanese-Syrians and Dioulas as middlemen, are bleeding the country white The method is always the same. At the beginning of the winter sowing the farmer, being short of money, goes to the trader, who lends him the supplies he needs. The trader, knowing exactly how to estimate the size of his client's annual crops, lends him the supplies and essential imple1 " Le mouvement coopératif en Afrique occidentale française ", op. cit., p. 30. -3 " L'organisation des coopératives en Afrique occidentale française ", op. cit., p. 213. Coopération agricole (Paris), Nov. 1955, p. 16. 4 " L'organisation des coopératives en Afrique occidentale française ", op. cit., p. 213. 454 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY ments on unbeatable terms. But, after the harvesting and well before the opening of the sales, he collects the crop from his debtors, pays for it at the lowest rate, and leaves the farmer only enough to pay his taxes. The result is a process of ever-growing indebtedness, while each trader increases his profits to an extent that cannot be hidden from the eyes of the producers.1 It was in order to overcome this state of affairs that co-operatives, more or less on the official pattern, were set up in 1945. With the passing of the Act of 10 September 1947, the movement rapidly expanded. It is principally in Senegal that this expansion has taken place. The first four agricultural producers' and marketing co-operatives were established there in the course of the year 1947-48 with the object of marketing the groundnut crops of their members. During the first year they sold 6,352 tons, making a net profit of 6,230,051 francs. The following year (1948-49), the coíoperatives numbered 27 and disposed of 28,877 tons. In 1949-50 there were 49 co-operatives, which disposed of 63,000 tons, and, in 1950-51, 77 co-operatives which collected and marketed 86,836 tons. Finally, by 1952, 214 co-operatives had been established. However, these co-operatives needed resources. As has been stated above, the African farmers were in the habit of borrowing from the traders the supplies which they needed. In order to overcome this problem the co-operatives had to have considerable sums at their disposal. These sums were put up as state loans by the issuing bank and, eventually, by the trading firms and the oil-processing companies. In the course of their first season the co-operatives secured an advance of 61,500,000 francs, which was entirely repaid when it fell due. During their second year they received about 200 million. In the third year (1949-50) 34 co-operatives obtained an advance of 567,863,000 francs from the bank, under a guarantee from the Administration, and also 470 million from business concerns and the oil-processing companies. This advance was also repaid at maturity. In the fourth year (1950-51) the co-operatives received 300,700,000 francs in bank advances backed by the administration guarantee, and, in addition, 1,600 million from business concerns and the oil companies. Then disaster occurred; most of the co-operatives found themselves incapable of repaying their debts. This situation became still worse during the following year, and by the end of the 1951-52 season the co-operatives owed nearly 300 million to the issuing bank or the public Treasury, and 200 million to the oil-processing companies. This setback was due to several causes: the excessive number of co-operatives in relation to the extent of the territory they covered and their total membership ; the inefficiency of the co-operatives' staffs, involving errors in management, miscalculations and even fraud; and, also, departures from co-operative policy owing to the presence of a majority of traders on the committees of management. These traders, fearing that control of the market might escape them, joined the committees of management of the co-operatives, which were only too happy to be able to draw upon their commercial experience. The result was the transformation of the cooperatives into commercial companies. No dividend was distributed any longer to the producers, since " the profits, which were very great, were swallowed up by heavy overheads, caused by overstaffing in the lower ranks, and the payment of excessive salaries to the managers and senior staff ".2 The Government has tried to set the co-operative movement on the proper path again and to this end has set up pilot co-operative sections. Each region of 1 2 " L'organisation des coopératives en Afrique occidentale française ", pp. 213 and 214. Ibid., pp. 223 and 224. THE CO-OPERATIVE MOVEMENT 455 Senegal was divided into sections according to the nature of its economy, and a pilot co-operative was set up in each. These sections are private companies ; their members are peasants who join together to protect their interests. They collect groundnuts on behalf of their members, thus acting as marketing co-operatives. Each of the sections also includes a certain number of purchasing units called " cells ". The heads of the village markets, who are also the family chiefs, designate cell representatives, who form the management committee of the section. The cell is run by a paid weighman, equipped with a scale, who keeps simple accounts. During the season he is supervised periodically by a foreman, who is put in charge of the pilot section. This foreman looks after cash payments, supervises the collection, and co-ordinates transport arrangements. The sections are governed by a co-operative union known as the " Entente ", which has a committee of management made up of the representatives of the sections. It is a private company having for its object the promotion in French Africa of the co-operative movement under various forms and the supervision of all companies or undertakings having identical or similar objectives. The administration of the union is carried on by two seconded government officials. The union arranges the financing of the sections, plans their working methods, protects their material and legal interests, studies the best means of disposing of the harvested groundnuts and selects their markets. It exercises, therefore, at one and the same time both supervisory and commercial functions. Although enjoying real legal and financial autonomy, the co-operative " Entente " and the co-operative sections are unquestionably of official origin. They were financed in the beginning, with the help of an official guarantee, by a bank advance of 50 million francs and by a short-term loan of 160 million from the Agricultural Bank. During the 1953 season six co-operative sections collected 12,720 tons from 21,000 members. The proceeds made it possible to refund a total of 12,500,000 francs to the members. Another step taken by the administration in French West Africa may be briefly described. This is the setting up of " pre-co-operative " institutions known as " Rural Producers' Mutual Societies " (S.M.P.R.). These societies, created under a general order of 24 August 1953, are a cross between provident societies and co-operatives. Their object is to promote the development of co-operation without unreasonable interference by the Administration and it is expected that, in the near future, each S.M.P.R. will become a regional co-operative union. The S.M.P.R. is a French West African creation and, in order to enable all the territories of Overseas France to benefit from the experiment, a decree of 13 November 1956 authorised the establishment of " Rural Development Mutual Societies " (S.M.D.R.) in any territory of Overseas France. These societies will gradually supersede the provident societies. Specialised sections of an S.M.P.R. which transform themselves into co-operatives may continue to receive technical and financial support from the S.M.P.R. from which they stem. At the beginning of 1957 there were in Senegal 242 agricultural producers' and marketing co-operatives and 16 pilot co-operative sections. There were 49 consumers' co-operatives and 30 general-purpose co-operatives. In French Sudan there were 16 agricultural producers' and marketing co-operatives, 26 consumers' cooperatives and two general purpose co-operatives. In Guinea there were 13 agricultural producers' and marketing co-operatives, three consumers' co-operatives and one co-operative unclassified. In the Upper Volta there were eight agricultural producers' and marketing co-operatives and one unclassified, and in the Niger region 456 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY one agricultural producers' and marketing co-operative. There also exist, in the whole of French West Africa, 12 rural producers' mutual societies. French Cameroons. In the Cameroons, as in Senegal, the co-operative movement enjoyed wide popularity at the end of the Second World War. Thanks to substantial financial assistance given by the public authorities, many producers' and consumers' co-operatives were created in the south and west of the territory. However, as was the case in Senegal, a large number of them met with setbacks. The lack of any preparatory co-operative education among the peasants and, more particularly, the absence of qualified managerial staff, led to deficits which were ultimately borne by public funds. The administration attempted to restore the situation by setting up a co-operatives' supervision service. This service guides committees of management in the reorganisation of societies and has instituted a system for distributing credit to the co-operatives. In order to remedy accounting deficiencies—a weak point with many co-operatives—it has organised a bookkeeping course at Yaounde; the first pupils to complete the course qualified in July 1954.1 At the beginning of 1957 there existed in the Cameroons 59 agricultural co-operatives, five consumers' co-operatives and 15 miscellaneous co-operatives, eight of which were agricultural mutual credit co-operatives set up on the recommendation of the Cameroons Bank on an essentially mutual basis, i.e. in which the members are jointly liable along the lines of the Raiffeisen co-operatives. The co-operative movement appears to have developed very little in the other African territories under French administration. In order to ensure that the senior staff of the co-operative and mutual societies of Overseas France are properly qualified, training courses have been organised in France since 1952. Twenty-five to 30 probationers are admitted to each course. Junior staff are trained in local centres. Somalia There does not exist in Somalia any department of co-operation or any specialised administrative staff. The co-operative societies which exist are limited-liability companies. Their capital is variable and divided into an indefinite number of shares, each share having a nominal value of 2 somalos. The affairs of each society are run by a board of management and supervised by a board of trustees and arbitrators. The societies must register their by-laws and regulations with a notary in the presence of the commissioner of the district where their headquarters are situated. They consist of members of a tribe or sub-tribe, although some of them are heterogeneous in composition. Their objective is generally to supply water for irrigation purposes to the community or to bring a piece of land under cultivation. For this purpose they can obtain technical assistance from the appropriate government department and may receive loans for the purchase of machines, for making irrigation ditches and for other activities aimed at the improvement of their crops. All the members of the tribe or social group can take part in the co-operative. 1 Rapport annuel du gouvernement français à l'Assemblée générale des Nations Unies sur l'administration du Cameroun placé sous la tutelle de la France, 1955, op. cit., p. 88. THE CO-OPERATIVE MOVEMENT 457 The shares are neither transferable nor negotiable, except with the approval of the management board. No member may possess shares with an aggregate value of more than 500 somalos. The capital of the society consists of subscribed shares, loans, gifts, and other contributions. A reserve fund must be deposited in a bank in the name of the society. When a co-operative society begins the work of clearing, irrigation, or cultivation, an official of the Agricultural Inspection Service is sent to assist or advise the co-operators. The administration sometimes supplies tractors or ploughs free of charge, while the members of the society for their part supply manual labour.1 The report of the Italian Government to the General Assembly of the United Nations for the year 1956 indicates that at the end of that year there existed in Somalia 25 co-operatives, of which 17 were active, one just starting, and six in course of being set up, while one was being transformed into an irrigation syndicate. Among these co-operatives were five incense-producers' societies, which were established, like the other co-operatives, with the financial assistance of the Crédito Somalo. These have formed an association—the Consorzio Incensó Migiurtina Somalia (C.I.M.S.)—which handles, on behalf of the co-operatives, the selection, packing, sale and export of the product. This organisation exported 4,872 quintals of incense during the 1956 season. There also exist co-operatives of fishermen, weavers, tradesmen, and craftsmen, but agricultural producers' co-operatives seem to form the largest group. No information is available as to their membership, capital, or turnover. " In the co-operatives' sector the Administration has considered it best not to encourage their growth, until convinced that, under the conditions which have prevailed up to the present, practical results would be forthcoming from the system, and also to avoid a diversion of equipment and technical assistance, which could be better employed in the creation of irrigation syndicates."2 The report adds on the subject of irrigation syndicates. :" The development that has taken place during the course of the year has demonstrated that this initiative has not only been welcomed by the Somali farmers but also that it meets their needs more fully."2 The report of the United Nations Visiting Mission for 1954 comments on these views as follows: The decision, if it is that, of the Administration to abandon its efforts to encourage co-operative development because of the evident failure of its first attempts is understandable, but it appears to be based mainly on a failure to evaluate correctly the reasons for this lack of success. The well-known principles for the development of co-operative associations among underdeveloped peoples have not been followed, and it is not surprising that the results have been most discouraging. First and foremost, it is not clear that the co-operatives were established to meet a clearly defined and important economic need of the type that can best be dealt with through co-operative effort. True, the societies were set up to provide irrigation facilities, but the need for water control and irrigation is general and clearly should not be dealt with on a piecemeal and ad hoc basis; both initial and maintenance costs tend to be high. Secondly, the very paternalistic attitude of the Administration defeated itself; the members of the societies were given no opportunity to develop a sense of initiative, reliance and self-help—everything was done for them—with the result that they now continue to look to the Administration to meet all their needs. Finally, there was no follow-up by the Administration of its initial efforts, and the societies were left 1 United Nations Visiting Mission to Trust Territories in East Africa, 1954: Report on Somaliland under Italian Administration, Trusteeship Council, Sixteenth Session, Official Records, Supplement No. 2 (New York, 1955), p. 29. 2 Rapport du gouvernement italien à VAssemblée générale des Nations Unies sur l'administration de tutelle de la Somalie, 1955, op. cit., p. 64. 458 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY very much on their own just when they needed much technical assistance and guidance, both in their farming operations and in the business management of their affairs, e.g. credit and marketing. The Mission therefore suggests that, bearing in mind the great contribution that can be made to the development of the Territory by the co-operative organisation, steps should be taken to establish a co-operative service on a proper basis, with staff specially trained for this purpose. A knowledge of the principles and practices of co-operation is essential for success and nothing short of the establishment of a governmental department staffed with trained personnel to provide assistance for the organising and operation of co-operative societies, together with their supervision, is likely to succeed It is also suggested that consideration should be given to the prior establishment of credit and marketing co-operatives rather than to production co-operatives, which experience everywhere has shown to be difficult to establish and manage successfully. Such a department could first be set up as a technical assistance project and Somali staff could then be trained both locally and abroad to carry on the work of the department. A general cooperative law defining the responsibilities, duties and privileges of societies and their members, as well as the requirements for registration as co-operatives should be enacted.1 The Mission also considers that co-operatives could be developed successfully in the handicrafts sector to supply primary materials and market finished products. This would have the advantage of freeing the handicrafts industry from the burden of middlemen which weighs upon the craftsmen at the present time. Portuguese Territories Co-operative activity in the Portuguese territories is of recent date and, up to the present, has had a distinctly experimental character. In Angola the co-operative movement, which is purely agricultural in character, has been looked upon as a means of raising the standards of the African rural community, and one of its most characteristic achievements is the creation of " indigenous training colonies ", set up as a result of Legislative Decree No. 2266, of 5 July 1950, issued by the Governor-General of Angola. In Mozambique there has already been a certain amount of large-scale experimenting in co-operatives. In the Chibuto district, in the region south of the Save, three agricultural producers' and marketing co-operatives were created in 1950. In May 1951 three other co-operatives of the same kind were founded in the Manhica district. The establishment of another co-operative in the Inhamissa region is being studied. These co-operatives have been established with the help of the civil authorities and the Department of Agriculture. Membership is obligatory on those who are allocated land in the delimited areas. Great importance is attached to the preliminary instruction of co-operators and to the study of local conditions. The capital of the societies consists principally of members' subscriptions. In the Manhica district the annual subscription is fixed at 240 escudos, payable in two instalments; but in the Chibuto region, on the other hand, a single payment of 500 escudos is required at the time of joining the co-operative. In certain cases the regulations provide for monthly payments in kind. In Chibuto considerable importance is attached to the financing of the co-operative by the members themselves, except as concerns the cost of transport and equipment or the purchase of heavy equipment, such as tractors. In these special cases loans or grants are available from the Government. 1 Report on Somaliland under Italian Administration, op. cit., p. 30. The remarks of the Visiting Mission are produced at length here not merely to illuminate the situation in Somalia but also because they are relevant to conditions obtaining in many other parts of Africa. THE CO-OPERATIVE MOVEMENT 459 In Manhica the co-operatives may receive financial aid in the form of rural credit or cotton grants, and the repayment of these advances is guaranteed by law. The co-operatives are managed in different ways according to circumstances, but in all cases continuous administrative control is exercised. At Chibuto the board is composed of two members of the society and the regedor, or local mayor, under the chairmanship of the district officer. The members are appointed for two years, but can be reappointed, while the regedor is appointed for life. In Manhica the boards work under the administrative control of a chairman, a vice-chairman, a treasurer and two secretaries and a certain number of members, all elected by a general assembly presided over by the local district officer. The management is appointed for three years to permit it to gain enough experience to be able to make good use of the partial autonomy which it is anticipated the co-operatives will gradually be granted. As a general rule, the duty of these boards is to supervise the enrolment of members and the collection of contributions, to safeguard the assets of the society and guide its affairs. The co-operators have the right to use the services of the society and to receive the assistance of its official advisers in agricultural and veterinary matters if the need should arise. They can also obtain loans, either in money or in kind, repayable by annual instalments. The three co-operatives at Chibuto total 500 members, representing 500 families, and farm 2,500 hectares (6,173 acres) of land. They chiefly cultivate maize, beans, cotton, rice and peas. The average annual production is estimated at 2,200 tons of maize, 500 tons of rice, 400 tons of cotton, and so on. The co-operatives also possess 6,706 head of cattle, of which 2,361 are used for draught purposes. The three co-operatives of Manhica total 570 members, who farm 14,162 hectares (34,980 acres), including 3,102 hectares of pasture land. The crops consist of maize, beans and wheat. In addition, the members possess 5,515 head of cattle. The chief objects of the co-operative movement are— (a) to improve agricultural production, both in quantity and quality, by the introduction of better methods of farming, and selected seeds; (b) to develop a sense of thrift, which is an essential for a stable system of credit and the financing of a co-operative organisation; (c) to attach the African farmer to the soil; (d) to organise markets so as to protect the farmer against severe fluctuations in prices; (e) to take all possible steps to raise the economic and social standards of the farmer and to inculcate the habit of regular work. Union of South Africa The development of the co-operative movement in the Union of South Africa is quite extensive and, as in many other African territories, it preceded the adoption of legislation. As was stated above, however, the different forms of the movement cannot be brought under a single body of legislation. The working of what are called " European " co-operatives, and also some of the African co-operatives, is therefore regulated by the 1939 Co-operative Societies Act, while the working of the credit co-operatives in the Transkei reserve is regulated by special proclamations. 460 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY The State has played an indirect role in the financing of registered co-operatives by virtue of the 1939 Act. This has been effected principally through the Land and Agricultural Bank of the Union of South Africa, created in order to give credit facilities to farmers and planters, and to their organisations. The Bank makes both long-term and short-term advances. At the end of the year 1954 the establishment of a Central Co-operative Bank was proposed with the object of investing in agriculture funds available from the savings of the farmers and from the surpluses earned by co-operative organisations. On 30 June 1954 there were 458 co-operative societies legally registered in the Union of South Africa. These societies were divided into 258 agricultural producers' co-operative societies of limited liability, ten agricultural producers' societies of unlimited liability, and 190 consumers' co-operative societies of limited liability. They comprised 353,114 members. The whole of the South African wine industry is under the co-operative control of the Co-operative Winegrowers' Association of South Africa Ltd. (K.W.V.), which was set up under special legislation. The 1939 Act does not forbid the formation of inter-racial co-operatives (European-African), but in practice it would seem that the two social groups prefer to set up their own co-operatives. The African co-operatives registered under the 1939 legislation are nearly all consumers' co-operatives, created chiefly in the urban areas. These co-operatives do not appear to have prospered. In 1953 only 14 remained out of 27 co-operatives which had previously existed. This decline is attributed to a number of causes— (a) inexperience, ignorance of co-operative principles, and lack of knowledge of the rules of commerce and bookkeeping, with the result that the co-operatives have tended to carry on their operations with too little capital, to maintain insufficient reserve funds, and to underestimate the necessity of keeping down costs, but their principal mistake seems to have been that of having given credit to their clients at random, while ignoring the extremely mobile character of the population ; (b) the small size of these societies and the lack of loyalty in their members ; (c) intrigues and jealousies among the managers, as well as indiscipline among the staff, which have made their administration difficult. In order to correct these tendencies, it is clearly necessary to provide first of all for the proper instruction of the managerial personnel of the co-operatives. It seems that the Department of Agriculture is trying to arrange for this instruction to be given, but there is no information available as to what actually has been done. It is also necessary to promote publicity with the object of explaining to the population the objectives and principles of co-operation. In the third place it is essential to have closer supervision of the books and accounts and to provide for continuous help from competent advisers. The report of the Department of Native Affairs for the year 1952-53 records the existence of two agricultural producers' co-operatives set up and managed by Africans.1 One of these co-operatives, the Letaba Bantu Farmers' Co-operative, appears to have prospered under the guidance of competent advisers. Its membership grew from 203 in 1949 to 1,007 in 1953 with a share capital of £1,007. The credit co-operative societies, legalised by the special Proclamation for the Transkei, have not developed. An inspection made in 1938 revealed that the loans Report of the Department of Native Affairs for the Year 1952-53, op. cit., p. 67. THE CO-OPERATIVE MOVEMENT 461 made by these societies were not made against security or for any useful purpose, that the repayment of the loans was not pressed for with enough insistence, that the general assemblies did not meet often or regularly enough, that the rules of the societies were not observed, and that the accounts were badly kept. At that time there remained only 30 societies out of the 39 which had been established. According to the report of the Department of Native Affairs for the year 1952-53, the development of credit societies was hindered because of managerial incompetence and lack of support on the part of the Africans. CONCLUSIONS The extent to which the co-operative movement has developed in the various countries and territories in Africa has been shown to be extremely uneven and, in fact, to have depended largely on the extent to which individual governments— (a) have recognised its usefulness in bringing the basic units of the economic and social structure into effective association with the public authorities for the application of better working techniques and equipment, thereby raising productivity standards, (b) have furnished it with a suitable legal and administrative framework in which to operate, and (c) have taken appropriate measures to assist and encourage co-operative organisation generally. While the co-operative structure enables the authorities to exercise a creative influence at the level of the mass of the population, they exercise that influence through the devolution of responsibility; and unless that principle is fully accepted and applied in practice the co-operative system can never find fertile soil in which to propagate. Being a voluntary association of relatively small units based on the principle of democratic self-government, responsibility is widely diffused not only between but within these units. This implies that the authorities must abandon any idea of official regimentation or of regarding co-operatives simply as cogs in the administrative machine and instead seek the active collaboration of the people themselves in policies and plans calculated to improve their economic and social conditions. The exact relationship of the State to co-operatives must, however, obviously evolve in accordance with the degree of development and other conditions prevailing in the various countries and territories. Subject to these observations, there is undoubtedly wide scope for the further co-ordinated development of a wide range of co-operative activities. The necessity for an appropriate legislative and administrative framework has already been referred to. But a more positive effort by way of organisation and education is required in many parts of Africa to give the movement the necessary impetus. This will normally require an autonomous department of government with staff adequate in numbers and properly qualified technically, serving as the sole agency for the administrative control and supervision of co-operative institutions of all types, responsible for guiding and assisting, as necessary, co-operative office-holders and members and for training and educating them and their staffs in their duties and responsibilities. Further development or regrouping of co-operative activities on lines considered suitable to the kind and state of organisation of the economy would be a natural promotional activity of such a department. Departments of this kind are the rule in British territories—where, indeed, co-operative activities have attained their most extensive development—but not always elsewhere. It is natural that rural producers' co-operatives should predominate in Africa 462 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY and in fact their possibilities are yet far from fully explored. Societies with such classic activities as supplying farmers with commodities and services required in their work and in processing and marketing their products are of course well established in many parts. On the other hand, the possibilities of land improvement through irrigation co-operatives are vitually untouched, and co-operative farming societies are still rare. The Inter-African Conference on Co-operative Societies, held at Ibadan in 1954, warned against reliance on group or collective fanning as a method of furthering agricultural production and suggested that a more profitable line of approach would be in the central co-operative supply of agricultural machinery and services for the cultivation of individual holdings.1 The latter method has, for example, been adopted with success in Senegal (Casamance) and more recently in French Equatorial Africa (Niari) and Madagascar (Tuléar)2 and in Angola, Mozambique and Uganda. Credit co-operatives adapted to the needs of the agricultural and other producers concerned are being extensively used, though again far short of their possibilities. Probably there is room for further examination of existing co-operative structures in this connection with a view to the creation of a rational system of co-operative credit based on adequate links between state sources of finance and credit and the co-operative movement. The desirability of full participation by the co-operatives themselves in the central administration of their financial machinery, the possibilities of setting up central co-operative banks, supplemented by regional unions of credit co-operatives, and the circumstances in which financial and other assistance should be afforded by the State to the different types of co-operative in their initial stages of development when other resources are inadequate or lacking —all these and their implications in terms of changes in the role of government in co-operative development merit further consideration. The stage may already have been reached in some territories where a policy of encouraging the linking together of various co-operative activities, such as shortterm production credit with marketing, marketing with supply, and so on, might profitably be envisaged. Government institutions, such as marketing boards, are also in a strong position to assist in the promotion of co-operatives among primary producers and thus encourage this most desirable form of association. While emphasis has so far been on rural co-operatives, the great value of urban consumer co-operatives in offering alternative channels for the supply of consumer goods, and the opportunity to the consumer of protecting himself against abuses of modern trading systems, should also be recognised. The difficulties of organising such co-operatives are considerable, and new forms may have to be considered, such as that now being tried in Western Nigeria, namely a single national society with local branch retail shops, distributing some of its commodities through petty traders and pedlars organised in co-operative distributive societies.3 Facilities for capital accumulation and credit are no less needed in urban than in rural areas. Thrift and loan societies organised on a co-operative basis can help in this connection. Such associations, in varying forms and for many purposes, while often not truly co-operative in character, are already a feature of African life. 1 2 Co-operative Societies, op. cit., p. 22. See L'Agronomie Tropicale (Nogent-sur-Marne, Ministère de la France d'outre-mer), 1957, No. 5,3 pp. 633-639. Co-operative Societies, op. cit., p. 23. THE CO-OPERATIVE MOVEMENT 463 Finally, co-operative housing societies could be of great service in African conditions. The C.C.T.A. Conference on Co-operatives urged experimentation in the various possible types, such as co-operative community housing, tenant housing societies, tenant hire-purchase societies, self-help building societies and building loan societies (including the use of urban thrift and credit societies as a channel for building loans). It considered, moreover, that the two principal problems and requirements were long-term low-interest finance and low-cost durable construction of an improved type, and urged governments to provide both financial and technical assistance and to facilitate the acquisition of land with clear title.1 It is not without significance that a high proportion of all technical assistance supplied by the I.L.O. to underdeveloped countries and territories under the Expanded Programme of Technical Assistance of the United Nations and the Specialised Agencies is in the field of co-operation and handicrafts. The I.L.O. has throughout the 39 years of its existence paid close and continuous attention to the development of the co-operative movement in all its forms and particularly to such questions as co-operative legislation, organisation, structure, administration and education. Its expert advice, based on practical experience, may therefore be useful in connection with the planning and execution of schemes for co-operative development in Africa, as it has been elsewhere. 1 Co-operative Societies, op. cit., p. 24. CHAPTER XIV LABOUR ADMINISTRATION AND INSPECTION The work and responsibilities of labour administration in Africa have rapidly increased since the beginning of the Second World War concurrently with the birth or growth of various labour problems which today have acquired a greater or less degree of urgency in most African territories. Thus in numerous cases it has been necessary to introduce entirely new legislation, broad in scope and complex in character, to cope with certain new aspects of industrial relations such as the rise of the trade union movement and the increase in the number of industrial disputes, and to try to resolve the problems of employment which have developed as a result of new demands for labour, particularly skilled labour. A rapid survey of the situation will show that there are at present great differences in the levels of development reached by the various labour departments in Africa and, in particular, that except for the territories under British and French administration and the Union of South Africa there are no really specialised labour departments which do not come under an administrative organ in charge of problems other than merely labour problems. In the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi labour problems are still covered by several departments, some of which deal also with other problems. Thus at the central government level labour problems are handled by two different departments, one of them dealing also with matters of Native policy. At the provincial level there is a department concerned simultaneously with certain labour problems and with Native policy. There has, however, been, for the past few years, a labour inspectorate which, while still small in size, does constitute a specialist administrative body and reports direct to a central government department. In the territories under British administration the labour departments are part of the local administration, but they deal only with labour problems and report direct to the highest authority. The officials are experts who have received appropriate training and have a special status which assures a certain independence of any external influence. The same applies in the territories under French administration, where the labour departments report direct to the Minister for Overseas France and labour inspectors are recruited independently from other officials. In Somalia, until 1956 labour inspection and administration came under the Office for Industry, Internal Trade and Labour, which is itself part of the Department of Economic Development. Since then there has been a Labour and Social Welfare Department in the Ministry for Social Welfare. Though the law states that officials should be experts, the lack of trained personnel has meant that, in fact, it is usually the chief regional officer who acts as labour inspector, while the district officer runs the local labour office. LABOUR ADMINISTRATION AND INSPECTION 465 In Liberia labour administration comes under the Department of Agriculture, and, with a few exceptions, the officials have received no special training. In the Union of South Africa there is an independent Department of Labour which employs specialised officials. However, some questions relating to indigenous labour come under the Department of Native Affairs, which is responsible for all African matters. This applies, for instance, to matters of recruitment. In territories under Portuguese administration there are no special labour departments distinct from general administrative services: the Director of the Department of Native Affairs is the curador of Native labour and his representatives are the municipal administrators and district officers as well as officials from the Department of Native Affairs. These differences in the degree of development of the various labour departments may be explained to some extent by the fact that their responsibilities and work have not increased uniformly in all territories, some having evolved differently from, or less rapidly than, others and for different reasons, such as the essentially agricultural nature of the economy, the smallness of number of wage earners or the lack of a trade union movement. However, while the field of activity of the labour department may be less in some territories than in others as regards studies and research on labour problems, industrial relations, the application of labour legislation and the problems of employment, it is, nevertheless, more and more necessary that outmoded methods and instructions should be adapted to changing social and economic conditions. This means, in most cases where this has not yet been done, that a specialised labour department should be established, more or less free from outside control, and using the full-time services of trained, impartial officials, whose number should be in proportion to the importance of the work to be done. After a few general remarks on the increasing importance of labour problems and on the part to be played by labour departments, their present situation in the various territories will be examined and a rapid survey made of their organisation and how they fit into the government structure of each country or territory. Thereafter, the work of labour departments will be examined with special reference to four of their main functions, viz. information, studies and research on labour problems; the application of legislation; industrial relations; and maintenance of full employment. In conclusion an attempt will be made to present the general principles which should underlie the development of labour administration in the various territories of Africa, taking into account the social and economic progress made in these territories. THE ROLE AND IMPORTANCE OF LABOUR ADMINISTRATION Where there are special labour departments in Africa today, these, with a few exceptions, have been set up recently, either during or since the Second World War. In most cases a certain amount of official activity and legislation on labour problems preceded the establishment of such special departments which, while forming integral parts of the administrative structure, have been given a certain independence. As a result of the increasing importance of labour problems and the greater amount of time given to them by governments, special departments were eventually set up in some of the territories of Africa. The political, social and economic evolution which began in many parts of Africa before the war gathered speed during 466 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY and after it; the launching of economic development plans made necessary a better use of manpower as well as of material resources. The idea that economic development and social progress must go hand in hand and the transition from a subsistence economy to a cash economy were also factors in the new situation. It rapidly became obvious that the solution of the resulting labour problems called for the establishment of adequate labour departments. In some of the African territories, as in other less developed countries, even limited industrialisation has revealed the need for wider labour legislation, the effectiveness of which largely depends on the way it is enforced. The need has been shown for a special administrative body, to ensure the application of laws and regulations, which are no longer limited to protecting certain categories of workers such as women and children, but are intended to implement the whole social policy of the governments concerned. In many African territories, industrial relations have developed, thus making the work of labour administration more important, whether in connection with the rise of the trade union movement, the settling of industrial disputes through conciliation or arbitration, or the conclusion of collective agreements. The new and urgent problems of full employment have had the same effect : not only were there problems resulting from the war, such as finding jobs for the demobilised soldiers, but also the problem of making the most efficient use of manpower in connection with plans for economic and social development. Labour problems have become more technical as they have become more numerous; the idea has, therefore, gained ground that an independent service with an adequate and properly qualified staff is needed to deal with them effectively. THE STRUCTURE AND DEVELOPMENT OF LABOUR DEPARTMENTS Ideas concerning the place of labour departments within the administration as a whole have changed with ideas concerning the importance of the work of labour administration; for this work is no longer merely a matter of preventing abuses but also of improving conditions of work, securing sound industrial relations and helping to maintain a high and stable level of employment. However, as already indicated, specialised labour departments are not to be found in all territories and where they do exist their importance varies from territory to territory. In this section the place of the labour department within the administrative structure of each country will be examined and its origins and development described. Belgian Territories1 Machinery in Belgium. A department of the Ministry for the Colonies responsible for agriculture, settlement, economic studies, commerce, labour and social security2 deals with labour problems in the non-metropolitan territories. A Commission for Indigenous Employment and Labour Problems was set up within the Ministry in 1952.3 The members of this advisory body are officials and experts on the several aspects of social policy. Its purpose is " to study the means of achieving harmonious econo1 2 3 See Appendix III, table 30. Royal Order of 25 January 1952, amended by Royal Order of 30 June 1953. Ministerial Order of 3 January 1952. LABOUR ADMINISTRATION AND INSPECTION 467 mic development and healthy evolution of the indigenous communities, particularly with regard to the recruiting of workers, their establishment in industrial centres, mechanisation and any other measures which may improve working conditions ". There is also within the Ministry a Colonial Commission for Industrial Accidents which was set up in 19451 and which examines problems referred to it by the Minister for the Colonies and relating to industrial accidents suffered by European workers. Organisation at the Territorial Government Level. Administration. There is no separate department in the Belgian Congo dealing exclusively with labour matters, which are handled by two divisions of the Department of Indigenous Affairs and Social Welfare. The first of these, the Indigenous Affairs and Labour Division (A.I.M.O.), has an indigenous policy section and an indigenous labour section, the latter dealing with labour policy in general, industrial relations and manpower problems. The second is the Labour and Social Welfare Division, which has two sections, one dealing with social studies and the other with safety, health and labour inspection. Labour inspectorates have been in operation for some years both in the Belgian Congo2 and Ruanda-Urundi.3 In the Belgian Congo labour inspection has since 1950 been centralised as a separate service at the central government level directly under the Governor-General. The decree of 16 March 1950, however, does not limit the right of magistrates and officials acting as judicial police officers to report breaches of labour regulations. In 1957 4 there were 44 labour inspectors in the various provinces, including four technical inspectors who examined safety precautions. In Ruanda-Urundi the labour inspectorate consists of a chief of section—who, in fact, is responsible for both indigenous policy and labour matters—and two labour inspectors, one in Ruanda, the other in Urundi. Other Bodies. Under an ordinance of 1946 5 an advisory Labour Commission was set up attached to the Central Government's Labour and Social Welfare Division. The other bodies dealing, at the central government level, with labour problems are as follows: (a) the Central Conciliation Board 6, which the Governor-General may call when an industrial dispute has not been settled at the provincial level; (b) the Statistics Committee7, whose work it is to advise the Governor-General on all matters connected with statistical inquiries, including those relating to African labour; (c) the Colonial Commission for Industrial Accidents8, an advisory body whose work it is to give an opinion on all matters submitted by the Governor-General 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Decree of 20 December 1945. Decree of 16 March 1950. Decree of 8 January 1952. Figures for earlier years were 13 in 1951, 16 in 1952 and 19 in 1954. Ordinance No. 181/TRAV, dated 28 June 1946. Set up under the decree of 27 June 1944. Set up under the decree of 11 March 1948. Set up under the decree of 20 December 1945. 468 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY connected with industrial accidents and occupational diseases suffered by European workers. Organisation at the Provincial and Regional Levels. Administration. As already indicated, all local officials who have the powers of a magistrate may investigate infringements of labour regulations. The labour inspectors who operate in the provinces report, however, to the Labour and Social Welfare Division of the Central Government. In each province the first division of the Department of Indigenous Affairs and Labour Division deals with both indigenous policy and labour problems such as the application of social legislation to Africans, manpower problems, industrial relations, trade unions, industrial accidents, family allowances and vocational guidance, etc. Other Bodies. A 1946 ordinance set up regional and provincial commissions1 to deal with the labour and the social progress of Africans. These commissions are advisory bodies; their members, selected by the Government, include the most representative personalities of management and labour; they may make inquiries and suggestions and must submit an annual report on their activities. Under a 1946 ordinance2 local indigenous workers' committees and works councils were set up. These bodies, which keep the administration, workers and employers permanently in touch with each other, deal with the material, moral and social aspects of workers' conditions. In 1954 there were 78 local workers' committees, which met 150 times during the year, and 712 African works' councils, which met 2,412 times. In the province of Equateur there have for the last ten years been indigenous labour control offices, run by the district officer or his representative, situated in the main village or town in each area, at which working permits are delivered or checked. When there is an industrial dispute, the provincial governor may set up a conciliation committee at the request of one of the parties involved.3 Territories under British Administration* Organisation in the United Kingdom. Since 1938 there has been at the Colonial Office a Social Services Department whose duties include advising on and co-ordinating labour policy. There is also a Labour Adviser to the Secretary of State for the Colonies with two assistants who 1 Ordinance No. 99/A.I.M.O., dated 6 April 1946, amended by Ordinances No. 21/19, dated 20 January 1948, No. 21/369, dated 14 December 1951 and No. 21/297, dated 20 September 1956. 2 Ordinance No. 98/A.I.M.O., dated 6 April 1946 modified by Ordinances No. 21/80, dated 20 January 1948 and No. 20/357, dated 13 October 1948. 3 Decree of 27 June 1944. 4 See Appendix III, table 31. LABOUR ADMINISTRATION AND INSPECTION 469 periodically goes on tour to various territories and acts as liaison between the Secretary of State and the various local labour departments. There is an advisory body—the Colonial Labour Advisory Committee—whose work it is to study labour problems and give advice to the Secretary of State for the Colonies. The Committee includes government, workers' and employers' representatives, as well as a few independent members. Organisation Overseas. Administration. Until 1939 labour administration in the African territories under British administration was largely in the hands of non-specialist officials assisted as necessary by medical officers and mines inspectors. There were, however, in some territories the rudiments of a labour inspection service, coming, as a rule, under the Department of Native Affairs ; this was the case, for instance, in the former Gold Coast, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Kenya and Mauritius. Since 1901 there had been in Southern Rhodesia an African Labour Inspection Service whose duty was limited to supervising conditions of work in mines. In Tanganyika a Labour Department—the first in the British territories—was set up in 1925 but closed down in 1931. Since 1938, and especially during and after the Second World War, labour administration has developed greatly, separate labour departments having been set up in most of the territories. These labour departments are part of the local administration, but they deal only with labour problems and report directly to the chief officer of the territory. As a rule the labour department is run by a labour commissioner; the staff includes labour officers, who correspond to the French inspectors of labour and social legislation, and labour inspectors, who may in some territories be compared to the contrôleurs du travail in the territories under French administration. Normally the staff also includes various experts such as factory inspectors, officials in charge of vocational guidance and placement, and considerable office staff. Other Bodies Dealing with Labour Matters. Employment offices have been set up in most territories during the last 20 years. They are integral parts of the labour department and are run by specialised officials of the department. Various advisory committees, composed as a rule of an independent chairman and employers' and workers' representatives, also exist. Persons with special qualifications such as legal or medical experts may, where necessary, be asked to serve on these committees. There are also labour advisory boards, factories boards, wages committees and committees giving advice on employment matters (employment boards). The labour advisory boards or committees give advice on labour legislation existing or contemplated and on general policy related to labour and conditions of work. In exceptional cases, as in Southern Rhodesia, the board as a whole or a single member of it nominated in writing by the board may act as a labour inspector and carry out investigations and make recommendations to the Government on labour disputes or on conditions of work. In some cases the labour commissioner acts as chairman of the labour advisory board or committee (as in Sierra Leone and Nyasaland); in other cases, as in Kenya, the labour commissioner is not a member. 470 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY French Territories1 Administrative and Advisory Bodies in France. Administration. At the Ministry of Overseas France the Inspectorate of Labour and Social Legislation is a separate department, reporting directly to the Minister, and dealing with all labour problems in French overseas territories. Under the 1952 Labour Code for Overseas Territories this department is responsible for all matters relating to working and living conditions, industrial relations and employment, including movements of labour, vocational guidance and training and placement. At the Ministry of Overseas France the Inspectorate's duties are to enforce the Minister's decisions concerning labour, employment, security and welfare, to draft laws, regulations and ministerial decrees and draw up instructions for their execution. The inspector-general in charge of the department sees that the ministerial decisions are carried out, co-ordinates, controls and directs the work of the Inspectorate, and renders account directly to the Minister. Other Bodies. The Central Labour Council (Conseil supérieur du travail), which was set up under the Labour Code for Overseas Territories (article 161), is an advisory body whose duty it is to study labour problems, give opinions, make proposals and prepare resolutions relating to legislative action in these matters. Among its members are parliamentarians and workers' and employers' representatives. A Central Employment Office (Office central de la main-d'œuvre) attached to and operated by the Inspectorate of Labour and Social Legislation regulates the movements and checks the conditions of work of Europeans going to work in Africa for the continually increasing number of firms now opening up branches there. Administrative Machinery in the Overseas Territories. Administration. Until 1944 when the special body of colonial labour inspectors was established, there were, in the territories of Overseas France, no independent labour departments. In theory the general administration saw to the application of regulations and supervised conditions of employment. Frequently officials in their capacity as police officers, as well as medical officers, assisted in this work. At various times after 1925 labour inspection services were established in the several territories.2 These services were directly under the Governor-General or the Governor; their staffs were few and not specialised, consisting of one or more 1 See Appendix III, table 32. The present structure of labour administration in overseas France was fixed in outline by the 1952 Labour Code for Overseas Territories ; see especially articles 145-163, 174-178 and 180-208. 2 In French West Africa by an order dated 20 January 1932 (I.L.O. Legislative Series, 1932— Fr. 2). In French Equatorial Africa by an order dated 24 July 1936. In French Cameroons by an order dated 24 February 1933 (ibid., 1933—League of Nations 1). In Madagascar by a decree dated 22 September 1925 (ibid., 1925—Fr. 11). In French Somaliland by decree dated 22 May 1936, (ibid., 1936—Fr. 3). LABOUR ADMINISTRATION AND INSPECTION 471 officials, selected by the governor of the territory concerned from among the administrators or from the colonial medical officers. These officials, acting as labour inspectors, had the power to investigate and take action against infringements of labour legislation. Since 1944, in each territorial unit, a special labour department has existed1 reporting directly to the Ministry of Overseas France and run by a body of officials with special status—the inspectors of labour and social legislation. Besides these inspectors there are labour officers (contrôleurs) and medical inspectors. District officers may act within their districts for the labour inspector in his absence or if he is for any reason prevented from carrying out his duties. There are now central labour departments in French West Africa, French Equatorial Africa, the French Cameroons and Madagascar. These inspectorates, as well as those in Togoland, the Comoro Islands, and French Somaliland, are subdivided by territory, province and district. All report direct to the InspectorGeneral at the Ministry through the Governor or the Governor-General, who must pass on communications without delay. Since the implementation of the Act of 23 June 1956 2, which transferred to the Council of Government in each of the territories concerned some of the powers previously enjoyed by the governors, and particularly since issue of regulations to apply the statutory provisions on employment and the condition of the workers, the functions of the labour inspectorate have been altered to some extent. However, the powers given to the inspector of labour and social legislation by the Labour Code have not been reduced at all. As before, in each territory the inspector co-operates in preparing draft regulations to be issued under the code, but these drafts are now submitted to the Council of Government by the territorial minister responsible for labour questions. The Inspector of Labour and Social Legislation continues to advise the Minister both as regards the enforcement of regulations on labour matters and as regards negotiations between employers and workers. In connection with the administrative organs (employment offices, family benefit funds, etc.), which are now placed on a territorial basis, the minister responsible for labour matters may enlist the help and experience of the labour inspector if he wishes. Other Bodies. Labour advisory boards have been in operation in the federations and territories since 1953. They are composed of equal numbers of workers' and employers' representatives. In addition to cases in which their recommendations must be obtained under the provisions of the Labour Code (for instance the fixing of minimum wages), the boards may be consulted on all matters relating to labour. Under the Labour Code, technical advisory committees have been set up to study questions relating to hygiene and safety. These committees, comprising em1 See I.L.O. Legislative Series, 1944—Fr. 3; this decree was amended by Decree No. 46-875, dated 29 April 1946 (ibid., 1946—Fr. 6). See also the following: Ministerial order dated 8 June 1945 annulled by ministerial order dated 20 May 1948, in its turn annulled by ministerial order dated 22 August 1949. Ministerial order dated 21 September 1948 on the labour inspectorate staff; articles 145160 of the 1952 Labour Code for Overseas Territories. A Decree No. 55-1679, dated 29 December 1955, fixing the status of the overseas inspectors of labour and social legislation. 2 Act authorising the Government to undertake the reforms and to take the action required for development of the territories under the Ministry for Overseas France, No. 56-619, dated 23 June 1956, as amended by Act No. 57-702 of 19 June 1957. 472 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY ployers, workers and technical experts are similar both in powers and composition to the corresponding committees in France itself. Employment offices (offices de main-d''œuvre), of specified territorial competence, were established in 1953 and 1954 in the various territories or groups of territories. They have replaced the offices du travail, which were the official placement, information and statistics bureaux. Each office has a tripartite board and deals with all matters relating to placement and the immigration or repatriation of workers. The number of offices is not fixed by law but by local regulations and varies according to the importance of the problems to be solved, the density of population, the proportion of the land under cultivation and the degree of industrialisation. In 1954 there were seven employment offices in French West Africa, two in French Equatorial Africa (four in 1957), one in the French Cameroons and one in French Somaliland. Labour courts, with a limited jurisdiction, similar to the Conseils de Prud'hommes in France, were established under article 182 of the 1952 Labour Code. Disputes between individual employers and individual workers are treated by them with a magistrate as chairman assisted by two employers and two workers as assessors. Arbitration boards (conseils d'arbitrage) deal with collective labour disputes in the absence of a settlement by conciliation. Each board has three members, consisting of a magistrate as chairman and two expert assessors. In 1956 family allowance equalisation funds were established in each territory. Each fund is administered by a board of directors consisting of equal numbers of representatives of workers, employers and local authorities. Somalia 1 Under two ordinances of 1951 a labour inspection service and labour offices were set up in Somalia. Until 1956, these were attached to the Office for Industry, Internal Trade and Labour, which came under the Directorate of Economic Development; since then there has been a Labour and Social Welfare Department within the Ministry for Social Welfare. The Labour and Social Welfare Department prepares legislation and administers the labour inspectorate and the labour offices ; the head of the department acts as chief labour inspector. Ordinance No. 21 of 1951 provided that there should be six labour inspectors, but by 1955 only three of the posts had been filled, the regional commissioners acting as labour inspectors in their areas. Ten district offices had been set up by 1955. These are run by the district officers and handle such matters as placement, unemployment, workbooks and the application of legislation on conditions of work; it is also their duty to ensure good relations between employers and workers and to intervene to settle labours disputes, both collective and individual, before they go to the courts. Liberia In Liberia the Labour Department comes under the Department of Agriculture. Its organisation was defined in a 1943 Act (the Workmen's Compensation and Protection Act) amended in 1944 and in 1952. 1 Ordinances Nos. 21 and 22, dated 23 November 1951. LABOUR ADMINISTRATION AND INSPECTION 473 Portuguese Territories In the territories under Portuguese administration labour administration comes under the Native Affairs Service, whose organisation is defined in Decree No. 35962 dated 20 November 1946. In Portugal, this Service includes the Inspectorate of Native Affairs and the Central Labour and Emigration Council. The latter, which meets in Lisbon, is composed of officials and territorial representatives chosen by industrial and agricultural organisations or appointed by the Minister. It gives advice and makes recommendations on all matters related to indigenous labour and emigration. In each territory there is a department of Native affairs, whose head is the curador geral, except in Sao Tomé and Principe, where the curador of Natives is a judge specially nominated. The Native Labour Code of 1928 stipulates that— the protection accorded by the State to Native workers shall be exercised in each colony by the Curador geral and his agents under the supervision of the Governor of the colony, and the former officials shall watch over and inspect the recruiting of the said workers and the carrying out of the contracts relating to them .... The functions of the curador geral are exercised, in colonies where there is neither a special curador nor a Director of Native Affairs, by the director of the civil service. Under the Code the curador may, with the Governor's approval, delegate his powers to officials (including representatives of the Native affairs department), labour inspectors, the administrators of municipahties and the chief district officers. There are doctors, appointed by the Government, acting as public health inspectors. The law also provides that there shall be local labour and emigration boards ; they give advice and put forward suggestions concerning Native labour problems referred to them by the Governor. These boards are set up, at the territorial level, on the recommendation of the local authorities whenever the Government in Lisbon considers them necessary; there are three titular and three substitute members ; the curador acts as chairman and the other members are appointed by the Central Labour and Emigration Council. There are district Native labour and emigration boards, under the chairmanship of the curadora agent and with two other members chosen by the agricultural and industrial associations. There is no information available on the practical operation of the regulations concerning these boards. In the Cape Verde islands labour co-ordination boards have recently been set up, in each borough and municipality, which among other things fulfil some of the duties of employment offices.1 Sudan In 1953 the Sudan Labour Department was made up of a Labour Commissioner, a Deputy Commissioner, one official in charge of industrial standards and trade tests, one official in charge of housing, one boiler inspector, two labour inspectors, one official in charge of industrial relations and two officials for the training of labour inspectors (factories inspection and industrial relations). Legislative Decree No. 1242 of 14 May 1955. 474 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Union of South Africa In the Union of South Africa the Labour Department, which has been in existence since 1924, included in 1955 a head office at Pretoria, nine district inspectorates and 40 sub-offices or agencies conducted by officers of the Department under the jurisdiction of a divisional inspector. The total personnel of the Labour Department was about 1,800 persons, including over 200 inspectors (28 of these were engineering specialists). In addition, the Department of Mines employed about 90 mining engineers. The inspectors may call in the medical officers of the health service when this is necessary. Industrial councils, composed of employers and workers, which have been set up in various industries, employ inspectors to supervise the application of existing collective agreements; these inspectors are not under government control but under that of the respective council. The most important official bodies dealing with labour questions include the Wage Board, the National Apprenticeship Board and the Electrical Wiremen's Registration Board. As regards African workers, the powers of the Department of Native Affairs include—administration of statutory schemes for the payment of pensions to the aged, blind and disabled, payment of compensation for injury, etc.; the regulation of recruitment and employment; and the inspection of labour conditions through the Director of Native Labour—all according to the relevant legislation. Since 1952 there have been Native Labour Bureaux on a statutory footing. A central labour bureau was established in the office of the Secretary for Native Affairs to co-ordinate the work of the regional bureaux and to regulate the transfer of workers from one region to another having regard to the supply and demand. In 1955 it was estimated that over 170 local authorities had established labour bureaux and that there were also in operation 335 district labour bureaux conducted by Native commissioners or magistrates. In the areas where large numbers of African workers are employed, as in the mining areas, employers in charge of more than 50 workers are required to appoint a compound manager, who is in charge of welfare, sees to the workers' complaints and enforces labour legislation. The compound managers must have licences from the Director of Native Labour, who thus has control over their appointment. A 1953 Act1 provides for the setting up of a Central Native Labour Board and several regional Native labour committees; these boards or committees assist in the settlement of labour disputes and act as liaison agents between employers and workers on all matters related to conditions of work. Under this same Act the Minister may appoint " Native labour officers ", who must maintain close contact with the " Native commissioners " and the Department of Labour inspectors and act as intermediaries between African employees and their employers. The chairman of each regional Native labour committee is a Native labour officer. Another Act2 regarding the training and registration of African building workers, provides for the establishment of a Native Building Workers' Advisory Board. 1 2 Native Labour (Settlement of Disputes) Act, No. 48 of 1953. Native Building Workers' Act, No. 27 of 1951. LABOUR ADMINISTRATION AND INSPECTION 475 THE WORK OF LABOUR DEPARTMENTS Since labour problems are continually changing, it is difficult to give a detailed list of the various duties normally carried out by labour departments. Their work may, however, be summed up under four main headings : (a) information, research and studies on labour problems; (b) the application of labour legislation; (c) industrial relations; and (d) full employment. Information, Research and Studies on Labour Problems One of the first duties of a labour department is to provide information on all aspects of labour matters. The information thus available to government as well as to employers' and workers' organisations and to the public assists in the development of an enlightened policy on labour questions. The department must also assist in the drafting of new legislation to help enforce existing laws and generally advise the government on social and labour problems on the basis of the statistical and labour information available to it. In fact, in most African territories there is statutory authority for the collection and analysis of labour statistics, and the specialised departments and labour advisory bodies are required to advise governments on labour matters generally and sometimes in relation to contemplated legislation. In the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi the legislation clearly defines the duties of the various departments, boards and committees with respect to information, research and studies on labour problems. The duty of the labour inspectorate is to " gather and co-ordinate all labour information and statistics " ; the Social Studies Division of the Department of Labour and Social Welfare carries out preliminary research prior to the drafting of new legislation on conditions of work and social security and prepares regulations or circulars to implement the legislation. The Central Government's Indigenous Labour Bureau and the documentation sections at the various provincial indigenous policy and labour offices establish information on the supply of, and the demand for, labour, and also collect statistics. In the territories under British administration and in Ghana the various advisory boards and committees play the same part as the corresponding bodies in the territories under French administration. All labour statistics and information on the state of employment and the registration of workers are centralised in the various labour departments; as a rule each department has a special section in charge of the classification, analysis and publication of statistics. The labour commissioners, who act as government advisers on labour problems, are charged with the periodical review of wage rates and conditions of living and of work of the lowest-paid workers with a view to recommending whether the relevant legislation or orders under it should be modified. In the territories under French administration the Inspectorate of Labour and Social Legislation is assigned duties which include the preparation of regulations on labour matters and the study of various social problems. In Paris the Central Labour Council, which meets at least twice a year, has the widest authority to deal with economic and labour problems overseas. The Council's task is to study labour problems, give advice and formulate proposals and resolutions respecting legislation on these matters. In the territories the labour advisory boards, which 476 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY have the right to demand production of all necessary documents and information from the Administration, study all the factors involved in calculating the minimum subsistence wage and in the general economic situation. Each board reports annually to the Minister for Overseas France, thus ensuring a certain co-ordination at the ministerial level. The technical advisory committees examine matters of hygiene and safety, and regional employment offices assemble information on the state of labour demand and supply. In Somalia new legislation is drafted by the Department of Labour and Social Welfare. This Department collects information on conditions of work and gives technical advice on the enforcement of labour legislation: the local offices report annually on their work, indicating particularly what are the current social problems of the district. In the territories under Portuguese administration the curador receives directly from his agents the information and statistics needed for his annual reports and for assembling data on indigenous labour. However, it is still difficult in most territories to obtain full statistical information on labour matters owing to the shortage of qualified officials. Many of the reports sent in 1956 by governments to the International Labour Office on the application of the Statistics of Wages and Hours of Work Convention, 1938 (No. 63), also mention the difficulty of getting regular information from employers; enterprises are widely scattered, employment is often not stable and employers are disinclined to make the effort of supplying full information regularly. Apart from the questionnaires sent to employers, information is in practice obtained by the labour inspectors during their tours of inspection and by employment offices. In addition to the work done by the labour departments to gather information, statistical departments which include labour matters in their sphere have been set up in many territories. In some territories under British administration monthly or quarterly statistics on employment, wages and changes in the cost-of-living fluctuations as well as demographic and economic information, are published by the statistical department. In each of the territories under French administration there is a statistics division reporting directly to a department of the Ministry of Overseas France. The same applies in the territories under Portuguese administration, part of the information on which is centralised in Lisbon at the National Institute of Statistics. Under the auspices of the Commission for Technical Co-operation in Africa south of the Sahara the first Inter-African Statistics Conference was held in 1951. Since 1954 the Conference has set up a standing committee, the Inter-African Committee on Statistics, which is a permanent information centre to assist in the exchange and publication of information on all statistical problems in Africa. One of the points on the agenda of the Conference in 1957 was the discussion of a report by the secretariat on labour statistics. Enforcement of Legislation The Inspectors and Their Work. One of the main tasks of labour departments is to see to the enforcement of labour legislation; this work is, in theory, done by the labour inspectors, who also bring to the notice of the authorities any shortcomings or abuses which are not LABOUR ADMINISTRATION AND INSPECTION 477 covered by the existing law. Labour inspectors must have the powers necessary to ensure the protection of workers in general and of special categories such as women and young persons. This protection is mainly ensured by supervision of the conditions of employment, that is to say, wages, hours, compulsory rest periods, night work, overtime, holidays with pay, etc. The powers of the departments also cover various fields such as occupational safety, industrial medicine and hygiene, accident prevention and workmen's compensation, protection and improvement of health conditions at the place of employment, workers' welfare, their adaptation to employment, vocational guidance and training of children and young persons, the age for admission to and fitness for employment, and maternity protection. The department may also supervise the work of bodies connected with the application of legislation dealing with such matters as social security (family allowances equalisation funds), manpower (recruiting, the welfare of migrant workers, labour permits), and vocational training (selection and guidance, adult training centres, etc.). Whatever the stage of development of labour departments, the law always provides for supervision of the application of labour laws and defines the powers of the departments responsible. Early legislation prescribing the conditions of employment usually provided for enforcement machinery as well. The labour inspection services are not, however, always the only ones which are given powers of control. In certain territories there are exceptions to the general rule of control by the labour inspection service in the case of particular categories of employees such as persons employed in public services, ships, military establishments, and mine and quarry undertakings. In the territories under Belgian administration the labour inspectors " see to the application of legislation with respect to labour management and the protection of workers .... The system of labour inspection covers all persons, indigenous or non-indigenous, including private and public undertakings parties to a contract of employment, work, apprenticeship, training or any form of hire of services ".1 In the Belgian Congo there are, besides the labour inspectors, engineer inspectors responsible for safety in industrial establishments. Besides routine visits they make special visits and inquiries at the request of the authorities, determine the nature of any special conditions which may be required of types of undertaking whose operations are subject to official permission and conduct research as a basis for the appropriate legislation. The mines inspectors inspect mines, quarries and iron works. There is also a medical and health inspection service collaborating with the labour inspectorate, staffed by full-time medical officers or other qualified personnel, or by doctors recognised for the purpose by the Government, which supervises the application of the law relating to safety and health and to conditions of work in establishments or firms using machinery, materials or substances which expose workers to special hazards. This service also takes action on infringements. Other officials (magistrates or district officers) with police authority have power to investigate breaches of the legislation relating to labour matters in general. In the territories under British administration and in Ghana the enforcement of labour legislation is in the hands of the officials of the labour departments, whose duties include not merely the application of the general statutory conditions of employment, the operation of machinery for the registration and placement of workers, matters relating to workmen's compensation, etc., but also extend to the making 1 Decree of 16 March 1950, sections 1 and 3. 478 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY of proposals for the revision of existing legislation. The categories of inspectors are more or less numerous and specialised according to the degree of development of the labour department of the various territories. In exceptional cases as in Somaliland, Basutoland and Bechuanaland, when there is no special labour inspectorate, conditions of work are supervised by other officials. Normally, however, labour inspection is done by labour officers, who are assisted in this and in the investigation of individual complaints by labour inspectors. Besides these officials, whose duties and qualifications are general, there are, especially in the territories with highly developed labour departments, expert officials who deal more particularly with technical problems. Factory inspectors, boiler officers and machinery inspectors who deal mainly with safety in industrial establishments are to be found, for instance, in Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Mauritius, Tanganyika, Uganda, Nyasaland and the Rhodesias. There are medical officers, health inspectors and sanitary inspectors who see to medical and health questions; there are also mines inspectors, for example in Kenya and the Rhodesias. It is interesting to note that in many territories there are, besides the experts proper, officials who increasingly are given special work corresponding to sections within the labour departments; in Kenya, for instance, there are wages inspectors and resident labour inspectors1; in Uganda, Mauritius and Zanzibar there are welfare officers who supervise workers' welfare in general and in particular inspect housing provided by employers. Trade testing officers in Nigeria, Kenya and Uganda supervise apprenticeship and look after vocational selection, guidance and training. In many territories there are trade union officers who are concerned with industrial relations and more particularly with the development of the trade union movement. In the territories under French administration the inspectors of labour and social legislation see to the application of legislation concerning employment and the protection of workers and co-ordinate and control the apphcation of social legislation.2 Labour inspection covers workers in both private undertakings and public services except when workers in the latter are subject to special legislation applying to public officials. Mines inspectors or their agents see to the application of labour regulations in mines and quarries and for this purpose have the same powers as labour inspectors. The latter may, however, carry out any inspection not connected with safety and, accompanied by the technical experts, may at any time visit mines, quarries, yards and establishments subject to inspection. There is a limitation on the powers of the labour inspectors in the case of certain military establishments employing civilian labour when it is in the interest of national defence that outsiders should not visit the establishment concerned. In these establishments labour inspection is carried out by specially appointed officials or officers. There may be special control measures applying to merchant shipping, fishing vessels and pleasure boats. Thus, in French Equatorial Africa3 the inspection of vessels registered in metropolitan France shall be done by port officers in the case of seamen on the ship's roll and by labour inspectors with respect to workers not 1 " Resident labourers " are workers who, by tacit agreement, have settled on land or pastures which as a rule belong to European farms. 2 See the 1952 Labour Code for Overseas Territories, article 145. 3 Order No. 137, dated 12 January 1956. LABOUR ADMINISTRATION AND INSPECTION 479 on the ship's roll. Inspection of vessels registered in overseas France is carried out by the labour inspectors, but port officers deal with all matters related to the application of the Merchant Navy Disciplinary and Penal Code. In maritime districts without port officers, the latter's duties fall upon the district officer. Junior officers (contrôleurs du travail) assist the inspectors in their work; they have power to investigate infringements of regulations and to make written reports, on the stength of which the inspector may decide to prosecute. These contrôleurs may not act as substitutes for the inspectors save in exceptional circumstances and for specified temporary duties. Article 157 of the Labour Code for Overseas Territories provides that medical inspectors may be attached to the inspectorates of labour and social legislation. A French Sudan order1 stipulates that a medical inspector is not allowed to prosecute under the legislation on hygiene, safety and the organisation of medical services, but he may send a written report to the inspector of labour and social legislation when he considers that the law has been broken. He has, however, the same powers as a labour inspector with respect to medical aspects of conditions of work. In Somalia the labour inspectors ensure that contracts of employment are carried out and enforce legislation on conditions of work, protection of workers, social insurance, medical care and the prevention of industrial accidents. They have the status of judicial police officers and may delegate their powers. At the present time the regional commissioners act as labour inspectors within their region and the district officers run the labour offices dealing especially with labour and employment problems. Government medical officers inspect workplaces. In Liberia, Labour Department officials have no real powers of inspection; inspection does not apply to agricultural and forestry workers, domestic servants or government employees and is limited to a monthly examination of pay rolls sent in by the employers. However, under the Minimum Wages Act, 1943, amended in 1944, labour agents are responsible for the application of this Act, for the supervision of all labour camps and for seeing that welfare measures are carried out, with special regard to hygiene, health and safety. In the territories under Portuguese administration the protection afforded and the control exercised by the curador and his agents as regards the recruiting of indigenous workers, contracts of employment and workmen's compensation, extend to the public services, shipping, fisheries and harbours. The army, navy and police do not come under this control. The legislation stipulates that neither the curador nor his agents may be traders or agricultural or industrial employers. The curador may delegate his powers to a military or civilian official with the Governor's approval; his agents are officials from the Department of Native Affairs, labour inspectors, administrators of municipalities and district officers. Government medical officers who act as medical inspectors report to the curador or his agents any infringements of health or medical legislation which they may have noted; they report on their inspection work in general to the territorial health departments. A recent Angola order 2 provides that labour inspectors must inspect at least once a year the curador's agencies and enforce legislation on hours, wages, safety, hygiene, social and medical welfare and the employment of young persons. The 1 2 Order No. 3118, dated 20 August 1955. Order No. 2797, dated 31 December 1956. 480 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY same order also requires the labour inspectors to report to the authorities any shortcomings or abuses not covered by the existing legislation. In the Union of South Africa labour inspection is carried out primarily by various officers of the Department of Labour, particularly the inspectors appointed under the relevant Acts. As regards Africans, supervision is carried out not only by agents of the Department of Labour, duly empowered by law, but also by the Native labour officers and inspectors of Native labour. An " Inspector of Native Farm Labourers " attached to the office of the Director of Native Labour with the rank of Native Commissioner, is specially responsible for rural areas. He inspects the conditions of work of African farm labourers and deals with their complaints. In the mining areas, and in particular in the Witwatersrand, inspectors have been appointed who visit places of employment, supervise conditions of work, investigate complaints and pass on those concerning compensation for accidents or disease. In the labour districts (areas where wage earners are numerous), compound managers, appointed by the employers, supervise the workers, investigate their complaints and see to their welfare; in each mine a complaints book is kept which is signed by the labour inspector on each visit. Methods of Control. The efficiency of labour inspection depends not only on the extent of the powers and duties assigned by law to labour inspectors but also on their qualifications, impartiality and number, as well as on the material facilities at their disposal. As regards the powers of inspectors, the legislation in most of the African countries and territories corresponds more or less fully to the standards laid down in the international labour Conventions and Recommendations on labour inspection1, particularly those defined in Article 4 of the Labour Inspectorates (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention, 1947 (No. 85).2 The legislation in the territories under Belgian, British and French administration, Ghana, Angola, Somalia and the Union of South Africa confirms the right of inspectors provided with credentials to enter freely and without previous notice at any hour of the day any workplace liable to inspection where they may have reasonable cause to believe that persons enjoying legal protection are employed and to inspect such workplaces. There are, however, limitations imposed upon this right when it is exercised by night to prevent inspectors having the right to enter by night places other than those where in fact night work is being done, or workers' homes in cases where it is not possible to effect inspection by day. In the territories under Belgian administration inspectors have the right of entry at any hour of the night whenever they have reasonable grounds for believing that one or more workers are working or are housed by the employer in the place to be inspected.3 In Somalia any place or establishment may be inspected at night when there is reason to believe that persons are being employed therein who are entitled to legal protection. In the territories under 1 Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81); Labour Inspectorates (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention 1947 (No. 85); Labour Inspection (Health Services) Recommendation, 1919 (No. 5); Labour Inspection Recommendation, 1923 (No. 20); Labour Inspection (Seamen) Recommendation, 1926 (No. 28); Inspection (Building) Recommendation, 1937 (No. 54); Labour Inspectorates (Indigenous Workers) Recommendation, 1939 (No. 59); Labour Inspection Recommendation, 1947 (No. 81); Labour Inspection (Mining and Transport) Recommendation, 1947 (No. 82). 2 The provisions of this Article are similar to those of Article 12 of the Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81). 3 Article 5 of the decree dated 16 March 1950 to set up a labour inspectorate. LABOUR ADMINISTRATION AND INSPECTION 481 French administration inspectors may enter at night any premises where it is known that organised night work is carried on.1 In the territories under British administration the provisions are not very precise on this point, merely stipulating that the right of entry may be exercised " at all reasonable times " in any place where workers are employed or housed except a private house. In all the cases cited the inspector must notify the employer before beginning an inspection except where he thinks that the giving of such notice may be prejudicial to the purpose of his visit. This last proviso is not, however, to be found in the French legislation. In the territories under Belgian administration, the inspector is, in urgent cases, not bound to notify the employer. In the territories under Belgian, British and French administration, Ghana, Angola, Somalia and the Union of South Africa, labour inspectors may undertake any investigations, examinations or inquiries which they deem necessary in order to satisfy themselves that the legislation is being duly observed. They may, in particular, question, with or without witnesses, the employer or employees of an undertaking and obtain information from any other person whose testimony may appear necessary. They may demand the production of any register or document prescribed by the laws or regulations ; they may demand the posting of notices when this is provided by law; they may, provided that the head of the undertaking or his representative has been warned, take samples of the materials and substances used or handled for analysis (this last right is not provided for in the Union of South Africa). As a rule the legislation provides that inspectors may call upon medical practitioners and technicians, where necessary, for advice and consultation on all labour matters, notably on matters relating to hygiene and safety. Inspectors may be accompanied during their inspections by experts and sworn official interpreters. Portuguese legislation, however, does not mention these points. In some territories under British administration, as in Tanganyika, an inspector may be accompanied by a police officer if he thinks that his work will be obstructed; the same applies in the Union of South Africa. In the territories under French administration inspectors may be accompanied, during their inspections, by staff representatives of the undertaking inspected. The legislation in the territories under British, Belgian and French administration, Ghana, Somalia and the Union of South Africa specifies that labour inspectors may require that measures be taken to remedy defects in an undertaking's plant or to change methods of work which may be a threat to the workers' health or safety. Procedures exist whereby the employer is bound to carry out his legal obligations within a given time limit. Immediate action may be ordered in the case of imminent danger. In these territories labour inspectors have also the power to lay information concerning infringements of labour legislation directly before the courts. Their statements of the facts are accepted until proof of the contrary is adduced. Sanctions may be taken against any person who obstructs or tries to obstruct a labour inspector or his agent in the execution of his duties and obligations. Discretion is given to the inspectors whether to prosecute, give a warning or tender advice. In the territories under Portugese administration the curador or his agent has the power summarily to punish infringements of the Native Labour Code for which the penalty is less than one year's imprisonment or a fine of less than 10,000 escudos. 1 32 Labour Code for Overseas Territories, article 154 (b), 482 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY As regards the obligations imposed upon inspectors and other agents in the performance of their duties, the legislation in the territories under Belgian, British and French administration, Ghana and Somalia, stipulates that they shall not have any direct or indirect interest in the undertakings placed under their supervision; they may not reveal, even after leaving the service, any manufacturing secrets or processes with which they may have become acquainted in the course of their duties; they must treat as confidential any complaint made to them respecting defective plant or a violation of the statutory provisions and regulations. In the territories under Belgian, British and French administration medical officers, technicians and interpreters are bound to professional secrecy in the same manner and subject to the same penalties as labour inspectors. In most territories labour inspectors or local labour offices are required to submit, at least once a year, a report to the central inspection authorities on their work and activities. With the exception of territories under British administration, Ghana, Sudan and the Union of South Africa, the central inspection authorities pubUsh no general yearly report on their work. The reports of the labour departments of the territories under British administration, excepting Southern Rhodesia, follow a uniform plan. In the Union of South Africa the Department of Labour issues an annual report containing information on employment and the administration of industrial laws; and the report of the Department of Native Affairs reviews the work of the labour bureaux for Africans and includes a report by the Director of Native Labour on matters within his jurisdiction. As was stated earlier, the efficiency of labour administration and inspection depends on the qualifications and impartiality of labour officials as well as on the resources at their disposal. It has been thought advisable to examine these matters in this chapter, in view of the special importance which they have in Africa in relation to the efficiency of labour inspection. What follows applies not only to labour inspection, however, but in a more general way to the work of labour administration as a whole. The first problem is that of qualifications. Labour problems have, during the last few years, become both more comphcated and more important, requiring officials with appropriate training, i.e. the technical qualifications required to carry out their duties, and a thorough knowledge of local conditions. In Africa, as elsewhere, officials such as the labour inspectors in the territories under French and Belgian administration and the labour officers in the territories under British administration must have a comprehensive knowledge of social legislation and must be acquainted with the technical aspects of problems such as workmen's compensation, occupational diseases, conditions of employment for women and young persons, hours, safety and hygiene. But they must also become familiar with local customs and traditions in order to understand the workers' way of life and the employers' problems; they must have a grounding in sociology sufficient to enable them to take stock of the effects of employment and must be fully aware of special local problems which have a bearing on conditions of work and labour management. One can assume that, in all the African territories, experts such as the medical inspectors or the mines inspectors employed by the various labour departments have received the required training; but the same does not apply to the officials whose duties are more general, who do both administrative and inspection work covering fields as diverse as industrial relations, industrial conciliation or the setting up of employment offices. LABOUR ADMINISTRATION AND INSPECTION 483 In the territories under Belgian administration most labour inspectors have come from the central administration, having been detached, first temporarily then permanently, from the Department of Economic Affairs or the Department of Indigenous Affairs and Labour after the creation of the labour inspectorate. A few labour inspectors also came from the Belgian trade union organisations. In the territories under British administration officials from the United Kingdom Ministry of Labour as well as experienced United Kingdom trade unionists have since 1938 been appointed to serve in the African labour departments; among the other officials appointed were Colonial Office administrators who, while serving as district officers, had shown an interest in labour problems. Training courses for labour officers were started in 1939. Since 1948, by agreement with the British Ministry of Labour, arrangements have been made to hold two three-months' courses for overseas officials each year. These first spend some time at the Ministry of Labour, and then a longer period at regional and local offices of the Ministry in order to familiarise themselves with its practical work. The courses cover industrial relations, including conciliation and arbitration, trade unionism, works and wages committees, factory inspection, employment services and vocational training. In some territories there are special local courses for the training of labour inspectors. When in 1944 an overseas labour inspectorate was set up in the territories under French administration, inspectors were initially recruited from among the colonial administrators who had a special knowledge of labour matters and from among metropolitan French labour inspectors. Additional inspectors required since 1944 have been recruited by competition or from among the graduates of the Ecole nationale de la France d'Outre-mer, where a special section was set up to give appropriate training. In fact, the decree fixing the status of overseas inspectors of Labour and social legislation1 provides that they may only be recruited from among graduates of the Ecole nationale de la France d'Outre-mer who have had the appropriate training and hold a law degree (licence); before receiving the full title of inspector they must serve a period of probation in one of the overseas inspection services. In Somalia the legislation provides for special training courses for indigenous assistant labour inspectors. It does not, however, seem that either in this territory or in Liberia (except for the Labour Commissioner), or in the territories under Portuguese administration officials acting as labour inspectors receive special training before recruitment. In the Union of South Africa the Department of Labour inspectors have the same rights and privileges as other government officers. Their training is conducted by experienced inspectors. The impartiality of labour inspectors is an essential factor in their efficiency, particularly as regards labour inspection and their relations with the public. This impartiality, in its turn, depends to a large extent on their character and material situation and on their freedom from local pressures in carrying out their duties. In the African territories as a whole most of the officials of the labour departments are civil servants with the guaranteed permanency of employment which this status implies. When they are not given a special status, however, and are simply detached from the general administration, it is difficult to believe that they are wholly inde1 Decree No. 55-1679, dated 29 December 1955. 484 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY pendent of any external influence, since there is no legislation to prevent their transfer by the administration to another post. It seems that it is chiefly in the territories under British and French administration that labour departments have become sufficiently autonomous to guarantee their officials this form of independence. In the British territories the labour department reports direct to the Governor of the territory. It is part of the civil service but does no work which is not exclusively related to labour problems. The French overseas inspectors of labour and social legislation are appointed by decree following a ministerial recommendation and their recruitment is quite independent of that of other civil servants. The labour officers in British territories and the inspectors in the French have a social status and pay equal to those of administrative officials. There are various provisions to ensure their impartiality; for instance, they may correspond directly with the central labour service or department to which they report through the general administration, which is obliged to send such correspondence on to the department. In the same way article 146 of the Labour Code for Overseas Territories gives the inspectors of labour and social legislation the right of initiative in regard to tours of inspection and official inquiries. In practice, the inspector, before going on a tour of inspection or starting an inquiry, must inform the Chief Officer and responsible Minister of the territory, stating how long he will be away. Equally, the material facilities at the disposal of labour officials to a large extent determine their efficiency, whether it is a question of office accommodation or the ready availability of public or official transport for tours of inspection. In almost all the African countries there appear to be too few officials to carry out efficiently all the duties of a labour department, particularly labour inspection. In many territories the number of officials on the establishment does not correspond to their actual number, either because there has been no attempt to fill certain posts or because these posts, through the shortage of trained experts, cannot be filled. Numerous examples of this shortage of trained labour officials may be found in the reports submitted by the various territorial authorities. Thus, in the Belgian Congo in 19541, only half the industrial undertakings had been inspected; during the same year, however, the number of workers employed in the undertakings which had been inspected was 410,000, as against 230,000 in 1953, out of a total of more than a million wage earners. In the territories under British administration, where the number of labour officials is relatively high compared with other African countries except the Union of South Africa, the labour department reports often mention a shortage of personnel and the difficulty of filling certain posts. Thus in Nigeria, during the period 1953-54, the post of Deputy Commissioner of Labour was not filled; in Kenya, during the year 1954, the enforcement of new factory legislation was hindered by a lack of trained inspectors; during the same year in Uganda there were fewer inspection tours than in 1953 owing to a shortage of trained officials capable of replacing the labour inspectors who were on leave; in Tanganyika, in 1955, three of the four posts of factory inspector were left unfilled and none of the five senior labour inspector posts was filled. The Nyasaland Labour Department Report for 1954 mentioned that there were too few labour inspectors to allow frequent inspection tours to be made. 1 Rapport sur Vadministration de la colonie du Congo belge pendant Vannée 1954, présenté aux chambres legislatives (Brussels, 1955.) LABOUR ADMINISTRATION AND INSPECTION 485 In the territories under French administration the number of junior labour officers (contrôleurs du travail), though increasing, is still too small. Although contrôleurs were provided for under the 1952 Labour Code for Overseas Territories (article 155), no official regulations have yet been issued and the few posts which have been filled are, in numbers, far below the real needs of the labour departments and are filled by officials temporarily detached from the administrative branch. The report for the period 1955-56 submitted to the International Labour Office on the application in the French Cameroons of the Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) states that shortage of staff is one of the reasons which have prevented inspectors from carrying out fully the legal obligation to inspect all undertakings and submit a yearly report. The United Nations Visiting Mission, in its report1 on Somalia, brings out the fact that in 1954 the Labour Department suffered greatly in efficiency through the absence of proper legislation and officials capable of replacing as labour inspectors the regional commissioners, who, since they had to deal with all administrative matters, could not give enough time to labour problems. The 1928 Native Labour Code in the territories under Portuguese administration and, more recently, an order issued in Angola in 19562 defined some of the duties of labour inspectors. It seems, however, that there are, for the time being, no labour inspectors properly so called in the territories under Portuguese administration. When the 1956 order mentioned above was being discussed by the Angola Legislative Council3 the Governor said that he hoped soon to have the funds necessary for the setting up of a labour inspectorate as provided by the order. Maintenance of Good Industrial Relations As industry developed in the African territories, it became apparent that labour departments could make an important contribution to the establishment of sound industrial relations. Thus, as early as 1948, the Kenya Labour Department observed in its annual report4 that the relations between employers and workers in the industrial and quasi-industrial sectors were becoming more and more distant and stressed that the major function of the Department remained the improvement of industrial relations and of conditions of employment and that, while the inspection side of the Department's duties remained the most important, it must gradually give place to that connected with industrial relations, i.e. contacts with the general public and with employers' and workers' organisations, intervention in negotiations and collective agreements, and the prevention and settlement of labour disputes through conciliation and arbitration. In most territories the duties of the labour department with respect to industrial relations are stressed in the relevant legislation. In the territories under Belgian administration the law stipulates that labour inspectors have the general duty of promoting better relations between employers and workers ; French legislation provides that the inspectors of labour and social legislation should deal with all aspects of industrial relations ; in most of the territories under British administration the labour department reports mention that one of the main tasks is to see to the development of sound industrial relations. 1 2 3 4 Report on Somaliland under Italian Administration, op. cit., pp. 42-43. No. 2797 of 31 December 1956. Conselho legislativo: Acta da Sessäo, Boletim Oficial de Angola, No. 17, 19 Oct. 1956. Colony and Protectorate of Kenya: Labour Department: Annual Report 1948 (Nairobi, Government Printer, 1949). 486 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Relations with the Public. There is no doubt that labour administration, in every field and at every level, can be made easier if both workers and employers approve and understand the legislation and regulations and if public opinion is kept fully and accurately informed of the work of the labour department. In the African territories, even in areas where the proportion of wage earners is large and labour departments are most highly developed, full and systematic use is not yet being made of the various means of information, education and propaganda, such as the press, radio, cinema, exhibitions, posters, conferences and popular pamphlets which might make the public fully acquainted with the meaning and scope of legislation, the labour department's work and other matters affecting relations between employers and workers. In some cases, however, such means of information have already been used. Thus conferences were organised in the territories under French administration under the auspices of the inspectorate of labour and social legislation when the 1952 Labour Code for Overseas Territories was published, and educational films are also shown to workers and employers. In some of the territories under British administration pamphlets on the normal functions of trade unions have been written by the Labour Officers (Trade Unions), and in 1954 courses on trade unionism were given at the University of the Gold Coast (Ghana) by labour department officials. One of the normal duties of officials of the labour department is to give advice and help, both to employers and workers, on all matters related to labour and particularly to give information and technical advice on the best means of complying with the law. The legislation in the territories under French and Belgian administration requires the labour departments and especially labour inspectors to give advice to employers and workers in order to encourage good industrial relations; the legislation clearly states that labour inspectors should not merely investigate infringements and enforce the law but should also act as advisers. Particularly in those territories where the labour department is fairly well developed and its impartiality can be relied on, as for example in the territories under British or French administration, both employers and workers, not only through their organisations but also individually, tend more and more to seek the advice of labour officers or labour inspectors on their day-to-day difficulties.1 Joint Consultation Machinery. In many of the African territories the authorities have set up official consultation machinery in order to permit regular contact between employers, workers, the labour department and the government, through joint boards or committees which, in most cases, are purely advisory bodies. In the Belgian Congo and RuandaUrundi there are provincial and regional committees for labour and the social progress of Africans as well as African workers' committees and African works councils. In the territories under French administration there are labour advisory boards and technical advisory committees. In the territories under British administration and Ghana there are various labour advisory boards or committees, factories' boards, wages committees and employment boards. 1 Federation of Nigeria: Annual Report of the Department of Labour for the Year 1952-1953 (Federal Government Printer, Lagos). LABOUR ADMINISTRATION AND INSPECTION 487 Relations with Workers'' and Employers' Organisations. In the territories where there are workers' and employers' organisations the labour department has sometimes helped in developing trade unions on a sound basis, especially in the early stages, by giving advice and encouragement, by helping them with financial administration and, sometimes, by training their leaders in the basic principles of trade union organisation. This help goes on, especially where the trade unions are still not highly developed. In some cases, particularly in the territories under British administration, the labour department has certain supervisory functions in connection with industrial organisations such as auditing the accounts of registered trade unions and seeing that trade unions are established and run in accordance with the law. There is no doubt, however, that as the trade unions reach a satisfactory level of development, there is less need for the labour department to intervene directly in their organisation and direction. In order to protect the independence of industrial organisations French legislation1 stipulates that the Government is not authorised to inspect trade union membership registers or accounts. Intervention in Collective Bargaining. Collective bargaining procedures and collective agreements are to be found mainly in the territories under French administration and, to a lesser extent, in those under British administration. Labour departments, as a preliminary measure, have had to encourage the formation of sufficiently representative bargaining bodies—which was difficult because at first workers' or employers' organisations were either non-existent or in an embryonic state. In the territories under British administration satisfactory voluntary agreements have frequently been concluded either within a given undertaking or collectively between groups of employers and workers; this result has been obtained partly through the efficient work of labour department officials with practical knowledge of trade unionism in the United Kingdom and experience in industrial relations. In the territories under French administration, where trade unionism is fairly well developed, especially in French West Africa, labour department officials have played and still play a large part in the working out of collective agreements. Under French legislation1 the inspector of labour and social legislation must be consulted in order to determine the extent to which a trade union or other organisation is representative, when this trade union or organisation is to be represented on a joint committee for the purposes of bargaining. The inspector, who acts as chairman of the joint committee, does not in theory intervene but, if the committee is unable to resolve a difference of opinion regarding any provision to be inserted in the collective agreement, the inspector, at the request of one of the parties, must try to bring about a settlement of the points at issue by conciliation. Prevention and Settlement of Labour Disputes. Although practice varies from territory to territory, labour department officials invariably intervene, directly or indirectly as appropriate, in the prevention or settlement of labour disputes. The labour department usually undertakes concilation, sometimes as a prelude to the official measures which will be taken if concili1 Labour Code for Overseas Territories, art. 73. 488 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY ation fails. The main duties of labour officials in this connection include encouraging and taking part in voluntary conciliation—and, at times, in arbitration—in collaboration with the workers' and employers' organisations, if any; administrative measures related to the setting up and proper functioning of conciliation and arbitration bodies; and the registration and enforcement of arbitration awards. In the Belgian Congo the Social Studies Section of the Labour and Social Welfare Division is responsible for industrial relations and especially for the settlement of labour disputes; the Indigenous Labour Section of the Division of Indigenous Affairs and Labour also deals with relations between employers and workers and, more especially, with policy issues involved in the settlement of collective labour disputes. Individual disputes are subject to the ordinary provisions of the law. At the provincial and regional levels the commissions for labour and the social progress of Africans intervene to prevent or settle collective labour disputes in the event of the failure of efforts by the territorial administrator, if necessary cooperating with the works committee or the local workers' council. Under the decree of 27 June 1944 a conciliation and arbitration committee may be set up by the provincial governor on the request of one of the parties involved ; this committee is presided over by a judge and has two assessors (one employer and one worker), neither belonging to the undertaking involved in the dispute. If conciliation fails at the provincial level the Governor-General may set up a central conciliation board of seven members, three of whom are judges, two employers and two workers. In the territories under British administration and Ghana, several labour department reports stress that one of the main duties of labour officials is to prevent labour disputes, or to help in reaching a voluntary agreement through conciliation. It is also reported that most disputes in recent years have been settled without recourse to arbitration by the mere intervention of labour officers. Since the Second World War in some territories United Kingdom experts have been called upon to help in the settling of labour disputes by acting as arbitrators or presiding over courts of inquiry. In the territories under French administration the inspector of labour and social legislation takes part in conciliation either at the request of one of the parties or automatically, according to whether the dispute is individual or collective. Labour officials also play an important part in the setting up and composition of labour courts and in establishing the procedure for the settlement of collective disputes when conciliation has failed. In the case of an individual dispute any worker or employer is entitled to apply to the inspector of labour and social legislation for an amicable settlement of the dispute before the matter is laid before a labour court.1 Labour courts have authority to give decisions in all individual disputes relating to collective agreements or the orders in lieu thereof; their jurisdiction also covers disputes between workers arising out of their employment. The employer and worker assessors are chosen from lists submitted by the most representative organisations (or, where there are no such organisations, by the inspector of labour). A collective dispute 2 must immediately be reported by the parties concerned to the inspector of labour and social legislation, who intervenes and calls them together for the purpose of settling the dispute. If this 1 2 Labour Code for Overseas Territories, article 190. Ibid., articles 209 et seq. as amended by Decree No. 55-567 of 20 May 1955. LABOUR ADMINISTRATION AND INSPECTION 489 fails, the parties are requested by the inspector to choose an expert from a list established by the Governor or the minister responsible for the Territory on the recommendation of the inspector after consultation with the labour advisory board. After concluding his inquiries the expert prepares a report on his investigations and concludes with a proposal for settlement of the points at issue in the form of a recommendation, which is immediately passed on to the parties concerned by the inspector. When the recommendation is communicated to the parties the inspector intervenes once more in order to make its terms clear to them and to try to bring about agreement. If one of the parties is opposed to, and appeals against, the recommendation the matter is brought before the central arbitration court by the inspector of labour and social legislation ; the court's award is communicated to the inspector and passed on by him to the parties. Any appeal against the award is lodged with the inspector. In the absence of such appeal the award becomes final. Strikes and lockouts in violation of such an award are forbidden by law. In Liberia the law provides for the establishment of labour courts presided over by labour commissioners. Any dispute between workers or between workers and employers may first be referred to the labour agent without prejudice to the right to refer the matter to a labour court. In the territories under Portuguese administration the curador and his agents, like the Liberian labour agents, have a duty to defend workers before the ordinary courts or administrative tribunals. In Somalia labour courts directed by the residents have power to arbitrate and seek the pacific settlement of labour disputes. In the Union of South Africa the industrial councils are required under the Industrial Conciliation Act, 1956, to endeavour to prevent disputes from arising and to settle disputes that have arisen. The Act also states that in case of individual or collective disputes between employers and workers in an undertaking, industry, trade or occupation, any of the parties may apply to the Minister for the establishment of a conciliation board composed of representatives of the employee and of the employer parties to the dispute. The industrial council or conciliation board may request the Ministry to appoint a mediator or may decide that the dispute shall be referred to arbitration (by a single arbitrator, a panel of three arbitrators or the tribunal). Furthermore, under the Native Labour (Settlement of Disputes) Act (No. 48 of 1953), each Native labour officer (who is the chairman of the regional Native labour committee) must keep the divisional inspector informed of any dispute which exists or may arise in the area and, in collaboration with the inspector, must endeavour to settle it; if there is no regional Native labour committee, the divisional inspector must endeavour to settle disputes alone. In most African territories no sharp line is drawn between the duties of labour inspector and those of conciliator. In some territories, such as those under Portuguese administration, Liberia, Somalia and the Union of South Africa, labour inspectors act also as arbitrators and, on occasions, as judges. This seems to be due not only to the weakness both of the labour departments and of industrial organisations but also to special local conditions such as the geographical areas covered, the fact that undertakings are widely scattered and poor transport and communications. Such a situation may, however, lead to complications owing to the fact that the functions of inspector, conciliator and arbitrator in a single individual are mutually incompatible. A party to a dispute in such conditions may 490 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY tend not to trust the inspector as conciliator or arbitrator and may therefore refuse to co-operate with him in his inspection work. However, it must be conceded that the conciliation work which has been done by labour department officials has, in numerous territories, been effective even when these officials have also acted as inspectors. There can be no doubt that the close, direct contact established by labour inspectors with both employers and workers during their tours of inspection often results in disagreements coming to their notice in their initial stages, thus enabling them to take preventive measures whose effectiveness frequently depends on the speed with which action is initiated and on the extent to which the inspector is trusted and respected by employers and workers. Moreover, it is often impossible to find persons other than the labour inspectors who are qualified to act as arbitrators; in this case and in some territories, such as those under British administration, the practice is to call in as arbitrators inspectors who work in a district other than that in which the dispute arises. While it may be desirable therefore that judges or arbitrators in labour disputes should, as far as possible, be persons or bodies independent of the officials acting as labour inspectors, in present circumstances and in many cases, it must be recognised to be appropriate not only that labour inspectors should help to settle disputes in their initial stages but also that they should act as arbitrators outside the areas where they carry out their inspection duties. Promotion of Full Employment The aim of any general manpower policy is to secure full employment by enabling workers to give the full measure of their skills and training and seeing that the demand for labour of different skills is fully met. The duties of the labour department in this connection are numerous—collection of information on various aspects of the labour situation (employed and unemployed workers, the supply of skilled labour, the type of skilled labour needed for new industries or for future industries, etc.); the equilibrium of labour supply and demand in the economy (this implies the classification of workers according to skill); apprenticeship, vocational guidance and selection, vocational training and retraining, the reclassification of workers; and handling the various problems related to migrant workers, which are especially important in some of the African countries. In many territories, as a result of industrialisation and the social and economic development plans of recent years, the responsibilities of labour officials with respect to manpower and employment have increased. Economic changes have given rise to new problems or to old problems in a more acute form. Among them are the increase in the demand for labour, particularly skilled labour, unemployment in the towns and the immigration of an ever-increasing number of European workers. By setting up employment offices and placement services, by providing vocational guidance, training and selection, by collecting information on manpower and undertakings, by research and studies on the labour market, the authorities have tried in some territories, especially in those under French and British administration, to solve these new problems. Most of this work has, of course, been given to the labour department. Without embarking on the details of the functioning of employment and vocational training services it would be useful to give some idea of the main work done by labour department officers with respect to employment in various territories. LABOUR ADMINISTRATION AND INSPECTION 491 In the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi the regional commissions for labour and the social progress of Africans examine all matters related to recruiting and keep a watch on the vocational training and social progress of African workers. The Indigenous Labour Section in the Division of Indigenous Affairs and Labour deals with employment among African workers, carries out research and inquiries on the supply of and demand for labour, recruiting, placement, emigration and immigration and gives advice on vocational training. In the main towns of the province of Equateur indigenous labour supervision officers directed by the district officer or his agent issue and visa work cards. The labour inspection service registers and classifies employers, the number of files having increased yearly (in the Belgian Congo, 6,000 files in 1953 and 7,500 in 1954). In July 1956 an employment office was opened at Leopoldville to centralise labour supply and demand and to ensure, through accurate occupational classification, that every worker gets a suitable job. It is hoped to set up " qualification boards " which will classify workers not only by occupation but also by their ability in that occupation. In the territories under British administration and in Ghana labour department officials deal with placement and facilitate the movement of workers who are leaving or looking for a job; they also supervise recruiting, organise vocational guidance and selection and see that apprentices and craftsmen are properly trained. Labour officers keep the labour market in touch with the needs and demands of the economy. As a result of industrialisation, employment services have developed a good deal and, in most territories, have become independent sections or divisions of the labour departments; they report directly to the commissioner of labour or to a labour officer. Employment offices have been opened whenever the need of them has occurred and their work is continuously increasing. In 1955 Kenya had 21 such offices for Africans, four for Asians, one for Europeans and one for African women, this last being run by a woman with the rank of labour officer. In 1955 the number of persons placed was 36 per cent, more than in 1954. In the territories under French administration the regional employment offices deal with applications for and offers of employment, placement, the immigration and repatriation of workers, and transferring the savings of workers who have left their homes; they make out workers' files and employment cards; they assemble upto-date information on offers of, and applications for, employment, and in general deal with all matters relating to the utilisation and distribution of manpower. Each office has its managing board. The offices were set up under the 1952 Labour Code for Overseas Territories but the Code did not determine their number; this is decided by territorial legislation and varies according to the importance of the problems to be solved, the density of population, the proportion of arable land under cultivation and the degree of industrialisation. The managing board is made up of officials and of employers' and workers' delegates in equal numbers. The staff is drawn from the senior or junior ranks of the civil service or is recruited by contract. Until the Act of 23 June 19561 came into force, the inspector of labour and social legislation played a major part in the operation of the regional employment office. He supervised the office from the point of view of administration and finance and saw that employment policy was enforced; he attended meetings 1 No. 56-619 as amended by Act No. 57-702 of 19 June 1957 authorising the Government to institute reforms and take measures of a nature to promote the development of the territories under the authority of the Minister for Overseas France. 492 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY of the managing board, where he was entitled to give his opinion on any questions under discussion; he could call for special meetings and for the inclusion in the agenda of any question which he thought should be examined; he signed the minutes of meetings; he could make suggestions and give advice on any point, particularly as regards the action to be taken on the board's decisions and on the appointment of the director and accountant of the employment office. At present the regional employment offices are under the Minister responsible for labour matters, who is competent to decide whether recourse shall be had to the inspector's help and experience. The inspectors of labour and social legislation deal with other employment or manpower problems; they organise and supervise adult vocational training centres, vocational guidance and selection; they decide the form and content of apprenticeship contracts and approve contracts for employment lasting more than three months or involving settlement of the worker away from his normal place of residence. In concluding this review of the work and duties of labour department officers, it may be of interest to give figures showing the proportion of time devoted to various departmental activities by labour officers and labour inspectors in Nigeria in 1953-541: T f u/^rv lypeotworK Whole department (percentage) Inspection Committee work Office work (other than in connection with industrial relations) Industrial relations Other work Travelling 14.5 1.5 63.5 9.7 6.5 4.3 Regional offices (percentage) from 11 to 28 „ 1 to 8 „ „ „ „ 55 3 6 7 to to to to 61 7 8.5 8 CONCLUSIONS As the economy evolves, and more especially as the pace of industrialisation in most African countries increases, the part to be played by labour administration becomes more and more important and the problems it has to study and solve become more numerous and more complex. Need for a Specialised Administration. In most territories labour problems now require a specialised administrative organ capable of implementing the government's social policy in all its aspects. Technical experts are essential for problems such as hygiene and safety in industrial undertakings or for the compilation of statistics, while specialised knowledge is required for the enforcement of labour regulations which are both complex and far-reaching and to carry out duties connected with industrial relations and full employment. Need for an Independent Administration. It is obvious that the duties of labour officials and especially labour inspection, must be carried out in an impartial way; this impartiality means that labour depart1 Federation of Nigeria: Annual Report of the Department of Labour, 1953-54 (Lagos, Federal Government Printer, 1955) p. 87. LABOUR ADMINISTRATION AND INSPECTION 493 ment officials must be, to some extent, independent of external influences. It was for this reason that the International Labour Conference unanimously agreed, in 19531, that " within the framework of a government administration it is therefore appropriate to provide a labour department—or, failing that, to set up within an existing department an administrative unit capable of ultimate emergence as a separate labour department—enjoying within the over-all structure a status corresponding to its important responsibilities". In Africa labour departments have not so far all acquired a status corresponding to the above principle; in several cases labour department officials are not differentiated from officials of the general administration; they carry out other duties of a political or economic character and tend, therefore, to depend too much on the local administrative authorities or even to be merged with them. There is probably no ideal solution to the many and complicated problems which the organisation of labour departments poses, but there is no doubt that, in the light of the present African situation, it has become more and more necessary that the traditional methods and institutions should be adapted to the new social and economic conditions. This adaptation will not be possible unless the services concerned have the authority, the facilities and the resources needed to carry out their duties more efficiently and impartially and to enable them to play their proper role in the elaboration and enforcement of the government's social policy. In some territories, particularly in those under British and French administration, labour departments are no longer subordinated to an administrative body dealing with matters other than labour matters, and it is unquestionably desirable that similar principles should be adopted throughout Africa. Need for Competent and Impartial Officials. A labour inspector's work is above all a question of human relations; it is, to a large extent, done through contact with external bodies—either employers' and workers' organisations or the general public. The reputation, the competence and the impartiality of labour department officials are essential factors in these relations. A labour department even when it is fairly autonomous and specialised, will work efficiently only if it has a staff which is both qualified and impartial. Various requirements must be met to enable officials to acquire and to make use of the necessary attributes, to enable them to carry out their duties properly and to enjoy the necessary prestige in the eyes of the general public, employers and workers. They must know local conditions and have considerable technical knowledge and they must show tact, integrity and judgment and an understanding of the social and human problems with which they deal. Foremost among these requirements are appropriate selection and training, which are, as a rule, best effected by recruitment on merit through open competition and by imparting of training corresponding to the technical problems which will later have to be solved. Apart from the experts needed to carry out certain special duties in the more highly developed territories it is absolutely essential to employ officials having all-round qualifications, a practical knowledge of as many aspects as possible of labour administration and knowledge of local social conditions. The staff of the labour department should be full-time permanent officials 1 " Observations and Conclusions regarding the Organisation and Working of National Labour Departments, Adopted by the International Labour Conference at Its 36th Session (Geneva, 1953) ", in Official Bulletin, Vol. XXXVI, No. 3, 31 Aug. 1953, p. 66. 494 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY whose stability of employment is guaranteed. They should have a special status, in order that all political or personal pressures and influences may be avoided. Experience has shown that officials temporarily detached from the general administration to a labour department have not had the same liberty of action and therefore not the same impartial outlook as those belonging to a permanent and separate service reporting directly to the home government or to the chief officer of the territory. Other factors influencing the possibilities of obtaining the appropriate staff include the payment of high enough salaries and the attribution to them of suitable status in the civil service hierarchy. Need for Sufficient Staff and Other Resources. Although the number of labour department officials has increased during the last few years in most African territories, there has nevertheless been a shortage of staff, which has meant that labour officials have not always been able to fulfil all their duties properly, especially that of seeing that all undertakings are inspected at regular intervals. It is obvious that a labour department's efficiency depends essentially on the staff and other resources available and, while any increase in staff and other resources raises financial problems, these, in most cases, hardly appear to be insoluble, especially if one bears in mind the fact that the amounts allotted to labour departments from public funds in most African territories are often very small (for instance, in the Belgian Congo, in 1954, less than 0.7 per cent, of total expenditure went to the Department of Labour and Social Welfare). In the light of the present situation a few points are worth mentioning in connection with the duties of labour inspection services. Officials in charge of labour inspection should have powers corresponding to their great responsibilities, as provided for by international standards and especially by Articles 12 and 13 of the Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) and by Article 4 of the Labour Inspectorates (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention, 1947 (No. 85). It should be borne in mind that certain duties are usually incompatible and that the same official should not be called upon to work both as inspector and as judge or arbitrator. It is equally important that labour inspection should be treated, not merely as a punitive service automatically exacting the penalties provided for by law, but also as having an advisory and educational role, able to encourage employers to carry out their obligations voluntarily and to help them, through advice and information, to find satisfactory solutions to the problems raised by legislation for the protection of workers. The need to develop research and statistics has already been stressed. It is essential that labour departments should have full, up-to-date and reliable information on the problems with which they are called upon to deal. Within the government of a given territory, the necessary research and statistical work can no doubt be done in co-operation with other departments such as the statistical branch. Nevertheless, it seems preferable that this work should be centralised in the labour department. As regards information, it would be most useful if labour departments were to publish, as is already done in some territories, annual reports of a general character on the work carried out by the inspection services under their control. The usefulness of regular consultation with workers' and employers' organisations and with the local authorities cannot be overemphasised. The co-operation of government, employers and workers through joint bodies holding regular meetings to discuss labour problems has two uses. It is a factor making for social peace LABOUR ADMINISTRATION AND INSPECTION 495 and it also puts labour department officials more fully in the picture and thereby enables them to give sound advice to the government on labour matters. In concluding this chapter on labour administration and labour inspection in Africa, one must recognise that it is impossible to define with any precision the action which should be taken to develop labour administration on lines and with priorities that are applicable to all the territories concerned. There is no general formula valid without modification or adaptation for all African territories, each of which has its own special circumstances. Most of the principles given above have been applied to a greater or to a less extent in some territories where labour administration is already well developed. A few essential principles and a few important points of detail have been mentioned which may, in the present situation, help to solve the main problems of labour administration. It is hoped that these principles and points may be of some use throughout the African Continent, which is rapidly changing and where labour problems are every day assuming greater importance. CHAPTER XV APPLICATION OF INTERNATIONAL LABOUR STANDARDS This chapter opens with a brief examination of the legal and practical means through which the International Labour Organisation is able to control the application of international labour standards, then the present state of ratifications and declarations of application in the various African countries and territories is examined and, finally, a general indication is given of the extent to which international labour standards which seem specially relevant to African conditions have, up to now, been effectively applied. I.L.O. ACTION ON THE APPLICATION OF INTERNATIONAL LABOUR STANDARDS Control of Application. By virtue of the Constitution of the International Labour Organisation (article 19) States Members must within a brief period (12 to 18 months) submit the Conventions and Recommendations adopted by the Conference to the competent national authorities, that is to say, the authorities who have the power to legislate in relation to the matters with which the instruments deal. The object of this procedure is to permit the " competent authorities " to pass legislation or take any other necessary action. States Members are also required to furnish reports on the state of law and practice on the matters covered by certain Conventions which they have not ratified and by certain Recommendations selected from time to time for this purpose by the Governing Body of the International Labour Office (article 19 of the Constitution). These reports, when dealing with Conventions, must state what, if any, are the difficulties which prevent or hold up ratification. By decision of the Governing Body the only Conventions and Recommendations in respect of which such reports are requested in the case of non-metropolitan territories are those of particular interest for such territories. The reports must be communicated by governments to the representative organisations of employers and workers. When a State Member has ratified a Convention it must take action to ensure its application and must furnish an annual report to the International Labour Office on the measures taken (article 22 of the Constitution): this report must be drawn up in a form adopted for each Convention by the Governing Body and a copy must also be communicated to the representative organisations of employers and workers (article 23). As regards non-metropolitan territories, i.e. territories for the international relations of which a State or States Members are responsible, the nature and effect APPLICATION OF INTERNATIONAL LABOUR STANDARDS 497 of the obligations relating to Conventions ratified by these Members depends on the degree of self-governing powers possessed by the territories concerned. Where the subject matter of the Convention is within the self-governing powers of the territory concerned— (a) the State Member must bring the Convention to the notice of the government of the territory as soon as possible with a view to the enactment of legislation or other action by such government (article 35, paragraph 4); (b) thereafter the Member, in agreement with the government of the territory, may communicate a declaration to the Director-General of the International Labour Oifice accepting the obligations of the Convention on behalf of such territory (article 35, paragraph 4): this acceptance involves the acceptance on behalf of the territory of the constitutional obligations relating to ratified Conventions and, in particular, the obligation to send an annual report (article 35, paragraph 6); (c) if the obligations of the Convention are not accepted on behalf of such territory the State Member must report the position of the law and practice of the territory in regard to the matters dealt with in the Convention and state the difficulties which prevent or delay its acceptance (article 35, paragraph 8). If the subject matter of the Convention which has been ratified is not within the self-governing powers of the territory concerned, the State Member is bound, by the fact of ratification, to apply its provisions in the territory unless it is inapplicable owing to the local conditions or subject to such modifications as may be necessary to adapt the Convention to these conditions (article 35, paragraph 1); and—■ (a) the State Member must, as soon as possible after ratification, communicate a declaration stating the extent to which it undertakes that the provisions of the Convention will be applied (article 35, paragraph 2): (b) the State Member must furnish an annual report in the form adopted by the Governing Body for ratified Conventions and indicating— (i) what are the local conditions which have rendered necessary the application of the Convention with modifications or which have induced the decision not to apply it; (ii) whether, during the period in question, a review of the situation has been undertaken with a view to extending the application of the provisions of the Convention (in the case of a territory in which, because of local conditions it has been decided not to apply it); this information must be supplied when the Convention has been in force for the State Member concerned for five years or more. The Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations studies annually the information furnished by governments and submits a report to the Governing Body of the International Labour Office. This report, including the observations on the application of ratified Conventions in non-metropolitan territories, is sent to States Members and is also used as the basis for discussion during the International Labour Conference by the tripartite Conference Committee on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations. The combined work of the Committee of Experts and the Conference Committee constitutes the system of examination and control set up by the International Labour Organisation to evaluate the extent to which its standards are being applied and to 33 498 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY draw up a balance sheet of difficulties encountered and of progress made in their application by member States. It seems specially desirable to mention the important work done by the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations during its 1955 Session, when it carried out a five-yearly examination of the application of Conventions in non-metropolitan territories. On that occasion they had before them more than 1,000 reports from governments, covering 36 African territories. The Committee drafted a document giving a general indication of the way in which ratified Conventions are, in fact, applied in the various non-metropolitan territories. This document, in the form of a chart, was brought up to date in 1957 to include more recent information sent by Governments1 and shows, side by side, for each territory and for each Convention, the formal declaration which has been made and the extent of application as it appears to the Committee from the reports submitted by governments during the past seven years. An extract from this chart covering the African non-metropolitan territories is given in Appendix III, table 37. The work of the Committee of Experts is based exclusively on information sent to the International Labour Office by the governments concerned. Attempts made so far by the Committee to evaluate the extent of application of international standards depend essentially on the way in which governments fulfil in practice their obligations under the Constitution of the International Labour Organisation. During the last few years not only has there been a steady increase in the number of reports received on the application of Conventions in the territories 2 as compared with the total number requested but also a marked improvement in the presentation of reports. In spite, however, of the progress noted in this field the relevant Committee of the International Labour Conference at its 40th Session (June 1957) made it clear in its report that " while noting with satisfaction that the percentage of reports received this year on the application of Conventions in the non-metropolitan territories is the highest ever reached, the Committee cannot feel wholly satisfied as long as all States Members responsible for the international relations of such territories have not supplied all reports requested on the application, in their non-metropolitan territories, of all Conventions ratified by them ".3 Ratification and Declarations of Application The number of Conventions ratified by member States of the International Labour Organisation and in respect of which annual reports relating to African countries were due 4 in 1958 is fairly large as regards the territories under Belgian administration (50), those under British administration (49), those under French administration (62) and Somalia (59) ; but it is much lower for other African countries. 1 See chart appended to the Report of the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations, Report III (IV), International Labour Conference, 40th Session, Geneva, 1957 (Geneva, 1957). 2 See Appendix III, table 36. s I.L.O. : Record of Proceedings, International Labour Conference, 40th Session, Geneva, 1957 (Geneva, 1958), paragraph 34, p. 688. 4 An annual report is not required on Convention No. 80, denounced Conventions, conditional Conventions, lapsed Conventions, and recently ratified Conventions for which reports are not yet due. APPLICATION OF INTERNATIONAL LABOUR STANDARDS 499 It will thus be seen that there are considerable differences between one country and another as regards the extent of information communicated by governments to the International Labour Organisation on measures taken towards the apphcation of Conventions. Part II of table 37 of Appendix III shows, with respect to each non-metropolitan territory, the number of Conventions declared applicable or accepted without modification, applicable or accepted with modifications, and inapplicable, and the number of Conventions for which the government's decision on application is reserved. The chart shows that an appreciable number of ratified Conventions have not been declared applicable to certain territories. However, too much importance should not be attached to this fact since it frequently happens that Conventions which have been ratified but which have not been the object of a declaration of application (or in regard to which the government has reserved its decision) are in fact applied by local law and practice. This is clearly shown by the table, where the number of Conventions declared applicable is very much lower than the number which the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations consider to be fully applied on the basis of information supplied by the governments. Thus, in the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi, whereas only 19 Conventions have been declared applicable with or without modification, 25 Conventions are in fact either completely or substantially applied. The corresponding figures for Somalia are 17 and 28 and, for the French territories, 16 and between 25 and 42, depending on the territory. Nevertheless, in order to eliminate doubts on this subject it would be desirable to see the factual situation reflected in the international field by the acceptance of obligations of a more formal character. It was in this hope that the International Labour Conference at its 40th Session (Geneva, June 1957) drew the attention of States Members having responsibility for the international relations of non-metropolitan territories to the obligation that they had undertaken to communicate declarations " as soon as possible " after each ratification. It is interesting to note that 108 fresh declarations were made between June 1957 and June 1958—eight concerning Belgian and 14 concerning French administered territories in Africa, three concerning Somalia, two concerning South-West Africa and 81 concerning African territories under British administration. Evaluation of the Extent of Application Before concluding these remarks on the legal and practical measures taken by the International Labour Organisation to control the application of international labour standards, it is important, in order to avoid giving false impressions, to make a few comments of a general character on the way in which the Committee of Experts, in 1955 and 1957, evaluated the extent of application of Conventions in non-metropolitan territories. The chart established by the Committee of Experts which was used to prepare table 37 in Appendix III on the extent of application of Conventions in the nonmetropolitan territories of Africa covers only ratified Conventions, i.e. those on the application of which States Members have to submit reports to the International Labour Office. It does not, therefore, give a full picture of the situation which may in fact obtain in non-metropolitan territories as regards the over-all appücation of international labour standards. In some cases a State Member may have found it impossible, for a fairly unimportant technical reason, to ratify 500 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY a Convention, even though the standards applied in the country concerned and in its non-metropolitan territories may be as high as those prescribed in the Convention. Moreover, as was stressed above, the information used by the Committee on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations comes exclusively from reports sent by the various governments responsible for the administration of non-metropolitan territories. The evaluation of the extent of application, therefore, depends largely on the amount of detail in the information supplied. When reports have been particularly brief or their presentation extremely poor it may well be that, in some cases, the evaluation of the extent of application may not correspond exactly to the facts. It was partly to remedy this shortcoming, that, in its 1955 report1, the Committee of Experts invited the States Members responsible for the international relations of non-metropolitan territories to check the indications on the chart and, where necessary, to make corrections. Finally, in submitting, for the first time, in 1955, the chart on the application of Conventions in non-metropolitan territories, the Committee of Experts in its report pointed out that the chart should be interpreted with great care and that use should be made, as far as possible, of the summary of reports from governments which is published annually by the International Labour Office and laid before the Conference. According to the Committee this prudence was necessary, because it was impossible to give in the chart all the information which might have been desirable ; for instance, the sign used to show that effect had not been given to the terms of a Convention might cover a great variety of situations; it might indicate that the Convention was inapplicable for geographical reasons, as is the case with maritime Conventions in territories without direct access to the sea; it might indicate that the type of work or of undertaking covered by the Convention was not to be found in a given territory, e.g. Conventions concerning underground work or sheetglass works; it might indicate that the demographic situation or the degree of social and economic development in the territories concerned did not allow the Convention to be applied even partially (as in the case of the Conventions on social security for a large number of territories). PRINCIPAL ASPECTS OF THE APPLICATION OF INTERNATIONAL LABOUR STANDARDS Concurrent with the accelerated economic and political evolution of the last ten years, measures have been taken in most African countries which cover more and more fully the various aspects of labour problems. One of the results of this undeniable progress of social legislation has been the more generalised apphcation of international labour standards, the more so since in many cases the new legislation derives more or less directly from the standards adopted by the International Labour Conference. Moreover, in many cases, particularly in the territories administered by France and the United Kingdom, the most recent reports received by the International Labour Office from governments often show that, where appropriate, the 1 See I.L.O. : Report of the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations, Report III (Part IV), International Labour Conference, 38th Session, Geneva, 1955 (Geneva, 1955), paragraph 41, p. 11. APPLICATION OF INTERNATIONAL LABOUR STANDARDS 501 policy is to bring legislation completely into line with international labour Conventions. In its 1955 report1 the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations divided into seven groups the Conventions which might be treated, generally speaking, as basic in respect of non-metropolitan territories. The same classification has been used for the purposes of this survey with a few changes relating mainly to certain Conventions dealing with various aspects of social policy in non-metropolitan territories. Forced Labour, Penal Sanctions, Recruiting and Long-Term Contracts of Employment Besides the application of international labour Conventions of a general character, the International Labour Organisation has for the last 30 years taken a direct interest in problems arising out of the employment of indigenous workers, which occur in almost all the African territories. As a result the International Labour Conference has adopted six Conventions and four Recommendations having a more or less direct incidence on the employment of indigenous workers. These are the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29), the Forced Labour (Indirect Compulsion) Recommendation, 1930 (No. 35) and the Forced Labour (Regulation) Recommendation, 1930 (No. 36)2; the Penal Sanctions (Indigenous Workers) Convention, 1939 (No. 65) and the Abolition of Penal Sanctions Convention, 1955 (No. 104); the Recruiting of Indigenous Workers Convention, 1936 (No. 50) and the Elimination of Recruiting Recommendation, 1936 (No. 46); and the Contracts of Employment (Indigenous Workers) Conventions, 1939 (No. 64) and 1947 (No. 86) and Recommendation, 1939 (No. 55). The main abuses deriving from compulsion to work, from certain methods of recruiting, from long-term contracts of employment and from the sanctions applied to enforce these contracts have to a great extent disappeared, and indeed the majority of African countries are abreast, if not ahead, of most of the provisions of the international instruments dealing with these abuses. As regards forced labour, the Convention adopted by the International Labour Conference in 1930 is now applied in the whole of Africa with the exception of Ethiopia and the Union of South Africa.3 Under this Convention each ratifying member State " undertakes to suppress the use of forced or compulsory labour in all its forms within the shortest possible period ". In the meantime, and until forced labour has been completely abolished, the ratifying Members have also undertaken to forbid certain forms of forced or compulsory labour and to regulate others. In fact, forced labour, in its more abusive aspects, has largely, if not altogether, disappeared from Africa ; even the forms of forced or compulsory labour in the public interest which the Convention regulated without completely forbidding, such as porterage, cultivation of crops and labour on public works, are disappearing. In 1955 legislation existed permitting the use of all these forms of compulsory labour in the Belgian Congo and in Ruanda-Urundi and the use of one or other of them in some 1 2 Op. cit., pp. 7-10. The Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105), should also be mentioned although this instrument is not concerned specifically with indigenous workers. In 1958 it was ratified by the United Kingdom and declared applicable to Mauritius, Saint Helena, Sierra Leone and British Somaliland. 3 This Convention has been ratified by Belgium, France, Ghana, Italy, Liberia, Portugal, Spain, Sudan and the United Kingdom. 502 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY of the territories under British administration, such as Bechuanaland, Kenya, Uganda, Tanganyika, Gambia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. Legislation adopted during the last two years has, however, further restricted the scope of these exceptions, as in Sierra Leone, Tanganyika and Zanzibar. It should, however, be mentioned that according to available information legislation in certain cases, e.g. in Liberia and the territories under Portuguese administration, is not in full conformity with certain provisions of the 1930 Convention. It is worth recalling that during its 39th Session, in 1956, the International Labour Conference adopted a resolution requesting the Governing Body " to consider the placing of the question of the revision of the Forced Labour Convention, 1930, on the agenda of the earliest possible session of the Conference ". The Penal Sanctions (Indigenous Workers) Convention, 1939 (No. 65), provided that all penal sanctions for any breach of contract should be abolished, progressively and as soon as possible in the case of adults and immediately in the case of non-adult workers. The Abolition of Penal Sanctions (Indigenous Workers) Convention, 1955 (No. 105) provided that sanctions should be abolished " by means of an appropriate measure of immediate application " and that, when such a measure is not considered to be practicable, the measures taken should " in all cases ensure that all penal sanctions are abolished as soon as possible and, in any event, not later than one year from the date of the ratification of this Convention ". In fact, penal sanctions are now in the last stages of abolition throughout most of Africa; they are still, however, provided for in the legislation of certain territories such as those under Belgian and Portuguese administration and in the Union of South Africa. Practically speaking, they are now only applied in certain regions of Central and South Africa. In its 1955 report1 the Committee of Experts noted that, in most of the territories for which a report had been received on the application of the 1939 Convention, among them Somalia and the territories under British administration (except Southern Rhodesia), any provisions permitting the application of penal sanctions were no longer applied and that local administrations were trying, in the course of revising legislation, to abolish them. Thus, for example, a proclamation issued in Basutoland in 1956 removed any possibility of penal sanctions, being inflicted on non-adults for breach of contract of employment; similarly, in Kenya, under an Employment (Amendment) Ordinance of 1957, desertion no longer ranks as a breach of contract giving rise to penal sanctions. The provisions of the Recruiting of Indigenous Workers Convention, 1936 (No. 50) are designed to safeguard workers against any form of pressure and to protect the populations concerned against any possible abuse. In numerous territories (e.g., in the Belgian Congo, Ruanda-Urundi and most territories under British administration) the legislation on the recruiting of workers embodies the main principles of the 1936 Convention, in terms similar to those of the Convention. " Recruiting " for the purposes of the Convention, that is to say, " operations undertaken with the object of obtaining or supplying the labour of persons who do not spontaneously offer their services ", which used to be frequent in certain parts of Africa, is gradually disappearing.2 It seems that, more and more, workers are refusing to be tied by long-term contracts of employment. In many African countries the legislation stipulates that certain contracts must be in writing and 1 Report of the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations (1955); op. cit., p. 8. 2 See Chapter IV. APPLICATION OF INTERNATIONAL LABOUR STANDARDS 503 that certain safeguards should be included in contracts of employment of indigenous workers and fixes the maximum duration of written contracts in terms which are in accordance with the main provisions of the Contracts of Employment (Indigenous Workers) Convention, 1939 (No. 64), and of the Contracts of Employment (Indigenous Workers) Convention, 1947 (No. 86). This type of legislation is to be found in the territories under French and Belgian administration, in Somalia under Italian trusteeship, as well as in most of the territories under British administration. Minimum Standards of Social Policy in Non-Metropolitan Territories In drawing up a comprehensive charter dealing with the general principles of social policy in non-metropolitan territories in 1947, the International Labour Organisation showed how conscious it was of the political and economic evolution that had taken place in the non-self-governing territories during the Second World War and the increased importance of social problems in them. Five Conventions1 were adopted defining the social aims of economic development and laying down a series of fundamental principles to which it was thought that all policies in nonmetropolitan territories should conform. They also set standards and prescribed guiding principles on questions as fundamental as the raising of the standard of living, wages, migrant labour, non-discrimination, vocational education and training, the right of association, the settlement of labour disputes, labour inspection and contracts of employment. Among these Conventions which have certainly had considerable influence on the recent progress of social legislation in Africa, there is one, general in character, which seems especially important, namely the Social Policy (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention, 1947 (No. 82). This Convention begins by stating certain general principles, among them that all policies designed to apply to non-metropolitan territories should be primarily directed to the well-being and development of the people of such territories and that it should be an aim of policy to abolish all discrimination among workers on grounds of race, colour, sex, belief, tribal association or trade union affiliation. Other parts of the Convention deal with the raising of the standard of living as the main aim of economic policy, with migrant workers, with wages and related matters, with non-discrimination, with vocational education and training. The Convention contains provisions which apply to problems arising in both metropolitan and to non-metropolitan territories, as well as provisions concerning problems peculiar to non-metropolitan, including African, territories. It has so far been ratified by Belgium, France and the United Kingdom, which have declared it applicable, with or without modification according to the case, to the territories for whose international relations they are responsible. The first reports on the application of the Convention were received by the I.L.O. at the end of 1956 and in 1957. Protection of Children, Young Persons and Women Measures for the protection of children, young persons and women derive from the fundamental desire to protect their health and their well-being, by guard1 Social Policy (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention, 1947 (No. 82); Labour Standards (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention, 1947 (No. 83); Right of Association (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention, 1947 (No. 84); Labour Inspectorates (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention (No. 85); Contracts of Employment (Indigenous Workers) Convention, 1947 (No. 86). 504 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY ing them against the risk of being exploited, a risk to which they are particularly subject; measures of this kind are also designed to improve the facilities for their education and training. As regards children and young persons, there is a first group of Conventions and Recommendations concerning the age for admission to employment.1 As a rule legislation in the various African countries fixes minimum ages for admission to industrial and non-industrial employment, in terms which, to a great extent, embody the principles of international labour instruments. The regulations on the age for admission of children or young persons takes various forms. In some cases, e.g. in the territories under Belgian, French and Portuguese administration and in Somalia there is a uniform age for admission (usually 14 years) whatever the type of occupation; exceptions are frequently provided for, taking into account local conditions and the type of employment. In other cases the age for admission is higher in industry than in agriculture or in domestic service and generally varies between 12 and 16. In some countries a minimum age is provided for only in certain trades and occupations, there being no restrictions applying to work in other forms of activity; this is the case in the Union of South Africa, where the restrictions apply only to industry (including mining). There is another group of Conventions and Recommendations which regulates night work of children and young persons.2 In most African countries and territories the legislation provides that young persons aged less than 18 years may not do night work; in some cases, as in the Belgian Congo and most of the territories under British administration, this provision applies only to certain occupations and as a rule it does not apply to agriculture. Exceptions to the principle of forbidding night work are rare and only apply in urgent cases and in cases of absolute necessity. There are two Conventions and one Recommendation dealing with the medical examination of children and young persons before admission to, and during, employment.3 In a few cases (e.g. in the territories under French administration), systematic medical control has been provided for. More frequently it is provided that, after admission to employment and in case of necessity, there should be a medical examination to check fitness for employment. While real progress has 1 Minimum Age (Industry) Convention, 1919 (No. 5), and Convention No. 59 (Revised), 1937, on the same subject; Minimum Age (Sea) Convention, 1920 (No. 7), and Convention No. 58 (Revised), 1936, on the same subject; Minimum Age (Agriculture) Convention, 1921 (No. 10); Minimum Age (Non-Industrial Employment) Convention, 1932 (No. 33), and Convention No. 60 (Revised), 1937, on the same subject; Minimum Age (Trimmers and Stokers) Convention, 1921 (No. 15). See also the following Recommendations: industrial employment: Minimum Age (Family Undertakings) Recommendation, 1937 (No. 52); non-industrial employment: Minimum Age (NonIndustrial Employment) Recommendation, 1932 (No. 41); underground work in coal mines: Minimum Age (Coal Mines) Recommendation, 1953 (No. 96); see also articles 18, 19, 21, 23 and 24 in the Annex of the Social Policy in Dependent Territories Recommendation, 1944 (No. 70). See also the section on children and young persons in Chapter VII. 2 Night Work of Young Persons (Industry) Convention, 1919 (No. 6), and Convention 90 (Revised), 1948, on the same subject ; Night Work of Young Persons (Non-Industrial Occupations) Convention, 1946 (No. 79). See also the following Recommendations: as regards agriculture: Night Work of Children and Young Persons (Agriculture) Recommendation 1921 (No. 14); for nonindustrial employment: Night Work of Young Persons (Non-Industrial Occupations) Recommendation, 1946 (No. 80). See also article 25 in the Annex of the Social Policy in Dependent Territories Recommendation, 1944 (No. 70). 3 Medical Examination of Young Persons (Industry) Convention, 1946 (No. 77); as regards medical examination for fitness for non-industrial employment, see Convention No. 78 and Recommendation No. 79, both adopted in 1946. APPLICATION OF INTERNATIONAL LABOUR STANDARDS 505 been made as regards the protection of young workers in almost all African countries, it cannot be denied that there are obstacles to the application of international labour standards in this field. Whatever the statutory provisions, control is only effective in the case of young workers employed by fairly large firms. Family employment, employment in shops owned by Africans and, to a large extent, employment in agriculture, in fact escape any form of legal action or control; and it is precisely in agriculture, the retail trade and in domestic service in Africa that the employment of children is most widespread. There are other obstacles to the eificient application of international labour legislation, including the low school attendance and the relative shortage of schools and teaching staff, the shortage of medical and public health staff to carry out medical examinations, the chronic unemployment in many towns, which encourages abuses to which young workers submit more willingly than adults and, finally, the difficulty of calculating accurately the age of children owing to the fact that births are not registered, which is so great that the notion of " apparent age " has often been used in legislation. As regards women, there are international labour instruments dealing with night1 and underground work2, with maternity protection3 and equal pay for equal work.4 Established standards concerning night work which prohibit the employment of women in industry for periods of at least 11 consecutive hours, including the interval between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m., are being applied more and more widely in Africa. The prohibition of underground work is confirmed by legislation in almost all territories which have a mining industry. In many African countries there are provisions for maternity protection involving, in the case of women employed in industry and in commerce, the grant of six weeks' leave or more both before and after confinement, the payment during this period of leave of part of their wages, generally one-half, and free medical care and periods during work hours for those who nurse their children. In some territories (e.g. in those under French administration) certain types of work are forbidden to women in general or to pregnant women and the employer is not allowed to terminate a woman's contract of employment while she is pregnant or lying in. Generally speaking in most African countries very few women are employed in commerce and even fewer in industry; they are mainly employed on light work, such as picking or sorting in agriculture and on plantations. Social Security Since 1919, 23 Conventions and 19 Recommendations have been adopted by the International Labour Conference5 dealing with various aspects of social security, 1 Night Work (Women) Convention, 1919 (No. 4), and Conventions Nos. 41, 1934, and 89, 1948, 2 both revised Conventions on the same subject. Underground Work (Women) Convention, 1935 (No. 45). 3 Maternity Protection Convention, 1919 (No. 3), and Convention No. 102 (Revised), 1952, on the same subject; Maternity Protection (Agriculture) Recommendation, 1921 (No. 12); Maternity Protection Recommendation, 1952 (No. 95); article 31 in the Annex of the Social Policy in Dependent Territories Recommendation, 1944 (No. 70). 4 Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) and Equal Remuneration Recommendation, 1951 (No. 90). 5 Conventions Nos. 2, 3, 12, 17, 18, 19, 24, 25, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 42, 44, 48, 55, 56, 70, 71, 102, 103; Recommendations Nos. 1, 10, 11, 12, 17, 22, 23, 24, 25, 29, 43, 44, 45, 67, 68, 69, 75, 76, 95. See also section 10 of Recommendation No. 70 and Paragraphs 45, 46 and 47 of Recommendation No. 100. 506 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY in particular workmen's compensation for accidents and occupational diseases, maternity protection and social insurance schemes covering sickness, invalidity, old age, death and unemployment. Broadly speaking, it may be said that social security standards can be applied only in conditions where there is sufficient economic development to ensure a solid financial basis for the scheme and administrative arrangements developed to the point of including, among other things, a register of births and deaths kept over a sufficiently long period. These requirements are lacking in African countries, and so the Conventions concerning social security, which, incidentally, have so far been ratified by comparatively few of the countries concerned (France and the United Kingdom), are applied only to a very limited extent and in a small number of territories. The position is different when we turn to compensation for accidents and occupational diseases. In Africa, as elsewhere, this has been one of the first aspects of social security to be introduced. Furthermore, parts of the Social Security (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1952 (No. 102), which at the time were defined as the common denominator of social security, have in fact been put into practice in several African territories, though use has been made of exception clauses which, under the terms of the Convention itself, may be applied in the case of a country " whose economy and medical facilities are insufficiently developed ". In the field of compensation for accidents and occupational diseases1 considerable progress has of recent years been made in several territories, where new legislation has made possible the practical application of certain principles set forth in international labour instruments. Several territories have, for instance, lifted restrictions which excluded certain classes of wage earners, especially agricultural workers, from the scope of this legislation. In the same way an end has been put to limitations based on grounds such as the reasons for or the nature of the accident or the category of the undertaking. Similarly, discrimination based on race or nationality which existed in some countries has been, if not abolished, at least greatly reduced. Furthermore, the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations in its report for 1955 " noted with satisfaction that, in nearly all cases in which workers are liable to become victims of occupational diseases, the local legislation and regulations ensure compensation equivalent to that provided in case of industrial accidents ".2 Since that time new and improved compensation arrangements for occupational diseases have been introduced in a number of territories such as Angola, the French and Belgian territories, and many of the territories under United Kingdom administration. Other improvements which are increasing the application in Africa of international standards of compensation for accidents and occupational diseases include better medical care, the increase of medical-care benefits in territories where this is covered only up to certain financial limits, improvement of benefits for temporary incapacity and, in the cases of permanent incapacity or death, the reduction of the qualifying period, in most cases, to three days, the general adoption of the principle of a pension in case of permanent incapacity or death, either by abolishing the system of lumpsum payments, as for instance in the French territories, or by restricting to accidents entailing only very minor degrees of incapacity the cases where a pension may be commuted for a lump sum, as is done in certain British territories. There should 1 2 See the conclusions of Chapter XI (Social Security). Report of the Committee on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations (1955), op. cit., p. 9. APPLICATION OF INTERNATIONAL LABOUR STANDARDS 507 also be noted in this connection legislation recently introduced in several African territories tightening the rules dealing with the reporting and investigation of the more serious accidents or which extends the time limits fixed for revision of benefits. The international Conventions and Recommendations concerning other measures of social security, as already pointed out, are far less fully applied in African countries than those which deal with workmen's compensation. However, as regards certain contingencies such as old age, invalidity, child maintenance, maternity protection and medical care in case of sickness, the provisions of various international standards concerned with these contingencies, particularly those laid down in the Social Security (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1952, are applied by legislation in some African territories and, in some cases, have been so applied for a long time. During the last ten years notable progress has been made in these various fields. As regards sickness, improvements have been made in medical assistance through the expansion of public health services and by the establishment—mainly in French territories—of medical services in undertakings. As for invalidity and old age, attention should be drawn to the very recent adoption in the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi of schemes for invalidity insurance and old-age pensions, both covering African workers and financed by equal contributions from them and their employers. Similarly, in French West Africa a compulsory retirement-pension scheme was introduced in 1958 for all workers in private employment; this scheme was set up under an agreement signed by the central employers' and workers' organisations. Finally, the introduction during 1956 of a system of family allowances for all wage earners throughout all French territories also marks a great step forward towards the full application of international standards on child maintenance and family assistance in the African countries concerned. Standards concerning Hours of Work, Weekly Rest and Holidays with Pay The question of limiting hours of work has been the subject of international Conventions and Recommendations1 applying either to the whole of industry, the whole of commerce and offices, or to particular industries in cases where it did not seem possible in practice to apply general standards; furthermore, the general principle of a 40-hour week has been enshrined in a Convention. Among these instruments there are two which appear to be of particular interest to Africa, where the problems arising out of hours of work are marked by peculiar features which distinguish them from those found in economically more developed areas.2 The first of these is the Hours of Work (Industry) Convention, 1919 (No. 1), which aims at limiting hours of work in industrial establishments to eight per day and 48 per week; the second is the Hours of Work (Commerce and Offices) Convention 1930 (No. 30). These two Conventions fix maximum weekly hours of work at 48, subject to duly defined exceptions. In general it appears that these standards have already received wide application and that, on the whole, hours of work have been greatly reduced in the last 1 Conventions Nos. 1, 30, 31, 43, 46, 47, 49, 51, 57, 61, 67, 93; Recommendations Nos. 7, 8, 37, 38,2 39, 49, 65. See Chapter IX. 508 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY ten years in most African countries. Examination of local laws and practice shows that there are two limits on hours of work. First, there is an upper limit which may in no circumstances be exceeded, and which corresponds to the concept of human capacity for work. At the same time a further concept has gradually emerged, namely that of normal hours of work ; payment is made for overtime hours to workers who are called on to exceed this limit. It is obvious that in Africa, just as in areas where the economic situation is more highly developed, actual hours of work seldom tally with statutory hours but vary in different industries in accordance with economic fluctuations. The fixing or limitation of hours of work does not always depend on legislation but may be based on generally accepted practice, which is sometimes confirmed, as in certain British territories, by decisions of wages committees, which fix a dividing line that will serve as basis of payment for overtime. In agriculture hours of work are far less often subject to legal control than is the case in industry or commerce. In practice they correspond in most cases to an average of not more than eight hours per day, and usually less than this on task work, which is prevalent in many African countries. In commerce and in industry (particularly in mines) the most generally observed normal hours are eight per day and 48 per week; it is only occasionally that other limits are laid down, as in the French territories, where the principle of the 40-hour week is fixed by law, and in the Portuguese territories other than Mozambique, where a normal working period of nine hours a day for Africans is laid down by law. On the subject of weekly rest the standards established by the International Labour Conference1 prescribe that in industrial and commercial undertakings there shall be a rest of 24 consecutive hours in every period of seven days. Article 15 of the Social Policy in Dependent Territories (Supplementary Provisions) Recommendation, 1945 (No. 74), further lays down that a proportional period of rest, calculated over a longer period than one week, is permissible wherever appropriate to the customs of the workers, and that the provision for rest should be extended as soon as possible to agricultural undertakings, subject to such adaptations as may be necessary to take account of the requirements of production. In practice these provisions have been widely applied in most African territories. Where the right to a weekly rest is not fixed by law it is given as the result of widespread custom, as for instance in certain countries under British administration and in Ghana, where statutory provisions cover only a small number of activities, such as shops. On the other hand, in Belgian, Spanish, French and Portuguese territories, in Somalia and in the Union of South Africa both the law and local regulations recognise the right to a weekly rest, and they require in principle that no work shall be done on Sundays ; at the same time, however, they grant an increase in pay of from 50 to 100 per cent, and another day of rest in lieu if work is done on a Sunday. Exceptions to the principle of the weekly rest are widely accepted for certain categories of workers (e.g. caretakers and watchmen) ; there are also exceptions based on the nature of the work performed (e.g. transport, hotels and restaurants). To sum up it seems that the position in respect of weekly rest in the countries and territories of Africa is in general comparable with that which exists in economically more advanced areas of the world. 1 Weekly Rest (Industry) Convention, 1921 (No. 14); Weekly Rest (Commerce) Recommendation, 1921 (No. 18); Weekly Rest (Commerce and Offices) Convention, 1957 (No. 106); Weekly Rest (Commerce and Offices) Recommendation, 1957 (No. 103); article 15 in the Annex of the Social Policy in Dependent Territories (Supplementary Provisions) Recommendation, 1945 (No. 74). APPLICATION OF INTERNATIONAL LABOUR STANDARDS 509 On holidays with pay the legislation of most African countries contains provisions more or less similar to those laid down in international instruments1, particularly the Holidays with Pay Convention, 1936 (No. 52). Considerable dififerences are usually found between the system in force for European workers and that covering African workers. The differences are explained by the special difficulties arising from the conditions of life in tropical countries for people not born there and the fact that they are far from their homes. In the Belgian territories there is statutory provision for the granting of one day's holiday to indigenous workers for each two months of service, with an increase after three years' service. In the French territories holidays are treated as a matter of public policy; their length varies from one-and-a-half to five days per month, depending on the normal place of residence of the worker, and increases with length of service. In many British territories statutory provisions cover only certain occupational activities such as retail trading; generally speaking, in the other sectors of activity, where the law is silent, the granting of paid holidays is becoming normal practice in the larger establishments as the result of collective agreements, their length varying from territory to territory and being normally between nine and 14 days per year, depending on occupation and length of service with the same employer. In the Spanish territories the length of holidays, which vary from a week to a fortnight per year, depends on the worker's position in the occupational hierarchy. In the Portuguese territories statutory provisions cover only Europeans. In the Union of South Africa the practice which is generally followed and—is in some cases laid down by law—normally provides two weeks' annual holidays with pay. Wage Fixing and the Protection of Wages The purposes of international standards on remuneration of workers2 are primarily to establish a model procedure under the control of the public authorities for the fixing of minimum wage rates by agreement among employers, workers and an independent third party, to ensure the protection of wages by such appropriate measures as the obligation to pay cash wages exclusively in legal tender, and the worker's freedom to dispose of his wages as he wishes, to restrict deductions from wages to cases prescribed by national laws or regulations or fixed by collective agreement or arbitration award, and to make provision for ensuring that wages shall not be attached or assigned except in a manner and within limits prescribed by national laws or regulations, that wages shall be accepted as a privileged debt whose priority shall be determined by statute, and for payment of wages at regular intervals on working days at or near the place of work, etc. 1 Holidays with Pay Convention, 1936 (No. 52); Holidays with Pay Recommendation, 1936 (No. 47); Holidays with Pay (Sea) Convention, 1936 (No. 54), Convention No. 72 (Revised), 1946, and Convention No. 91 (Revised), 1949, on the same subject; Holidays with Pay (Agriculture) Convention, 1952 (No. 101); Holidays with Pay (Agriculture) Recommendation, 1952 (No. 93); Holidays with Pay Recommendation, 1954 (No. 98); article 16 in the Annex of the Social Policy2 in Dependent Territories (Supplementary Provisions) Recommendation, 1945 (No. 74). Minimum Wage-Fixing Machinery Convention, 1928 (No. 26); Minimum Wage-Fixing Machinery Recommendation, 1928 (No. 30); Convention concerning Statistics of Wages and Hours of Work, 1938 (No. 63); Protection of Wages Convention, 1949 (No. 95); Protection of Wages Recommendation, 1949 (No. 85); Minimum Wage Fixing Machinery (Agriculture) Convention, 1951 (No. 99); Minimum Wage Fixing Machinery (Agriculture) Recommendation, 1951 (No. 89); Articles 14-17 of Social Policy (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention, 1947 (No. 82); articles 1-6 in the Annex of the Social Policy in Dependent Territories (Supplementary Provisions) Recommendation, 1945 (No. 74). 510 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY It seems that in almost all African territories efficient machinery exists for fixing minimum wages and that, in conformity with the Minimum Wage-Fixing Machinery Convention (1928) No. 26, employers and workers are associated with this work.1 The wage rates laid down are not, however, always the result of collective agreements freely negotiated between unions representing the workers and the employers or their organisations; in territories where trade unionism is little developed minimum wages are fixed by the authorities, but the decision on minimum rates is in most cases taken after consulting the representatives of the employers and of the workers concerned. More often than not wage-fixing machinery is not confined to manufacturing and commerce, as Convention No. 26 provides, but serves for fixing minimum wages for all categories of wage earners, including agricultural workers. The Protection of Wages Convention, 1949 (No. 95), has, as far as Africa is concerned, been ratified so far only by France, the United Kingdom and Italy. The standards laid down in this Convention are, however, more or less completely incorporated in the local legislation of several African territories, particularly the French and Belgian territories and certain of the territories administered by the United Kingdom.2 Freedom of Association and Industrial Relations International labour standards concerning industrial relations3 deal primarily with the right of association, freedom of association, protection of the right to organise, settlement of labour disputes, and the right to bargain collectively. The Right of Association Convention, 1947 (No. 84), which applies to nonmetropolitan territories, lays down that appropriate measures shall be taken to guarantee the right of employers and workers to associate for all lawful purposes, to assure to trade unions the right to conclude collective agreements and to facilitate consultation between employers and workers in the establishment and working of arrangements for the protection of workers and the apphcation of labour legislation. In addition the Convention provides for the participation of employers' and workers' organisations in the establishment and working of conciliation machinery and in the operation of machinery for the settlement of disputes. These standards appear to be very widely applied in the African territories administered by Belgium, France, Italy and the United Kingdom, these being the States that have ratified the Convention and made a declaration of application without any 1 Appendix III, table 37, shows that Convention No. 26 is considered to be fully applied in the Belgian, French and British territories and in South-West Africa. 2 Recently the United Kingdom Government declared Convention No. 95 applicable (with or without modifications) to the following territories : Kenya, Mauritius, Nigeria, Uganda, Sierra Leone, British Somaliland, Tanganyika and Zanzibar. France has likewise declared the Convention to be applicable, without modifications, to French Equatorial Africa, French West Africa, the Comoro Islands, French Somaliland, Madagascar, the Autonomous Republic of Togoland and the Trusteeship Territory of the Cameroons. 3 Right of Association (Agriculture) Convention, 1921 (No. 11); Right of Association (NonMetropolitan Territories) Convention, 1947 (No. 84); Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87); Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98); Collective Agreements Recommendation, 1951 (No. 91); Voluntary Conciliation and Arbitration Recommendation, 1951 (No. 92); Co-operation at the Level of the Undertaking Recommendation, 1952 (No. 94); Paragraph 41 of Protection of Migrant Workers (Underdeveloped Countries) Recommendation, 1955 (No. 100). APPLICATION OF INTERNATIONAL LABOUR STANDARDS 511 modification1, and also by Ghana, which has accepted its obligations. In the same territories the Right of Association (Agriculture) Convention, 1921 (No. 11), under which agricultural workers are accorded the same rights of association and combination as industrial workers, is fully applied. Much more limited application is given to the standards contained in the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention (No. 87) and the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98). Thus, by 1958 only Belgium, France and the United Kingdom, among the countries concerned, had ratified Convention No. 87. These countries, together with the Sudan, have also ratified Convention No. 98. By 1957 these two instruments had only been declared applicable, with or without modifications, to the French territories, in which the Committee of Experts considered them to be completely or substantially applied. Since that date the United Kingdom has declared these Conventions to be applicable to certain territories such as Nigeria and Sierra Leone. The first of these two instruments contains provisions indicating means by which freedom of association can be guaranteed; it states that all necessary and appropriate measures shall be taken to ensure that employers and workers have the right to establish associations without interference. The other instrument contains provisions intended to protect workers' organisations against any discriminatory act that might restrict their right to organise in respect of their employment, to guarantee employers' and workers' organisations against acts of interference by each other and, finally, to encourage voluntary negotiations for the purpose of making collective agreements. Although it can in general be said that the right of association is in principle recognised in the great majority of African countries and that steady progress is being made in this respect, it appears to be equally true that in some territories obstacles of greater or less importance hinder the free exercise of the right to organise. The most important of these restrictions are those based on race, as, for instance, in the Union of South Africa, where the right to become a member of a registered trade union is not accorded to Africans; similarly, in Southern Rhodesia legal status is not granted to the African workers' unions, which are, however, given de facto recognition and are even consulted on some labour problems2; in the Portuguese territories there are no special provisions recognising African workers' right of association, and the existing statutory provisions refer only to Europeans and assimilated persons. In some territories, too, there are still extremely complicated provisions relating to trade unions of indigenous workers especially those dealing with their formation, approval and registration, and these are hardly propitious for the rapid development of workers' associations. It is also clear that in many cases the authority in charge of registration has much wider powers of approval or disapproval than are acceptable under international standards concerning this matter. In collective bargaining the practical possibility of introducing modern methods has, with a few exceptions such as the French territories in West Africa, been severely limited by the present stage of trade union development among the workers and by certain other factors. None the less there has been widespread recognition in most African countries of the need to establish a procedure which makes it possible 1 In 1957 the Committee of Experts considered that Convention No. 84 was completely or substantially applied in the Belgian, French and British territories, as well as in Somalia. 2 A Bill to fill this gap is at present (1958) before the local legislature. 512 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY for the representatives of employers and workers to establish contact and exchange views; many bipartite and tripartite consultative bodies have been set up not only at the level of the enterprise but also on a regional and territorial basis. The authorities make more and more use of discussions with the parties and of collective bargaining, especially for wage fixing and for settling the hours and certain of the conditions of work. The part played by the public authorities is all the more important because labour is relatively unorganised. On the settlement of labour disputes the main provisions of the relevant international labour Conventions lay down that procedures should be established for the examination of disputes and that these procedures should be as simple and speedy as possible, that conciliation should be encouraged, that methods for settling differences between employers and workers should be instituted and finally that these methods should provide for the co-operation of workers and employers on an equal footing with the participation of representatives of their respective organisations. In almost all African countries, except in rare cases such as the Portuguese territories, there are procedures or statutory provisions for conciliation, arbitration and the settlement of labour disputes. In the Belgian territories a regulation was issued recently (1957) dealing with the conciliation and arbitration procedure to be followed in the event of a collective labour dispute. Under this regulation strikes or lockouts are allowed only if the procedure fails or if the other party does not carry out a joint agreement or an arbitration award. In the French territories the law makes a very clear distinction between individual disputes, for the settlement of which there are special courts known as labour tribunals, and collective disputes, which are subject to a conciliation and arbitration procedure which must be carried to its conclusion before recourse may be had to strike or lockout. In the British territories the general aim of the policy that has been followed has been to establish voluntary systems of conciliation and arbitration without prejudice to the settlement of labour disputes by means of direct negotiations; in these voluntary systems trained officials from the labour department play a very important part. In general the statutory limitations on strikes and lockouts refer only to essential services such as public utilities, hospitals, etc. In Somalia provision is made for a compulsory conciliation procedure at the labour offices before a dispute may be brought before the courts. In the Union of South Africa there is different legislation for European, Asiatic and Coloured workers on the one hand and for African workers on the other; the right to strike is denied to the latter. Labour Inspection It is obvious that the adoption of statutory measures in the field of labour is only a first step towards the effective establishment of social standards; these measures must inevitably be supported by the creation of administrative bodies called upon to ensure their enforcement. A well-organised labour inspectorate armed with the necessary powers and with a large enough staff is essential if abstract legislative concepts are to be turned into practical action which provides the only means of attaining the objectives of social policy. These considerations are perhaps even more important in areas where, as in most African countries, workers' organisations have not yet gained enough experience to be able to exercise some degree of supervision over the working of social legislation and where many workers are still largely ignorant of their rights. APPLICATION OF INTERNATIONAL LABOUR STANDARDS 513 International standards concerning the inspection of labour are covered in two Conventions and seven Recommendations.1 The Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81), lays down, among other things, that it shall be a function of the system of labour inspection to secure the enforcement of the legal provisions relating to conditions of work and the protection of workers while engaged in their work, to supply technical information and advice to employers and workers concerning the most eifective means of complying with the legal provisions and to bring to the notice of the competent authority defects or abuses not specifically covered by existing legal provisions. This Convention deals with the administrative organisation of the inspection system and of the staff, the conditions of their service, the functions and powers of inspectors, the frequency of inspections and the procedure to be followed in case of infringements of the legal provisions. The Labour Inspectorates (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention, 1947 (No. 85), takes over some of the provisions in Convention No. 81 dealing with adequate training for inspectors, the right of workers to communicate freely with inspectors, the frequency of inspections and the functions and powers of inspectors. With certain exceptions, such as are found in British and French territories, labour inspection services in which the staff has been adequately trained, and which operate independently of an administrative organisation dealing with matters other than exclusively labour problems, do not so far exist in Africa. Moreover, although the legislation in most African countries tallies more or less fully with the standards laid down in international instruments as far as the functions and duties of labour inspectors are concerned, the labour inspectorates have not, on the whole, enough staff to ensure that inspections are sufficiently frequent.2 However, whatever the gaps in the application of international standards of labour inspection in Africa, particularly those contained in Convention No. 85 of 1947, there can be no question that great progress has been made in the last ten years in almost every African country, and that in many cases the new legislative measures that have been adopted reproduce or follow closely the basic provisions of international instruments. In fact Convention No. 85, which has so far been ratified by Belgium, France and the United Kingdom, the obligations of which have been accepted by Ghana, and in respect of which Italy has made a declaration of acceptance on behalf of Somalia, recently came into force in a number of African territories, and in 1957 the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations examined the first reports on the application of this Convention, particularly in the territories whose international relations are the responsibility of France, Italy and the United Kingdom.3 Moreover, Convention No. 81, which has been ratified by Belgium, France, Italy and United Kingdom, was recently declared applicable without modification to a number of British territories such as Kenya, Mauritius, Nigeria, Tanganyika 1 Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81); Labour Inspectorates (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention, 1947 (No. 85); Labour Inspection (Health Services) Recommendation, 1919 (No. 5); Labour Inspection Recommendation, 1923 (No. 20); Labour Inspection (Seamen) Recommendation, 1926 (No. 28); Inspection (Building) Recommendation, 1937 (No. 54); Labour Inspectorates (Indigenous Workers) Recommendation, 1939 (No. 59); Labour Inspection Recommendation, 1947 (No. 81); Labour Inspection (Mining and Transport) Recommendation, 1947 (No. 82). 2 See Chapter XIV. 3 See I.L.O. : Report of the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations, Report HI (Part IV), International Labour Conference, Geneva, 1957, (Geneva, 1957), p. 5, paragraphs 37 to 40. 34 514 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY and Uganda. As the Committee of Experts stated in its 1958 report1, these declarations were " further proof of the material progress made in the organisation and working of labour inspection services in the territories concerned ". In fact, as early as 1955 this same Committee of Experts considered that Convention No. 81 was in substance applied in the French territories and in Somalia, and since that date the reports of the governments of a number of British and French territories reveal a determination to bring existing legislation completely into line with the terms of the Convention. As was indicated at the outset, this chapter does no more than give a general idea of the extent to which international labour standards specially relevant to African conditions have been applied in the different countries and territories. The more detailed information on specific subjects given in the earlier chapters has frequently brought out even more clearly the extent to which international standards have moulded the current labour legislation of Africa. Much remains to be done. In some places only a very modest start has been made. But everywhere insistent pressures are at work to improve standards. The increasing influence of trade unions, the gradual development of an enlightened public opinion on social issues, the growing realisation that economic development must be conducted within acceptable social patterns, the detailed guidance given to non-metropolitan territories by the States Members concerned—whose policies in labour matters are themselves strongly influenced by international labour standards—all these continue to favour the adoption of legislative measures inspired by the standards set by the International Labour Organisation. 1 I.L.O. : Report of the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations, Report III (Part IV), International Labour Conference, Geneva, 1958, (Geneva, 1958), p. 83. CHAPTER XVI CONCLUSIONS No more appropriate ending to the survey could be found than the general conclusions drawn from examination by the Committee of Experts on Social Policy in Non-Metropolitan Territories at its Fifth Session (Geneva, December 1957) of the draft of the survey submitted to it by the Office, which the Committee suggested might be valuable in the consideration of future I.L.O. policy. In preparing these conclusions the Committee was fully aware that it was performing what was likely to be its last official act, since the evolution of affairs in Africa clearly indicated the desirability of establishing a different type of committee to deal with questions concerning Africa as opposed to non-metropolitan territories in general. In fact the Governing Body of the I.L.O. so decided at its 138th Session (Geneva, March 1958); it not only decided to set up an African Field Office but also established a tripartite African Advisory Committee to advise it on African problems and on African aspects of general problems, covering Africa south of the Sahara. The Government members of the Committee will be representatives (one from each country or territory) from such of the States Members of the Organisation having responsibilities in Africa, viz. Belgium, Ethiopia, France, Ghana, Liberia, Portugal, Sudan, the Union of South Africa and the United Kingdom, as may accept membership of the Committee. An invitation has also been issued to Italy in respect of Somalia until such time as Somalia is in a position to accept membership. In addition, with the concurrence of the State or States Members responsible for its or their international relations, representatives from non-metropolitan territories within the area whose governments have been invited by the Governing Body to send tripartite observer delegations to sessions of the International Labour Conference may be invited to participate in the Committee as members. Such invitations have been issued in the first instance to the Governments of the Federation of Nigeria and of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. The Employers' and Workers' members will each consist of half the number of Government members. They will be representatives of employers and workers in the area dealt with by the Committee. It is to be hoped that this book will serve the three purposes set out at the beginning1; that the members of the Committee will find the survey a useful aid in the task that has been entrusted to them, and that even to a wider public it will give a fuller understanding of the social and labour problems existing in Africa which so urgently need attention. The following is the text of the conclusions of the Committee of Experts: 1 See pp. 2-3. 516 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Social Objectives of Economic Development Better prospects of advancement for all elements of the community, a fuller respect for human dignity and the elimination of discrimination based on race, the stabilisation of labour and elimination of the social evils attendant upon largescale migratory labour, greater productivity, the creation of the human environment necessary to greater productivity (which involves health, education and housing)— these are some of the objectives of social policy to which efforts must necessarily be directed in Africa today. On this basis the improvement, in the widest sense, of labour standards in Africa is among the social objectives to the promotion of which the benefits derived from economic development require particularly to be directed. To a very large extent, such development depends on the extent to which labour conditions are sufficiently attractive to an increasing proportion of the population of Africa; for example, the necessary improvement of transport facilities needed to provide communications adequate for the needs of expanding economies will clearly depend on this, irrespective of the differing views that may be held as to the extent to which emphasis in development programmes should be on the subsistence or the exchange sectors of the economy. Allocation of Resources In assessing the extent to which progress can be made in achieving the wide variety of social objectives which are of urgency in Africa, the present state of development of material resources, and problems such as the rapid increase in population, the heavy dependence on a limited range of exports, the need for large amounts of capital and for some assurance of continuance of political and other conditions favourable to attracting it, must constantly be kept in mind if realistic policies are to be pursued. Although information regarding the national income of African countries and territories is incomplete, there can be no doubt that income per head is generally low throughout the area and that it is therefore vital to give the most careful study possible to the allocation of priorities in expenditure. On the other hand, while there is this need for careful planning to make the best possible use of limited resources, levels of agricultural production, both for subsistence and for market, show generally a continuing upward trend: mineral production is expanding and industrialisation, already of importance in a few parts of Africa, is assuming increasing significance; generally the resources available to governments for the promotion of further economic and social progress are on the whole increasing, notwithstanding fluctuations in world market prices of commodities constituting an important part of African exports, a matter which calls for continuing international attention. Governments in Africa are, then, faced, in the formulation of policy, with the problem of trying to strike a balance between expenditure designed to improve living standards in the immediate future and expenditure designed to promote fundamental long-term economic development. For example, in particular cases, governments may have to seek to strike a balance between further improvements in workers' housing on the one hand and, on the other, various means of expanding productive capacity and future output such as the provision of facilities in the way of better communications and better opportunities for training labour, and action CONCLUSIONS 517 designed to improve soil fertility and farming methods and to provide more capital in the form of plant and equipment. In particular, it must be borne in mind that the allocation of resources to key development projects in the earlier stages of economic development can bring returns, in the form of rapid increases in national income and increased capacity to produce consumer goods and provide better housing, for example, in a comparatively short period. Interrelationship of Social and Economic Problems While the necessity to strike a balance between expenditure for long-term economic development and for immediate improvement of living standards is thus posed, it must not be forgotten that there is an interrelationship between a whole series of socio-economic problems. For example, migrant labour is generally untrained and therefore frequently inefficient and because ineificient, receives low wages and is poorly housed. Hence there is a call for stabilisation of labour, since if labour is stabilised, it will be worth while to train it. But stabilisation means that workers must be assured of better housing, wages sufficient to support family life and possibilities of some protection for sickness, accident, and old age. With stabilisation, too, comes awareness of interests common to workers and the development of trade unions which become in due course stable, responsible and with a high proportion of all workers as dues-paying members. More generally, one might instance the contribution which expanded educational facihties can make to the pace at which technical skills can be raised and the extent to which improvement in health services can result in higher labour productivity. In the field of labour policy, the need, in the present circumstances of Africa, to render working conditions in every respect more attractive if economic development programmes are to be actively pursued, implies that the application of higher standards is a general necessity and that no absolute priorities can be assigned in the matter. Wages and conditions of work are inevitably major considerations in determining the pace of the expansion of full-time wage-earning employment, but so are the patterns of industrial and human relations, for example; labour supervision services likewise are fundamental as the means of effectively enforcing standards set in any field of labour policy. The difficulty of deciding, in the light of the variety of social problems calling for attention, the limited resources available and the complex interrelationship of these problems, should not, however, be accepted as a reason for delaying or failing to tackle specific aspects of those problems, the intrinsic value of which is recognised. On the contrary, the very fact that this interrelationship exists means that the successful execution of projects dealing with one aspect of a problem will tend in many cases to simplify the solution of others. Productivity In Africa, as elsewhere, higher productivity is essential to social progress. The background against which Africa is developing suggests that special importance should be attached to the human factors of productivity in the region and the sparseness of material on the subject indicates the desirability of further research being undertaken. In the first place, however, one must accept what is now the consensus of opinion, namely that there is no scientific basis for the proposition 518 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY that any initial incapacity of the African rests on any différence in hereditary biological constitution between him and members of any other racial group. It must equally be accepted that the present inadequacies stem from certain factors in environment, including unfamiliarity with the tools of modern industry, gaps in education and appropriate training and in the background against which attitudes considered appropriate to industrial societies develop. If removal of these inadequacies by appropriate education and training is necessary, proper supervision, suitable consultation procedures and sympathetic and understanding management are just as necessary. Incentives of any kind to increase productivity are unlikely to lead to a response unless they are related to a basic wage which is itself satisfactory. The principles upon which such a wage should be based were laid down in the recommendations of the Committee on Social Policy in Non-Metropolitan Territories at its Fourth Session (Dakar, 1955). They call essentially for the adoption of poUcies leading to the stabilisation of wage earners and their families at or near their places of employment, except in the case of essentially temporary and seasonal workers, and for the upward adjustment of wages so that minimum earnings, including any allowances, are sufficient to support stabilised family life in healthy conditions and at an adequate nutritional level without the need for assistance from outside sources away from the place of employment, such as distant land holdings, to supplement family income. But neither stabilisation nor other incentives will succeed in bringing increased productivity unless the African himself is persuaded that the way is open to him through wage-paid employment to move without let or hindrance towards a life in which effort and competence are adequately rewarded and his aspirations as a human being are not frustrated by discriminatory treatment exercised either for political ends or because of sheer lack of comprehension of his problems and hopes. Workers living under the conditions actually existing in many urban areas and employment centres can hardly be efficient. Efforts must be made to enable them to choose the job that they are able to do, to remove obstacles to home ownership, to abolish segregation policies and practices, to provide proper educational facilities for their children, to ensure security and generally to enable them to live a family life on a new basis. Machinery for Attaining Social Objectives These objectives cannot be effectively attained without the provision in each African country and territory of adequate machinery for the handling of industrial relations, formation of social policy and administration of labour legislation. Close co-operation between trade unions and management, and adequately staffed labour departments with a degree of influence and authority commensurate with the responsibilities which will fall upon them, are indispensable conditions for securing social peace and social justice. Far-reaching progress has been made in these respects in the last 15 years or so, but much still remains to be done. The whole matter calls for conscious, continuous and concerted effort, the importance of which was fully recognised by the International Labour Conference ten years ago by the simultaneous adoption of the Right of Association (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention, 1947, and the Labour Inspectorates (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention of the same year. CONCLUSIONS 519 Freedom of Association and Industrial Relations. The general application of the Right of Association (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention, while an important step forward, is essentially a transitional phase which should be followed by the application in full in all non-metropolitan territories of the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948, and the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949. This is an aim of policy which it may in certain cases be necessary to achieve by stages. The objective is the development of a trade union movement which is free, independent, stable and responsible. Three other major aims of policy call for special emphasis in this connection: the same legislation regarding the right to organise should be applied to all sections of the community; encouragement should be given to the development of trade unions constituted as to membership on the basis of economic and social interests, without regard to race, national origin or political affiliation; and workers' organisations should devote their attention primarily to the advancement of the social and economic interests of their memberships through industrial action. These three aims of policy are closely interrelated; the first and second will be more readily attained if equal emphasis is given to the third. Only as all of these aims are accepted and implemented by all of the parties concerned will a satisfactory basis become available for the harmonious development of industrial relations in Africa. The development of collective bargaining, the provision of adequate machinery for the settlement of industrial disputes and facilities for the study of general labour-management problems and human relations in industry are of far-reaching importance for this purpose, but all presuppose the development of effective and responsible organisations of workers and employers alike. In the early stages of development, some measure of official encouragement for the development of such organisations may be both necessary and desirable. The distinction between official assistance to workers in the formation and development of their organisations and government interference in trade union matters is, however, often a fine one, and it must therefore be a constant preoccupation of policy to ensure that the assistance given to organisations in their earliest stages of development is not of such a character as to inhibit or deform their healthy future growth as vigorous and independent organisations. The quality of the leadership available is a primary factor in the success of any trade union movement. Disinterested devotion to the industrial interests and well-being of the membership is the keynote of leadership which will command the respect of the community at large. Full responsibility of the leadership to the membership by means of democratic elections and guarantees of financial integrity in the form of a proper system of audit to prevent maladministration of funds, are important elements in the problem. The problem is no less delicate than it is important. The provision of responsible leadership and of proper accounting arrangements are primarily matters for the trade unions themselves and outside criticism or comment is sometimes apt to retard rather than to promote the recognition by the trade unions of their full responsibilities in the matter. These matters are, however, of very special importance in Africa because of the recent origin of the trade union movement, its rapid development, and the special difficulties which have confronted its normal growth in an industrial population much of which has hitherto consisted of temporary migrant labour. 520 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY It is clear that the international trade union movement, and the national trade union centres of a number of the countries having direct responsibilities in Africa, have recognised that these circumstances give them very special responsibilities in the matter; they have already played, and will no doubt continue to play, important roles in affording to the developing leadership of African trade unions opportunities of wider experience. The International Labour Organisation, through its labour-management relations programme, its workers' education programme, the provision of fellowships enabling selected trade unionists to spend short periods at the International Labour Office, and, above all, the opportunities which it presents for responsible participation by leaders of the trade union movement in Africa in the consideration through the I.L.O. of current problems of labour and social policy in Africa, can also play an increasingly important and constructive part in this connection. Effective organisations of employers, representative of the main branches of industry, commerce and agriculture, including forestry, in the territory concerned, can also play an important part in the conduct of harmonious industrial relations. Both the government and the workers' organisations have everything to gain from the existence of employers' organisations which can speak for responsible management and negotiate on its behalf with the responsible trade unions. Where such organisations do not already exist, every encouragement should be given to constituting them on an interracial basis. Labour Departments Adequately staffed labour departments with a degree of influence and authority commensurate with the responsibility falling upon them are of particularly crucial importance in the present stage of industrial and social development in Africa. Broadly speaking the reason for a labour department springs from the necessity to administer laws and regulations in the labour field, to implement government labour policy and to examine and find solutions to labour problems. A specialised administrative organisation is needed for this, and also to assist in the progressive improvement of working conditions, the establishment and maintenance of full employment and the achievement of industrial peace. Labour departments now exist in a substantial number of African countries and territories ; it is desirable that there should be such a department in every major territory. Where this is not immediately practicable, there should be set up within an existing department an administrative unit capable of ultimate emergence as a separate labour department. Labour departments should follow the principle of regular consultations on appropriate matters with employers' and workers' organisations. They should be required to provide the government with all useful information for, or to advise it with regard to, the elaboration of government labour policy and, where necessary, the preparation of laws and regulations. They should be entrusted with the administration of labour laws and regulations, the implementation of government labour policy and the handling of labour questions. They should participate on the highest level and on an accepted and reciprocal basis with other government departments in the elaboration of policies concerning such objectives as full employment, industrial relations, industrial peace, and other questions which normally fall within the administrative competence of the labour department. They should have at their disposal a competent and adequate staff CONCLUSIONS 521 and administrative resources such as will enable them to perform their functions efficiently and impartially. A comprehensive review of the organisation and working of labour departments was made by the International Labour Conference in 1953 and the observations and conclusions adopted by the Conference on that occasion, which were based on a survey of the experience and problems of developed and underdeveloped countries alike and deal in some detail with the functions, operation, organisation and staffing of labour departments, will be found of great value in the further development of such departments in African territories. One of the matters calling for special attention is the impartiality, standing and ability of labour department officials; the success of the labour and social policy of a government and the maintenance of harmonious industrial relations may depend in substantial measure on the extent to which satisfactory standards are maintained in these respects in the staffing of the labour department. Appropriate steps should therefore be taken to ensure that such standards are fully maintained. The safeguards adopted for the purpose should include recruitment open to all on the basis of merit, promotion by merit, adequate levels of remuneration, freedom from political interference, and programmes of staff training. The emphasis which has been placed on the roles of organisations of workers and of employers and of labour departments in the attainment of social objectives should not, however, be taken as meaning that the role of organised groups of an educational character, of co-operatives and other bodies in this matter has been forgotten. They have played an outstanding part in the economic and social development of Africa and it is of the utmost importance that they should continue to play that part fully. The Application of I.L. O. Standards In the majority of African countries and territories there is already a substantial body of basic labour legislation based in large measure on Conventions and Recommendations adopted by the International Labour Conference. Indeed, the extent to which such Conventions and Recommendations have already contributed, directly and indirectly, to the establishment of a framework of basic labour standards which are in force over extensive parts of the African Continent is one of the most striking features in the present situation described in the African Labour Survey. To give but a few illustrations, the Forced Labour Convention, 1930, is in force for Ghana, Liberia, Somalia and the Sudan and all Belgian, British, French and Portuguese territories in Africa. The Social Policy (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention, 1947, is in force for all Belgian, British and French territories. The Labour Standards (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention, 1947, has been ratified in respect of all British territories. The Right of Association (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention, 1947, and the Labour Inspection (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention, 1947, are in force for all Belgian, British and French territories, and for Somalia. A substantial number of declarations accepting the obligations of other Conventions, notably those covering such matters as women's work, night work, minimum age of entry into employment, workmen's compensation for accidents and occupational diseases, wage-fixing machinery, recruiting, contracts of employment and penal sanctions have been registered in respect of certain African territories. 522 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY The progress so far achieved must, however, be regarded as a firm foundation which will facilitate further improvement in labour standards and conditions in Africa, rather than a justification for any relaxation of effort in the approach to problems which continue to be both immense and urgent. One aspect of the situation which calls for special attention in a period of rapid political advance in so many parts of Africa is the importance of ensuring that such advance consolidates, instead of weakening, the comprehensive network of international obligations relating to social policy which already exists in Africa on the basis of widely ratified international labour Conventions. It is of the utmost importance for the whole future of social policy in Africa and for the future mutual relations of African States and territories that political advance should not be accompanied by retrogression in respect of the acceptance and implementation of international obligations on questions of social policy, but should stimulate and be reflected in further progress. From this standpoint, the action taken by Ghana, when entering the I.L.O., in reaffirming her full acceptance of the obligations under international labour Conventions accepted by the United Kingdom on behalf of the Gold Coast, is of far-reaching significance for the future. It is most desirable that other African States which may enter the Organisation in the coming years should take similar action to ensure that the standards already established on the basis of certain international labour Conventions, some of which now apply to virtually all the nonmetropolitan territories in Africa south of the Sahara, should be fully maintained as the starting point for further developments in the economic and social progress of the peoples of Africa. Political freedom cannot be made real against a background of economic and social chaos, and the contribution which the existing common standards can make to the further development of social policy in Africa is of far-reaching significance as a potential contribution to future progress. It will not, however, suffice to maintain what has already been achieved. The scope for and need for wider and fuller implementation of I.L.O. standards in Africa is still great. One may reasonably hope to see the 1947 Conventions, and, in particular, the Social Policy Convention, the Labour Standards Convention, and the Labour Inspectorates Convention, as widely accepted as the Forced Labour Convention. It is most desirable that further consideration should be given to this matter in all territories for which these Conventions are not already in force. The first two of these Conventions contain virtually a basic code of social and labour policy, the acceptance of which on an even wider basis would be a major contribution to the social progress of the peoples of Africa; the third of these Conventions is concerned with the maintenance of adequate labour inspection services, the importance of which has already been stressed. The possibilities of further implementation of I.L.O. standards in Africa need also to be reviewed in regard to the Conventions of general application with a view to the broad development of social legislation in the area. It is satisfactory to know that the matter is under consideration by certain governments with a view to the registration of declarations accepting the obligations of such Conventions. In many cases the subject-matter of such declarations falls increasingly within the self-governing powers of the territories concerned and the declarations will therefore represent an important measure of participation by the governments of the territories in building up agreed international standards. While the wide variation in conditions in different parts of Africa necessarily CONCLUSIONS 523 implies varying priorities in respect of social legislation, governments might give special consideration to the practicability of fuller application of the Conventions dealing with various aspects of wages problems as a further field in which common standards might be established. Among these Conventions, special attention might be directed to the Labour Clauses (Public Contracts) Convention, 1949, which is designed to ensure that governments accept the obligation of setting an example in respect of labour conditions, and the Protection of Wages Convention, 1949, which deals with such matters as the payment of wages in legal tender at regular intervals, the limitation of deductions from wages and the attachment of wages, the priority of wages in bankruptcy, the prompt payment of wages, and similar matters. The Minimum Wage-Fixing Machinery Convention, 1928, and the Minimum Wage Fixing (Agriculture) Convention, 1951, are also worthy of similar consideration. The implementation of existing I.L.O. standards to a fuller extent throughout the area represents one of the means through which the past work of the I.L.O. can contribute to the solution of the social and labour problems of Africa. Clearly, the establishment of further standards by the International Labour Conference in fields of particular interest to Africa, for example, in regard to the conditions of employment of plantation workers and discrimination in employment and occupation, represents a further important contribution. There are, however, many vital matters in respect of which processes of mutual education are at least as important as, and in some cases more important than, the formulation of further standards. Improved labour-management relations, the more vigorous pursuit of training programmes, better workers' education and the more intensive development of both producers' and consumers' co-operatives are all essential elements in a positive social policy for Africa. In respect of all these problems, much fuller study in the specifically African context than they have so far received is both desirable and urgent, but it is also true that an educational and promotional approach such as the International Labour Organisation has adopted in its operational activities in other parts of the world can make an important contribution, since to a large extent they are covered by existing standards of an agreed character which it should be the objective of policy to apply in practice. The importance of these general considerations may be illustrated by a closer examination of certain aspects of labour and social policy in Africa, notably manpower and employment, technical and vocational training, wage policy and conditions of work, health and safety, social security, workers' housing and co-operation. Manpower and Employment. It is evident that statistical and other information relating both to density of population and to its growth are necessary basic elements for the elaboration of social policy, particularly in relation to manpower and employment. In the same way, statistical and socio-economic inquiries, dealing in particular with manpower in the various sectors of the economy, are of considerable importance and need development in African territories. The labour market in Africa is still marked by a certain rigidity, since workers respond only imperfectly to normal economic stimuli, and, moreover, are frequently restricted in their freedom of movement, either by inadequate means of communication or by restrictions imposed by law or custom. Besides, there are wide differences between one territory and another as regards availability of labour. It can also be asserted that the relation between the amount of labour actually employed at the present time and available manpower 524 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY sources in given conditions is, in general, virtually unknown. Hence manpower surveys and other appropriate statistical studies and analyses should be undertaken in order to provide the basic data for intelligent economic and social planning. In many territories, installation of up-to-date employment services has hardly begun and, in any case, these services have very little influence on the labour market in Africa. It should, therefore, be an aim of policy to develop the use of these services in order to facilitate the transition between what remains of the old recruiting systems and a more rational organisation of the labour market. For this purpose steps must be taken so as to increase the possibilities of movement of labour—a necessary preliminary to the effective working of an employment service, whether it is merely a question of matching vacancies and requests for employment or of helping towards the realisation of a policy of full employment of all available manpower resources. Technical and Vocational Training. The expansion of technical and vocational training facilities in Africa represents one of the principal means by which the pace of economic development can be stimulated. Both increased labour productivity and a more effective utilisation of manpower resources presuppose the raising of the level of skills and a fuller degree of practical application of technical knowledge. Recognition of the importance of this question is increasing and training facilities are becoming available in most parts of Africa at a wide variety of levels. Training programmes at the present stage of rapid economic evolution in Africa will necessarily emphasise the utilitarian aspect of technical and vocational training, but its most valuable aspect, the development of the workers' capacity for creative effort as well as for the mechanical application of acquired techniques, must also be borne in mind. Prospects of development and requirements in respect of skilled manpower vary considerably as between the various countries and territories of Africa and training programmes should be adapted to the needs of the particular country involved ; the aim of policy should be to provide a flow of workers with the skills required by the economic circumstances of the country concerned. The extension of general educational facilities is a necessity if full advantage is to be taken of vocational training facilities; programmes for the extension of general education and vocational training should be adequately co-ordinated. Provision for prevocational education should be included in school curricula. In the circumstances of Africa, where the training of an important percentage of workers in employment at the present time has been of an informal, and sometimes incomplete, character, training programmes should include facilities for the improvement of the skills of workers already in employment and special facilities should be provided for the training of rural craftsmen in basic skills ; agricultural extension programmes should receive particular attention as a means of raising the level of technical knowledge and its practical application in the agricultural community. Available local resources could be supplemented in appropriate cases by the utilisation of the technical assistance programme of the I.L.O., especially for such purposes as the survey of training needs and facilities, manpower information programmes and training seminars. Wage Policy. In discussing methods of raising productivity, it has already been premised that as regards wage policy they must entail acceptance of the proposition that, CONCLUSIONS 525 as an objective of policy, minimum earnings, including any allowances, should be sufficient to support stabilised family life without assistance from outside sources away from the place of employment, such as distant land holdings. Undoubtedly this objective will have to be attained gradually, as a result of general economic development and in step with a general rise in incomes in the subsistence sector of the economy, since any large disparity between incomes in that sector and in the wage-earning sector would be likely to disrupt territorial economies. The methods of achieving this objective will vary according to local circumstances as will the extent to which collective bargaining—which is widely regarded as normally the best means for the determination and adjustment of wages—can achieve it. Statutory minimum wage-fixing machinery, already largely used, may in some cases need reinforcement. It is clear however that there are, in many territories, wide differences between the prevailing level of wages and any level which it might be the objective of a minimtun wage policy to attain. The difficulties of securing harmony between them are essentially those of squaring workers' needs with economic feasibility. The gap between workers' present living standards in many territories and even a fairly low reckoning of workers' needs exists, and progress must be made towards closing it. The needs of rapid economic development, considered alone, might suggest a government policy of allocating relatively few resources to raising living standards in the near future, in order to allocate as much as possible to investment designed to raise productive capacity and in turn form the basis of higher wages. But when needs are considered, it becomes apparent that the rate of economic development may have to be adjusted to provide for the satisfaction of at least the most urgent needs for improved living standards. The way in which, and the extent to which this question is posed in the variety of conditions to be found in African territories, are probably never the same in any two but the problem of how best to strike this balance between workers' needs and economic feasibility is one with which most governments are faced. In these circumstances, at least in those territories where nothing of the kind has been recently undertaken, it would be desirable that a fundamental examination of territorial wages policies in relation to economic development programmes be undertaken. The object of such an examination would be to make a realistic assessment of what the minimum wage or wages should be, having regard to the reasonable needs of workers in relation to the ascertained cost of living, the capacity of the territory to bear any advances necessary to achieve a satisfactory position and the needs of further economic development, and bearing always in mind the aim of raising standards of living and securing to workers a fair share of the prosperity of the territory as a whole. Such an examination would probably need to be conducted outside the normal operations of the minimum wage-fixing machinery. It might be found necessary to entrust the task to a specially appointed body which, in addition to representatives of employers and workers, should contain representatives of the authorities responsible for territorial policy in social and economic fields. Alternatively, representatives of such authorities might be specially attached to any central minimum wage-fixing body for this particular purpose. The manner in which proposals for a minimum wage or wages resulting from the deliberations of such a body should be implemented through normal wagefixing machinery or co-ordinated with the adjustment of wages through collective bargaining would be a matter for decision in the light of local circumstances. 526 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY While the various factors which would have to be taken into account in the course of examinations of the type referred to have not been developed in detail, it is claimed that no realistic appraisement of the minimum needs of a worker and his family can be made except on the basis of household budget inquiries and it is suggested that where these have not been recently undertaken this should be done. Apart from such examinations and inquiries it is also the case, as has already been implied in discussing productivity, that the whole question of incentive systems of remuneration needs fuller and more scientific examination in the conditions of most African territories than they have yet received, as the basis for the formulation of policy in regard to them. Likewise the question of the rationalisation of the existing wage structure would seem to merit examination. There seems often to be no very clear relationship between the skills required and the payment for the job. The relationship between the level of wages for skilled manual workers and for the clerical grades sometimes needs examination in the interest of proper distribution of manpower and the development of skills appropriate to territorial needs. This is a matter in which governments, as major employers of labour, are in a position to give a lead. More detailed information is needed on the existing structure of wages differentials so as to permit examination of their significance and formulation of policies which might appropriately be followed, both by wage-determining authorities and by the parties to collective bargaining, in adapting this structure to the needs of economic development programmes. In some territories, problems are posed owing to the existence of salary scales applicable to workers of different origins. Solutions are being increasingly found to these problems but there is still need in certain territories for the establishment, progressively, of wages scales providing full coverage of all degrees of skill and qualification applicable to workers, without regard to origin, possessing the necessary competence. Conditions of Work. In the past wide differences in working conditions were to be found in the various African countries and territories. These no doubt sprang partly from differences in the legislation of the various metropolitan countries and from the different conceptions of their legislators. In addition, however, there was a specific difficulty due to the fact that two different sets of working conditions existed, one applicable to workers of European origin and the other to indigenous workers. These differences, however, tend to disappear. The newer legislative instruments adopted very often reproduce the terms of international Conventions ; in this connection there is provision, which is becoming more and more generalised, for an eight-hour day and a 40 to 48 hour week although, of course, there are frequent derogations to this rule. The granting of holidays with pay has become normal practice and weekly rest is completely general. The discrimination which took the form of applying two sets of working conditions according to the origin of the workers concerned is also tending to disappear. Such discrimination is formally forbidden by the French Overseas Labour Code and many governments have indicated their desire progressively to abolish it. As far as holidays with pay are concerned, several governments have tried to suppress existing discriminatory provisions and have introduced special procedures in regard to workers who are obliged to leave their countries of origin in order to take up their duties. In certain cases, CONCLUSIONS 527 however, African workers still do not get paid holidays. In other cases daily hours of work are not the same for African as for European workers. There are still further cases in which Africans are not represented on bodies which fix working conditions. These provisions, however, are merely vestiges of an era which is past and it is to be hoped that they will be completely abolished as soon as possible. In Africa children and young persons are employed in various types of work in agriculture, where they are generally used on such jobs as picking and sorting, but also to some extent in industrial undertakings. In this regard there should be better co-ordination between government policies relating to education and those in regard to employment. For this purpose, education programmes could be drawn up so as to meet certain difficulties which exist in regard to underemployment of young persons. The aim should be to reduce to the minimum the interval which separates the school-leaving age from the minimum age of entry into employment. The provisions of international Conventions relating to the employment of children and young persons are fairly generally reproduced in the legislation of African countries and territories, as indeed are those concerning the employment conditions of adult workers. However, it must be emphasised that conditions of work of children in small and medium sized undertakings are frequently not subject to control of any kind. Actual exploitation of children under the pretext of apprenticeship is frequently to be found in workshops and in shops, as well as sometimes in family undertakings. Strengthening of labour inspection services is urgently necessary to remedy this situation. The role which an employment service could play specialising in directing children and young workers towards suitable occupations should also be stressed. The development of an organised and controlled apprenticeship system would help young persons to enjoy more advantageous working conditions and to assure them of a more favourable future. Finally, the development of medical and social services in employment centres would provide better protection for such young workers. While women in Africa have from time immemorial carried out, in addition to the wide range of their domestic duties, a large proportion of all agricultural work under subsistence conditions, in accordance with carefully devised systems of division of labour, they are not so far engaged to any great extent in paid employment, except in Southern Africa. Changes in the situation must, however, be expected as industrialisation develops and further opportunities become available in commerce and in other fields of activity. In agriculture women are frequently employed in such occupations as picking and sorting. They are sometimes loth to accept paid employment because of the extent to which they are engaged in the general work of cultivation and in other kinds of work which they undertake with profit on their own account. Indeed, in certain territories they have formed strong associations in order to defend their interests. In other territories, however, under the pressure of economic necessity women have begun to accept various types of paid employment. In order to meet this evolving situation, governments should work out policies to prevent exploitation of their work. In this connection, they should abolish discrimination in the application of legislation relating to wages, particularly as regards the fixing of minimum wages. They should also give consideration to the provision of vocational training facilities for women in those occupations for which they are particularly suited. Another social problem to which sufficient attention has not been paid is the 528 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY situation which arises where more and more women crowd into urban centres where it is difficult for them to find any work. On this point again specialised employment services would help towards placing those who so wish in suitable employment. Finally, it would seem opportune to suggest that governments should re-examine the provisions of their legislation relating to the protection of women in employment. At the present time the provisions of the international Conventions dealing with the prohibition of night and underground work are, generally speaking, applied throughout the countries and territories of Africa, but legislation is needed to deal with the risks which women may encounter in certain employments where their health may be affected. In this regard it should be emphasised that labour legislation is in a state of perpetual evolution. To take account of this constantly changing situation, the International Labour Organisation should examine with particular care the social problems which are being raised by the employment of women in African countries and territories. Occupational Safety and Health. Problems of industrial accident prevention and occupational disease control will be felt with increasing urgency as economic development progresses, bringing with it new industries involving the use of dangerous machinery or substances such as, for example, some of the chemicals used in agriculture. Already the harmful effects of certain dusts of vegetable origin appear to merit further study, for example, in the sisal and cotton industries. Silicosis hazards are well known and certainly in those territories where there are large mining enterprises, protection techniques seem well developed. New hazards have arisen, however, from the mining of radioactive ores and here the I.L.O. has a very special competence and a mandate to ensure that appropriate standards of protection are evolved to cover workers employed in these undertakings against radiation risks. Legislation concerning occupational safety and health is in many places deficient or in need of modernisation while the problem of effective enforcement is very widely posed, there being generally an inadequacy of plant inspection personnel. Inspection services should therefore be developed and staffed with sufficient qualified technical personnel, particularly for the inspection of machinery and health conditions. Safety, however, is much more a question of adequate and continuous supervision than of periodic inspection and it is on this aspect of the matter that undertakings should concentrate particular attention. Equally, workers and their organisations can do much to assist by their participation in the elaboration of accident prevention programmes. Social Security. The degree of necessity for social security measures properly so-called and their form and content when introduced vary considerably in African conditions. Security schemes covering the chief risks which threaten the livelihood of breadwinners and their dependants, and applying systematically and as widely as possible the principle of mutual aid are, however, necessary throughout Africa. The eventualities against which protection is required range from the hazards of nature in the case of those whose activities are purely agricultural and who represent the greater part of the populations, to loss of earning power through sickness or invalidity, old age or death of the breadwinner, particularly in the case of those who CONCLUSIONS 529 no longer enjoy the protection against want in these circumstances afforded by the custom of the tribe or the community. A primary objective of policy must be to conserve the health of the whole population. Proper and sufficient medical-care facilities, provided by a public medical-care service and effectively available to the whole population, due regard being had to sections of the community provided for by other means, are therefore a necessity and should everywhere be the aim of policy. It is recognised, however, that resources may not always be sufficient to permit of provision, on a countrywide basis, of normal complements of fully trained medical and nursing staffs and that if minimum facilities are to be assured everywhere use must be made of personnel trained to undertake a wide range of duties, with such support as may be possible from the fully trained and specialist personnel. Sanitation and other preventive health services should be combined or associated with the public medical-care service to the extent necessary to secure a properly co-ordinated health policy. While most African territories are unlikely to be able to introduce at once comprehensive social security systems covering all major risks, including full medical care, a system of priorities should be established in each territory which takes account of available economic and administrative resources in relation to needs at each successive step. Already coverage of industrial accident risks is almost everywhere assured, although some features of existing systems are not always satisfactory. Hence the Committee of Experts on Social Policy in Non-Metropolitan Territories at its Fourth Session recommended among other things that discrimination on account of race or national origin in relation to workmen's compensation in general should be abolished, that it should be an aim of policy to eliminate restrictions which exclude from the scope of existing legislation workers in certain occupations, in particular agricultural workers; that there should be progressive elimination of limitations due to the cause or type of accident and to the nature of the undertaking. It was further recommended that there should be compensation schemes for occupational diseases based on the same general principles as compensation for industrial accidents. Sickness insurance schemes are a relatively recent development in Africa and it will probably be some time before they can be introduced to cover any large section of the population, for whom full satisfactory and well-balanced medical care and other public health services constitute a first priority. Nevertheless, where important sections of the population are engaged in wagepaid labour, consideration should, as a matter of practical administration, be given in the first place to the introduction of contributory sickness insurance benefit schemes covering the whole or particular categories of workers or particular areas. Meanwhile it may be thought appropriate as an initial measure of security to require employers by law to pay full wages to employees during absence from work due to certified sickness for limited periods which may depend on the length of the employee's service and other appropriate conditions. Old age constitutes another contingency for the coverage of which consideration might be given by governments in Africa. A system of old-age pensions for African workers financed by equal contributions from employers and workers, together with government grants, has just been introduced in the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi, while a scheme has been in operation in South Africa for many years. Even if it is not possible everywhere to follow these examples, transitional measures such as development of existing provident funds and of ex gratia 35 530 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY grants of pensions to employees with long service, employer-financed schemes, and contributory schemes of limited coverage, might well be adopted. Effective examination of the possibilities of introducing social security schemes in the circumstances of particular countries and territories in Africa will be greatly facilitated by careful preliminary studies of the actuarial bases of the schemes proposed. In this connection, the accumulated experience of the I.L.O. in surveying such possibilities in all parts of the world in some of which the problems posed are akin to those occurring in many parts of Africa, suggest that its assistance might be of value to the governments concerned. Workers' Housing. Housing problems are among the most critical facing governments in Africa at the present time, being a reflection of the process of social and economic transformation now taking place. The extension of wage-earning employment, the expansion of urban centres and the development of centres of employment have created problems in this field which are aggravated by the economic problems related to low national income, low levels of living, and the high cost of imported materials. The over-all housing problem in most parts of Africa at the present time is that while the demand for improved standards is expanding, the economies of most countries and territories are unable to support the cost of housing of an acceptable standard on the scale necessary, at the same time as meeting other social demands. Governments have inevitably to take the lead in formulating housing policy with the objective of ensuring that suitable houses are available for workers needing them. Among the measures they need to envisage to this end are: machinery for the co-ordination of housing policy; the enforcement of appropriate minimum standards in regard to planning, building, health, space and fire protection; measures to ensure that land may be acquired easily and at a fair price for workers' housing purposes, and the development of vocational training facilities with a view to increasing rapidly the number of skilled craftsmen in the building trades. While governments have also their part to play directly in the provision of housing accommodation, both employers and workers, as well as other agencies, must share in the effort to establish acceptable housing. In a number of circumstances, especially where employment centres are far from existing population centres, it is generally accepted that employers should be encouraged or required to provide housing. In this event, suitable steps should be taken to safeguard the worker and his family from possible arbitrary action on the part of the employer and to ensure rights of access to the housing area to the occupiers, to persons having business or social relations with them, and for trade union purposes. Governments should take all possible steps to encourage home ownership by workers. In particular aided self-help housing schemes are of special importance and utility in African conditions. Measures to be adopted might include such facilities as loans, advances of materials, or systems of rent purchase where houses are to be built in durable materials. In appropriate circumstances sites should be prepared and ancillary services provided. Security of tenure of the house site should be assured. The formation of building societies and of housing co-operatives should be given all possible encouragement. Financial assistance to be useful to workers must, however, be made available with the minimum of formalities and under CONCLUSIONS 531 conditions which are realistic both in regard to possible security available and likely means of repayment. Co-operatives. In African conditions co-operatives can provide a remedy for some of the ills that beset both the rural and the urban population. The part they can play in helping to solve urban housing problems has just been mentioned. To the African producer they can, among other things, furnish seeds and agricultural implements at reasonable prices, provide training in the most efficient methods of production and facilities for cultivating, harvesting and marketing crops. They can be means through which credit on fair terms can be obtained and investments of savings made. To the African as consumer, while so far little used, they are a potentially useful means of supplementing existing sources of supply. Above all, the creation of co-operatives will tend to develop a spirit of economic freedom, responsibility, initiative and self-confidence and also a sense of working together. Special attention should be paid to the development of co-operative organisation among indigenous communities, due regard being paid to traditional forms of co-operation already existing among them. Co-operative action cannot, however, be successfully imposed from above but must spring from the actual needs felt by the community concerned. Yet governments can assist by adopting legislation covering the fundamental characteristics and presenting the general principles of co-operation appropriate to the territory concerned. This legislation would normally deal, inter alia, with the constitution, operation, supervision and dissolution of co-operative societies and the creation of central co-operative unions and federations; appropriate fiscal provisions might also be included. Legislation on these lines is already operative in many parts of Africa, including, for example, British territories. Details of the structure and functioning of co-operatives must be worked out and model by-laws prepared covering organisation, administration and finance. In these matters, the long experience of the I.L.O. and the considerable amount of practical technical assistance it has given to governments in all parts of the world, in assessing the possibilities of setting up co-operatives and in preparing the legislative and administrative framework in which they might successfully operate, suggest that it could be of considerable help in guiding nascent co-operative movements in Africa into the proper channels. While experience indicates that a competent specialist service is necessary continuously to supervise the application of co-operative legislation, and generally to guide and assist co-operative societies and instruct managerial staff and members in their duties and responsibilities, the objective of otherwise leading the co-operatives to a stage where they can organise and control their own business and financial affairs has sometimes tended to be lost sight of in favour of treating them simply as instruments of government policies. The result has been to prejudice the co-operative movement in the eyes of Africans who, while desirous of using co-operative techniques, have no wish to be subjected to the detailed direction and control of government officials. In so far as this has occurred it is particularly unfortunate since there is no doubt that carefully nurtured and encouraged co-operation could be a useful element in economic and social planning and development in Africa. Indeed the stage may already have been reached in some territories when a 532 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY policy of encouraging the linking of various co-operative activities together, such as short-term production, credit with marketing and marketing with supply and so on, might profitably be envisaged. Government institutions such as marketing boards are also in a strong position to assist in the promotion of co-operatives among primary producers with whom they have dealings and thus encourage this most desirable form of voluntary association. Discrimination Throughout the examination of particular aspects of labour and social policy and in particular in connection with employment opportunities, promotion, training, freedom of association and industrial relations, wages, conditions of work, and social security, it has been apparent that the problem of discrimination continues to be of acute and urgent importance in certain parts of Africa. The policy of the International Labour Organisation on the matter is clear. The Declaration of Philadelphia, which now constitutes an integral part of the Constitution of the I.L.O., solemnly proclaims the right of all " human beings, irrespective of race, creed or sex " to " pursue both their material well-being and their spiritual development in conditions of freedom and dignity, of economic security and equal opportunity " ; it likewise affirms that the principles set forth therein " are fully applicable to all peoples everywhere and that, while the manner of their application must be determined with due regard to the stage of economic development reached by each people, their progressive application to peoples who are still dependent, as well as to those who have already achieved self-government, is a matter of concern to the whole civilised world ". The Social Policy (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention, 1947, which is now in force for all Belgian, British and French nonmetropolitan territories in Africa, spells out in greater detail some of the implications for social policy in non-metropolitan territories of the principle stated in these general terms of the Constitution itself: It shall be an aim of policy to abolish all discrimination among workers on grounds of race, colour, sex, belief, tribal association or trade union affiliation in respect of— (a) labour legislation and agreements which shall afford equitable economic treatment to all those lawfully resident or working in the territory; (b) admission to public or private employment; (c) conditions of engagement and promotion; (d) opportunities for vocational training; (e) conditions of work; (f) health, safety and welfare measures; (g) discipline; (h) participation in the negotiation of collective agreements; (i) wage rates, which shall be fixed according to the principle of equal pay for work of equal value in the same operation and undertaking to the extent to which recognition of this principle is accorded in the metropolitan territory. Much still remains to be done, however, to make non-discrimination fully effective in the multi-racial societies of Africa. If social development in Africa is not to involve far-reaching conflict between the different elements of the communities living in that Continent, practical measures for promoting non-discrimination need to be applied. Many of the issues in regard to which the application of the principle of non-discrimination is important are CONCLUSIONS 533 issues in the field of labour and social policy. They can be resolved successfully only by direct co-operation between the various parties concerned in Africa itself in the interests of all races alike. The elimination of discrimination and the attainment of harmonious race relations are mutually dependent on each other. Both presuppose processes of mutual education in the communities concerned. There are, however, certain respects in which the International Labour Organisation may be of assistance in the formulation of generally acceptable policy on the subject and in finding solutions for the practical problems which arise in respect of such matters as access to employment and training, the improvement of human relations in industry, wages policies, conditions of work, and social security. It should conceive its role as being to assist in creating the conditions of mutual comprehension on which the effective and voluntary acceptance of the principle of non-discrimination needs to be based and on which the social peace and social progress of Africa depend. The International Labour Conference at present has before it proposals1 concerning the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation which envisage the adoption in each country of a policy designed to promote, by methods appropriate to national conditions and practice, equality of opportunity and treatment in respect of employment and occupation. These proposals are based on the principles that the promotion of equality of opportunity and treatment in employment and occupation is a matter of public concern, and that all persons should without discrimination enjoy equality of opportunity and treatment in respect of (a) access to vocational guidance and placement services; (b) access to training and employment of their own choice on the basis of individual suitability for such training or employment; (c) advancement in accordance with their individual character, experience, ability and diligence; (d) security of tenure of employment; (e) remuneration for work of equal value; (f) conditions of work including hours of work, rest periods, annual holidays with pay, occupational safety and occupational health measures, as well as social security measures and welfare facilities provided in connection with employment. The adoption of such proposals by the International Labour Conference may well be of far-reaching significance for the future of social policy in Africa. Equality of opportunity on the basis of individual suitability with respect to access to all forms of education and recognition of the right of freedom of movement, while involving matters which go beyond the sphere of the I.L.O., are other aspects of non-discrimination which are of special importance. The practical implementation of such proposals will call, however, for sustained effort, particularly in the fields of training and human relations in industry. A major effort in the field of training is required; the world-wide experience of the I.L.O. in the promotion of training within industry, supplemented by the local experience in Africa itself which it has already gained by the organisation of experimental courses in Gambia, Ghana and Somalia, should be of great value in enabling the countries and territories concerned to meet an ever-growing need, and should be given emphasis in the future work of the I.L.O. in Africa. The improvement of human relations in industry presents a problem which may have special aspects in Africa in many parts of which there are employers and workers of different races and conflicts in matters of employment exist between workers of different races; 1 The Conference adopted the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention (No. Ill) by 189 votes to 24, with 13 abstentions, on 25 June 1958 at its 42nd Session. 534 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY the fundamental problems involved do not, however, differ greatly from those constituting the essentials of human relations in industry everywhere, and it is desirable to draw fully on the experience of industrially more developed countries concerning such problems for the benefit of Africa. The whole matter is one which might appropriately receive special and early attention from whatever machinery may be adopted for the future consideration of problems of labour in Africa within the framework of the I.L.O. The Future The range of social problems confronting Africa in the present stage of her economic and social development is wide; many of these problems have become of pressing urgency for political, economic and social reasons. In respect of social policy, as in other fields, Africa must evolve her own destiny by the co-operation of the governments responsible for her affairs with their peoples of all races and with each other. It has been said that it should be the aim of policy to raise the standard of living and in particular of such aspects as nutrition and housing. The possibility of doing so depends on financial resources which in turn depend on productivity. Several ways have been indicated in which greater productivity can be stimulated, aided and indeed made possible. But when all is said and done the issue depends fundamentally on the African. It depends on his wishes, his resolution and his decision whether he prefers to retain his own way of life and culture, with all its achievements and attractions, including its emphasis on leisure, or whether he considers that the fruits of modern civilisation make worth accepting some of the standards which have alone made them possible. With the rapid extension of sovereign rights to African territories this will increasingly become a matter for decision by the African peoples themselves and by their own governments. But Africa's destiny has been decisively influenced, and will continue to be so influenced, by the political, economic and social impact of the outside world, and will increasingly affect profoundly the course of world affairs. It is therefore a matter of urgency that the International Labour Organisation should, by placing its experience and resources more fully at the disposal of governments, employers and workers aUke, progressively equip itself to render to the peoples of Africa, in a manner comparable to its activities in other parts of the world, whatever services the special needs and problems of Africa, as interpreted by the governments, employers and workers concerned, may require. APPENDICES APPENDIX I STANDARDS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE I.L.O. AND OTHER ORGANISATIONS (A) PROVISIONS OF INTERNATIONAL LABOUR CONVENTIONS1 (1) Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) Article 1 1. Each Member of the International Labour Organisation which ratifies this Convention undertakes to suppress the use of forced or compulsory labour in all its forms within the shortest possible period. 2. With a view to this complete suppression, recourse to forced or compulsory labour may be had, during the transitional period, for public purposes only and as an exceptional measure, subject to the conditions and guarantees hereinafter provided. 3. At the expiration of a period of five years after the coming into force of this Convention, and when the Governing Body of the International Labour Office prepares the report provided for in Article 31 below, the said Governing Body shall consider the possibility of the suppression of forced or compulsory labour in all its forms without a further transitional period and the desirability of placing this question on the agenda of the Conference. Article 2 1. For the purposes of this Convention the term "forced or compulsory labour" shall mean all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily. 2. Nevertheless, for the purposes of this Convention, the term " forced or compulsory labour " shall not include—(a) any work or service exacted in virtue of compulsory military service laws for work of a purely military character; (b) any work or service which forms part of the normal civic obligations of the citizens of a fully self-governing country; (c) any work or service exacted from any person as a consequence of a conviction in a court of law, provided that the said work or service is carried out under the supervision and control of a public authority and that the said person is not hired to or placed at the disposal of private individuals, companies or associations; (d) any work or service exacted in cases of emergency, that is to say, in the event of war or of a calamity or threatened calamity, such as fire, flood, famine, earthquake, violent epidemic or epizootic diseases, invasion by animal, insect or vegetable pests, and in general any circumstance that would endanger the existence or the well-being of the whole or part of the population; (e) minor communal services of a kind which, being performed by the members of the community in the direct interest of the said community, can therefore be considered as normal civic obligations incumbent upon the members of the community, provided 1 The formal clauses of these instruments are not reproduced in this appendix. 538 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY that the members of the community or their direct representatives shall have the right to be consulted in regard to the need for such services. Article 3 For the purposes of this Convention the term " competent authority " shall mean either an authority of the metropolitan country or the highest central authority in the territory concerned. Article 4 1. The competent authority shall not impose or permit the imposition of forced or compulsory labour for the benefit of private individuals, companies or associations. 2. Where such forced or compulsory labour for the benefit of private individuals, companies or associations exists at the date on which a Member's ratification of this Convention is registered by the Director-General of the International Labour Office, the Member shall completely suppress such forced or compulsory labour from the date on which this Convention comes into force for that Member. Article 5 1. No concession granted to private individuals, companies or associations shall involve any form of forced or compulsory labour for the production or the collection of products which such private individuals, companies or associations utilise or in which they trade. 2. Where concessions exist containing provisions involving such forced or compulsory labour, such provisions shall be rescinded as soon as possible, in order to comply with Article 1 of this Convention. Article 6 Officials of the administration, even when they have the duty of encouraging the populations under their charge to engage in some form of labour, shall not put constraint upon the said populations or upon any individual members thereof to work for private individuals, companies or associations. Article 7 1. Chiefs who do not exercise administrative functions shall not have recourse to forced or compulsory labour. 2. Chiefs who exercise administrative functions may, with the express permission of the competent authority, have recourse to forced or compulsory labour, subject to the provisions of Article 10 of this Convention. 3. Chiefs who are duly recognised and who do not receive adequate remuneration in other forms may have the enjoyment of personal services, subject to due regulation and provided that all necessary measures are taken to prevent abuses. Article 8 1. The responsibility for every decision to have recourse to forced or compulsory labour shall rest with the highest civil authority in the territory concerned. 2. Nevertheless, that authority may delegate powers to the highest local authorities to exact forced or compulsory labour which does not involve the removal of the workers from their place of habitual residence. That authority may also delegate, for such periods and subject to such conditions as may be laid down in the regulations provided for in Article 23 of this Convention, powers to the highest local authorities to exact forced or compulsory labour which involves the removal of the workers from their place of habitual residence for the purpose of facilitating the movement of officials of the administration, when on duty, and for the transport of government stores. APPENDIX i: STANDARDS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 539 Article 9 Except as otherwise provided for in Article 10 of this Convention, any authority competent to exact forced or compulsory labour shall, before deciding to have recourse to such labour, satisfy itself—• (a) that the work to be done or the service to be rendered is of important direct interest for the community called upon to do the work or render the service; ■(b) that the work or service is of present or imminent necessity; ■(c) that it has been impossible to obtain voluntary labour for carrying out the work or rendering the service by the offer of rates of wages and conditions of labour not less favourable than those prevailing in the area concerned for similar work or service; and (d) that the work or service will not lay too heavy a burden upon the present population, having regard to the labour available and its capacity to undertake the work. Article 10 1. Forced or compulsory labour exacted as a tax and forced or compulsory labour to which recourse is had for the execution of public works by chiefs who exercise administrative functions shall be progressively abolished. 2. Meanwhile, where forced or compulsory labour is exacted as a tax, and where recourse is had to forced or compulsory labour for the execution of public works by chiefs who exercise administrative functions, the authority concerned shall first satisfy itself— (a) that the work to be done or the service to be rendered is of important direct interest for the community called upon to do the work or render the service; {b) that the work or the service is of present or imminent necessity; (c) that the work or service will not lay too heavy a burden upon the present population, having regard to the labour available and its capacity to undertake the work; (d) that the work or service will not entail the removal of the workers from their place of habitual residence; (e) that the execution of the work or the rendering of the service will be directed in accordance with the exigencies of rehgion, social life and agriculture. Article 11 1. Only adult able-bodied males who are of an apparent age of not less than 18 and not more than 45 years may be called upon for forced or compulsory labour. Except in respect of the kinds of labour provided for in Article 10 of this Convention, the following limitations and conditions shall apply: (a) whenever possible prior determination by a medical officer appointed by the administration that the persons concerned are not suffering from any infectious or contagious disease and that they are physically fit for the work required and for the conditions under which it is to be carried out; (b) exemption of school teachers and pupils and of officials of the administration in general ; (c) the maintenance in each community of the number of adult able-bodied men indispensable for family and social life; (d) respect for conjugal and family ties. 2. For the purposes of sub-paragraph (c) of the preceding paragraph, the regulations provided for in Article 23 of this Convention shall fix the proportion of the resident adult able-bodied males who may be taken at any one time for forced or compulsory labour, provided always that this proportion shall in no case exceed 25 per cent. In fixing this proportion the competent authority shall take account of the density of the population, of its social and physical development, of the seasons, and of the work which must be done by the persons concerned on their own behalf in their locality, and, generally, shall have regard to the economic and social necessities of the normal life of the community concerned. 540 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Article 12 1. The maximum period for which any person may be taken for forced or compulsory labour of all kinds in any one period of twelve months shall not exceed sixty days, including the time spent in going to and from the place of work. 2. Every person from whom forced or compulsory labour is exacted shall be furnished with a certificate indicating the periods of such labour which he has completed. Article 13 1. The normal working hours of any person from whom forced or compulsory labour is exacted shall be the same as those prevailing in the case of voluntary labour, and the hours worked in excess of the normal working hours shall be remunerated at the rates prevailing in the case of overtime for voluntary labour. 2. A weekly day of rest shall be granted to all persons from whom forced or compulsory labour of any kind is exacted and this day shall coincide as far as possible with the day fixed by tradition or custom in the territories or regions concerned. Article 14 1. With the exception of the forced or compulsory labour provided for in Article 10 of this Convention, forced or compulsory labour of all kinds shall be remunerated in cash at rates not less than those prevailing for similar kinds of work either in the district in which the labour is employed or in the district from which the labour is recruited, whichever may be the higher. 2. In the case of labour to which recourse is had by chiefs in the exercise of their administrative functions, payment of wages in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph shall be introduced as soon as possible. 3. The wages shall be paid to each worker individually and not to his tribal chief or to any other authority. 4. For the purpose of payment of wages the days spent in travelling to and from the place of work shall be counted as working days. 5. Nothing in this Article shall prevent ordinary rations being given as a part of wages, such rations to be at least equivalent in value to the money payment they are taken to represent, but deductions from wages shall not be made either for the payment of taxes or for special food, clothing or accommodation supplied to a worker for the purpose of maintaining him in a fit condition to carry on his work under the special conditions of any employment, or for the supply of tools. Article 15 1. Any laws or regulations relating to workmen's compensation for accidents or sickness arising out of the employment of the worker and any laws or regulations providing compensation for the dependants of deceased or incapacitated workers which are or shall be in force in the territory concerned shall be equally applicable to persons from whom forced or compulsory labour is exacted and to voluntary workers. 2. In any case it shall be an obligation on any authority employing any worker on forced or compulsory labour to ensure the subsistence of any such worker who, by accident or sickness arising out of his employment, is rendered wholly or partially incapable of providing for himself, and to take measures to ensure the maintenance of any persons actually dependent upon such a worker in the event of his incapacity or decease arising out of his employment. Article 16 1. Except in cases of special necessity, persons from whom forced or compulsory labour is exacted shall not be transferred to districts where the food and climate differ so considerably from those to which they have been accustomed as to endanger their health. APPENDIX i: STANDARDS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 541 2. In no case shall the transfer of such workers be permitted unless all measures relating to hygiene and accommodation which are necessary to adapt such workers to the conditions and to safeguard their health can be strictly apphed. 3. When such transfer cannot be avoided, measures of gradual habituation to the new conditions of diet and of cUmate shall be adopted on competent medical advice. 4. In cases where such workers are required to perform regular work to which they are not accustomed, measures shall be taken to ensure their habituation to it, especially as regards progressive training, the hours of work and the provision of rest intervals, and any increase or ameUoration of diet which may be necessary. Article 17 Before permitting recourse to forced or compulsory labour for works of construction or maintenance which entail the workers remaining at the workplaces for considerable periods, the competent authority shall satisfy itself— (1) that all necessary measures are taken to safeguard the health of the workers and to guarantee the necessary medical care, and, in particular, (a) that the workers are medically examined before commencing the work and at fixed intervals during the period of service, (b) that there is an adequate medical staff, provided with the dispensaries, infirmaries, hospitals and equipment necessary to meet all requirements, and (c) that the sanitary conditions of the workplaces, the supply of drinking water, food, fuel, and cooking utensils, and, where necessary, of housing and clothing, are satisfactory; (2) that definite arrangements are made to ensure the subsistence of the families of the workers, in particular by facilitating the remittance, by a safe method, of part of the wages to the family, at the request or with the consent of the workers ; (3) that the journeys of the workers to and from the workplaces are made at the expense and under the responsibility of the administration, which shall facilitate such journeys by making the fullest use of all available means of transport; (4) that, in case of illness or accident causing incapacity to work of a certain duration, the worker is repatriated at the expense of the administration; (5) that any worker who may wish to remain as a voluntary worker at the end of his period of forced or compulsory labour is permitted to do so without, for a period of two years, losing his right to repatriation free of expense to himself. Article 18 1. Forced or compulsory labour for the transport of persons or goods, such as the labour of porters or boatmen, shall be abolished within the shortest possible period. Meanwhile the competent authority shall promulgate regulations determining, inter alia, (a) that such labour shall only be employed for the purpose of facihtating the movement of officials of the administration, when on duty, or for the transport of government stores, or, in cases of very urgent necessity, the transport of persons other than officials, (b) that the workers so employed shall be medically certified to be physically fit, where medical examination is possible, and that where such medical examination is not practicable the person employing such workers shall be held responsible for ensuring that they are physically fit and not suffering from any infectious or contagious disease, (c) the maximum load which these workers may carry, (d) the maximum distance from their homes to which they may be taken, (e) the maximum number of days per month or other period for which they may be taken, including the days spent in returning to their homes, and (f) the persons entitled to demand this form of forced or compulsory labour and the extent to which they are entitled to demand it. 2. In fixing the maxima referred to under (c), (d) and (e) in the foregoing paragraph, the competent authority shall have regard to all relevant factors, including the physical development of the population from which the workers are recruited, the nature of the country through which they must travel and the climatic conditions. 3. The competent authority shall further provide that the normal daily journey of such workers shall not exceed a distance corresponding to an average working day of 542 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY eight hours, it being understood that account shall be taken not only of the weight to be carried and the distance to be covered, but also of the nature of the road, the season and all other relevant factors, and that, where hours of journey in excess of the normal daily journey are exacted, they shall be remunerated at rates higher than the normal rates. Article 19 1. The competent authority shall only authorise recourse to compulsory cultivation as a method of precaution against famine or a deficiency of food supplies and always under the condition that the food or produce shall remain the property of the individuals or the community producing it. 2. Nothing in this Article shall be construed as abrogating the obligation on members of a community, where production is organised on a communal basis by virtue of law or custom and where the produce or any profit accruing from the sale thereof remain the property of the community, to perform the work demanded by the community by virtue of law or custom. Article 20 Collective punishment laws under which a community may be punished for crimes committed by any of its members shall not contain provisions for forced or compulsory labour by the community as one of the methods of punishment. Article 21 Forced or compulsory labour shall not be used for work underground in mines. Article 22 The annual reports that Members which ratify this Convention agree to make to the International Labour Office, pursuant to the provisions of article 22 of the Constitution of the International Labour Organisation, on the measures they have taken to give effect to the provisions of this Convention, shall contain as full information as possible, in respect of each territory concerned, regarding the extent to which recourse has been had to forced or compulsory labour in that territory, the purposes for which it has been employed, the sickness and death rates, hours of work, methods of payment of wages and rates of wages, and any other information. Article 23 1. To give effect to the provisions of this Convention the competent authority shall issue complete and precise regulations governing the use of forced or compulsory labour. 2. These regulations shall contain, inter alia, rules permitting any person from whom forced or compulsory labour is exacted to forward all complaints relative to the conditions of labour to the authorities and ensuring that such complaints will be examined and taken into consideration. Article 24 Adequate measures shall in all cases be taken to ensure that the regulations governing the employment of forced or compulsory labour are strictly applied, either by extending the duties of any existing labour inspectorate which has been established for the inspection of voluntary labour to cover the inspection of forced or compulsory labour or in some other appropriate manner. Measures shall also be taken to ensure that the regulations are brought to the knowledge of persons from whom such labour is exacted. Article 25 The illegal exaction of forced or compulsory labour shall be punishable as a penal offence, and it shall be an obligation on any Member ratifying this Convention to ensure that the penalties imposed by law are really adequate and are strictly enforced. APPENDIX i: STANDARDS AND RECOMMENDATIONS (2) 543 Recruiting of Indigenous Workers Convention, 1936 (No. 50) Article 1 Each Member of the International Labour Organisation which ratifies this Convention undertakes to regulate in accordance with the following provisions the recruiting of indigenous workers in each of its territories in which such recruiting exists or may hereafter exist. Article 2 For the purposes of this Convention— the term " recruiting " includes all operations undertaken with the object of obtaining or supplying the labour of persons who do not spontaneously offer their services at the place of employment or at a public emigration or employment office or at an office conducted by an employers' organisation and supervised by the competent authority ; (b) the term " indigenous workers " includes workers belonging to or assimilated to the indigenous populations of the dependent territories of Members of the Organisation and workers belonging to or assimilated to the dependent indigenous populations of the home territories of Members of the Organisation. (a) Article 3 Where the circumstances make the adoption of such a policy desirable, the following classes of recruiting operations may, except when undertaken by persons or associations engaged in professional recruiting, be exempted from the application of the Convention by the competent authority: (a) operations undertaken by or on behalf of employers who do not employ more than a prescribed limited number of workers; (b) operations undertaken within a prescribed limited radius from the place of employment; and (c) operations for the engagement of personal and domestic servants and of non-manual workers. Article 4 Before approving for any area any scheme of economic development which is likely to involve the recruiting of labour, the competent authority shall take such measures as may be practicable and necessary— (a) to avoid the risk of pressure being brought to bear on the populations concerned by or on behalf of the employers in order to obtain the labour required; (b) to ensure that, as far as possible, the political and social organisation of the populations concerned and their powers of adjustment to the changed economic conditions will not be endangered by the demand for labour; and (c) to deal with any other possible untoward effects of such development on the populations concerned. Article 5 1. Before granting permission to recruit labour in any area, the competent authority shall take into consideration the possible effects of the withdrawal of adult males on the social life of the population concerned, and in particular shall consider— (a) the density of the population, its tendency to increase or decrease, and the probable effect upon the birth rate of the withdrawal of adult males; (b) the possible effects of the withdrawal of adult males on the health, welfare and development of the population concerned, particularly in connection with the food supply ; 544 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY (c) the dangers to the family and morality arising from the withdrawal of adult males; and (d) the possible effects of the withdrawal of adult males on the social organisation of the population concerned. 2. Where the circumstances make the adoption of such a policy practicable and necessary, the competent authority shall, in order to safeguard the populations concerned against any untoward consequences of the withdrawal of adult males, fix the maximum number of adult males who may be recruited in any given social unit in such manner that the number of adult males remaining in the said unit does not fall below a prescribed percentage of the normal proportion of adult males to women and children. Article 6 Non-adult persons shall not be recruited. Provided that the competent authority may permit non-adults above a prescribed age to be recruited with the consent of their parents for employment upon light work subject to prescribed safeguards for their welfare. Article 7 1. The recruiting of the head of a family shall not be deemed to involve the recruiting of any member of his family. 2. Where the circumstances make the adoption of such a policy practicable and desirable, the competent authority shall encourage recruited workers to be accompanied by their families, more particularly in the case of workers recruited for agricultural or similar employment at a long distance from their homes and for periods exceeding a specified duration. 3. Except at the express request of the persons concerned, recruited workers shall not be separated from wives and minor children who have been authorised to accompany them to, and to remain with them at, the place of employment. 4. In default of agreement to the contrary before the departure of the worker from the place of recruiting, an authorisation to accompany a worker shall be deemed to be an authorisation to remain with him for the full duration of his term of service. Article 8 Where the circumstances make the adoption of such a policy practicable and desirable, the competent authority may make it a condition of permitting recruiting that the recruited workers shall be grouped at the place of employment under suitable ethnical conditions. Article 9 Public officers shall not recruit for private undertakings either directly or indirectly, except when the recruited workers are to be employed on works of public utility for the execution of which private undertakings are acting as contractors for a public authority. Article 10 (a) (b) (c) Chiefs or other indigenous authorities shall not— act as recruiting agents; exercise pressure upon possible recruits; or receive from any source whatsoever any special remuneration or other special inducement for assistance in recruiting. Article 11 No person or association shall engage in professional recruiting unless the said person or association has been licensed by the competent authority and is recruiting workers for a public department or for one or more specific employers or organisations of employers. APPENDIX i: STANDARDS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 545 Article 12 Employers, employers' agents, organisations of employers, organisations subsidised by employers, and the agents of organisations of employers and of organisations subsidised by employers, shall only engage in recruiting if licensed by the competent authority. Article 13 1. Before issuing any licence for recruiting the competent authority shall— satisfy itself that the applicant for a licence, if an individual, is a fit and proper person ; require the applicant for a licence, except when the said apphcant is an employers' organisation or an organisation subsidised by employers, to furnish financial or other security for proper conduct as a licensee; (c) require the applicant for a licence, if an employer, to furnish financial or other security for the payment of wages due; and (d) satisfy itself that adequate provision has been made for safeguarding the health and welfare of the workers to be recruited. 2. Licensees shall keep, in such form as the competent authority may prescribe, records from which the regularity of every recruiting operation can be verified and every recruited worker can be identified. 3. A licensee who is the agent of another licensee shall wherever possible receive a fixed salary, and in any case in which he receives remuneration calculated at a rate per head of workers recruited such remuneration shall not exceed a maximum to be prescribed by the competent authority. 4. The validity of licences shall be limited to a fixed period not exceeding one year to be prescribed by the competent authority. 5. The renewal of licences shall be conditional upon the manner in which the licensee has respected the conditions subject to which the licence was issued. 6. The competent authority shall be entitled— (a) to withdraw any licence if the licensee has been guilty of any offence or misconduct unfitting him to conduct recruiting operations; and (b) to suspend any licence pending the result of any inquiry into the conduct of the licensee. (a) (b) Article 14 1. No person shall assist a licensee in a subordinate capacity in the actual recruiting operations unless he has been approved by a public officer and has been furnished with a permit by the licensee. 2. Licensees shall be responsible for the proper conduct of such assistants. Article 15 1. Where the circumstances make the adoption of such a policy necessary or desirable, the competent authority may exempt from the obligation to hold a licence worker-recruiters who—• (a) are employed as workers by the undertaking for which they recruit other workers; (b) are formally commissioned in writing by the employer to recruit other workers; and (c) do not receive any remuneration or other advantage for recruiting. 2. Worker-recruiters shall not make advances of wages to recruits. 3. Worker-recruiters may recruit only within an area to be prescribed by the competent authority. 4. The operations of worker-recruiters shall be supervised in a manner to be prescribed by the competent authority. 36 546 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Article 16 1. Recruited workers shall be brought before a public officer, who shall satisfy himself that the law and regulations concerning recruiting have been observed and, in particular, that the workers have not been subjected to illegal pressure or recruited by misrepresentation or mistake. 2. Recruited workers shall be brought before such an officer as near as may be convenient to the place of recruiting or, in the case of workers recruited in one territory for employment in a territory under a different administration, at latest at the place of departure from the territory of recruiting. Article 17 Where the circumstances make the adoption of such a provision practicable and necessary, the competent authority shall require the issue to each recruited worker who is not engaged at or near the place of recruiting of a document in writing such as a memorandum of information, a work book or a provisional contract containing such particulars as the authority may prescribe, as for example particulars of the identity of the workers, the prospective conditions of employment, and any advances of wages made to the workers. Article 18 1. Every recruited worker shall be medically examined. 2. Where the worker has been recruited for employment at a distance from the place of recruiting or has been recruited in one territory for employment in a territory under a different administration the medical examination shall take place as near as may be convenient to the place of recruiting or, in the case of workers recruited in one territory for employment in a territory under a different administration, at latest at the place of departure from the territory of recruiting. 3. The competent authority may empower public officers before whom workers are brought in pursuance of Article 16 to authorise the departure prior to medical examination of workers in whose case they are satisfied— (a) that it was and is impossible for the medical examination to take place near to the place of recruiting or at the place of departure; (b) that the worker is fit for the journey and the prospective employment; and (c) that the worker will be medically exammed on arrival at the place of employment or as soon as possible thereafter. 4. The competent authority may, particularly when the journey of the recruited workers is of such duration and takes place under such conditions that the health of the workers is likely to be affected, require recruited workers to be examined both before departure and after arrival at the place of employment. 5. The competent authority shall ensure that all necessary measures are taken for the acclimatisation and adaptation of recruited workers and for their immunisation against disease. Article 19 1. The recruiter or employer shall whenever possible provide transport to the place of employment for recruited workers. 2. The competent authority shall take all necessary measures to ensure— that the vehicles or vessels used for the transport of workers are suitable for such transport, are in good sanitary condition and are not overcrowded; (b) that when it is necessary to break the journey for the night suitable accommodation is provided for the workers; and (c) that in the case of long journeys all necessary arrangements are made for medical assistance and for the welfare of the workers. (a) APPENDIX i: STANDARDS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 547 3. When recruited workers have to make long journeys on foot to the place of employment, the competent authority shall take all necessary measures to ensure— (a) that the length of the daily journey is compatible with the maintenance of the health and strength of the workers; and (b) that, where the extent of the movement of labour makes this necessary, rest camps or rest houses are provided at suitable points on main routes and are kept in proper sanitary condition and have the necessary facilities for medical attention. 4. When recruited workers have to make long journeys in groups to the place of employment, they shall be convoyed by a responsible person. Article 20 1. The expenses of the journey of recruited workers to the place of employment, including all expenses incurred for their protection during the journey, shall be borne by the recruiter or employer. 2. The recruiter or employer shall furnish recruited workers with everything necessary for their welfare during the journey to the place of employment, including particularly, as local circumstances may require, adequate and suitable supplies of food, drinking water, fuel and cooking utensils, clothing and blankets. 3. This Article applies to workers recruited by worker-recruiters only to the extent to which its application is considered possible by the competent authority. Article 21 Any recruited worker who— (a) becomes incapacitated by sickness or accident during the journey to the place of employment; (b) is found on medical examination to be unfit for employment; (c) is not engaged after recruiting for a reason for which he is not responsible; or (d) is found by the competent authority to have been recruited by misrepresentation or mistake; shall be repatriated at the expense of the recruiter or employer. Article 22 The competent authority shall limit the amount which may be paid to recruited workers in respect of advances of wages and shall regulate the conditions under which such advances may be made. Article 23 Where the families of recruited workers have been authorised to accompany the workers to the place of employment the competent authority shall take all necessary measures for safeguarding their health and welfare during the journey and more particularly— (a) Articles 19 and 20 of this Convention shall apply to such families; (b) in the event of the worker being repatriated in virtue of Article 21, his family shall also be repatriated; and (c) in the event of the death of the worker during the journey to the place of employment, his family shall be repatriated. Article 24 1. Before permitting the recruiting of workers for employment in a territory under a different administration, the competent authority of the territory of recruiting shaU satisfy itself that all necessary measures have been taken for the protection of the recruited workers in accordance with the provisions of this Convention when the workers have travelled beyond its jurisdiction. 548 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY 2. Where workers are recruited in one territory for employment in a territory under a different administration and the circumstances and amount of recruiting appear to the competent authorities concerned to necessitate such action, the said authorities shall enter into agreements defining the extent to which such recruiting is to be permitted and providing for co-operation between them in supervising the execution of the conditions of recruiting and employment. 3. The recruiting of workers in one territory for employment in a territory under a different administration shall be undertaken only under licence issued by the competent authority of the territory of recruiting. Provided that the said authority may accept as equivalent to a licence issued by it a licence issued by the competent authority of the territory of employment. 4. Where the circumstances and the amount of recruiting for employment in a territory under a different administration appear to the competent authority of the territory of recruiting to necessitate such action, the said authority shall provide that such recruiting may only be undertaken by organisations approved by it. (3) Contracts of Employment (Indigenous Workers) Convention, 1939 (No. 64) Article 1 For the purpose of this Convention— the term " worker " means an indigenous worker, that is to say a worker belonging to or assimilated to the indigenous population of a dependent territory of a Member of the Organisation or belonging to or assimilated to the dependent indigenous population of the home territory of a Member of the Organisation; (b) the term " employer " includes, unless the contrary intention appears, any public authority, individual, company or association, whether non-indigenous or indigenous; (c) the term " regulations " means the law and/or regulations in force in the territory concerned; and (d) the term " contract ", when used in an Article following Article 3, means, unless the contrary intention appears, a contract which is required by Article 3 to be made in writing. Article 2 (a) 1. This Convention applies to contracts of employment by which a worker enters the service of an employer as a manual worker for remuneration in cash or in any other form whatsoever. 2. The competent authority may exclude from the application of this Convention contracts by which a worker enters the service of an indigenous employer who does not employ more than a limited number of workers prescribed by the regulations or satisfy some other criterion prescribed thereby. 3. This Convention does not apply to contracts of apprenticeship made in accordance with special provisions relating to apprenticeship contained in the regulations. 4. The competent authority may, if necessary, exclude from the application of this Convention any contract of employment under which the only or principal remuneration granted to the worker is the occupancy or use of land belonging to his employer. Article 3 1. When a contract to which this Convention applies— is made for a period of or exceeding six months or a number of working days equivalent to six months, or (b) stipulates conditions of employment which differ materially from those customary in the district of employment for similar work, the contract shall be made in writing. (a) APPENDIX i: STANDARDS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 549 2. The method by which the worker shall indicate his assent to the contract shall be prescribed by the regulations. 3. If a contract which is required by paragraph 1 of this Article to be made in writing has not been made in writing it shall not be enforceable except during the maximum period permissible for contracts not made in writing, but each of the parties shall be entitled to have it drawn up in writing at any time prior to the expiry of the period for which it was made. 4. If the omission to make the contract in writing was due to the wilful act or the negligence of the employer, the worker shall be entitled to apply to the competent authority for the cancellation of the contfact and, in appropriate cases, to sue for damages. Article 4 1. worker 2. by any No contract shall be deemed to be binding on the family or dependants of the unless it contains an express provision to that eifect. The employer shall be responsible for the performance of any contract made person acting on his behalf. Article 5 1. Every contract shall contain all such particulars as may be necessary in conjunction with the provisions of the regulations to define the rights and obligations of the parties. 2. The particulars to be contained in the contract shall in all cases include— (a) the name of the employer or group of employers and where practicable of the undertaking and of the place of employment; (b) the name of the worker, the place of engagement and where practicable the place of origin of the worker, and any other particulars necessary for his identification; (c) the nature of the employment; (d) the duration of the employment and the method of calculating this duration; (e) the rate of wages and method of calculation thereof, the manner and periodicity of payment of wages, the advances of wages, if any, and the manner of repayment of any such advances; (f) the conditions of repatriation; and (g) any special conditions of the contract. Article 6 1. Every contract shall be presented for attestation to a public officer duly accredited for the purpose. 2. Before attesting any contract the public officer shall— (a) ascertain that the worker has freely consented to the contract and that his consent has not been obtained by coercion or undue influence or as the result of misrepresentation or mistake; and (b) satisfy himself that— (i) the contract is in due legal form; (ii) the terms of the contract are in accordance with the requirements of the regulations ; (iii) the worker has fully understood the terms of the contract before signing it or otherwise indicating his assent; (iv) the provisions of the regulations relating to medical examination have been complied with; and (v) the worker declares himself not bound by any previous engagement. 3. A contract which the public officer has refused to attest shall have no further validity. 550 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY 4. A contract which has not been presented to the public officer for attestation shall not be enforceable except during the maximum period permissible for contracts not made in writing, but each of the parties shall be entitled to have it presented for attestation at any time prior to the expiry of the period for which it was made. 5. If the omission to present the contract for attestation was due to the wilful act or the negligence of the employer, the worker shall be entitled to apply to the competent authority for the cancellation of the contract and, in appropriate cases, to sue for damages. 6. Every contract shall be registered by the competent authority or a copy thereof shall be deposited with the said authority. 7. The competent authority shall by the issue to the worker of a copy of the contract, of a work-book, or of an equivalent document or token, or in such other manner as it may deem appropriate, take such measures as may be necessary to enable the worker— (a) to prove the existence and terms of the contract; and (b) to verify at any time the terms of the contract. Article 7 1. Every worker who enters into a contract shall be medically examined. 2. As a general rule the worker shall be medically examined and a medical certificate issued before the attestation of the contract. 3. Where it has not been possible for the worker to be medically examined before the attestation of the contract, the public officer who attests the contract shall endorse it to this effect and the worker shall be examined at the earliest possible opportunity. 4. The competent authority may exempt from the requirement of medical examination workers entering into contracts for—■ (a) employment in agricultural undertakings not employing more than a limited number of workers prescribed by the regulations; (b) employment in the vicinity of the workers' homes— (i) in agricultural work; (ii) in non-agricultural work which the competent authority is satisfied is not of a dangerous character or likely to be injurious to the health of the workers. Article 8 1. A non-adult person whose apparent age is less than a minimum age to be prescribed by the regulations shall not be capable of entering into a contract. 2. A non-adult person whose apparent age exceeds the minimum age but is less than a higher age to be prescribed by the regulations shall not be capable of entering into a contract except for employment in an occupation approved by the competent authority as not being injurious to the moral or physical development of non-adults. Article 9 The maximum period of service that may be stipulated in any contract, and the leave, if any, to be granted during the period of the contract, shall be prescribed by the regulations. Article 10 1. The transfer of any contract from one employer to another shall be subject to the consent of the worker and the endorsement of the transfer upon the contract by a public officer duly accredited for the purpose. 2. Before endorsing the transfer upon the contract the public officer shall— (a) ascertain that the worker has freely consented to the transfer and that his consent has not been obtained by coercion or undue influence or as the result of misrepresentation or mistake; and APPENDIX II STANDARDS AND RECOMMENDATIONS (b) 551 in such cases as may be prescribed by the regulations, satisfy himself that the requirements of Article 6, paragraph 2 (b), of this Convention have been fulfilled. Article 11 1. A contract shall be terminated— (a) by the expiry of the term for which it was made; or (b) by the death of the worker before the expiry of the term for which it was made. 2. The termination of a contract by the death of a worker shall be without prejudice to the legal claims of his heirs or dependants. Article 12 1. If the employer is unable to fulfil the contract or if owing to sickness or accident the worker is unable to fulfil the contract, the contract shall be subject to termination under conditions to be prescribed by the regulations, which shall include provisions safeguarding in such cases the right of the worker to any wages earned, any deferred pay due to him, any compensation due to him in respect of accident or disease, and his right to repatriation. 2. A contract shall be subject to termination by agreement between the parties under conditions to be prescribed by the regulations, which shall include provisions— (a) safeguarding the worker from the loss of his right to repatriation unless the agreement for the termination of the contract otherwise provides; and (b) requiring the competent authority to satisfy itself— (i) that the worker has freely consented to the agreement and that his consent has not been obtained by coercion or undue influence or as the result of misrepresentation or mistake; and (ii) that all monetary liabilities between the parties have been settled. 3. A contract shall be subject to termination on the application of either party in the cases and under conditions to be prescribed by the regulations, which shall include provisions prescribing—■ (a) the period of notice, if any, to be given by the party wishing to terminate the contract ; and (b) an equitable settlement of monetary and other questions arising from such termination, including the question of repatriation. 4. The cases in which a contract shall be subject to termination in accordance with the preceding paragraph shall include cases of ill-treatment of the worker by the employer. 5. The regulations may prescribe other cases in which a contract shall be subject to termination and may provide for cases in which the termination of a contract in accordance with this Article shall be subject to the approval of the competent authority. Article 13 1. Every worker who is a party to a contract and who has been brought to the place of employment by the employer or by any person acting on behalf of the employer shall have the right to be repatriated at the expense of the employer to his place of origin or engagement, whichever is the nearer to the place of employment, in the following cases: (a) on the expiry of the period of service stipulated in the contract; (b) on the termination of the contract by reason of the inability of the employer to fulfil the contract; (c) on the termination of the contract by reason of inability of the worker to fulfil the contract owing to sickness or accident; (d) on the termination of the contract by agreement between the parties unless the agreement otherwise provides; 552 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY (e) on the termination of the contract on the application of either of the parties, unless the competent authority otherwise decides. 2. Where the family of the worker has been brought to the place of employment by the employer or by any person acting on behalf on the employer, the family shall be repatriated at the expense of the employer whenever the worker is repatriated or in the event of his death. 3. The expenses of repatriation shall include— (a) travelling and subsistence expenses during the journey; and (b) subsistence expenses during the period, if any, between the date of expiry of the contract and the date of repatriation. 4. The employer shall not be liable for subsistence expenses in respect of any period during which the repatriation of the worker has been delayed—• (a) by the worker's own choice; or (b) for reasons oí force majeure, unless the employer has been able during the said period to use the services of the worker at the rate of wages stipulated in the expired contract. 5. If the employer fails to fulfil his obligations in respect of repatriation, the said obligations shall be discharged by the competent authority. Article 14 The competent authority may exempt the employer from liability for repatriation expenses in the following cases: (a) when the competent authority is satisfied— 0) that the worker, by a declaration in writing or otherwise, has signified that he does not wish to exercise his right to repatriation; and (ii) that the worker has been settled at his request or with his consent at or near the place of employment; (b) when the competent authority is satisfied that the worker, by his own choice, has failed to exercise his right to repatriation before the expiry of a prescribed period from the date of expiry or termination of the contract; (c) when the contract has been terminated by the competent authority in consequence of a fault of the worker; (d) when the contract has been terminated otherwise than by reason of the inability of the worker to fulfil the contract owing to sickness or accident and the competent authority is satisfied— (i) that in fixing the rates of wages proper allowance has been made for the payment of repatriation expenses by the worker; and (ii) that suitable arrangements have been made by means of a system of deferred pay or otherwise to ensure that the worker has the funds necessary for the payment of such expenses. Article 15 1. The employer shall whenever possible provide transport for workers who are being repatriated. 2. The competent authority shall take all necessary measures to ensure— (a) that the vehicles or vessels used for transport of workers are suitable for such transport, are in good sanitary condition and are not overcrowded; (b) that when it is necessary to break the journey for the night, suitable accommodation is provided for the workers; (c) that when the workers have to make long journeys on foot, the length of the daily journey is compatible with the maintenance of their health and strength; and (d) that in the case of long journeys, all necessary arrangements are made for medical assistance and for the welfare of the workers. APPENDIX i: STANDARDS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 553 3. When the workers have to make long journeys in groups they shall be convoyed by a responsible person. Article 16 1. The maximum period of service that may be stipulated in any re-engagement contract made on the expiry of a contract shall be prescribed by the regulations, but shall as a general rule be shorter than that prescribed in pursuance of Article 9 of this Convention. 2. Where the period of service to be stipulated in any re-engagement contract, together with the period already served under the expired contract, involves the separation of any worker from his family for more than eighteen months, the worker shall not begin the service stipulated in the re-engagement contract until he has had the opportunity to return home at the employer's expense. Provided that the competent authority may grant exemption from this provision whenever its application is impracticable or undesirable. 3. Except as provided in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article, all the provisions of the preceding Articles shall apply to re-engagement contracts. Provided that the competent authority may at its discretion exempt such contracts from the provisions of Article 6, paragraphs 1 to 5, and Article 7. Article 17 1. The competent authority shall, where necessary, cause concise summaries of the regulations relating to contracts to be printed in the official language or languages of the territory concerned and in a language known to the workers and shall make such summaries available to the employers and workers concerned. 2. Where necessary, the employer shall be required to post such summaries in a language known to the workers in conspicuous places. Article 18 The regulations shall include adequate provisions for the protection of workers when a contract made in one territory relates to employment in a territory under a different administration. Article 19 1. When a contract made in one territory (hereinafter called the territory of origin) relates to employment in a territory under a different administration (hereinafter called the territory of employment), the provisions of this Convention shall be applied in the following manner: (a) the attestation of the contract required by Article 6 shall take place before a public officer of the territory of origin before the worker leaves that territory; (b) the measures required by paragraph 7 of Article 6 shall be taken by the competent authority of the territory of origin; (c) the medical examination required by Article 7 shall take place at latest at the place of the departure of the worker from the territory of origin; (d) a non-adult person whose apparent age is less than either the minimum age prescribed by the regulations of the territory of origin or the minimum age prescribed by the regulations of the territory of employment shall not be capable of entering into a contract; (e) the endorsement of a transfer on a contract by a public officer as required by Article 10 shall be made by an officer of the territory where the worker consents to the transfer; (f) the period of service stipulated in the contract shall not exceed either the maximum period prescribed by the regulations of the territory of origin or the maximum period prescribed by the regulations of the territory of employment; (g) the conditions under which the contract is subject to termination shall be determined by the regulations of the territory of employment; 554 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY (h) if the employer fails to fulfil his obligations in respect of repatriation, the said obligations shall be discharged by the competent authority of the territory of employment ; (i) the competent authority which may exempt the employer from liability for repatriation expenses shall be the competent authority of the territory of employment; (j) the competent authorities of the territories of origin and employment shall co-operate to ensure the application of paragraph 2 of Article 15; (k) the period of service stipulated in any re-engagement contract shall not exceed either the maximum period prescribed by the regulations of the territory of origin or the maximum period prescribed by the regulations of the territory of employment. 2. When the Convention is not in force for both the territory of origin and the territory of employment, the rules set forth in the preceding paragraph shall apply subject to the following provisions: (a) when the Convention is not in force for the territory of employment, the public officer of the territory of origin shall not attest the contract unless he is satisfied that the worker will be entitled in the territory of employment, either in virtue of the regulations of that territory or in virtue of the terms of the contract, to the rights and protection specified in Articles 10 to 16 of the Convention; (b) when the Convention is not in force for the territory of origin, the matters which subparagraphs (a), (b) and (c) of paragraph 1 of this Article require to be dealt with by the competent authority of the territory of origin shall be dealt with by the competent authority of the territory of employment unless the latter authority is satisfied that they have in fact been dealt with in accordance with the terms of the Convention by the competent authority of the territory of origin. 3. The competent authorities of the territories of origin and of employment shall, whenever necessary or desirable, enter into agreements for the purpose of regulating matters of common concern arising in connection with the application of the provisions of this Convention, and may in any such agreement derogate from the provisions of paragraph 1 of this Article in respect of contracts made in one territory party to the agreement for employment in another such territory. (4) Penal Sanctions (Indigenous Workers) Convention, 1939 (No. 65) Article 1 1. This Convention applies to all contracts by which a worker belonging to or assimilated to the indigenous population of a dependent territory of a Member of the Organisation, or belonging to or assimilated to the dependent indigenous population of the home territory of a Member of the Organisation, enters the service of any public authority, individual, company or association, whether non-indigenous or indigenous, for remuneration in cash or in any other form whatsoever. 2. For the purpose of this Convention the term " breach of contract " means— (a) any refusal or failure of the worker to commence or perform the service stipulated in the contract; (b) any neglect of duty or lack of diligence on the part of the worker; (c) the absence of the worker without permission or valid reason; and (d) the desertion of the worker. Article 2 1. All penal sanctions for any breach of contract to which this Convention applies shall be abolished progressively and as soon as possible. 2. All penal sanctions for any such breach by a non-adult person whose apparent age is less than a minimum age to be precribed by law or regulations shall be abolished immediately. APPENDIX i: STANDARDS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 555 (5) Social Policy (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention, 1947 (No. 82) PART I. OBLIGATIONS OF PARTIES Article 1 1. Each Member of the International Labour Organisation which ratifies this Convention undertakes that the policies and measures set forth in the Convention shall be applied in the non-metropolitan territories for which it has or assumes responsibilities, including any trust territories for which it is the administering authority, other than the territories referred to in paragraphs 2 and 3 of this Article, subject to the concurrence of the governments of the territories concerned in respect of any matters which are within the self-governing powers of the territories. 2. Where the subject matter of this Convention is wholly or primarily within the self-governing powers of any non-metropolitan territory, the Member responsible for the international relations of that territory may, in agreement with the government of the territory, communicate to the Director-General of the International Labour Office a declaration accepting on behalf of the territory the obligations of this Convention. 3. A declaration accepting the obligations of this Convention may be communicated to the Director-General of the International Labour Office— (a) by two or more Members of the Organisation in respect of any territory which is under their joint authority; or (b) by any international authority responsible for the administration of any territory, in virtue of the Charter of the United Nations or otherwise, in respect of any such territory. PART II. GENERAL PRINCIPLES Article 2 1. All policies designed to apply to non-metropolitan territories shall be primarily directed to the well-being and development of the peoples of such territories and to the promotion of the desire on their part for social progress. 2. Policies of more general application shall be formulated with due regard to their effect upon the well-being of the peoples of non-metropolitan territories. Article 3 1. In order to promote economic advancement and thus to lay the foundations of social progress, every effort shall be made to secure, on an international, regional, national or territorial basis, financial and technical assistance to the local administrations in order to further the economic development of non-metropolitan territories. 2. The terms under which such assistance is granted shall provide for such control by or co-operation with the local administrations in determining the nature of the economic development and the conditions under which the resulting work is undertaken as may be necessary to safeguard the interests of the peoples of such territories. 3. It shall be an aim of policy for the responsible government authorities to arrange that adequate funds are made available to provide public or private capital or both for development purposes on terms which secure to the peoples of non-metropolitan territories the fullest possible benefits from such development. 4. In appropriate cases, international, regional, or national action shall be taken with a view to establishing conditions of trade which will encourage production at a high level of efficiency and make possible the maintenance of a reasonable standard of living in non-metropolitan territories. 556 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Article 4 All possible steps shall be taken by appropriate international, regional, national and territorial measures to promote improvement in such fields as public health, housing, nutrition, education, the welfare of children, the status of women, conditions of employment, the remuneration of wage earners and independent producers, the protection of migrant workers, social security, standards of public services and general production. Article 5 All possible steps shall be taken effectively to interest and associate the peoples of non-metropolitan territories in the framing and execution of measures of social progress, preferably through their own elected representatives where appropriate and possible. PART III. IMPROVEMENT OF STANDARDS OF LIVING Article 6 The improvement of standards of living shall be regarded as the principal objective in the planning of economic development. Article 7 1. All practicable measures shall be taken in the planning of economic development to harmonise such development with the healthy evolution of the communities concerned. 2. In particular, efforts shall be made to avoid the disruption of family life and of traditional social units, especially by—• (a) close study of the causes and effects of migratory movements and appropriate action where necessary; (b) the promotion of town and village planning in areas where economic needs result in the concentration of population; (c) the prevention and elimination of congestion in urban areas; (d) the improvement of living conditions in rural areas and the establishment of suitable industries in rural areas where adequate manpower is available. Article 8 The measures to be considered by the competent authorities for the promotion of productive capacity and the improvement of standards of living of agricultural producers shall include— (a) the elimination to the fullest practicable extent of the causes of chronic indebtedness ; (b) the control of the alienation of agricultural land to non-agriculturalists so as to ensure that such alienation takes place only when it is in the best interests of the territory; (c) the control, by the enforcement of adequate laws or regulations, of the ownership and use of land and resources to ensure that they are used, with due regard to customary rights, in the best interests of the inhabitants of the territory; (d) the supervision of tenancy arrangements and of working conditions with a view to securing for tenants and labourers the highest practicable standards of living and an equitable share in any advantages which may result from improvements in productivity or in price levels; (e) the reduction of production and distribution costs by all practicable means and in particular by forming, encouraging and assisting producers' and consumers' cooperatives. APPENDIX i: STANDARDS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 557 Article 9 1. Measures shall be taken to secure for independent producers and wage earners conditions which will give them scope to improve living standards by their own efforts and will ensure the maintenance of minimum standards of living as ascertained by means of official inquiries into living conditions, conducted after consultation with the representative organisations of employers and workers. 2. In ascertaining the minimum standards of living, account shall be taken of such essential family needs of the workers as food and its nutritive value, housing, clothing, medical care and education. PART IV. PROVISIONS CONCERNING MIGRANT WORKERS Article 10 Where the circumstances under which workers are employed involve their living away from their homes, the terms and conditions of their employment shall take account of their normal family needs. Article 11 Where the labour resources of one area of a non-metropolitan territory are used on a temporary basis for the benefit of another area, measures shall be taken to encourage the transfer of part of the workers' wages and savings from the area of labour utilisation to the area of labour supply. Article 12 1. Where the labour resources of a territory are used in an area under a different administration, the competent authorities of the territories concerned shall, whenever necessary or desirable, enter into agreements for the purpose of regulating matters of common concern arising in connection with the application of the provisions of this Convention. 2. Such agreements shall provide that the worker shall enjoy protection and advantages not less than those enjoyed by workers resident in the area of labour utilisation. 3. Such agreements shall provide for facilities for enabling the worker to transfer part of his wages and savings to his home. Article 13 Where workers and their families move from low-cost to higher-cost areas, account shall be taken of the increased cost of living resulting from the change. PART V. REMUNERATION OF WORKERS AND RELATED QUESTIONS Article 14 1. The fixing of minimum wages by cofiective agreements freely negotiated between trade unions which are representative of the workers concerned and employers or employers' organisations shall be encouraged. 2. Where no adequate arrangements exist for the fixing of minimum wages by collective agreement, the necessary arrangements shall be made whereby minimum rates of wages can be fixed in consultation with representatives of the employers and workers, including representatives of their respective organisations, where such exist. 3. The necessary measures shall be taken to ensure that the employers and workers concerned are informed of the minimum wage rates in force and that wages are not paid at less than these rates in cases where they are applicable. 558 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY 4. A worker to whom minimum rates are applicable and who, since they became applicable, has been paid wages at less than these rates shall be entitled to recover, by judicial or other means authorised by law, the amount by which he has been underpaid, subject to such limitation of time as may be determined by law or regulation. Article 15 1. The necessary measures shall be taken to ensure the proper payment of all wages earned and employers shall be required to keep registers of wage payments, to issue to workers statements of wage payments and to take other appropriate steps to facilitate the necessary supervision. 2. Wages shall normally be paid in legal tender only. 3. Wages shall normally be paid direct to the individual worker. 4. The substitution of alcohol or other spirituous beverages for all or any part of wages for services performed by the worker shall be prohibited. 5. Payment of wages shall not be made in taverns or stores, except in the case of workers employed therein. 6. Unless there is an established local custom to the contrary, and the competent authority is satisfied that the continuance of this custom is desired by the workers, wages shall be paid regularly at such intervals as will lessen the likelihood of indebtedness among the wage earners. 7. Where food, housing, clothing and other essential supplies and services form part of remuneration, all practicable steps shall be taken by the competent authority to ensure that they are adequate and their cash value properly assessed. (a) (b) (c) 8. All practicable measures shall be taken— to inform the workers of their wage rights ; to prevent any unauthorised deductions from wages; and to restrict the amounts deductible from wages in respect of supplies and services forming part of remuneration to the proper cash value thereof. Article 16 1. The maximum amounts and manner of repayment of advances on wages shall be regulated by the competent authority. 2. The competent authority shall limit the amount of advances which may be made to a worker in consideration of his taking up employment; the amount of advances permitted shall be clearly explained to the worker. 3. Any advance in excess of the amount laid down by the competent authority shall be legally irrecoverable and may not be recovered by the withholding of amounts of pay due to the worker at a later date. Article 17 1. Voluntary forms of thrift shall be encouraged among wage earners and independent producers. 2. All practicable measures shall be taken for the protection of wage earners and independent producers against usury, in particular by action aiming at the reduction of rates of interest on loans, by the control of the operations of moneylenders, and by the encouragement of facilities for borrowing money for appropriate purposes through cooperative credit organisations or through institutions which are under the control of the competent authority. APPENDIX i: STANDARDS AND RECOMMENDATIONS PART VI. 559 NON-DISCRIMINATION ON GROUNDS OF RACE, COLOUR, SEX, BELIEF, TRIBAL ASSOCIATION OR TRADE UNION AFFILIATION Article 18 1. It shall be an aim of policy to abolish all discrimination among workers on grounds of race, colour, sex, belief, tribal association or trade union affiliation in respect of— (a) labour legislation and agreements which shall afford equitable economic treatment to all those lawfully resident or working in the territory; (b) admission to public or private employment; (c) conditions of engagement and promotion; (d) opportunities for vocational training; (e) conditions of work; (f) health, safety and welfare measures; (g) discipline; (h) participation in the negotiation of collective agreements; (i) wage rates, which shall be fixed according to the principle of equal pay for work of equal value in the same operation and undertaking to the extent to which recognition of this principle is accorded in the metropolitan territory. 2. Subject to the provisions of subparagraph (i) of the preceding paragraph, all practicable measures shall be taken to lessen, by raising the rates applicable to the lowerpaid workers, any existing differences in wage rates due to discrimination by reason of race, colour, sex, belief, tribal association or trade union affiliation. 3. Workers from one territory engaged for employment in another territory may be granted in addition to their wages benefits in cash or in kind to meet any reasonable personal or family expenses resulting from employment away from their homes. 4. The foregoing provisions of this Article shall be without prejudice to such measures as the competent authority may think it necessary or desirable to take for the safeguarding of motherhood and for ensuring the health, safety and welfare of women workers. PART VII. EDUCATION AND TRAINING Article 19 1. Adequate provision shall be made in non-metropolitan territories, to the maximum extent possible under local conditions, for the progressive development of broad systems of education, vocational training and apprenticeship, with a view to the effective preparation of children and young persons of both sexes for a useful occupation. 2. Territorial laws or regulations shall prescribe the school-leaving age and the minimum age for and conditions of employment. 3. In order that the child population may be able to profit by existing facilities for education and in order that the extension of such facilities may not be hindered by a demand for child labour, the employment of persons below the school-leaving age during the hours when the schools are in session shall be prohibited in areas where educational facilities are provided on a scale adequate for the majority of the children of school age. Article 20 1. In order to secure high productivity through the development of skilled labour in non-metropolitan territories, training in new techniques of production shall be provided in suitable cases in local, regional or metropolitan centres. 2. Such training shall be organised by or under the supervision of the competent authorities, in consultation with the employers' and workers' organisations of the territory from which the trainees come and of the country of training. 560 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY (6) Labour Standards (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention, 1947 (No. 83) 1 Article 1 1. Each Member of the International Labour Organisation which ratifies this Convention shall communicate to the Director-General of the International Labour Office with its ratification a declaration stating, in respect of the territories referred to in article 35 of the Constitution of the International Labour Organisation as amended by the Constitution of the International Labour Organisation Instrument of Amendment, 1946, other than the territories referred to in paragraphs 4 and 5 of the said article as so amended, the extent to which it undertakes that the provisions of the Conventions set forth in the Schedule to this Convention shall be applied in respect of the said territories. 2. The aforesaid declaration shall state in respect of each of the Conventions set forth in the Schedule to this Convention— (a) the territories in respect of which the Member undertakes that the provisions of the Convention shall be applied without modification; (b) the territories in respect of which the Member undertakes that the provisions of the Convention shall be applied subject to modifications, together with details of the said modifications; (c) the territories in respect of which the Convention is inapplicable and in such cases the grounds on which it is inapplicable; (d) the territories in respect of which the Member reserves its decision. 3. The undertakings referred to in subparagraphs (a) and (b) of paragraph 2 of this Article shall be deemed to be an integral part of the ratification and shall have the force of ratification. 4. Any Member may at any time by a subsequent declaration cancel in whole or in part any reservations made in its original declaration in virtue of subparagraph (b), (c) or (d) of paragraph 2 of this Article. 5. Any Member may, at any time at which this Convention is subject to denunciation in accordance with the provisions of Article 8, communicate to the Director-General a declaration modifying in any other respect the terms of any former declaration and stating the present position in respect of such territories as it may specify. Article 2 1. A declaration accepting the obligations of this Convention in respect of any nonmetropolitan territory where the subject matter of the Conventions set forth in the Schedule to this Convention is within the self-governing powers of the territory may be communicated to the Director-General of the International Labour Office by the Member responsible for the international relations of the territory in agreement with the government of the territory. 2. A declaration accepting the obligations of this Convention may be communicated to the Director-General of the International Labour Office— (a) by two or more Members of the Organisation in respect of any territory which is under their joint authority; or (b) by any international authority responsible for the administration of any territory, in virtue of the Charter of the United Nations or otherwise, in respect of any such territory. 3. Declarations communicated to the Director-General of the International Labour Office in accordance with the preceding paragraph of this Article shall include an undertaking that the provisions of the Conventions set forth in the Schedule to this Convention shall be applied in the territory concerned either without modification or subject to modi1 As amended by the Labour Standards (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention Instrument of Amendment, 1948. APPENDIX i: STANDARDS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 561 fications; when the declaration indicates that the provisions of one or more of the said Conventions will be applied subject to modifications it shall give in respect of each such Convention details of the said modifications. 4. The Member, Members or international authority concerned may at any time by a subsequent declaration renounce in whole or in part the right to have recourse to any modification indicated in any former declaration. 5. The Member, Members or international authority concerned may, at any time at which the Convention is subject to denunciation in accordance with the provisions of Article 8, communicate to the Director-General a declaration modifying in any other respect the terms of any former declaration and stating the present position in respect of any one or more of the Conventions set forth in the Schedule. Article 3 The competent authority may, by regulations published beforehand, exclude from the application of any provisions giving effect to any of the Conventions set forth in the Schedule undertakings or vessels in respect of which, from their nature and size, adequate supervision may be impracticable. Article 4 In respect of each territory for which there is in force a declaration specifying modifications of the provisions of one or more of the Conventions set forth in the Schedule, the annual reports on the application of this Convention shall indicate the extent to which any progress has been made with a view to making it possible to renounce the right to have recourse to the said modifications. Article 5 1. The International Labour Conference may, at any session at which the matter is included in its agenda, adopt by a two-thirds majority amendments to the Schedule to this Convention including the provisions of further Conventions in the Schedule or substituting for the provisions of any Convention set forth in the Schedule the provisions of any Convention revising that Convention which may have been adopted by the Conference. 2. Each Member for which this Convention is in force and each territory for which a declaration accepting the obligations of this Convention in pursuance of Article 2 is in force shall, within the period of one year, or, in exceptional circumstances, of eighteen months, from the closing of the session of the Conference, submit any such amendment to the authority or authorities within whose competence the matter lies, for the enactment of legislation or other action. 3. Any such amendment shall become effective for each Member for which this Convention is in force on acceptance by the said Member and for each territory in respect of which a declaration accepting the obligations of the Convention in pursuance of Article 2 is in force on acceptance in respect of the said territory. 4. When any such amendment becomes effective for any Member or for any territory in respect of which the obhgations of this Convention have been accepted in pursuance of Article 2, the Member, Members or international authority concerned shall communicate to the Director-General of the International Labour Office a declaration giving, in respect of the Convention or Conventions the provisions of which have been included in the Schedule by the amendment, the particulars required by paragraph 2 of Article 1 or paragraph 3 of Article 2 as the case may be. 5. Any Member which ratifies this Convention after the date of the adoption of any such amendment by the Conference shall be deemed to have ratified the Convention as amended and any territory in respect of which the obligations of the Convention are accepted after that date in pursuance of Article 2 shall be deemed to have accepted the obligations of the Convention as amended. 37 562 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Schedule MINIMUM AGE (INDUSTRY) CONVENTION (REVISED), 1937 Article 1 1. For the purpose of this Convention, the term "industrial undertaking" includes particularly— (a) mines, quarries, and other works for the extraction of minerals from the earth; (b) industries in which articles are manufactured, altered, cleaned, repaired, ornamented, finished, adapted for sale, broken up or demolished, or in which materials are transformed; including ship-building, and the generation, transformation, and transmission of electricity and motive power of any kind; (c) construction, reconstruction, maintenance, repair, alteration, or demolition of any building, railway, tramway, harbour, dock, pier, canal, inland waterway, road, tunnel, bridge, viaduct, sewer, drain, well, telegraphic or telephonic installation, electrical undertaking, gas work, waterwork, or other work of construction, as well as the preparation for or laying the foundations of any such work or structure; (d) transport of passengers or goods by road or rail or inland waterway, including the handling of goods at docks, quays, wharves, and warehouses, but excluding transport by hand. 2. The competent authority in each country shall define the line of division which separates industry from commerce and agriculture. Article 2 1. Children under the age of fifteen years shall not be employed or work in any public or private industrial undertaking, or in any branch thereof. 2. Provided that, except in the case of employments which, by their nature or the circumstances in which they are carried on, are dangerous to the life, health or morals of the persons employed therein, national laws or regulations may permit such children to be employed in undertakings in which only members of the employer's family are employed. Article 3 The provisions of this Convention shall not apply to work done by children in technical schools, provided that such work is approved and supervised by public authority. Article 4 In order to facilitate the enforcement of the provisions of this Convention, every employer in an industrial undertaking shall be required to keep a register of all persons under the age of eighteen years employed by him, and of the dates of their births. Article 5 1. In respect of employments which, by their nature or the circumstances in which they are carried on, are dangerous to the life, health or morals of the persons employed therein, national laws shall either— (a) prescribe a higher age or ages than fifteen years for the admission thereto of young persons or adolescents; or (b) empower an appropriate authority to prescribe a higher age or ages than fifteen years for the admission thereto of young persons or adolescents. 2. The annual reports to be submitted under article 22 of the Constitution of the International Labour Organisation shall include full information concerning the age or ages prescribed by national laws in pursuance of subparagraph (a) of the preceding paragraph or concerning the action taken by the appropriate authority in exercise of the powers conferred upon it in pursuance of subparagraph (b) of the preceding paragraph, as the case may be. MINIMUM AGE (SEA) CONVENTION (REVISED), 1936 Article 1 For the purpose of this Convention, the term " vessel " includes all ships and boats, of any nature whatsoever, engaged in maritime navigation, whether publicly or privately owned; it excludes ships of war. APPENDIX i: STANDARDS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 563 Article 2 1. Children under the age of fifteen years shall not be employed or work on vessels, other than vessels upon which only members of the same family are employed. 2. Provided that national laws or regulations may provide for the issue in respect of children of not less than fourteen years of age of certificates permitting them to be employed in cases in which an educational or other appropriate authority designated by such laws or regulations is satisfied, after having due regard to the health and physical conditions of the child and to the prospective as well as to the immediate benefit to the child of the employment proposed, that such employment will be beneficial to the child. Article 3 The provisions of Article 2 shall not apply to work done by children on school-ships or trainingships, provided that such work is approved and supervised by public authority. Article 4 In order to facilitate the enforcement of the provisions of this Convention, every shipmaster shall be required to keep a register of all persons under the age of sixteen years employed on board his vessel, or a list of them in the articles of agreement, and of the dates of their births. MINIMUM AGE (TRIMMERS AND STOKERS) CONVENTION, 1921 Article 1 For the purpose of this Convention, the term " vessel " includes all ships and boats, of any nature whatsoever, engaged in maritime navigation, whether publicly or privately owned; it excludes ships of war. Article 2 Young persons under the age of eighteen years shall not be employed or work on vessels as trimmers or stokers. Article 3 The provisions of Article 2 shall not apply— (a) to work done by young persons on school-ships or training-ships, provided that such work is approved and supervised by public authority; (b) to the employment of young persons on vessels mainly propelled by other means than steam; (c) to young persons, of not less than sixteen years of age, who, if found physically fit after medical examination, may be employed as trimmers or stokers on vessels exclusively engaged in the coastal trade of India and of Japan, subject to regulations made after consultation with the most representative organisations of employers and workers in those countries. Article 4 When a trimmer or stoker is required in a port where young persons of less than eighteen years of age only are available, such young persons may be employed and in that case it shall be necessary to engage two young persons in place of the trimmer or stoker required. Such young persons shall be at least sixteen years of age. Article 5 In order to facilitate the enforcement of the provisions of this Convention, every shipmaster shall be required to keep a register of all persons under the age of eighteen years employed on board his vessel, or a list of them in the articles of agreement, and of the dates of their births. Article 6 Articles of agreement shall contain a brief summary of the provisions of this Convention. MEDICAL EXAMINATION OF YOUNG PERSONS (INDUSTRY) CONVENTION, 1946 PART I. GENERAL PROVISIONS Article 1 1. This Convention applies to children and young persons employed or working in, or in connection with, industrial undertakings, whether public or private. 564 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY 2. For the purpose of this Convention, the term " industrial undertaking " includes particularly— (a) mines, quarries, and other works for the extraction of minerals from the earth; (b) undertakings in which articles are manufactured, altered, cleaned, repaired, ornamented, finished, adapted for sale, broken up or demolished, or in which materials are transformed; including undertakings engaged in shipbuilding or in the generation, transformation or transmission of electricity or motive power of any kind; (c) undertakings engaged in building and civil engineering work, including constructional, repair, maintenance, alteration and demolition work; (d) undertakings engaged in the transport of passengers or goods by road, rail, inland waterway or air, including the handling of goods at docks, quays, wharves, warehouses or airports. 3. The competent authority shall define the line of division which separates industry from agriculture, commerce and other non-industrial occupations. Article 2 1. Children and young persons under eighteen years of age shall not be admitted to employment by an industrial undertaking unless they have been found fit for the work on which they are to be employed by a thorough medical examination. 2. The medical examination for fitness for employment shall be carried out by a qualified physician approved by the competent authority and shall be certified either by a medical certificate or by an endorsement on the work permit or in the workbook. 3. The document certifying fitness for employment may be issued— (a) subject to specified conditions of employment; (b) for a specified job or for a group of jobs or occupations involving similar health risks which have been classified as a group by the authority responsible for the enforcement of the laws and regulations concerning medical examinations for fitness for employment. 4. National laws or regulations shall specify the authority competent to issue the document certifying fitness for employment and shall define the conditions to be observed in drawing up and issuing the document. Article 3 1. The fitness of a child or young person for the employment in which he is engaged shall be subject to medical supervision until he has attained the age of eighteen years. 2. The continued employment of a child or young person under eighteen years of age shall be subject to the repetition of medical examinations at intervals of not more than one year. 3. National laws or regulations shall— (a) make provision for the special circumstances in which a medical re-examination shall be required in addition to the annual examination or at more frequent intervals in order to ensure effective supervision in respect of the risks involved in the occupation and of the state of health of the child or young person as shown by previous examinations; or (b) empower the competent authority to require medical re-examinations in exceptional cases. Article 4 1. In occupations which involve high health risks medical examination and re-examinations for fitness for employment shall be required until at least the age of twenty-one years. 2. National laws or regulations shall either specify, or empower an appropriate authority to specify, the occupations or categories of occupations in which medical examination and re-examinations for fitness for employment shall be required until at least the age of twenty-one years. Article 5 The medical examination required by the preceding Articles shall not involve the child or young person, or his parents, in any expense. Article 6 1. Appropriate measures shall be taken by the competent authority for vocational guidance and physical and vocational rehabilitation of children and young persons found by medical examination to be unsuited to certain types of work or to have physical handicaps or limitations. 2. The nature and extent of such measures shall be determined by the competent authority; for this purpose co-operation shall be established between the labour, health, educational and APPENDIX i: STANDARDS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 565 social services concerned, and effective liaison shall be maintained between these services in order to carry out such measures. 3. National laws or regulations may provide for the issue to children and young persons whose fitness for employment is not clearly determined—■ (a) of temporary work permits or medical certificates valid for a limited period at the expiration of which the young worker will be required to undergo re-examination; (b) of permits or certificates requiring special conditions of employment. Article 7 1. The employer shall be required to file and keep available to labour inspectors either the medical certificate for fitness for employment or the work permit or workbook showing that there are no medical objections to the employment as may be prescribed by national laws or regulations. 2. National laws or regulations shall determine the other methods of supervision to be adopted for ensuring the strict enforcement of this Convention. PART II. SPECIAL PROVISIONS FOR CERTAIN COUNTRIES Article 8 1. In the case of a Member the territory of which includes large areas where, by reason of the sparseness of the population or the stage of development of the area, the competent authority considers it impracticable to enforce the provisions of this Convention, the authority may exempt such areas from the application of the Convention either generally or with such exceptions in respect of particular undertakings or occupations as it thinks fit. 2. Each Member shall indicate in its first annual report upon the application of this Convention submitted under article 22 of the Constitution of the International Labour Organisation any areas in respect of which it proposes to have recourse to the provisions of the present Article and no Member shall, after the date of its first annual report, have recourse to the provisions of the present Article except in respect of areas so indicated. 3. Each Member having recourse to the provisions of the present Article shall indicate in subsequent annual reports any areas in respect of which it renounces the right to have recourse to the provisions of the present Article. Article 9 1. Any Member which, before the date of the adoption of the laws or regulations permitting the ratification of this Convention, had no laws or regulations concerning medical examination for fitness for employment in industry of children and young persons may, by a declaration accompanying its ratification, substitute an age lower than eighteen years, but in no case lower than sixteen years, for the age of eighteen years prescribed in Articles 2 and 3 and an age lower than twenty-one years, but in no case lower than nineteen years, for the age of twenty-one years prescribed in Article 4. 2. Any Member which has made such a declaration may at any time cancel the declaration by a subsequent declaration. 3. Every Member for which a declaration made in virtue of paragraph 1 of this Article is in force shall indicate each year in its annual report upon the application of this Convention the extent to which any progress has been made with a view to the full application of the provisions of the Convention. t ■"' MEDICAL EXAMINATION OF YOUNG PERSONS (SEA) CONVENTION, 1921 Article 1 For the purpose of this Convention, the term " vessel " includes all ships and boats, of any nature whatsoever, engaged in maritime navigation, whether publicy or privately owned; it excludes ships of war. Article 2 The employment of any child or young person under eighteen years of age on any vessel, other than vessels upon which only members of the same family are employed, shall be conditional on the production of a medical certificate attesting fitness for such work, signed by a doctor who shall be approved by the competent authority. 566 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Article 3 The continued employment at sea of any such child or young person shall be subject to the repetition of such medical examination at intervals of not more than one year, and the production, after each such examination, of a further medical certificate attesting fitness for such work. Should a medical certificate expire in the course of a voyage, it shall remain in force until the end of the said voyage. Article 4 In urgent cases, the competent authority may allow a young person below the age of eighteen years to embark without having undergone the examination provided for in Articles 2 and 3 of this Convention, always provided that such an examination shall be undergone at the first port at which the vessel calls. NIGHT WORK OF YOUNG PERSONS (INDUSTRY) CONVENTION (REVISED), 1948 PART I. GENERAL PROVISIONS Article 1 1. For the purpose of this Convention, the term " industrial undertaking " includes particularly— (a) mines, quarries, and other works for the extraction of minerals from the earth; (b) undertakings in which articles are manufactured, altered, cleaned, repaired, ornamented, finished, adapted for sale, broken up or demolished, or in which materials are transformed, including undertakings engaged in shipbuilding or in the generation, transformation or transmission of electricity or motive power of any kind; (c) undertakings engaged in building and civil engineering work, including constructional, repair, maintenance, alteration and demolition work; (d) undertakings engaged in the transport of passengers or goods by road or rail, including the handling of goods at docks, quays, wharves, warehouses or airports. 2. The competent authority shall define the line of division which separates industry from agriculture, commerce and other non-industrial occupations. 3. National laws or regulations may exempt from the application of this Convention employment on work which is not deemed to be harmful, prejudicial, or dangerous to children or young persons in family undertakings in which only parents and their children or wards are employed. Article 2 1. For the purpose of this Convention the term " night " signifies a period of at least twelve consecutive hours. 2. In the case of young persons under sixteen years of age, this period shall include the interval between ten o'clock in the evening and six o'clock in the morning. 3. In the case of young persons who have attained the age of sixteen years but are under the age of eighteen years, this period shall include an interval prescribed by the competent authority of at least seven consecutive hours falling between ten o'clock in the evening and seven o'clock in the morning; the competent authority may prescribe different intervals for different areas, industries, undertakings or branches of industries or undertakings, but shall consult the employers' and workers' organisations concerned before prescribing an interval beginning after eleven o'clock in the evening. Article 3 1. Young persons under eighteen years of age shall not be employed or work during the night in any public or private industrial undertaking or in any branch thereof except as hereinafter provided for. 2. For purposes of apprenticeship or vocational training in specified industries or occupations which are required to be carried on continuously, the competent authority may, after consultation with the employers' and workers' organisations concerned, authorise the employment in night work of young persons who have attained the age of sixteen years but are under the age of eighteen years. 3. Young persons employed in night work in virtue of the preceding paragraph shall be granted a rest period of at least thirteen consecutive hours between two working periods. 4. Where night work in the baking industry is prohibited for all workers, the interval between nine o'clock in the evening and four o'clock in the morning may, for purposes of apprenticeship APPENDIX i: STANDARDS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 567 or vocational training of young persons who have attained the age of sixteen years, be substituted by the competent authority for the interval of at least seven consecutive hours falling between ten o'clock in the evening and seven o'clock in the morning prescribed by the authority in virtue of paragraph 3 of Article 2. Article 4 1. In countries where the climate renders work by day particularly trying, the night period and barred interval may be shorter than that prescribed in the above Articles if compensatory rest is accorded during the day. 2. The provisions of Articles 2 and 3 shall not apply to the night work of young persons between the ages of sixteen and eighteen years in case of emergencies which could not have been controlled or foreseen, which are not of a periodical character, and which interfere with the normal working of the industrial undertaking. Article 5 The prohibition of night work may be suspended by the government, for young persons between the ages of sixteen and eighteen years, when in case of serious emergency the public interest demands it. Article 6 1. The laws or regulations giving effect to the provisions of this Convention shall— (a) make appropriate provision for ensuring that they are known to the persons concerned; (b) define the persons responsible for compliance therewith; (c) prescribe adequate penalties for any violation thereof; (d) provide for the maintenance of a system of inspection adequate to ensure effective enforcement; and (e) require every employer in a public or private industrial undertaking to keep a register, or to keep available official records, showing the names and dates of birth of all persons under eighteen years of age employed by him and such other pertinent information as may be required by the competent authority. 2. The annual reports submitted by Members under article 22 of the Constitution of the International Labour Organisation shall contain full information concerning such laws and regulations and a general survey of the results of the inspections made in accordance therewith. PART II. SPECIAL PROVISIONS FOR CERTAIN COUNTRIES Article 7 1. Any Member which, before the date of the adoption of the laws or regulations permitting the ratification of this Convention, had laws or regulations restricting the night work of children in industry which provide for an age-limit lower than eighteen years may, by a declaration accompanying its ratification, substitute an age-limit lower than eighteen years, but in no case lower than sixteen years, for the age-limit prescribed in paragraph 1 of Article 3. 2. Any Member which has made such a declaration may at any time cancel that declaration by a subsequent declaration. 3. Every Member for which a declaration made in virtue of paragraph 1 of this Article is in force shall indicate each year in its annual report upon the application of this Convention the extent to which any progress has been made with a view to the full application of the provisions of the Convention. MATERNITY PROTECTION CONVENTION, 1919 Article 1 1. For the purpose of this Convention, the term "industrial undertaking" includes particularly— (a) mines, quarries, and other works for the extraction of minerals from the earth; (b) industries in which articles are manufactured, altered, cleaned, repaired, ornamented, finished, adapted for sale, broken up or demolished, or in which materials are transformed; including shipbuilding and the generation, transformation, and transmission of electricity or motive power of any kind; (c) construction, reconstruction, maintenance, repair, alteration, or demolition of any building, railway, tramway, harbour, dock, pier, canal, inland waterway, road, tunnel, bridge, viaduct. 568 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY sewer, drain, well, telegraphic or telephonic installation, electrical undertaking, gas work, waterwork, or other work of construction, as well as the preparation for or laying the foundation of any such work or structure; (d) transport of passengers or goods by road, rail, sea, or inland waterway, including the handling of goods at docks, quays, wharves, and warehouses, but excluding transport by hand. 2. For the purpose of this Convention, the term " commercial undertaking " includes any place where articles are sold or where commerce is carried on. 3. The competent authority in each country shall define the line of division which separates industry and commerce from agriculture. Article 2 For the purpose of this Convention, the term " woman " signifies any female person, irrespective of age or nationality, whether married or unmarried, and the term " child " signifies any child whether legitimate or illegitimate. Article 3 In any public or private industrial or commercial undertaking or in any branch thereof, other than an undertaking in which only members of the same family are employed, a woman— (a) shall not be permitted to work during the six weeks following her confinement; (b) shall have the right to leave her work if she produces a medical certificate stating that her confinement will probably take place within six weeks; (c) shall, while she is absent from her work in pursuance of paragraphs (a) and (b), be paid benefits sufficient for the full and healthy maintenance of herself and her child, provided either out of public funds or by means of a system of insurance, the exact amount of which shall be determined by the competent authority in each country, and as an additional benefit shall be entitled to free attendance by a doctor or certified midwife; no mistake of the medical adviser in estimating the date of confinement shall preclude a woman from receiving these benefits from the date of the medical certificate up to the date on which the confinement actually takes place; (d) shall in any case, if she is nursing her child, be allowed half an hour twice a day during her working hours for this purpose. Article 4 Where a woman is absent from her work in accordance with paragraph (a) or (b) of Article 3 of this Convention, or remains absent from her work for a longer period as a result of illness medically certified to arise out of pregnancy or confinement and rendering her unfit for work, it shall not be lawful, until her absence shall have exceeded a maximum period to be fixed by the competent authority in each country, for her employer to give her notice of dismissal during such absence, nor to give her notice of dismissal at such a time that the notice would expire during such absence. NIGHT WORK (WOMEN) CONVENTION (REVISED), 1948 PART I. GENERAL PROVISIONS Article 1 1. For the purpose of this Convention, the term " industrial undertaking " includes particularly— (a) mines, quarries, and other works for the extraction of minerals from the earth; (b) undertakings in which articles are manufactured, altered, cleaned, repaired, ornamented, finished, adapted for sale, broken up or demolished, or in which materials are transformed, including undertakings engaged in shipbuilding or in the generation, transformation or transmission of electricity or motive power of any kind; (c) undertakings engaged in building and civil engineering work, including constructional, repair, maintenance, alteration and demolition work. 2. The competent authority shall define the line of division which separates industry from agriculture, commerce and other non-industrial occupations. Article 2 For the purpose of this Convention the term " night " signifies a period of at least eleven consecutive hours, including an interval prescribed by the competent authority of at least seven consecutive hours falling between ten o'clock in the evening and seven o'clock in the morning; the com- APPENDIX i: STANDARDS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 569 petent authority may prescribe different intervals for different areas, industries, undertakings or branches of industries or undertakings, but shall consult the employers' and workers' organisations concerned before prescribing an interval beginning after eleven o'clock in the evening. Article 3 Women without distinction of age shall not be employed during the night in any public or private industrial undertaking, or in any branch thereof, other than an undertaking in which only members of the same family are employed. Article 4 Article 3 shall not apply— (a) in cases oí force majeure, when in any undertaking there occurs an interruption of work which it was impossible to foresee, and which is not of a recurring character; (b) in cases where the work has to do with raw materials or materials in course of treatment which are subject to rapid deterioration when such night work is necessary to preserve the said materials from certain loss. Article 5 1. The prohibition of night work for women may be suspended by the government, after consultation with the employers' and workers' organisations concerned, when in case of serious emergency the national interest demands it. 2. Such suspension shall be notified by the government concerned to the Director-General of the International Labour Office in its annual report on the application of the Convention. Article 6 In industrial undertakings which are influenced by the seasons and in all cases where exceptional circumstances demand it, the night period may be reduced to ten hours on sixty days of the year. Article 7 In countries where the climate renders work by day particularly trying, the night period may be shorter than that prescribed in the above Articles if compensatory rest is accorded during the day. Article 8 This Convention does not apply to— (a) women holding responsible positions of a managerial or technical character; and (b) women employed in health and welfare services who are not ordinarily engaged in manual work. PART II. SPECIAL PROVISIONS FOR CERTAIN COUNTRIES Article 9 In those countries where no government regulation as yet applies to the employment of women in industrial undertakings during the night, the term " night " may provisionally, and for a maximum period of three years, be declared by the government to signify a period of only ten hours, including an interval prescribed by the competent authority of a least seven consecutive hours falling between ten o'clock in the evening and seven o'clock in the morning. UNDERGROUND WORK (WOMEN) CONVENTION, 1935 Article 1 For the purpose of this Convention, the term " mine " includes any undertaking, whether public or private, for the extraction of any substance from under the surface of the earth. Article 2 No female, whatever her age, shall be employed on underground work in any mine. Article 3 (a) National laws or regulations may exempt from the above prohibition—■ females holding positions of management who do not perform manual work; 570 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY (b) females employed in health welfare services; (c) females who, in the course of their studies, spend a period of training in the underground parts of a mine; and (d) any other females who occasionally have to enter the underground parts of a mine for the purpose of a non-manual occupation. EQUALITY OF TREATMENT (ACCIDENT COMPENSATION) CONVENTION, 1925 Article 1 1. Each Member of the International Labour Organisation which ratifies this Convention undertakes to grant to the nationals of any other Member which shall have ratified the Convention, who suffer personal injury due to industrial accidents happening in its territory, or to their dependants, the same treatment in respect of workmen's compensation as it grants to its own nationals. 2. This equality of treatment shall be guaranteed to foreign workers and their dependants without any condition as to residence. With regard to the payments which a Member or its nationals would have to make outside that Member's territory in the application of this principle, the measures to be adopted shall be regulated, if necessary, by special arrangements between the Members concerned. Article 2 Special agreements may be made between the Members concerned to provide that compensation for industrial accidents happening to workers whilst temporarily or intermittently employed in the territory of one Member on behalf of an undertaking situated in the territory of another Member shall be governed by the laws and regulations of the latter Member. Article 3 The Members which ratify this Convention and which do not already possess a system, whether by insurance or otherwise, of workmen's compensation for industrial accidents agree to institute such a system within a period of three years from the date of their ratification. Article 4 The Members which ratify this Convention further undertake to afford each other mutual assistance with a view to facilitating the application of the Convention and the execution of their respective laws and regulations on workmen's compensation and to inform the International Labour Office, which shall inform the other Members concerned, of any modifications in the laws and regulations in force on workmen's compensation. WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION (ACCIDENTS) CONVENTION, 1925 Article 1 Each Member of the Internationa] Labour Organisation which ratifies this Convention undertakes to ensure that workmen who suffer personal injury due to an industrial accident, or their dependants, shall be compensated on terms at least equal to those provided by this Convention. Article 2 1. The laws and regulations as to workmen's compensation shall apply to workmen, employees and apprentices employed by any enterprise, undertaking or establishment of whatsoever nature, whether public or private. 2. It shall nevertheless be open to any Member to make such exceptions in its national legislation as it deems necessary in respect of— (a) persons whose employment is of a casual nature and who are employed otherwise than for the purpose of the employer's trade or business; (b) out-workers; (c) members of the employer's family who work exclusively on his behalf and who live in his house; (d) non-manual workers whose remuneration exceeds a limit to be determined by national laws or regulations. Article 3 This Convention shall not apply to— (1) seamen and fishermen for whom provision shall be made by a later Convention; APPENDIX i: STANDARDS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 571 (2) persons covered by some special scheme, the terms of which are not less favourable than those of this Convention. Article 4 This Convention shall not apply to agriculture, in respect of which the Convention concerning workmen's compensation in agriculture adopted by the International Labour Conference at its Third Session remains in force. Article 5 The compensation payable to the injured workman, or his dependants, where permanent incapacity or death results from the injury, shall be paid in the form of periodical payments: provided that it may be wholly or partially paid in a lump sum, if the competent authority is satisfied that it will be properly utilised. Article 6 In case of incapacity, compensation shall be paid not later than as from the fifth day after the accident, whether it be payable by the employer, the accident insurance institution, or the sickness insurance institution concerned. Article 7 In cases where the injury results in incapacity of such a nature that the injured workman must have the constant help of another person, additional compensation shall be provided. Article 8 The national laws or regulations shall prescribe such measures of supervision and methods of review as are deemed necessary. Article 9 Injured workmen shall be entitled to medical aid and to such surgical and pharmaceutical aid as is recognised to be necessary in consequence of accidents. The cost of such aid shall be defrayed either by the employer, by accident insurance institutions, or by sickness or invalidity insurance institutions. Article 10 1. Injured workmen shall be entitled to the supply and normal renewal, by the employer or insurer, of such artificial limbs and surgical appliances as are recognised to be necessary: provided that national laws or regulations may allow in exceptional circumstances the supply and renewal of such artificial limbs and appliances to be replaced by the award to the injured workman of a sum representing the probable cost of the supply and renewal of such appliances, this sum to be decided at the time when the amount of compensation is settled or revised. 2. National laws or regulations shall provide for such supervisory measures as are necessary, either to prevent abuses in connection with the renewal of appliances, or to ensure that the additional compensation is utilised for this purpose. Article 11 The national laws or regulations shall make such provision as, having regard to national circumstances, is deemed most suitable for ensuring in all circumstances, in the event of the insolvency of the employer or insurer, the payment of compensation to workmen who suffer personal injury due to industrial accidents, or in case of death, to their dependants. MARKING OF WEIGHT (PACKAGES TRANSPORTED BY VESSELS) CONVENTION, 1929 Article 1 1. Any package or object of one thousand kilograms (one metric ton) or more gross weight consigned within the territory of any Member which ratifies this Convention for transport by sea or inland waterway shall have had its gross weight plainly and durably marked upon it on the outside before it is loaded on a ship or vessel. 2. In exceptional cases where it is difficult to determine the exact weight, national laws or regulations may allow an approximate weight to be marked. 3. The obligation to see that this requirement is observed shall rest solely upon the government of the country from which the package or object is consigned, and not on the government of a country through which it passes on the way to its destination. 4. It shall be left to national laws or regulations to determine whether the obligation for having the weight marked as aforesaid shall fall on the consignor or on some other person or body. 572 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY WEEKLY REST (INDUSTRY) CONVENTION, 1921 (a) (b) (c) (d) line Article 1 1. For the purpose of this Convention, the term "industrial undertakings " includes— mines, quarries, and other works for the extraction of minerals from the earth; industries in which articles are manufactured, altered, cleaned, repaired, ornamented, finished, adapted for sale, broken up or demolished, or in which materials are transformed; including shipbuilding and the generation, transformation and transmission of electricity or motive power of any kind; construction, reconstruction, maintenance, repair, alteration, or demolition of any building, railway, tramway, harbour, dock, pier, canal, inland waterway, road, tunnel, bridge, viaduct, sewer, drain, well, telegraphic or telephonic installation, electrical undertaking, gas work, waterwork, or other work of construction, as well as the preparation for or laying the foundations of any such work or structure; transport of passengers or goods by road, rail, or inland waterway, including the handling of goods at docks, quays, wharves or warehouses, but excluding transport by hand. 2. [Inapplicable.] 3. Where necessary, in addition, to the above enumeration, each Member may define the of division which separates industry from commerce and agriculture. Article 2 1. The whole of the staff employed in any industrial undertaking, public or private, or in any branch thereof shall, except as otherwise provided for by the following Articles, enjoy in every period of seven days a period of rest comprising at least twenty-four consecutive hours. 2. This period of rest shall, wherever possible, be granted simultaneously to the whole of the staff of each undertaking. 3. It shall, wherever possible, be fixed so as to coincide with the days already established by the traditions or customs of the country or district. Article 3 Each Member may except from the application of the provisions of Article 2 persons employed in industrial undertakings in which only the members of one single family are employed. Article 4 1. Each Member may authorise total or partial exceptions (including suspensions or diminutions) from the provisions of Article 2, special regard being had to all proper humanitarian and economic considerations and after consultation with responsible associations of employers and workers, wherever such exist. 2. Such consultation shall not be necessary in the case of exceptions which have already been made under existing legislation. Article 5 Each Member shall make, as far as possible, provision for compensatory periods of rest for the suspensions or diminutions made in virtue of Article 4, except in cases where agreements or customs already provide for such periods. Article 6 1. Each Member will draw up a list of the exceptions made under Articles 3 and 4 of this Convention and will communicate it to the International Labour Office, and thereafter, in every second year, any modifications of this list which shall have been made. 2. The International Labour Office will present a report on this subject to the General Conference of the International Labour Organisation. Article 7 In order to facilitate the application of the provisions of this Convention, each employer, director, or manager, shall be obliged— (a) where the weekly rest is given to the whole of the staff collectively, to make known such days and hours of collective rest by means of notices posted conspicuously in the establishment or any other convenient place, or in any other manner approved by the government; (b) where the rest period is not granted to the whole of the staff collectively, to make known, by means of a roster drawn up in accordance with the method approved by the legislation of the country, or by a regulation of the competent authority, the workers or employees subject to a special system of rest, and to indicate that system. APPENDIX i: STANDARDS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 573 (7) Right of Association (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention, 1947 (No. 84) Article 1 This Convention applies to non-metropolitan territories. Article 2 The rights of employers and employed alike to associate for all lawful purposes shall be guaranteed by appropriate measures. Article 3 All practicable measures shall be taken to assure to trade unions which are representative of the workers concerned the right to conclude collective agreements with employers or employers' organisations. Article 4 All practicable measures shall be taken to consult and associate the representatives of organisations of employers and workers in the establishment and working of arrangements for the protection of workers and the application of labour legislation. Article 5 All procedures for the investigation of disputes between employers and workers shall be as simple and expeditious as possible. Article 6 1. Employers and workers shall be encouraged to avoid disputes, and if they arise to reach fair settlements by means of conciliation. 2. For this purpose all practicable measures shall be taken to consult and associate the representatives of organisations of employers and workers in the establishment and working of conciliation machinery. 3. Subject to the operation of such machinery, public officers shall be responsible for the investigation of disputes and shall endeavour to promote conciliation and to assist the parties in arriving at a fair settlement. 4. Where practicable, these officers shall be officers specially assigned to such duties. Article 7 1. Machinery shall be created as rapidly as possible for the settlement of disputes between employers and workers. 2. Representatives of the employers and workers concerned, including representatives of their respective organisations, where such exist, shall be associated where practicable in the operation of the machinery, in such manner and to such extent, but in any case in equal numbers and on equal terms, as may be determined by the competent authority. (8) Labour Inspectorates (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention, 1947 (No. 85) Article 1 Labour inspection services complying with the requirements of Articles 2 to 5 of this Convention shall be maintained in non-metropohtan territories. Article 2 Labour inspection services shall consist of suitably trained inspectors. 574 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Article 3 Workers and their representatives shall be afforded every facility for communicating freely with the inspectors. Article 4 1. Inspectors appointed by the competent authority and provided with credentials shall be required to inspect conditions of employment at frequent intervals. 2. Inspectors shall be authorised by law to exercise the following powers for the purpose of carrying out their duties— (a) to enter freely and without previous notice at any hour of the day or night any workplace liable to inspection where they may have reasonable cause to believe that persons enjoying legal protection are employed, and to inspect such workplaces; (b) to enter by day any premises which they may have reasonable cause to believe to be liable to inspection; and (c) to carry out any examination, test or inquiry which they may consider necessary in order to satisfy themselves that the legal provisions are being strictly observed and, in particular— (i) to interrogate, alone or in the presence of witnesses, the employer or the staff of the undertaking on any matters concerning the application of the legal provisions, or to apply for information to any other person whose evidence they may consider necessary; (ii) to require the production of any books, registers or other documents the keeping of which is prescribed by laws or regulations relating to conditions of work, in order to see that they are in conformity with the legal provisions, and to copy such documents or make extracts from them; (iii) to enforce the posting of notices required by the legal provisions; (iv) to take or remove for purposes of analysis samples of materials and substances used or handled, subject to the employer or his representative being notified of any samples or substances taken or removed for this purpose. 3. On the occasion of an inspection visit, inspectors shall notify the employer or his representative of their presence, unless they consider that such a notification may be prejudicial to the performance of their duties. Article 5 Subject to such exceptions as may be made by law or regulation, labour inspectors— (a) shall be prohibited from having any direct or indirect interest in the undertakings under their supervision; (b) shall be bound on pain of appropriate penalties or disciplinary measures not to reveal, even after leaving the service, any manufacturing or commercial secrets or working processes which may come to their knowledge in the course of their duties ; and (c) shall treat as absolutely confidential the source of any complaint bringing to their notice a defect or breach of legal provisions and shall give no intimation to the employer or his representative that a visit of inspection was made in consequence of the receipt of such a complaint. (9) Contracts of Employment (Indigenous Workers) Convention, 1947 (No. 86) Article 1 For the purposes of this Convention— (a) the term " worker " means an indigenous worker, that is to say a worker belonging to or assimilated to the indigenous population of a non-metropolitan territory; (b) the term " employer " includes, unless the contrary intention appears, any public authority, individual, company or association, whether non-indigenous or indigenous; APPENDIX i: STANDARDS AND RECOMMENDATIONS (c) (d) 575 the term " regulations " means the law and/or regulations in force in the territory concerned; and the term " contract " means, unless the contrary intention appears, a contract of employment by which a worker enters the service of an employer as a worker for remuneration in cash or in any other form whatsoever, but does not include contracts of apprenticeship made in accordance with special provisions relating to apprenticeship contained in the regulations. Article 2 1. The competent authority may exclude from the application of this Convention— contracts by which a worker enters the service of an indigenous employer who does not employ more than a limited number of workers prescribed by the regulations or satisfy some other criterion prescribed thereby; (b) any contract under which the only or principal remuneration granted to the worker is the occupancy or use of land belonging to his employer. 2. The competent authority may, after consultation with the employers' and workers' organisations representative of the interests concerned, exclude from the application of this Convention contracts entered into between employers and literate workers whose freedom of choice in employment is satisfactorily safeguarded; such exclusion may apply to the whole of the workers in a territory, to the workers in any specified industry, to the workers in any specified undertaking, or to special groups of workers. (a) Article 3 1. The regulations shall prescribe the maximum period of service which may be stipulated or implied in any contract, whether written or oral. 2. The maximum period of service which may be stipulated or implied in any contract for employment not involving a long and expensive journey shall in no case exceed twelve months if the workers are not accompanied by their families or two years if the workers are accompanied by their families. 3. The maximum period of service which may by stipulated or implied in any contract for employment involving a long and expensive journey shall in no case exceed two years if the workers are not accompanied by their families or three years if the workers are accompanied by their families. Article 4 1. When a contract made in one territory (hereinafter called the territory of origin) relates to employment in a territory under a different administration (hereinafter called the territory of employment), the maximum period of service which may be stipulated or implied therein shall not exceed either the maximum period prescribed by the regulations of the territory of origin or the maximum period prescribed by the regulations of the territory of employment. 2. The competent authorities of the territories of origin and of employment shall, whenever necessary or desirable, enter into agreements for the purpose of regulating matters of common concern arising in connection with the application of the provisions of this Convention. (10) Abolition of Penal Sanctions (Indigenous Workers) Convention, 1955 (No. 104) Article 1 The competent authority in each country where there exists any penal sanction for any breach of a contract of employment as defined in Article 1, paragraph 2, of the Penal 576 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Sanctions (Indigenous Workers) Convention, 1939, by any worker referred to in Article 1, paragraph 1, of that Convention, shall take action for the abolition of all such penal sanctions. Article 2 Such action shall provide for the abolition of all such penal sanctions by means of an appropriate measure of immediate application. Article 3 Where an appropriate measure of immediate application is not considered to be practicable, measures shall be adopted providing for the progressive abolition of such penal sanctions in all cases. Article 4 The measures adopted under Article 3 of this Convention shall in all cases ensure that all penal sanctions are abolished as soon as possible and in any event not later than one year from the date of the ratification of this Convention. Article 5 With a view to abolishing discrimination between indigenous and non-indigenous workers, penal sanctions for breaches of contracts of employment not covered by Article 1 of this Convention which do not apply to non-indigenous workers shall be abolished for indigenous workers. (11) Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105) Article 1 Each Member of the International Labour Organisation which ratifies this Convention undertakes to suppress and not to make use of any form of forced or compulsory labour— (a) as a means of political coercion or education or as a punishment for holding or expressing political views or views ideologically opposed to the established political, social or economic system; (b) as a method of mobilising and using labour for purposes of economic development; (c) as a means of labour discipline; (d) as a punishment for having participated in strikes; (e) as a means of racial, social, national or religious discrimination. Article 2 Each Member of the International Labour Organisation which ratifies this Convention undertakes to take effective measures to secure the immediate and complete abolition of forced or compulsory labour as specified in Article 1 of this Convention. (B) PROVISIONS OF I.L.O. RECOMMENDATIONS1 (1) Forced Labour (Indirect Compulsion) Recommendation, 1930 (No. 35) Having adopted a Convention concerning forced or compulsory labour, and Desiring to supplement this Convention by a statement of the principles which appear best fitted to guide the policy of the Members in endeavouring to avoid any indirect com1 The formal preambles are not reproduced in this appendix. APPENDIX i: STANDARDS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 577 pulsion to labour which would lay too heavy a burden upon the populations of territories to which the Convention may apply. The Conference recommends that each Member should take the following principles into consideration: I The amount of labour available, the capacities for labour of the population, and the evil effects which too sudden changes in the habits of life and labour may have on the social conditions of the population, are factors which should be taken into consideration in deciding questions connected with the economic development of territories in a primitive stage of development, and, in particular, when deciding upon— (a) increases in the number and extent of industrial, mining and agricultural undertakings in such territories; (b) the non-indigenous settlement, if any, which is to be permitted; (c) the granting of forest or other concessions, with or without the character of monopolies. II The desirability of avoiding indirect means of artificially increasing the economic pressure upon populations to seek wage-earning employment, and particularly such means as—• (a) imposing such taxation upon populations as would have the eifect of compelling them to seek wage-earning employment with private undertakings; (b) imposing such restrictions on the possession, occupation, or use of land as would have the effect of rendering difficult the gaining of a living by independent cultivation; (c) extending abusively the generally accepted meaning of vagrancy; (d) adopting such pass laws as would have the effect of placing workers in the service of others in a position of advantage as compared with that of other workers. Ill The desirability of avoiding any restrictions on the voluntary flow of labour from one form of employment to another or from one district to another which might have the indirect effect of compelling workers to take employment in particular industries or districts, except where such restrictions are considered necessary in the interest of the population or of the workers concerned. (2) Forced Labour (Regulation) Recommendation, 1930 (No. 36) Having adopted a Convention concerning forced or compulsory labour, and Desiring to give expression to certain principles and rules relating to forced or compulsory labour which appear to be of a nature to render the application of the said Convention more effective. The Conference recommends that each Member should take the following principles and rules into consideration: Any regulations issued in application of the Convention concerning forced or compulsory labour, as well as any other legal provisions or administrative orders, existing at the time of the ratification of the said Convention or thereafter enacted, governing the employment of forced or compulsory labour, including any laws or administrative orders concerning compensation or indemnification for sickness, injury to, or death of workers taken for forced or compulsory labour, should be printed by the competent authority in such one or more Native languages as will convey their import to the workers concerned and to the population from which the workers are to be drawn. Such printed texts should be widely exhibited and, if necessary, arrangements made for their oral communication 38 578 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY to the workers and to the population concerned; copies should also be made available to the workers concerned and to others at cost price. II Recourse to forced or compulsory labour should be so regulated as not to imperil the food supply of the community concerned. Ill When recourse is had to forced or compulsory labour all possible measures should be taken to ensure that the imposition of such labour in no case leads indirectly to the illegal employment of women and children on forced or compulsory labour. IV All possible measures should be taken to reduce the necessity for recourse to forced or compulsory labour for the transport of persons or goods. Such recourse should be prohibited when and where animal or mechanical transport is available. All possible steps should be taken to see that no alcoholic temptations are placed in the way of workers engaged in forced or compulsory labour. (3) Elimination of Recruiting Recommendation, 1936 (No. 46) The Conference, Having adopted a Convention concerning the regulation of certain special systems of recruiting workers, Considering that in addition to the regulation of recruiting of labour it should be a cardinal principle to be followed by the Members of the International Labour Organisation to direct their policy where necessary and desirable towards the progressive elimination of the recruiting of labour and the development of the spontaneous offer of labour, Recommends that each Member of the International Labour Organisation should take steps to hasten such elimination by— (a) improvement of the conditions of labour; (b) development of the means of transport; (c) promotion of the settlement of workers and their families in the area of employment, where such settlement is the policy of the competent authority; (d) facilitating the voluntary movement of labour under administrative supervision and control; and (e) the educational development of indigenous peoples and the improvement of their standard of living. (4) Contracts of Employment (Indigenous Workers) Recommendation, 1939 (No. 58) The Conference, Having adopted the Contracts of Employment (Indigenous Workers) Convention, 1939, Article 9 of which provides that " the maximum period of service that may be stipulated in any contract and the leave, if any, to be granted during the period of the contract, shall be prescribed by the regulations"; and Desiring to supplement this provision by a statement of principles which appear well fitted to guide the policy of the Members concerned in fixing the maximum period of service in different cases and by suggestions regarding the maxima which might be fixed in such cases; APPENDIX i: STANDARDS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 579 Recomends that each Member of the International Labour Organisation which ratifies the Contracts of Employment (Indigenous Workers) Convention, 1939, should take the following principles into consideration in fixing the maximum period of service provided for in Article 9 of the Convention. 1. The maximum period of service should always be as short as possible, and should be shorter when the workers will be separated from their families during the period of service than when they are accompanied by their families. 2. (1) The maximum period of service for employments not involving a long and expensive journey by land or sea should in no case exceed twelve months if the workers are not accompanied by their families or two years if the workers are accompanied by their families. (2) The maximum period of service for employments involving a long and expensive journey by land or sea should in no case exceed two years if the workers are not accompanied by their families or three years if the workers are accompanied by their families. 3. Exceptions to the above maxima should be made only in the case of workers accompanied by their families and where it is intended, with the prior consent of the workers, to settle them with their families at or near the place of employment. 4. Where the period of service is twelve months or more, the worker should be granted a holiday with pay of at least one week. (5) Social Policy in Dependent Territories Recommendation, 1944 (No. 70) 1. Each Member of the International Labour Organisation should take or continue to take such steps as are within its competence to promote the well-being and development of the peoples of dependent territories through the eifective application of the general principles set forth in Part I of the Annex to this Recommendation. 2. Each Member of the Organisation which is responsible for any dependent territory should take all steps within its competence to secure the eifective application in each such territory of the minimum standards set forth in Part II of the Annex to this Recommendation, and in particular should bring this Recommendation before the authority or authorities competent to make eifective in each such territory the minimum standard set forth in Part II of the Annex. 3. Each Member of the Organisation should, if it approves this Recommendation, notify the Director of the International Labour Office of its acceptance of the general principles set forth in Part I of the Annex; should communicate to the Director at the earliest possible date particulars of the action taken to make effective the minimum standards set forth in Part II of the Annex in respect of each dependent territory for which the Member in question is responsible; and thereafter should report to the International Labour Office from time to time, as requested by the Governing Body, concerning the action taken to give effect to the Recommendation. 4. The standards set forth in Part II of the Annex to this Recommendation should be regarded as minimum standards, which do not qualify or impair any obligation to apply higher standards incumbent upon any Member of the Organisation under the Constitution of the Organisation or under any international labour Convention which the Member may have ratified, and should in no case be so interpreted or applied as to lessen the protection afforded by existing legislation to the workers concerned. Annex PART I. GENERAL PRINCIPLES Article 1 1. All policies designed to apply to dependent territories shall be primarily directed to the well-being and development of the peoples of such territories and to the promotion of the desire on their part for social progress. 580 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY 2. Policies of more general application shall be formulated with due regard to their effect upon the well-being of dependent peoples. Article 2 1. In order to promote economic advancement and thus to lay the foundations of social progress, every effort shall be made to secure, on an international, regional, national or territorial basis, financial and technical assistance in the economic development of dependent territories under the control of the local administrations, in such a way as to safeguard the interests of the peoples of dependent territories. 2. It shall be an aim of policy for all government authorities to ensure that adequate funds are made available to provide capital for development purposes on terms which secure to the peoples of the dependent territories the full benefits of such development. 3. In appropriate cases international, regional or national action shall be taken with a view to establishing conditions of trade sufficient for the maintenance of reasonable standards of living for producers efficiently producing the essential export products of dependent territories. Article 3 All possible steps shall be taken by appropriate international, regional, national and territorial measures to promote improvement in such fields as public health, housing, nutrition, education, the welfare of children, the status of women, conditions of employment, the remuneration of wage earners and independent producers, migratory labour, social security, standards of public services and general production. These steps shall include the adoption of appropriate commercial and trading policies by countries on which dependent territories depend. Article 4 All possible steps shall be taken effectively to associate the peoples of the dependent territories in the framing and execution of measures of social progress, preferably through their own elected representatives where appropriate and possible. PART II. MINIMUM STANDARDS SECTION 1. SLAVERY Article 5 In pursuance of the objective of free labour in a free world, the principle is affirmed that the slave trade and slavery in all its forms shall be prohibited and effectively suppressed in all dependent territories. SECTION 2. OPIUM Article 6 1. In recognition of the menace which the use of opium may represent to the health, productivity and general welfare of the peoples of dependent territories, the principle is affirmed that the traffic in opium and other dangerous drugs shall be strictly regulated in such manner as to protect fully the interests of the workers. 2. Consideration shall be given to the prohibition of opium smoking and the abolition of government opium monopolies in all dependent territories where opium smoking is still authorised. SECTION 3. FORCED OR COMPULSORY LABOUR Article 7 1. The use of forced or compulsory labour in dependent territories, which may have been inaugurated during the present war emergency, shall be eliminated entirely within the shortest possible period. In the meantime measures shall be adopted in dependent territories to increase the spontaneous offer of labour. 2. The use of forced or compulsory labour in all its forms shall be suppressed within the shortest possible period. 3. Where forced or compulsory labour is used in dependent territories as a temporary and exceptional measure the conditions and guarantees provided for in the Forced Labour Convention, 1930, shall be respected. In no case shall the use of forced or compulsory labour by private employers be permitted, irrespective of whether or not the State contracts with the employers. APPENDIX i: STANDARDS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 581 4. Consideration shall be given to the possibility of eliminating or withdrawing any exceptions to the application in dependent territories of all the provisions of the Forced Labour Convention, 1930. 5. Consideration shall be given to the application of the Forced Labour Convention, 1930, to those dependent territories where forced or compulsory labour may occur in respect of which the Convention is not already in force. 6. Consideration shall be given to the desirability of ratifying the Forced Labour Convention, 1930, by such States responsible for dependent territories where forced or compulsory labour may occur as have not already done so. Article 8 With a view to avoiding the development of indirect compulsion to labour, consideration shall be given to the application of the principles set forth in the Forced Labour (Indirect Compulsion) Recommendation, 1930. SECTION 4. RECRUITING OF WORKERS Article 9 1. It shall be an aim of policy to eliminate the recruiting of workers and to replace such recruiting by arrangements which, though based upon the spontaneous offer of labour through free agencies controlled by government, provide for medical inspection, transport, food and shelter and all other benefits accruing to workers under existing systems. 2. Pending the formulation of any new proposals concerning the methods of obtaining labour and with a view to the more rapid promotion of a change-over to the new methods contemplated, consideration shall be given to the application of the principles contained in the Elimination of Recruiting Recommendation, 1936. Article 10 1. Consideration shall be given to the application of the Recruiting of Indigenous Workers Convention, 1936, to those dependent territories where recruiting may occur in respect of which the Convention is not already in force. 2. Consideration shall be given to the desirability of ratifying the Recruiting of Indigenous Workers Convention, 1936, by such States responsible for dependent territories where recruiting may occur as have not already done so. SECTION 5. SPECIAL TYPES OF CONTRACT OF EMPLOYMENT Article 11 1. It shall be an aim of policy to regulate long-term employment by a system of written contracts in the cases required by and in accordance with the provisions of the Contracts of Employment (Indigenous Workers) Convention, 1939. 2. Consideration shall be given to the application of the Contracts of Employment (Indigenous Workers) Convention, 1939, to those dependent territories where employment under long-term contract may occur in respect of which the Convention is not already in force. 3. Consideration shall be given to the desirability of ratifying the Contracts of Employment (Indigenous Workers) Convention, 1939, by such States responsible for dependent territories where employment under long-term contract may occur as have not already done so. Article 12 With a view to the definite limitation of periods of service under contract, consideration shall be given to the application of the principles set forth in the Contracts of Employment (Indigenous Workers) Recommendation, 1939. Article 13 1. All practicable steps shall be taken to equate supply and demand in areas where some casual employment is inevitable and to guard against undesirable attraction of casual labour to centres of potential employment. 2. Measures, such as short-term labour agreements, shall be considered in order to secure the maximum employment for labour normally available at such centres. 582 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Article 14 1. The practice of entering statements of a subjective nature on the worker's conduct or ability in work-cards or work-books required by law to be carried on the person of the worker shall be eliminated. 2. The use of work-cards or work-books shall be regulated to prevent their use as a device of intimidation or compulsion in employment. Article 15 Where a married man is employed on contract within his own country but at a considerable distance from his home, the competent authority shall take all practical steps in appropriate cases to afford him full opportunity to be accompanied if he so desires by his wife and family. SECTION 6. PENAL SANCTIONS Article 16 1. It shall be an aim of policy to abolish penal sanctions for breach of contract of employment as defined in Article 1 of the Penal Sanctions (Indigenous Workers) Convention, 1939. 2. Consideration shall be given to the application of the Penal Sanctions (Indigenous Workers) Convention, 1939, to those dependent territories where the imposition of penal sanctions may occur in respect of which the Convention is not already in force. 3. Consideration shall be given to the desirability of ratifying the Penal Sanctions (Indigenous Workers) Convention, 1939, by such States responsible for dependent territories where the imposition of penal sanctions may occur as have not already done so. SECTION 7. EMPLOYMENT OF CHILDREN AND YOUNO PERSONS Article 17 1. Adequate provision shall be made in dependent territories, to the maximum extent possible under local conditions, for the progressive development of broad systems of education, vocational training and apprenticeship, with a view to the elimination of illiteracy among children and young persons and to their effective preparation for a useful occupation. 2. In order that the child population may be able to profit by existing facilities for education and in order that the extension of these facilities may not be hindered by a demand for child labour, the employment of persons below the school-leaving age shall be prohibited in any area where educational facilities are provided on a scale adequate for the majority of the children of school age. Article 18 1. Children under the age of twelve years shall not be employed in any employment, except on light work of an agricultural or domestic character in which only members of the employer's family are employed or except on agricultural light work carried on collectively by the local community. This age shall be progressively raised along with the school-leaving age. 2. Where the transfer of children to the family of an employer is permitted by custom, the conditions of transfer and of employment shall be closely regulated and supervised, whether the children are above or below twelve years of age. The progressive abolition of all such transfers shall be an aim of policy for all dependent territories. Article 19 Children under the age of fifteen years shall not be employed or work in any industrial undertaking, or in any branch thereof. Article 20 Children under the age of fifteen years shall not be employed or work on vessels. Article 21 1. Young persons under the age of sixteen years shall not be employed underground in mines. 2. The employment underground in mines of young persons who have attained the age of sixteen years but not that of eighteen years shall be conditional on the production of a medical certificate attesting fitness for such work, signed by a doctor who shall be approved by the competent authority. APPENDIX i: STANDARDS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 583 Article 22 1. Young persons under the age of eighteen years shall not be employed or work on vessels as trimmers or stokers. 2. When a trimmer or stoker is required in a port where young persons of less than eighteen years of age only are available, such young persons may be employed and in that case it shall he necessary to engage two young persons in place of the trimmer or stoker required. Such young persons shall be at least sixteen years of age. 3. Provided that the provisions of this Article do not apply— (a) to the employment of young persons on vessels mainly propelled by other means than steam; (b) to young persons of not less than sixteen years of age who, if found physically fit after medical examination, may be employed as trimmers or stokers on vessels exclusively engaged in coastal trade. Article 23 The provisions of Articles 18 (1), 19 and 20 do not apply to work, approved and supervised by the competent authority, done by children or young persons in bona fide state or private technical schools or school ships or training ships having prescribed courses of study and reasonable limits on the length of time in which students may remain in training or apprenticeship. Article 24 1. In the case of unhealthy, dangerous or onerous work, minimum ages higher than thosrequired in virtue of Articles 18 (1) and 19 shall be fixed, or the hours of work of children between the minimum age of employment and an appropriate higher age shall be subject to special lime tations, or other special protection shall be afforded. 2. Special protection shall be provided for children who are permitted to undertake employment away from their homes. Article 25 1. Young persons under eighteen years of age shall not be employed during the night in any industrial undertaking, or in any branch thereof. 2. Provided that young persons over the age of sixteen years may be employed during the night in exceptional circumstances defined by the competent authority. Article 26 1. The employment of any young person under eighteen years of age on any vessel shall be conditional on the production of a medical certificate attesting fitness for such work, signed by a doctor who shall be approved by the competent authority. 2. In urgent cases the competent authority may allow a young person below the age of eighteen years to embark without having undergone medical examination, always provided that such an examination shall be undergone, at the expense of the employer, at the first port at which the vessel calls, and that failing satisfactory medical attestation the young person shall be returned as a passenger to the port or place where he was engaged or to his home, whichever is the nearer, at the expense of the employer. Article 27 In developing systems of education suited to the economic and social interests of the communities, consideration shall be given to the application of the principles set forth in the Vocational Training Recommendation, 1939, so far as this is practicable and appropriate to local circumstances. Article 28 To assist in the application of the provisions of this Section, administrative bodies or officers shall be appointed. The appointment and establishment of these administrative bodies or officers shall be made in accordance with practices successfully adopted in metropolitan or independent countries. SECTION 8. EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN Article 29 It shall be an aim of policy for all competent authorities to take such measures as, having due regard to local conditions, are appropriate and practicable to secure for women : adequate opportunities of general education, vocational training and employment; safeguards against physically 584 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY harmful conditions of employment and economic exploitation, including safeguards for motherhood; protection against any special forms of exploitation; and fair and equal treatment between men and women as regards remuneration and other conditions of employment. Article 30 All practicable steps shall be taken to improve the social and economic status of women in any dependent territory where, whether by law or custom, arrangements survive which in effect maintain women in, or reduce women to, a condition of servitude. Article 31 1. Provision shall be made as rapidly as possible for maternity protection for women employed in industrial and commercial undertakings. 2. In so doing the aim shall be to give effect, subject to such modifications as may be necessary in the light of local conditions, to the provisions of the Childbirth Convention, 1919, and in particular to the following principles: (a) the right to be absent from employment before and after childbirth; (b) the right to medical assistance and benefits during such absence. Article 32 1. Women shall not be employed during the night in any industrial undertaking, or in any branch thereof. 2. Provided that women may be employed during the night— (a) in cases where the work has to do with raw materials or materials in course of treatment which are subject to rapid deterioration; and (b) when in any undertaking an emergency occurs which it was impossible to foresee and which is not of a recurring character. 3. Provided also that the prohibition of night work may be suspended when in case of serious emergency the public interest demands it. 4. The provisions of this Article do not apply to women holding responsible positions of management who are not ordinarily engaged in manual work. Article 33 1. Women shall not be employed on underground work in any mine. 2. Provided that the competent authority may grant exemptions from the above prohibition in respect of— (a) women holding positions of management who do not perform manual work; (b) women employed in health and welfare services; (c) women who, in the course of their studies, spend a period of training in the underground parts of a mine; and (d) any other woman who may occasionally have to enter the underground parts of a mine for the purpose of a non-manual occupation. Article 34 In order to promote the application of measures relating to the employment and economic status of women and their welfare, use shall be made of women advisers where questions especially affecting women are to be considered. The women advisers shall, whenever possible, be drawn from the local population. SECTION 9. REMUNERATION Article 35 1. The improvement of standards of living shall be regarded as the principal objective in the planning of economic development. 2. All practicable measures appropriate to local conditions shall be taken to secure for independent producers and wage earners conditions which will ensure the maintenance of minimum standards of living as ascertained by means of official inquiries into living conditions and will give scope to independent producers and wage earners to improve those standards by their own efforts. 3. Forms of economic enterprise which require the labour of workers living away from their homes shall take account of the normal family needs of the workers. APPENDIX i: STANDARDS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 585 4. Where the labour resources of other areas are used on a temporary basis for the benefit of one area, measures shall be taken to encourage the transfer of part of the workers' wages and savings from the area of labour utilisation to the areas of labour supply. 5. Where workers and their families move from low-cost to higher-cost areas, account shall be taken of the increased cost of living resulting from the change. 6. The substitution of alcohol or other spirituous beverages for all or any part of wages for services performed by the workers shall be prohibited. Article 36 All public works, whether undertaken directly by a public authority or through a contract entered into between a public authority and an employer, shall be subject to the requirement that the rates of wages and the general conditions of employment shall be not less than the prevailing rates and conditions, and shall where practicable be fixed after consultation with any employers' and workers' organisations concerned. SECTION 10. HEALTH, HOUSING AND SOCIAL SECURITY Article 37 1. All practicable measures shall be taken to improve the health of the people by the extension of medical facilities, by the development of public health programmes, by surveys of epidemic and endemic diseases prevalent in tropical dependent territories and by the introduction of appropriate measures of combating them, by the spread of health education and the improvement of nutrition and housing. 2. All practicable measures shall be taken to ascertain by nutritional surveys the food requirements of the people and the ways of improving nutrition and to give effect to the food policies which such surveys indicate. National nutritional organisations shall be set up and shall be provided with adequate funds, facilities and authority. 3. The competent authority shall be responsible for ensuring the establishment of satisfactory housing conditions. The general aim of policy shall be to provide workers normally dependent on wage earning with the opportunity of securing satisfactory housing accommodation on premises not the property of the employer. 4. Where an undertaking employing labour is situated in an area where satisfactory housing accommodation is not available, the provision of housing may be made an obligation on the undertaking on an equitable basis. In such cases the competent authority shall define the minimum standards of accommodation and shall exercise strict control over the enforcement of these standards. The competent authority shall also define the rights of the worker who may be required to vacate his house on leaving employment and shall take all necessary steps to secure the enforcement of these rights. Article 38 Such arrangements as are practicable, having due regard to local conditions, shall be made for the maintenance and treatment of the sick and for the care of the aged, of the incapacitated and of the dependent survivors of deceased persons. Article 39 1. Provision shall be made by law for the payment of compensation to employed persons in case of incapacity for work caused by accidents arising out of and in the course of their employment, and to their dependent survivors in case of death caused by such accidents, and for the medical care of persons injured by such accidents. 2. The laws and regulations concerning workmen's compensation shall apply to all workers, employees and apprentices employed on vessels and by industrial, commercial and agricultural undertakings. 3. Provided that exceptions may be made in respect of— (a) persons whose employment is of a casual nature and who are employed otherwise than for the purpose of the employer's trade or business; (b) outworkers; (c) members of the employer's family who work exclusively on his behalf and who live with him; (d) non-manual workers whose remuneration exceeds a limit to be determined by laws or regulations. 586 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Article 40 1. Compensation shall be payable to workers incapacitated by occupational diseases, or, in case of death from any such disease, to their dependants, in accordance with the general principles of workmen's compensation. 2. Provided that such compensation may be limited to the occupational diseases of chief importance in the territory concerned. SECTION 11. PROHIBITION OF COLOUR AND RELIGIOUS BARS AND OTHER DISCRIMINATORY PRACTICES Article 41 1. The standards set by law in each territory with respect to conditions of labour shall have due regard to the equitable economic treatment of all workers lawfully resident or working therein. 2. Discrimination directed against workers for reason of race, colour, confession or tribal association, as regards their admission to public or private employment, shall be prohibited. 3. All measures practicable under local conditions shall be taken to promote effective equality of treatment in employment by the provision of facilities for training, by the discouragement of discrimination in the negotiation of collective agreements or on grounds of trade union membership, and by other appropriate means. SECTION 12. INSPECTION Article 42 1. Labour inspection services shall be established in territories where such services do not already exist. Inspectors shall be required to inspect conditions of employment at frequent intervals. 2. The inspectors shall have no direct or indirect interest in undertakings subject to their supervision. 3. Workers and their representatives shall be afforded every facility for communicating freely with the inspectors. SECTION 13. INDUSTRIAL ORGANISATION Article 43 1. The rights of employers and employed alike to associate for all lawful purposes shall be guaranteed by appropriate measures. 2. All practicable measures shall be taken to consult and associate the representatives of organisations of employers and workers in the establishment and working of machinery for conciliation, arbitration, minimum wage-fixing and labour inspection. Where representative organisations of workers have not developed, the competent authority shall appoint persons specially qualified to act on behalf of the workers and by advice and guidance to assist in the early development of workers' organisations. 3. All practicable measures shall be taken to assure to trade unions which are representative of the workers concerned the right to conclude collective agreements with employers or employers' organisations. Article 44 1. As rapidly as possible, machinery shall be created for the settlement of collective disputes between employers and workers. 2. Representatives of the employers and workers concerned, including representatives of their respective organisations, where such exist, shall, where practicable, be associated in the operation of the machinery in such manner and to such extent, but in any case in equal numbers and on equal terms, as may be determined by the competent authority. SECTION 14. CO-OPERATIVE ORGANISATIONS Article 45 1. The assistance and development of co-operative societies, including co-operative organisations of workers for the promotion of health, housing and education, shall be accepted as part of the economic programme of competent authorities in dependent territories, and the measures to be taken shall include financial assistance wherever this is appropriate. 2. To this end consideration shall be given to— (a) the adoption of adequate legislation, simple and inexpensive in application, covering all forms of co-operative organisations; APPENDIX i: STANDARDS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 587 (b) the creation of special services to promote and supervise the development of co-operative organisations and to encourage education in co-operation. 3. In appropriate cases co-operative organisations shall be eifectively represented on public boards and agencies affecting their interests. SECTION 15. DEFINITIONS AND SCOPE Article 46 For the purposes of this Part of the present Annex— (a) the term "agricultural undertaking" may be defined so as to include processes conducted on the undertaking for the preservation and despatch of the agricultural products of the undertaking, unless it is desired to classify these processes as parts of an industrial undertaking; (b) the term "commercial undertaking" includes— (i) commercial establishments and offices, including establishments engaging wholly or mainly in the sale, purchase, distribution, insurance, negotiation, loan or administration of goods or services of any kind; (ii) establishments for the treatment or care particularly of the aged, infirm, sick, destitute, or mentally unfit; (iii) hotels, restaurants, boarding houses, clubs, cafés and other refreshment houses; (iv) theatres and places of public amusement; and (v) any establishment similar in character to those enumerated in subparagraphs (i), (ii), (iii), and (iv) above; (c) the term " industrial undertaking " includes— (i) undertakings in which articles are manufactured, altered, cleaned, repaired, ornamented, finished, adapted for sale, broken up or demolished, or in which materials are transformed, including undertakings engaged in shipbuilding, in the generation, transformation, or transmission of electricity, in the production or distribution of gas or motive power of any kind, in the purification or distribution of water, or in heating; (ii) undertakings engaged in the construction, reconstruction, maintenance, repair, alteration, or demolition of any one or more of the following: buildings, railways, tramways, airports, harbours, docks, piers, works of protection against floods or coast erosion, canals, works for the purpose of inland, maritime or aerial navigation, roads, tunnels, bridges, viaducts, sewers, drains, wells, irrigation or drainage works, telecommunication installations, works for the production or distribution of electricity or gas, pipelines, waterworks, and undertakings engaged in other similar work or in the preparation for or laying the foundations of any such work or structure; (iii) mines, quarries or other works for the extraction of minerals from the earth; and (iv) undertakings engaged in the transport of passengers or goods, excluding transport by hand, unless such undertakings are regarded as parts of the operation of an agricultural or commercial undertaking; (d) the terms " agricultural undertaking ", " commercial undertaking " and " industrial undertaking " include both public and private undertakings; (e) the term " vessel " includes all ships and boats, of any nature whatsoever, engaged in maritime navigation, whether publicly or privately owned, excluding ships of war; it may be interpreted as excluding vessels of less than a specified tonnage and carrying a crew of less than a specified number; (f) the term " night " signifies a period of at least eleven consecutive hours : Provided that in those tropical countries in which work is suspended during the middle of the day, the night period may be shorter if compensatory rest is accorded during the day ; (g) provisions prescribing a minimum age may be interpreted as relating to an apparent minimum age where records of birth are inadequate. Article 47 The competent authority may exclude from the application of the provisions of this Part of the present Annex undertakings or vessels in respect of which, from their nature and size, adequate supervision may be impracticable. 588 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY (6) Social Policy in Dependent Territories (Supplementary Provisions) Recommendation, 1945 (No. 74) 1. Each Member of the International Labour Organisation which is responsible for any dependent territory should take all steps within its competence to secure the effective application in each such territory of the minimum standards set forth in the Annex to this Recommendation, and in particular should bring this Recommendation before the authority or authorities competent to make effective in each such territory the minimum standards set forth in the Annex. 2. Each Member of the Organisation should, if it approves this Recommendation, communicate to the Director-General of the International Labour Office at the earliest possible date particulars of the action taken to make effective the minimum standards set forth in the Annex in respect of each dependent territory for which the Member in question is responsible, and thereafter should report to the International Labour Office, from time to time, as requested by the Governing Body, concerning the action taken to give effect to the Recommendation. 3. The standards set forth in the Annex to this Recommendation should be regarded as minimum standards, which do not qualify or impair any obligation to apply higher standards incumbent upon any Member of the Organisation under the Constitution of the Organisation or under any international labour Convention which the Member may have ratified, and should in no case be so interpreted or applied as to lessen the protection afforded by existing legislation to the workers concerned. Annex SECTION 1. WAGES AND THRIFT Article 1 1. It shall be an aim of policy to encourage the development of machinery of collective bargaining whereby minimum rates of wages may be fixed through negotiations between employers' and workers' organisations. 2. In all cases in which the competent authority has reason to believe that the workers' organisations have not arrived at the stage of development necessary to enable them to negotiate on a footing of equality with the employers' organisations, specially qualified persons shall be nominated to assist the workers in the course of the negotiations by giving them information and advice and, if need be, to act in their name. These measures shall be taken and such nominations made after consultation with the labour inspectorate where such exists. Persons so nominated shall assist in the early development of workers' organisations by advice and guidance. Article 2 1. Where no adequate arrangements exist for the effective fixing of minimum wages by collective agreement, official machinery whereby minimum rates of wages can be fixed for the workers shall be created and maintained. 2. Any minimum rates so fixed by decision of the competent authority shall observe the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value. 3. Representatives of the employers and workers concerned, including representatives of their respective organisations, where such exist, shall be associated in the operation of the minimum wage-fixing machinery, in such manner and to such extent, but in any case in equal numbers and on equal terms, as may be determined by the competent authority. 4. Minimum rates of wages which have been fixed by the competent authority shall be binding on the employers and workers concerned so as not to be subject to abatement by agreement between employers and workers without the express consent of the competent authority. 5. The necessary measures shall be taken to ensure that the employers and workers concerned are informed of the minimum rates of wages in force and that wages are not paid at less than these rates in cases where they are applicable. APPENDIX i: STANDARDS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 589 6. A worker to whom the minimum rates are applicable and who has been paid wages at less than these rates shall be entitled to recover, by judicial or other legalised proceedings, the amount by which he has been underpaid, subject to such limitation of time as may be determined by the competent authority. Article 3 1. The necessary measures shall be taken to ensure the proper payment of all wages earned and employers shall be required to keep registers of wage payments, to issue to workers statements of wage payments, and to take other appropriate steps to facilitate the necessary supervision. 2. Wages shall normally be paid in cash only and direct to the individual worker. 3. Unless there is an established local custom to the contrary, the continuance of which is desired by the workers, wages shall be paid regularly at such intervals as will lessen the likelihood of indebtedness among the wage earners. 4. Where food, housing, clothing and other essential supplies and services form part of remuneration, all practicable steps shall be taken by the competent authority to control strictly their adequacy and their cash value. 5. All practicable measures shall be taken— (a) to inform the workers of their wage rights; (b) to prevent any unauthorised deductions from wages; and (c) to restrict the amounts deductible from wages in respect of supplies and services forming part of remuneration to the cash value thereof. Article 4 1. Voluntary forms of thrift among wage earners and independent producers shall be encouraged. 2. The maximum amounts and manner of repayment of advances on wages shall be regulated by the competent authority. 3. The competent authority shall limit the amount of advances which may be paid to a worker who has been engaged from outside the territory. The amount of any such advances shall be clearly explained to the worker. Any advance made in excess of the amount laid down by the competent authority shall be irrecoverable at law. 4. All practicable measures shall be taken for the protection of wage earners and independent producers against usury, in particular by action aiming at the reduction of rates of interest on loans, by the control of the operations of money lenders, and by the encouragement of facilities for borrowing money for appropriate purposes through co-operative credit organisations or through institutions which are under the control of the competent authority. Article 5 1. Where deferred pay schemes are in existence or are being established— (a) their rules and operations shall be supervised by the competent authority, and in particular employers shall, where the competent authority is not satisfied that the funds are suitably invested, be required to furnish security for their obligations under such schemes; (b) representatives of the wage earners, including representatives of their organisations where such exist, shall be associated in the operation of such schemes. 2. It shall be an aim of policy, as soon as the economic evolution of a territory permits, progressively to eliminate deferred pay schemes and to establish, without prejudice to provident or superannuation schemes, systems of retirement allowances, including provisions for contributions by the government or employers or both as well as by the workers. Article 6 1. It shall be an aim of policy effectively to establish the principle of equal wages for work of equal value in the same operation and undertaking and to prevent discrimination directed against workers by reason of their race, religion or sex in respect of opportunities for employment and promotion and in respect of wage rates. 2. All practicable measures shall be taken to lessen any existing differences in wage rates which are due to discrimination by reason of race, religion or sex by raising the rates applicable to the lower-paid workers. 3. Workers engaged for employment from outside any dependent territory may be granted additional payments to meet any reasonable personal or family expenses resulting from employment away from their homes. 590 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY SECTION 2. LABOUR ASPECTS OF LAND POLICIES Article 7 The following shall be among the measures to be considered by the competent authorities for the promotion of productive capacity and the improvement of standards of living of primary producers : (a) the elimination to the fullest practicable extent of the causes of chronic indebtedness; (b) the control of the alienation of agricultural land to non-agriculturalists so as to ensure that such alienation takes place only when it is in the best interest of the territory; (c) the supervision of tenancy arrangements and of working conditions with a view to securing for tenants and labourers the highest practicable standards of living and an equitable share in any advantages which may result from improvements in productivity or in price levels. SECTION 3. SOCIAL SECURITY Article 8 Provision shall be made by law at the earliest possible date for the payment of compensation to employed persons in case of incapacity for work caused by accidents arising out of and in the course of their employment, and to their dependent survivors in case of death caused by such accidents, and for the medical care of persons injured by such accidents : (a) in case of incapacity, compensation shall be paid not later than as from the fifth day after the accident, but, if the incapacity lasts for more than four weeks, compensation shall be payable as from the first day of incapacity; (b) all measures practicable under local conditions shall be taken to restore as quickly as possible the earning capacity of injured workers; (c) unless otherwise provided by a general social insurance scheme, the cost of compensation shall be borne by employers, and, as soon and so far as possible, shall be covered by a system of compulsory insurance not carried on for profit; (d) the law and all procedures relating to compensation shall be as simple as possible; in particular, a public officer shall be responsible for seeing that injured workers receive the compensation to which they are entitled, and claims shall be settled by summary and informal procedure. Article 9 Where the injury results in permanent incapacity of other than a minor character or death, the compensation payable to the injured worker or his dependants shall be in the form of periodical payments: Provided that it may be wholly or partially paid in a lump sum if the competent authority is satisfied that it will be properly utilised or considers it impracticable properly to control periodical payments. It shall, however, be an aim of policy to eliminate the system of lump-sum payments in favour of periodical payments. Article 10 The provisions of articles 8 and 9 shall, where appropriate, apply to workmen's compensation for occupational diseases. Article 11 1. There shall be equality of treatment for national and foreign workers in respect of workmen's compensation for accidents and occupational diseases. 2. Foreign workers who are entitled to workmen's compensation benefits and who are returning to their countries of origin shall be entitled to any compensation which would have been due to them if they had remained in the territory of employment. If benefit payments are periodical, they shall continue to receive such benefits or be granted a lump sum in lieu thereof. Article 12 1. It shall be an aim of policy, in areas where substantial numbers of the workers normally earn their living by wage earning, to introduce compulsory insurance for the protection of wage earners and their dependants in cases of sickness and maternity, old age, death of the breadwinner and unemployment. As soon as the necessary conditions for the operation of such insurance are present, arrangements to that end shall be inaugurated. 2. It shall be an aim of policy to provide, through compulsory sickness and maternity insurance, medical care for injured persons and their dependants, in so far as such care is not already provided as a free public service. APPENDIX i: STANDARDS AND RECOMMENDATIONS SECTION 591 4. PLACING OF WORKERS Article 13 1. Where employment or migration is on a sufficient scale, provision shall be made for a system of free public employment offices. 2. Where the nature of labour migration so requires, properly equipped rest houses shall by provided by the competent authority. 3. Any systems which may be operated by associations of employers or of organised workers for the placing of workers and for their welfare during journeys to and from employment shall be without cost to the workers and under the close supervision of the competent authority. SECTION 5. HOURS AND HOLIDAYS Article 14 1. The maximum hours of work in industrial and commercial undertakings shall be fixed by the competent authority. 2. So far as practicable, the maximum hours of work in agricultural undertakings shall be fixed by the competent authority. 3. The reports communicated to the International Labour Office in accordance with Paragraph 2 of this Recommendation shall contain full information concerning the measures taken to regulate hours, including information on the limits of the hours prescribed, any provisions for minimum periods of unbroken rest, any special limitations for unhealthy, dangerous or onerous operations, any special arrangements for particular operations, any exceptions permitted for seasonal employment, and the methods of application of the regulations. Article 15 1. Workers employed in industrial and commercial undertakings shall be granted in every period of seven days a period of rest comprising at least twenty-four consecutive hours, but wherever appropriate to the customs of the workers, a proportionate period of rest calculated over a longer period than one week is permissible. 2. Such provision for weekly rest shall be extended as soon as possible to agricultural undertakings subject to such adaptations as may be necessary to take account of the requirements of production. 3. The period of rest shall wherever possible be granted simultaneously to the whole of the staff of each undertaking and be fixed so as to coincide with the days already established by the customs of the workers. 4. Total or partial exceptions may be authorised by the competent authority when considered necessary. Overtime shall be compensated by wages substantially in excess of the normal rates whenever there is encroachment on the rest period. Article 16 1. As soon as practicable, provision shall be made entitling workers employed in industrial and commercial undertakings to an annual holiday with pay of at least twelve working days, after one year of substantially regular employment. Where the employment of a worker is terminated after the completion of six months' service for a reason other than misconduct on his part he shall be entitled to a pro rata payment in lieu of an annual holiday. 2. It shall be an aim of policy to establish, wherever practicable, that workers employed in agricultural undertakings shall be entitled, after one year of substantially regular employment, to an annual holiday with pay of at least twelve working days. Where the employment of a worker is terminated after the completion of six months' service for a reason other than misconduct on his part he shall be entitled to a pro rata payment in lieu of an annual holiday. 3. Where workers are employed at considerable distances from their homes, a holiday calculated on the same basis over a longer period of employment may be substituted for the annual holiday with pay of twelve working days. 4. Where workers are employed at distances from their homes where they have been recruited or engaged, all practicable means shall be taken to facilitate their visiting their homes during holidays with pay. Article 17 Where the competent authority is satisfied that hours of work, weekly rest or annual holidays with pay are adequately regulated by collective agreements or awards which cover a substantial 592 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY number of the workers concerned, such agreements or awards may be regarded as satisfying the relevant provisions of this Section. SECTION 6. POWERS OF LABOUR INSPECTORS Article 18 1. Inspectors appointed by the competent authority and provided with credentials shall be authorised by law to exercise the following powers for the purpose of carrying out their duties: (a) the power to visit and inspect, at any hour of the day or night, places where they may have reasonable cause to believe that persons under the protection of the law are employed; (b) the power to enter by day any place which they may have reasonable cause to believe to be an undertaking, or part thereof, subject to their supervision; (c) the power to question any person employed in the undertaking, either alone or in the presence of witnesses, or to apply for information to any other person whose evidence they may consider necessary; (d) the power to require to be shown any registers or documents which the laws regulating conditions of work require to be kept. 2. Before leaving the undertaking, inspectors shall, if possible, notify the employer or his representative of their visit, unless they consider such a notification may be prejudicial to the performance of their duties. SECTION 7. CONCILIATION Article 19 1. All procedures for the investigation and settlement of disputes between employer and worker shall be as simple as possible. 2. Employers and workers shall be encouraged to reach fair settlements of disputes by conciliation without recourse to courts of law. For this purpose all practicable measures shall be taken to consult and associate the representatives of organisations of employers and workers in the establishment and working of conciliation machinery. 3. Subject to the operation of such machinery, public officers shall be responsible for the investigation of disputes and shall endeavour to promote conciliation and to assist the parties in arriving at a fair settlement. Where practicable, these officers shall be officers especially assigned to such duties. SECTION 8. HEALTH AND SAFETY IN EMPLOYMENT Article 20 1. Minimum conditions shall be prescribed for the protection of the health, safety and welfare of workers in industrial undertakings and in other undertakings where the machinery used or the operations performed render such measures necessary. 2. Machinery imported from abroad shall be equipped with the safety devices prescribed in the territory of importation. If the competent authority in the territory of importation has not prescribed the necessary safety devices for any imported machinery, such machinery shall be equipped with the devices prescribed in the country of manufacture. 3. So far as possible the safety devices shall be incorporated in the original design of the machinery. Article 21 1. Consideration shall be given to the application to dependent territories of the provisions of the Protection against Accidents (Dockers) Convention (Revised), 1932, in particular in the case of large ports and wherever new machinery is installed for the loading or unloading of ships, whether berthed in docks, at buoy or at anchorage. 2. Consideration shall be given to the desirability of ratifying the Protection against Accidents (Dockers) Convention (Revised), 1932, by such States responsible for dependent territories possessing ports as have not already done so. Article 22 As soon as possible, provision shall be made requiring the gross weight of any package or object of one thousand kilograms (one metric ton) or more consigned within any territory for transport by sea or inland waterway to be plainly and durably marked on the package or object before it is loaded on any vessel. APPENDIX i: STANDARDS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 593 Article 23 1. In order to secure the adoption of the most suitable safety means for preventing accidents and diseases, the following principles shall be applied: (a) the notification of all accidents to the competent authorities shall be required, and one of the essential duties of the inspectors appointed by the competent authority shall be to investigate accidents, and more especially those of a serious or recurring character, with a view to ascertaining by what measures they can be prevented; (b) inspectors shall inform and advise employers' and workers' organisations on the best standards of health and safety; (c) inspectors shall encourage the collaboration of employers, managing staff and workers for the promotion of personal caution, safety methods and the perfecting of safety equipment; (d) inspectors shall endeavour to promote the improvement and perfecting of measures of health and safety, by the systematic study of technical methods for the internal equipment of undertakings, by special investigations into problems of health and safety, and by any other means. 2. In territories where it is considered preferable to have a special organisation for accident insurance and prevention completely independent of the inspectorate, the special officers of such an organisation shall be guided by the foregoing principles. SECTION 9. INFORMATION Article 24 The competent authority shall assume responsibility for making widely known the nature and significance of the measures adopted in conformity with the foregoing articles and the articles of the Social Policy in Dependent Territories Recommendation, 1944, for the information of the workers and their families, and of the employers. Workers' organisations and employers' organisations, where such exist, shall be utilised as channels for this information. Wherever practicable, such informaion shall be made available in the local vernaculars. SECTION 10. DEFINITIONS AND SCOPE Article 25 For the purposes of the present Annex— (a) the term "agricultural undertaking" may be defined so as to include processes conducted on the undertaking for the preservation and despatch of the agricultural products of the undertaking, unless it is desired to classify these processes as parts of an industrial undertaking; (b) the term "commercial undertaking" includes— (i) commercial establishments and offices including establishments engaging wholly or mainly in the sale, purchase, distribution, insurance, negotiation, loan, or administration of goods or services of any kind; (ii) establishments for the treatment or care particularly of the aged, infirm, sick, destitute, or mentally unfit; (iii) hotels, restaurants, boarding houses, clubs, cafés, and other refreshment houses; (iv) theatres and places of public amusement; and (v) any establishment similar in character to those enumerated in subparagraphs (i), (ii), (iii), and (iv) above; (c) the term "industrial undertaking" includes— (i) undertakings in which articles are manufactured, altered, cleaned, repaired, ornamented, finished, adapted for sale, broken up or demolished, or in which materials are transformed, including undertakings engaged in shipbuilding, in the generation, transformation or transmission of electricity, in the production or distribution of gas or motive power of any kind, in the purification or distribution of water, or in heating; (ii) undertakings engaged in the construction, reconstruction, maintenance, repair, alteration, or demolition of any one or more of the following: buildings, railways, tramways, airports, harbours, docks, piers, works of protection against floods or coast erosion, canals, works for the purpose of inland, maritime or aerial navigation, roads, tunnels, bridges, viaducts, sewers, drains, wells, irrigation or drainage works, telecommunication installations, works for the production or distribution of electricity or gas, pipelines, waterworks, and undertakings engaged in other similar works or in the preparation for or laying the foundations of any such work or structure; (iii) mines, quarries or other works for the extraction of minerals from the earth; and 594 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY (iv) undertakings engaged in the transport of passengers or goods, excluding transport by hand, unless such undertakings are regarded as parts of the operation of an agricultural or commercial undertaking; (d) the terms " agricultural undertaking ", " commercial undertaking " and " industrial undertaking" include both public and private undertakings. Article 26 The competent authority may, by public regulations published beforehand, exclude from the application of the provisions of the present Annex undertakings or vessels in respect of which, from their nature and size, adequate supervision may be impracticable. (7) Protection of Migrant Workers (Underdeveloped Countries) Recommendation, 1955 (No. 100) I. DEFINITIONS AND SCOPE 1. This Recommendation applies to— countries and territories in which the evolution from a subsistence form of economy towards more advanced forms of economy, based on wage earning and entailing sporadic and scattered development of industrial and agricultural centres, brings with it appreciable migratory movements of workers and sometimes their families; (b) countries and territories through which such migratory movements of workers pass on their outward and, where applicable, their return journeys, if existing arrangements in such countries and territories, taken as a whole, afford less protection to the persons concerned during their journeys than is laid down in this Recommendation; (c) countries and territories of destination of such migratory movements of workers, if existing arrangements in such countries and territories, taken as a whole, afford less protection to the persons concerned during their journeys or employment than is laid down in this Recommendation. 2. For the purposes of this Recommendation, the term "migrant worker" means any worker participating in such migratory movements either within the countries and territories described in clause (a) of Paragraph 1 above or from such countries and territories into or through the countries and territories described in clauses (b) and (c) of Paragraph 1 above, whether he has taken up employment, is moving in search of employment or is going to arranged employment, and irrespective of whether he has accepted an offer of employment or entered into a contract. Where applicable, the term " migrant worker " also means any worker returning temporarily or finally during or at the end of such employment. 3. Nothing in this Recommendation should be construed as giving any person a right to move into or to remain in any country or territory except in accordance with the immigration or other laws of that country or territory. 4. The provisions of this Recommendation are without prejudice to any provision or practice, existing by virtue of law, custom or agreement, which provides for migrant workers conditions more favourable than those provided in this Recommendation. 5. Any discrimination against migrant workers should be eliminated. (a) II. PROTECTION OF MIGRANT WORKERS AND THEIR FAMILIES DURING THEIR OUTWARD AND RETURN JOURNEYS AND PRIOR TO THE PERIOD OF THEIR EMPLOYMENT 6. (1) Arrangements should be made by means of national or local laws or regulations, agreement between governments or any other means, with a view to providing protection for migrant workers and their famihes during the journey between their point of departure and their place of employment, both in the interests of the migrants themselves and in the interests of the countries or areas whence they come, in which they move about and to which they are making their way. APPENDIX i: STANDARDS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 595 (2) These arrangements should include— making available mechanised means of transport, including public passenger transport, for the migrant workers and their families, where that is physically possible; and (b) providing, at suitable stages along the routes, rest camps where lodging, food, water and essential first aid may be furnished. 7. All necessary steps should be taken to enable migrant workers to make their journeys in reasonable conditions either— (a) in the case of recruited or engaged workers, by providing, in the regulations relating to recruitment or to contracts of employment, an obligation on the recruiter, or failing him the employer, to pay the travelling expenses of the workers and, where applicable, of their families; or (b) in the case of workers journeying without having entered into a contract or accepted an offer of definite employment, by making provision for reducing travelling expenses to a minimum. (a) 8. (1) Arrangements should be made for free medical examination of migrant workers on departure for or commencement of employment, and on completion of employment. (2) Where lack of medical staff in particular regions makes it impossible to submit all migrant workers to this double medical examination, priority should be given to— (a) migrant workers coming from regions where there are communicable or endemic diseases; (b) migrant workers who accept or who have been in employment involving special physical risks; and (c) migrant workers whose journeys are undertaken in accordance with special arrangements for recruitment or engagement. 9. (1) If the competent authority considers, after consultation with employers' and workers' organisations where both exist, that a period of acclimatisation is necessary in the interest of the health of migrant workers, it should take steps to ensure to them, and particularly to those recruited or bound by a contract, such a period of acclimatisation immediately before commencing their employment. (2) In making its decision as to the need for a period of acclimatisation the competent authority should take account of the climate, the altitude and the different conditions of life in which the migrant workers may be called upon to work. Where it considers a period of acclimatisation to be necessary it should fix the length thereof according to local circumstances. (3) During the acclimatisation period, the employer should bear the expense of the adequate maintenance of the migrant worker and of the members of his family authorised to accompany him. 10. Arrangements should be made to ensure to migrant workers and, where applicable, to their families the right to repatriation, during a period to be determined by the competent authority, after consultation with employers' and workers' organisations where both exist, in the following circumstances: (a) where the migrant worker has been recruited or has been sent forward to the place of engagement by the recruiter or the employer, his repatriation should be to the place where he was engaged or from which he was sent forward for engagement and at the expense of the recruiter or the employer in all cases where— (i) the worker becomes incapacitated by sickness or accident during the journey to the place of employment; (ii) the worker is found on medical examination to be unfit for employment; (iii) the worker, for a reason for which he is not responsible, is not engaged after having been sent forward for engagement; (iv) the competent authority finds that the worker has been engaged, or sent forward for engagement, by misrepresentation or mistake; or (b) where the migrant worker has entered into a contract of employment and has been brought to the place of employment by the employer or by any person acting on 596 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY behalf of the employer, his repatriation, together with that of the members of his family also so brought, should be to the place where he was engaged or from which he was sent forward for engagement, and at the expense of the employer in all cases where— (i) the period of service stipulated in the contract has expired; (ii) the contract is terminated by reason of the inability of the employer to fulfil the contract; (iii) the contract is terminated by reason of the inability of the migrant worker to fulfil the contract owing to sickness or accident; (iv) the contract is terminated by agreement between the parties; (v) the contract is terminated on the application of either of the parties, unless the competent authority otherwise decides. 11. The competent authority should give sympathetic consideration to the question whether, and if so under what conditions, migrant workers or the members of their families who have not been brought to the place of employment by the employer or by any person acting on behalf of the employer, should have a right to repatriation. 12. In the event of the death of a migrant worker, the members of his family should have the right, to be exercised within a period to be determined by the competent authority, after consultation with the employers' and workers' organisations where both exist, to be repatriated to the place where the worker was engaged or from which he was sent forward for engagement, at the expense of the recruiter or the employer as the case may be— (a) where they had been authorised to accompany the worker to the place of employment— (i) if death has occurred during the journey to the place of employment; or (ii) if the deceased worker had entered into a contract of employment with the employer; or (b) in other cases in the circumstances determined by the competent authority under Paragraph 11 above. 13. (1) Migrant workers should be free to waive the right to repatriation at the expense of the employer, such waiver to be exercised within a period and in a manner to be determined by the competent authority after consultation with employers' and workers' organisations where both exist, and not to become final until the end of such period. (2) Migrant workers should also be free to postpone the exercise of their rights to repatriation to within a period to be fixed by the competent authority. 14. Where standard employment contracts, to be entered into between employers and migrant workers, are established by or under the authority of the government or governments concerned, representatives of the employers and workers concerned, including representatives of their respective organisations if such exist, should, whenever practicable, be consulted as to the terms of such contracts. 15. (1) Arrangements should be made for the proper placing of migrant workers. (2) These arrangements should include the creation, where appropriate, of a public employment service system which should—■ (a) consist of a central office for the country or territory as a whole and branch offices both in areas from which workers normally migrate and in employment centres, so as to enable information on employment opportunities to be gathered, and to be regularly disseminated in the districts from which labour normally comes to those centres ; (b) establish and maintain arrangements with the employment services in other countries or territories to which workers in a given area usually emigrate, so as to collect information on prevailing employment opportunities there; (c) establish and maintain, where practicable, vocational guidance facilities and arrangements for ascertaining the general suitability of workers for particular employments; and (d) seek, where practicable, the advice and co-operation of employers' and workers' organisations in the organisation and operation of the system. APPENDIX i: STANDARDS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 597 III. MEASURES TO DISCOURAGE MIGRATORY MOVEMENTS WHEN CONSIDERED UNDESIRABLE IN THE INTERESTS OF THE MIGRANT WORKERS AND OF THE COMMUNITIES AND COUNTRIES OF THEIR ORIGIN 16. The general policy should be to discourage migration of workers when considered undesirable in the interests of the migrant workers and of the communities and countries of their origin by measures designed to improve conditions of life and to raise standards of living in the areas from which the migrations normally start. 17. The measures to be taken to ensure the application of the policy described in the preceding Paragraph should include— (a) in emigration areas, the adoption of economic development and vocational training programmes to enable fuller use to be made of available manpower and natural resources, and in particular the adoption of all measures likely to create new jobs and new sources of income for workers who would normally be disposed to emigrate ; (b) in immigration areas, the more rational use of manpower and the increase of productivity through better organisation of work, better training and the development of mechanisation or other measures as local circumstances may require; (c) the limitation of recruitment in regions where the withdrawal of labour might have untoward effects on the social and economic organisation, and the health, welfare and development of the population concerned. 18. The governments of the countries and territories of origin and destination of migrant workers should endeavour to bring about a progressive reduction of migratory movements which have not been subject or appeared open to regulation, when such movements are considered undesirable in the interests of the migrant workers and of the communities and countries of their origin. So long as the economic causes of these unregulated migrations persist, the governments concerned should endeavour to exercise appropriate control, to the extent that such action appears practicable and desirable, over voluntary migration as well as organised recruitment. Such reduction and control may be sought by means of arrangements at local or area level and through bilateral agreements. 19. While unregulated migrations continue the governments concerned should, as far as practicable, strive to secure, for workers who migrate under such conditions, the protection provided for in this Recommendation. IV. PROTECTION OF MIGRANT WORKERS DURING THE PERIOD OF THEIR EMPLOYMENT A. General Policy 20. Every eifort should be made to assure to migrant workers as favourable working and living conditions as those provided by law or in practice to other workers engaged in the same employment and to apply to them, as to such other workers, the standards of protection set out in the following Paragraphs of this Recommendation. B. Housing 21. The arrangements to be made for the housing of migrant workers should include measures to enable such workers to be provided, either at the expense of the employer or by the provision of appropriate financial aid or by other means, with accommodation meeting approved standards and at rents reasonable in relation to the wages earned by the various categories of workers. 22. The competent authority should be responsible for ensuring the establishment of satisfactory housing conditions for migrant workers. It should define the minimum standards of accommodation and exercise strict control over the enforcement of these standards. It should also define the rights of the worker who may be required to vacate his accommodation on leaving employment and should take all necessary steps to secure the enforcement of these rights. 598 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY C. Wages 23. (1) Arrangements should be made for wage fixing in the case of migrant workers. (2) Such arrangements should include— (a) adoption of a scale of minimum wage rates calculated so that its lowest rate, including any allowances, enables a worker starting unskilled work at least to meet his minimum requirements according to the standards accepted in the region and taking into account normal family needs; (b) the fixing from time to time of minimum wage rates either— (i) by means of collective agreements freely negotiated between the trade unions which are representative of the workers concerned and the employers or the employers' organisations concerned; or (ii) where no adequate machinery for fixing minimum wage rates by collective agreements exists, by the competent authority in accordance with the principle stated in clause (a) above. 24. Where relevant, the competent authority should, when fixing wages, take into consideration the results of any budgetary surveys of household consumption in the region concerned which may be available, it being understood that such surveys should be undertaken with the co-operation of the representative organisations of employers and workers. 25. Representatives of the employers' and workers' organisations where they exist, and, where they do not, representatives of workers and employers concerned, equal in number and on an equal footing, should collaborate in the operation of statutory machinery for fixing minimum wage rates. 26. The minimum wage rates in force should be communicated to the employers and workers concerned. Where the rates have been fixed in accordance with subparagraph (2) (b) (ii) of Paragraph 23, they should be binding on the employers and workers concerned so as not to be subject to abatement by them by agreement without the express authorisation of the competent authority. 27. Employers should be required to keep records of wage payments and deductions in respect of each worker. The amounts of wages and of deductions therefrom should be communicated to the workers concerned. 28. Deductions from wages should be permitted only under conditions and to the extent prescribed by national laws or regulations or fixed by collective agreement or arbitration award. 29. Wages should normally be paid in legal tender direct to the individual worker. 30. Unless there is an established local custom to the contrary, and the competent authority is satisfied, after consulting representatives of the workers or of their representative organisations, that the continuance of this custom is desired by the workers, wages should be paid regularly and at such intervals as will minimise the likelihood of indebtedness among the wage earners. 31. The substitution of alcohol or any harmful substance for all or any part of wages should be prohibited. 32. Payment of wages in taverns or stores should be prohibited except in the case of workers employed therein. 33. Employers should be required to restrict any advances to workers to a small proportion of their monthly remuneration. 34. Any advance in excess of the amount fixed by the competent authority should not be legally recoverable either by the withholding of amounts of pay due to the worker at a later date or in any other way. No interest should be chargeable on advances. 35. A worker to whom minimum rates are applicable and who, since they became applicable, has been paid wages at less than these rates, should be entitled to recover, by judicial or other means authorised by law, the amount by which he has been underpaid, subject to such Umitation of time as may be determined by law or regulation. APPENDIX i: STANDARDS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 599 36. Where food, housing, clothing and other essential supplies and services form part of the remuneration, the competent authority should, with the co-operation of the representative organisations of employers and workers, take all practicable steps to ensure that they are adequate, that their cash value is properly assessed and that the payment in kind does not exceed in value a certain proportion, to be fixed by the competent authority, of the basic cash wage. D. Admission to Skilled Jobs without Discrimination 37. The principle of equal opportunity for all sections of the population, including migrant workers, should be accepted. 38. Subject to the application of national immigration laws, and of special laws concerning the employment of foreigners in the public service, any barriers preventing or restricting, on account of national origin, race, colour, belief, tribal association or trade union affiliation, access of any section of the population, including migrant workers, to particular types of job or employment should be deemed contrary to public policy and the principle of the abolition of any such barriers should be accepted. 39. Measures should be taken immediately to secure in practice the realisation of the principles set out in Paragraphs 37 and 38 of this Recommendation and to facilitate the performance of an increasing share of skilled work by the least favoured grades of workers. 40. Such measures should specifically include— (a) in all countries and territories, provision of equal access for all workers to technical and vocational training facilities and equal possibilities of access for all workers to employment opportunities in new industrial enterprises; (b) in countries or territories where separate classes distinguished by race or origin have already been permanently formed, the introduction of facilities enabling workers of the least favoured class to be admitted to semi-skilled and skilled jobs; (c) in countries or territories where separate classes distinguished by race or origin have not been permanently formed, the opening of equal opportunities for all qualified workers to jobs requiring specified skills. E. Trade Union Activities 41. The right of association and freedom for all lawful trade union activities should be granted to migrant workers in the centres where they work and all practicable measures should be taken to assure to trade unions which are representative of the workers concerned the right to conclude collective agreements with employers or employers' organisations. F. Supply of Consumer Goods 42. (1) Steps should be taken to ensure the availability of consumer goods, particularly essential products and foodstuffs, to migrant workers and their families at reasonable prices and in sufficient quantities. (2) Land for the cultivation of crops should be made available to migrant workers, wherever possible, either by the employer or by the competent authority. 43. Where the creation of co-operative organisations would be of service, arrangements should be made for their development, including— (a) the creation, if possible, of stock farms, fish ponds and market gardens on a co-operative basis; (b) the creation of retail stores run by workers' co-operatives; (c) the granting of assistance by governments by training members of co-operatives, by supervising their administration and by guiding their activities. 44. (1) Where stores are attached to undertakings, only cash payment should be accepted in them. 600 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY (2) If local circumstances do not yet permit the application of the preceding provision, the credit granted to migrant workers should be limited to a proportion of wages, to be fixed by the competent authority, and restricted to a fixed period which should be as short as possible. It should be forbidden to charge interest on credit given or to accept its repayment in work. (3) There should be no coercion on the migrant workers concerned to make use of such stores. (4) Where access to other stores is not possible the competent authority should take appropriate measures with the object of ensuring that goods are sold at fair and reasonable prices and that stores operated by the employer are not operated for the purpose of securing a profit but for the benefit of the workers concerned. G. Social Security, Industrial Safety and Hygiene 45. The steps to be taken for migrant workers should in any case include in the first instance appropriate arrangements, without discrimination on grounds of nationality, race or religion, for workmen's compensation, medical care for workers and their families, industrial hygiene and prevention of accidents and occupational diseases. 46. These arrangements should include— (a) medical supervision in accordance with local possibilities by periodical visits in the course of employment, and in case of sickness; (b) first aid, free medical treatment and hospitalisation facilities in accordance with standards to be prescribed by the competent authority; (c) a system of workmen's compensation for accidents and for occupational diseases; (d) suitable assistance measures in case of accident or occupational disease; (e) measures to secure the health and safety of migrant workers in their places of employment; (f) measures for reporting accidents and investigating their causes; (g) an obligation on the employers to bring to the attention of migrant workers by notices > talks or any other means any dangerous or unhealthy features of their work; (h) special or additional training or instruction to migrant workers on the prevention of accidents and risks to health in places of employment when, on account of lack of familiarity with processes, language difficulties or for other reasons, the training or instruction normally given to other workers employed in the country or territory is unsuitable; (i) provision for the collaboration of employers and workers in the promotion of safety measures ; (j) special health and social measures for the protection of the migrant worker's wife and children living with him. 47. Where migrant workers fail to benefit from the same treatment as other workers as regards protection against the risks of invalidity, old age and death, arrangements should be made, to the extent possible and desirable and in collaboration with the workers, for the organisation of friendly societies and works provident funds in order to meet the needs of migrant workers in these cases and as the forerunners of larger schemes on a local, district or territorial basis. H. Relations of Migrant Workers with Their Areas of Origin 48. Arrangements should be made to enable migrant workers to maintain contact with their families and their areas of origin, including— (a) the granting of such facilities as may be required for the voluntary remittance of funds to the worker's family in his area of origin or elsewhere and for the accumulation, with the assent of the worker, of deferred pay which he should receive at the end of his contract or when he returns to his home or in any other circumstances to be decided in agreement with him; APPENDIX i: STANDARDS AND RECOMMENDATIONS (b) (c) 601 facilities for the exchange of correspondence between the migrant worker, his family and his area of origin; facilities for the performance by the migrant worker of those customary obligations to his community of origin which he wishes to observe. I. Material, Intellectual and Moral Welfare of Migrant Workers 49. Arrangements should be made to ensure the material, intellectual and moral welfare of migrant workers, including— (a) arrangements to encourage voluntary forms of thrift; (b) arrangements to protect the migrant worker against usury, in particular by action to reduce interest rates on loans, by the control of the operations of money-lenders and by the encouragement of facilities for borrowing money for appropriate purposes through co-operative credit organisations or through institutions under the supervision of the competent authority; (c) wherever practicable, the maintenance in immigration areas of welfare officers who are familiar with the languages and customs of the migrant workers to facilitate the adaptation of these workers and their families to their new way of living; (d) measures to ensure educational facilities for migrant workers' children; (e) facilities to enable migrant workers to satisfy their intellectual and religious apirations. V. STABILISATION OF MIGRANT WORKERS 50. Except where permanent establishment of the migrant workers is clearly against their interest and that of their families or of the economies of the countries or territories concerned, the general policy to be followed should be to seek the stabilisation of the workers and their families in or near the employment centres by all appropriate measures and particularly by thoss which are set out in Part IV and in Paragraphs 51, 52 and 53 of this Recommendation. 51. As stated in Paragraph 3, nothing in this Recommendation should be construed as giving any person a right to move into or remain in any country or territory except in accordance with the immigration or other laws of that country or territory. Nevertheless, where such action is not contrary to the policy of the country concerned, the competent authority should consider affording to migrant workers who have been resident for a period of not less than five years in the country to which they have migrated all opportunities of acquiring citizenship of the country of immigration. 52. (1) Where lasting settlement of migrant workers at or near their place of employment is found to be possible, arrangements should be made to promote their permanent installation. (2) These arrangements should include— (a) encouragement of recruitment of migrant workers accompanied by their families; (b) the granting wherever possible and desirable of facilities to enable the establishment at or near the place of employment of appropriate community organisation; (c) the provision of housing of an approved standard and at suitable cost to promote the permanent settlement of families; (d) the allocation, wherever possible and desirable, of sufficient land for the production of foodstuffs; (e) in the absence of more appropriate facilities and whenever possible and desirable, the creation of villages or settlements of retired migrant workers in places where it is possible for them to contribute to their own subsistence. VI. APPLICATION OF THE RECOMMENDATION 53. Provision should be made by the competent authority for the supervision, by the appropriate administrative service or services, and with the co-operation of employers' 602 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY and workers' organisations where both exist, of the application of the measures for the protection of migrant workers dealt with in this Recommendation. 54. In particular, in cases where the terms and conditions of employment, the language, customs, or the currency in use in the region of employment are not familiar to migrant workers, the appropriate administrative service or services should ensure the observance of any procedure for entering into employment contracts so as to make certain that each worker understands the terms and conditions of his employment, the provisions of his contract, the details in regard to the rates and payment of wages, and that he has accepted freely and knowingly these terms and conditions. 55. Each Member of the International Labour Organisation should report to the International Labour Office at appropriate intervals, as requested by the Governing Body, the position of the law and practice in the countries and territories for which the Member is responsible in regard to the matters dealt with in the Recommendation. Such reports should show the extent to which effect has been given, or is proposed to be given, to the provisions of this Recommendation and such modifications of those provisions as it has been found or may be found necessary to make in adopting or applying them. 56. Each Member of the International Labour Organisation which is responsible for any non-metropolitan territory should take all steps within its competence to secure the effective application in each such territory of the minimum standards set forth in this Recommendation, and in particular should bring the Recommendation before the authority or authorities competent to make effective in each such territory the minimum standards set forth in it. (Q CONCLUSIONS OF THE I.L.O. COMMITTEE OF EXPERTS ON SOCIAL POLICY IN NON-METROPOLITAN TERRITORIES [The following section contains selected conclusions on (1) the raising of productivity, (2) technical and vocational training, (3) wage systems and policies, (4) workers' housing, (5) initial measures of social security, (6) industrial relations, and (7) rural areas and migration, drawn from texts adopted by the I.L.O. Committee of Experts on Social Policy in Non-Metropolitan Territories at its various sessions.] (1) Raising of Productivity in Non-Metropolitan Territories1 1. Governments are responsible for taking appropriate measures to raise the level of productivity in non-metropolitan territories in order to ensure for the populations an improvement in their present low standard of living. 2. The raising of the level of productivity is not only a question of labour. Other factors, such as investment, the organisation and equipment of undertakings, the provision of adequate tools for the workers, and so on, are at least equally important and often have to have priority. 3. Most non-metropolitan territories do not have the capital they need. Governments should, therefore, apply policies which would result in attracting capital to nonmetropolitan territories. 4. Since it is probably not possible to secure all the capital necessary, other methods for raising the level of productivity, such as the improvement of working conditions and vocational training, which in any case are fundamental, should be employed as fully as possible. 5. Organisations of workers and employers, as well as representatives of producers' co-operatives, where appropriate, should be invited to collaborate with the public authorities. 6. Agricultural producers play a preponderant role in the economies of the nonmetropolitan territories and, in order that they may derive the maximum benefit from 1 Conclusions adopted at the Committee's Third Session (Lisbon, 1953). APPENDIX i: STANDARDS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 603 their work, it is desirable that marketing boards and similar agencies should be set up where necessary to assist them for this purpose. 7. Public authorities and employers should seek to provide a satisfactory solution to the problem of transportation of the worker from his place of residence to his place of work. 8. The fundamental part played in both disposition and ability to work by adequate and well-balanced diets and by general good health should be recognised. Governments should develop their research work and the practical application of its results in the fields of nutrition and public health. They should also actively encourage and support the work of organisations such as W.H.O., F.A.O., and U.N.I.C.E.F. as well as that of private agencies in these fields. 9. The fairest possible distribution of the advantages of increased productivity should be ensured as an essential step in guaranteeing an increase in workers' purchasing power. 10. With a view to diversifying the economic structure of non-metropolitan territories, governments should provide every encouragement for the treating and processing of basic products and raw materials on the spot. 11. Productivity studies and research, undertaken in regard to well-defined aspects of the problem and in a regional framework, should be encouraged and actively pursued. In regard to this question reference is made to the work of a number of research institutions such as the Institute of Social and Economic Research of the University College of the West Indies, Jamaica, and to regional organisations such as the Caribbean Commission (Industrial Development Conference, Puerto Rico, February 1952) and the Commission for Technical Co-operation in Africa South of the Sahara (Second and Third Sessions of the African Labour Conference, Elisabethville, July 1950 and Bamako, January 1953). The collaboration developed between these institutions and organisations and the International Labour Office is to be commended; it should be continued and extended. 12. Scholarships should be provided to enable qualified persons actively engaged in the economic development of non-metropolitan territories to study productivity methods elsewhere. 13. Technical assistance in all forms and from every available source should be used so as to put into execution as rapidly and as completely as possible in all non-metropolitan territories general programmes for raising the level of productivity. In this connection the important results already achieved by such countries as India and Israel through the assistance of experts furnished by the I.L.O. under the Expanded Programme of Technical Assistance may be mentioned. Governments should give consideration to the opportunities afforded by this programme for improving productivity in the non-metropolitan territories. 14. Governments should consider the possibility of establishing, on a territorial or regional basis, permanent productivity centres in which representatives of employers and workers would take part with government authorities in working out practical plans to be applied in training officials, supervisory staff and the workpeople of undertakings included in the plans, and, possibly, in reviewing methods in the light of the results achieved and local developments in the social and economic situation. (2) Technical and Vocational Training in Non-Metropolitan Territories1 1. Training programmes should be planned to provide a flow of skilled workers of all types as required by the economy of the territory concerned, needs and possibilities to be determined by appropriate surveys and studies. On this basis training facilities should be available— (a) in agriculture, in arts and crafts and in industry; (b) for women and girls as well as for men and boys; 1 Incorporates conclusions adopted at the Committee's Second Session (Geneva, 1951) and Third Session (Lisbon, 1953). 604 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY (c) for the exercise of independent activities as well as for wage-earning employment; and (d) for the peoples of the territories, at all levels, including training for supervisory and management functions. 2. With a view to achieving a more balanced occupational distribution of the population in territories where there is undue concentration on clerical and administrative occupations, encouragement should be given to inhabitants of the territories to follow to a greater extent manual and technical callings. Among the incentives to this end might be better relative rates of remuneration for manual and technical occupations, vocational guidance programmes intended to indicate the prospects of these occupations, and the recognition in suitable forms of competence and specially meritorious work. 3. Vocational guidance and employment counselling facilities should be made available for persons intending to enter upon vocational training courses. 4. Basic general education is fundamental to effective vocational training and consequently programmes for the expansion of general education and vocational training should be properly co-ordinated so as to form an integral whole. Vocational training courses should follow or include such basic education as the educational level of the trainees and the nature of the training required. Pre-vocational education at the school stage should form a part of general educational curricula. 5. Technological and scientific training should receive emphasis in the planning of higher education. 6. The competent authority should ensure that, both in training institutions and under apprenticeship arrangements, there is a balance between theoretical and practical training appropriate to the requirements of the trade or occupation concerned and that on-the-job training is encouraged whenever and to the extent possible. 7. For occupations in which formal apprenticeship is the most appropriate medium of training, there should be adequate regulation and supervision of apprenticeship courses and contracts by the competent authorities. 8. Training programmes should include facilities for improvement of the skills of workers already having employment experience. Such facilities might take the form of centres providing full-time training for short periods, part-time or so-called sandwich-plan arrangements, training-on-the-job in the undertaking, or, where appropriate, evening classes. 9. The utilisation of properly supervised and regulated correspondence courses should be envisaged as a means of supplementing other facilities for technical and vocational training. 10. In territories in which training needs are urgent, accelerated technical training courses for the training of specially selected workers should form part of the facilities available for technical training. Accelerated courses should be utilised only for trades in which this form of training is suitable and experience so far suggests that they should be regarded as an expedient designed to meet urgent needs rather than as a permanent solution of training problems. 11. Special facihties should be provided for the training of rural craftsmen in basic skills and in one or several crafts corresponding to local requirements. Such training should preferably be conducted in the rural environment for persons selected from local communities. Instruction should be given by instructors specially prepared for the training of rural craftsmen and possessing an adequate knowledge of traditional techniques and of the social environment. 12. Agricultural extension programmes should receive particular attention as a means of raising the level of technical knowledge and its practical application in the agricultural community; in particular, the training of local agricultural instructors and field assistants, including women, especially in areas where agriculture is predominantly in their hands, should be developed, preferably for service in their areas of origin over an extended period, to meet existing urgent requirements. 13. With a view to encouraging the independent agricultural producer to utilise improved methods and practices, including co-operative methods, leading to higher pro- APPENDIX i: STANDARDS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 605 ductivity, marketing, processing and other arrangements designed to enable such producers to secure maximum benefit from the sale of their produce should be promoted. Where such arrangements require acquisition of skills and techniques not already developed in the territory for indigenous producers the necessary training facihties should be provided. 14. The establishment of facilities for the training or retraining of the physically handicapped, both young and adult, should be contemplated as part of the general system of vocational education and the application of standards and principles thereon established in the Vocational Training (Adults) Recommendation, 1950 (No. 88) should be given the fullest consideration. 15. Where no adequate arrangements exist for the grading of workers, consideration should be given to the establishment of systems whereby workers can obtain certificates of proved competence valid for the territory as a whole. 16. All practicable measures should be taken to ensure that all training facilities and opportunities of employment when training is completed are in practice equally available to all sections of the community. 17. Advisory bodies to co-ordinate vocational training activities should be established in which representatives of employers and workers, including representives of their respective organisations where such exist, as well as of the government departments concerned and of relevant private and voluntary agencies, should be invited to participate. 18. The development of a body of competent vocational training instructors, so far as possible drawn from the local inhabitants, should be encouraged by suitable measures, for example, the institution of adequate training facilities and satisfactory status, opportunities and conditions of employment for instructors. 19. In the formulation and implementation of technical and vocational training programmes, the standards, methods and principles established in the following I.L.O. instruments should be considered for application, in so far as appropriate to conditions in non-metropolitan territories : Vocational Training Recommendation, 1939 (No. 57); Apprenticeship Recommendation, 1939 (No. 60); Vocational Guidance Recommendation, 1949 (No. 87); Vocational Training (Adults) Recommendation, 1950 (No. 88). 20. Every effort should be made by the competent authorities to supplement the resources available to them for technical and vocational training; in particular, the possibility of the collaboration of governments in this field on a regional basis and the utilisation of programmes such as the Expanded Programme of Technical Assistance of the United Nations and the specialised agencies should receive their consideration, especially for such purposes as the survey of training needs and facilities, manpower information programmes and training seminars. (3) Wages Systems and Policies1 Questions relating to Wages Policy 1. It should be the common aim of governments, employers and workers to establish wages at the highest levels which the economic circumstances of each non-metropolitan territory permit and to ensure that workers secure, through upward adjustment of wage scales, a fair share of the increased prosperity resulting from economic development of the whole territory. 2. In order to enable wage earners to enter fully into the economic and social life of the community into which wage-paid employment brings them, governments and employers should take steps to secure the stabilisation of wage earners and their families at or near their places of employment, except in the case of essentially temporary and seasonal workers. 1 Conclusions adopted at the Committee's Fourth Session (Dakar, 1955). 606 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY 3. This implies that minimum earnings, including any allowances, should be sufficient to support stabilised family life without the need for assistance from outside sources away from the place of employment, such as distant land holdings, to supplement family income. This objective should be accepted as an aim of policy to be attained gradually as a result of economic development. 4. Apart from the normal operations of minimum wage-fixing machinery, there is in many non-metropolitan territories pressing need for a more fundamental examination of territorial wages policies in relation to economic development programmes. 5. In territories where no such fundamental examination has recently been made, consideration should be given to the desirability of undertaking it. It may be found necessary to entrust this task to a specially appointed body which, in addition to representatives of employers and workers, should contain representatives of the authorities responsible for territorial policy in social and economic fields. Alternatively, representatives of such authorities might be specially added to the central minimum wage-fixing body for this particular examination. 6. The object of such an examination would be to make a realistic assessment of what the levels and structure of wages should be. The examination should have regard to the reasonable needs of workers, the capacity of the territory to bear any advances necessary to achieve a satisfactory position and the needs of further economic development, and bearing always in mind the aim of raising standards of living and securing to workers a fair share of the prosperity of the territory as a whole. 7. The competent authorities in each territory should from time to time undertake a survey of the current structure of wage differentials in respect of different levels of ascertained skill and in different occupations, so as to provide the facts for an appraisal of their effectiveness as factors in securing the most useful distribution of available manpower for economic development and as guides to policy for the use of wage-determining authorities and the parties to collective bargaining. 8. In some territories problems are still posed owing to the existence of wage scales applicable to workers of different races. In such cases, it should be the accepted aim of policy to establish wage scales providing full coverage of all degrees of skill and qualification applicable to workers who possess the necessary competence without regard to race. In this connection, attention is called to the desirability of applying, as regards workers in the territories in general, the provisions of Paragraphs 37, 38, 39 and 40 of the Migrant Workers (Underdeveloped Countries) Recommendation, 1955, dealing with admission to skilled jobs without discrimination. 9. The manner in, and the extent to which, proposals dealing with wages policy resulting from such inquiries should be implemented through the normal wage-fixing machinery or co-ordinated with the adjustment of wages through collective bargaining are matters for decision in the light of local circumstances. In this connection, however, attention is drawn to the responsibilities of governments of non-metropolitan territories, which often have in their employment more workers than any other employer and sometimes employ more workers than all other enterprises in the territory, as regards leadership in favourable wages policies. Wage Fixing 10. While collective agreements between employers and workers are normally the best means for the determination and adjustment of wages and should be actively promoted and encouraged, there is still, in many non-metropolitan territories, a wide field for the use of statutory machinery in connection with the regulation of wages in order to implement the objectives set out in Paragraph 1. 11. The determination and adjustment of wages by statutory means, with the object of laying down a minimum wage or wages, should be arranged through appropriate machinery, such wage or wages to be subject to review when necessary or at regular intervals. 12. Such machinery, whether territorial, regional or on an industry basis, should afford equal representation to employers and workers, where possible nominated by their respective organisations or otherwise appointed after consultation with such employers' APPENDIX i: STANDARDS AND RECOMMENDATIONS and and The is a 607 workers' organisations concerned as exist: there should be an independent chairman such other independent members as may be appropriate in the local circumstances. manner of appointment of the independent chairman and of any independent members matter for decision in the light of local circumstances. Family Budget Inquiries and Cost-of-Living Indices 13. The most effective method of appraising the needs of workers and their families is by means of family budget inquiries designed to ascertain their income and expenditure and the goods and services which they secure. Therefore, while the difficulties of doing so in many territories are realised, governments should consider how far it might be possible to carry out family budget inquiries in association with nutrition experts and with the co-operation, where practicable, of employers' and workers' organisations. Technical assistance and advice as to the methods used in such inquiries should be sought from appropriate specialised sources, within or outside the territory. 14. Cost-of-living indices regularly compiled and designed to measure changes in the cost of maintaining the pattern of consumption indicated by a fixed list of goods and services should also be maintained. These indices should be applicable to consumption patterns, established after family budget inquiries, for wage earners in the territory as a whole or, where necessary, for particular localities. Systems of Wage Payment 15. While it is not intended to advocate any particular system of payment, by results or otherwise, which must be decided by the parties concerned in the light of all circumstances, it is considered that existing systems of payment by results and the methods to be followed in the introduction and application of new or modified systems need thorough and scientific examination in most non-metropolitan territories. 16. It is accordingly considered that governments should make special efforts to make known among employers' and workers' organisations in the territories the comprehensive statement of the general principles which should be foüowed in the use of systems of payment by results drawn up in April 1951 under the auspices of the International Labour Organisation. Where appropriate, governments should also consider taking advantage of the opportunities available through the I.L.O. : (a) to obtain up-to-date information on systems of payment by results; (b) to receive missions of experts with practical experience in the operation of systems of payment by results to study on the spot problems connected with, and to give advice concerning, the introduction and application of such systems. 17. Consideration is meanwhile invited to the following broad conclusions which may have special validity in the circumstances of many non-metropolitan territories: (a) Although systems of payment by results aim essentially at increasing output by linking the payment of the wage to the completion of the work, it is also necessary to ensure in the application of any particular system that the worker's remuneration is fair, that the method of calculation of the amount due to him is easily understood by him and that the system used in fact leads to improvement in the quality as well as in the quantity of work done and is without adverse effects on the worker's health. (b) Payment on a time work basis, being the only system capable of being applied in all circumstances, must continue to be used for many types of work, although it is frequently capable of being improved by the granting of bonuses for quality of work performed. (c) Piece-work systems of payment should be encouraged in cases where the supervision is adequate to ensure the quality of the work done; where the workers are able easily to understand the operation of the system used; where the pieces and the rates of payment are clearly laid down; and where the interests of the workers are safeguarded by the guarantee of a minimum time rate in cases of unforeseen difficulties. Output bonuses should be paid as soon as possible after completion of the work to which 608 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY they relate so as to enable the workers to establish a clear link between the bonus and their efforts. (d) Payment by the task as operated, particularly in relation to agricultural employment, in many non-metropolitan territories, should not, as a general rule, be encouraged. In cases where it is the method most appropriate to the circumstances, the amount of the task should be carefully calculated so as to correspond to the average output of a worker in a given time. The remuneration should be adjusted so as to be fair in relation to the work done and there should be opportunity and inducement to complete as many tasks as would represent a fair day's work. (e) Remuneration for piece or task work should be so adjusted as to assure to the workers earnings high enough above ordinary time work rates for similar work as to encourage them to do their best. (f) Systems of consultation of the workers concerned should be developed wherever possible in connection with the working out of methods to be followed in the introduction and application of systems of payment by results. Protection of Wages 18. Consideration should be given to the application of the provisions of the Social Policy (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention, 1947, relating to protection of wages, the Protection of Wages Convention, 1949, and the relevant provisions of the Migrant Workers (Underdeveloped Countries) Recommendation, 1955, to the extent that these provisions are not already in force. Attention should be particularly given to the possibility of providing, along the lines of Articles 8, 10 and 11 of the Protection of Wages Convention, 1949, that— (a) deductions from wages should be permitted only under conditions and to the extent prescribed by territorial laws or regulations or fixed by collective agreement or arbitration award; (b) workers should be informed, in the manner deemed most appropriate by the competent authority, of the conditions under which and the extent to which such deductions may be made; (c) wages may be attached or assigned only in manner and within limits prescribed by territorial laws and regulations; (d) wages should be protected against attachment or assignment to the extent deemed necessary for the protection of the worker and his family; (e) in the event of the bankruptcy or judicial liquidation of an undertaking, the workers employed therein should be treated as privileged creditors either as regards wages due to them for service rendered during such a period prior to the bankruptcy or judicial liquidation as may be prescribed by territorial laws or regulations, or as regards wages up to a prescribed amount as may be determined by territorial laws or regulations ; (f) wages constituting a privileged debt should be paid in full before ordinary creditors may establish any claim to a share in the assets; (gj the priority of wages as a privileged debt over other privileged debts should be prescribed by territorial laws or regulations. (4) Housing1 1. It should be the responsibility of governments as an ultimate objective to ensure that suitable houses are available in one manner or another to all workers who need them. 2. In each territory, as appropriate, the co-ordination of housing policy should be entrusted to a Ministry, government department or statutory authority, which should 1 Conclusions adopted at the Committee's Third Session (Lisbon, 1953). APPENDIX i: STANDARDS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 609 also, where necessary, undertake housing programmes for low-income workers and initiate slum clearance and resettlement schemes, either directly or through local authorities. 3. Housing policy should be co-ordinated with general economic policy with a view to according an appropriate priority to workers' housing. The exact priority to be assigned to it must vary according to local circumstances. Whenever its provision or improvement or the provision or improvement of services is necessary in order to raise productivity by increasing working efficiency, by reducing absenteeism, by improvement of attitudes to work, by reducing debility and premature mortality, it should of necessity be given a very high place. Since, however, resources for raising standards of living and for the expansion of productive capacity and output are generally scarce, it is appropriate that governments should seek a careful balance between further improvements in workers' housing on the one hand, and, on the other, the provision of facilities such as better communications and better opportunities for training labour, the improvement of soil fertility, the provision of more productive capital in the form of plant and equipment, as well as improved supplies of consumer goods and services, which will expand productive capacity and future output. In particular, it must be borne in mind that the allocation of resources to key development projects in the earlier stages of economic development can bring returns, in the form of rapid increases in national income and increased capacity to produce consumer goods and provide better housing, in a comparatively short period. 4. In formulating workers' housing plans, the aim should be to construct in durable materials, particularly those obtainable locally. However, in territories where there are large quantities of unused or underemployed resources in men and materials, emphasis might be laid on semi-permanent types of housing using idle or underemployed manpower and bringing into production material resources as yet unexploited. 5. In long-term planning policy in territories where the demand for urban housing is outstripping the supply of suitable available land, consideration should be given to the suitability of large apartment buildings, with due regard to local preferences, and to the encouragement of satellite towns, with appropriate transport facilities to enable workers to get to and from work cheaply, thus arresting the unwieldy growth of existing cities. 6. In order to assure respect for human dignity, to give maximum freedom and security and as incentives to stability and better living, governments should take all possible steps to encourage home ownership by workers and this should be regarded as the aim of policy. 7. The formation of building societies and housing co-operatives adapted to the circumstances of the territories and of the workers to whom they might be useful should be actively encouraged. 8. Assistance to workers desiring to build or to have built their own houses should be provided, as appropriate, by such facilities as loans, advances of materials, or by systems of rent purchase where houses are to be built in durable materials. In appropriate circumstances sites should be prepared and ancillary services provided. Security of tenure of the house site should be assured. 9. The increased use of aided self-help schemes for workers, and the introduction of such schemes in those territories where they have not yet been tried out should be urgently considered by governments. 10. Trade union organisations should seek the development of vocational training in the building trades and encourage their members to undertake self-help house-building activities, and should also take steps to promote community life and spirit. They should, as appropriate, take an active part in the framing and execution of housing programmes in the territories and be associated with any composite body appointed to deal with these matters. 11. It should be recognised that, though home ownership is desirable, houses for rent must be provided for workers who because of the nature of their employment or for other reasons, are not in a position to become or desirous of becoming home owners. Account must be taken of this in all public housing schemes. A proper balance should be maintained, however, between the advantages offered to potential home owners and to tenants respectively. 12. It should be recognised also that, under certain special conditions, the only practicable way of ensuring reasonable accommodation for workers in present circumstances 610 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY is to encourage or require the employer to provide it. This is particularly so in those industries situated far from centres of wage-seeking populations or in areas where employable labour in the immediate vicinity is inadequate, or in cases where the residence of certain types of workers on or near the employers' premises facilitates the proper performance of their duties. 13. Steps should be taken to safeguard the worker and his family from possible arbitrary action on the part of the employer in cases where housing is provided or controlled by him. These should include giving a right to a reasonably adequate period of continuance of occupancy of such housing to the worker and his family in cases where his conditions of service have been altered, where he has left the service of the employer or where his engagement with him has been terminated in any way, as well as in cases of sickness or incapacity. Where the worker dies in the service of the employer his family should be protected by similar provisions. Measures should also be taken to provide for compensation for any necessary improvements and for the loss of garden products. Rights of access to the housing area, under reasonable conditions, should be assured to the occupiers, to persons having business or social relations with them, and for trade union purposes. 14. Consideration should be given, wherever practicable, to the possibility of charging workers equitable controlled rents for housing provided by their employers, wages being increased if necessary by an amount equivalent to the rent charged. 15. In so far as appropriate to local circumstances, employers should assist workers to secure suitable housing, for example, by giving equitable rental allowances, by assigning for their use developed plots of land for house-building, by grants of building materials, loans to workers for house construction or repairs, contributions to and investments in government or other housing schemes. 16. The possibilities of the government or other statutory authority taking over control and management of employers' housing schemes for workers such as exist in plantation and mining areas should be examined at the appropriate stage in the development of each territory. 17. Governments should, as much as possible, finance public schemes of workers' housing from local sources including public funds and loans raised in local currency. Where sufficient capital cannot be found locally to finance the construction of housing which has been accorded a high priority in the development programme of a territory, the possibility of obtaining financial assistance from the metropolitan country concerned and from external agencies should be explored. 18. In rental housing schemes, rents charged should not exceed a fair proportion of the earnings of the occupants, any difference between the costs and maintenance bill and the rents receivable being borne by public grants or by special arrangements between the authorities and employers. 19. Governments should take specific measures to ensure that appropriate minimum standards of planning, building, health, space and fire protection are observed in the construction and maintenance of housing and community facilities. 20. Governments should take specific measures to ensure that land may be acquired easily and at a fair price for workers' housing purposes. 21. Every effort should be made to place at the disposal of small building contractors information as to low-cost materials and methods of housing construction and simplified guides to house-building which can be followed without specialised training. In appropriate circumstances assistance such as provision of centralised facilities for hiring tools and equipment, short-term loans to permit small builders to buy materials and tools, and specialised training courses should be considered. 22. With a view to increasing rapidly the number of skilled craftsmen in the building trades, trainees in this industry should receive instruction not only in the workshop and on construction sites but also by means of courses designed for the purpose and carried out in approved technical training establishments or public training centres. Authorities should give consideration to the possibility of introducing accelerated schemes both of training and of apprenticeship in the various building trades. APPENDIX i: STANDARDS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 611 23. With a view to facilitating the operation of aided self-help housing programmes, authorities promoting such programmes should provide facilities for simple training in the various building trades necessary to enable groups of workers to build their own houses in co-operation. 24. Vocational training for supervisory staff should be organised relating, in particular, to acquisition of general technical knowledge, scientific organisation of work, methods of work instruction and problems of personnel guidance. Facilities for the training of persons from the territories at this level should receive priority. 25. Facilities for the training of persons from the territories at the professional level in the construction industry should be provided. 26. Efforts should be made to attract young workers to the various construction crafts, on the basis of adequate information as to prospects. (5) Social Security1 General Considerations 1. The Committee recognises the very considerable diversity of conditions prevailing in non-metropolitan territories as regards natural resources, stage of economic and social development, administrative machinery, demographic information, proportion of the population engaged in any form of wage-earning activity, and existing habits and customs, which must largely determine in practice the degree of necessity for, as well as the form and content of, social security measures which will be found appropriate for each territory. 2. Security schemes covering the chief risks which threaten the livelihood of breadwinners and their dependants, and applying systematically and as widely as possible the principle of mutual aid are, however, necessary in all non-metropolitan territories. The eventualities against which protection is required range from the hazards of nature in the case of those whose activities are purely agricultural and who represent the greater part of the populations, to loss of earning power through sickness or invalidity, old age or death of the breadwinner, particularly in the case of those who no longer enjoy the protection against want in these circumstances afforded by the custom of the tribe or the community. 3. The actual measures to be adopted should be approached with due regard to the causes which deprive the breadwinner and his dependants of their means of subsistence. These differ in their relative importance as between rural and urban populations, and as between self-employed and employed workers. 4. A primary objective of social policy in all non-metropolitan territories must be to conserve the health of the whole population. Proper and sufficient medical care facilities, provided by a public medical care service and effectively available to the whole of the population, without contribution conditions or means test, due regard being had to sections of the community provided for by other means, are therefore a necessity and should be everywhere the aim of policy, where not already assured. Sanitation and other preventive health services should be combined or associated with the public medical care service to the extent necessary to secure a properly co-ordinated territorial health policy. 5. In the actual circumstances of the majority of non-metropolitan territories, the measures which will most effectively protect the livelihood of the great mass of the population lie in such measures as soil conservation, improvement of agricultural techniques and farming practices, pest control, prevention of plant and animal diseases, improvements in systems of land tenure and better marketing and credit facilities. It should accordingly be a first concern of governments to protect and improve general living standards by initiating or developing programmes in this field. 6. These should be supplemented, as far as possible, by schemes, based on insurance principles, mutual aid, or government assistance as appropriate, designed to protect 1 Conclusions adopted at the Committee's Fourth Session (Dakar, 1955). 612 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY agricultural communities against destruction of their crops and livestock by natural catastrophes and diseases. 7. The part which house-ownership, particularly when combined with ownership or right of use of a small plot of land, can play in preventing acute deprivation in cases of temporary sickness or unemployment, underemployment and old age, should be more fully recognised and efforts made to extend it as much as possible as an initial measure of social security. 8. Every encouragement should be given to employers to initiate or further develop in their enterprises sickness, provident and pension funds in favour of their employees and to workers to combine for the purpose of forming mutual benefit societies providing some degree of protection against the main risks not already covered by other means. 9. While most non-metropolitan territories are unlikely to be able to introduce at once comprehensive social security systems covering all major risks, including full medical care, a system of priorities should be established in each territory which takes into account available economic and administrative resources in relation to needs at each successive step and has regard to the following considerations: • Compensation for Industrial Accidents and Occupational Diseases 10. Systems of compensation against industrial accidents exist in almost all nonmetropolitan territories, but in some territories these systems do not incorporate satisfactory standards in certain respects. Governments should therefore take into account the following proposals with a view to achieving such standards to the extent that they are not already applied. 11. It should be an objective of policy to abolish, where it exists, all discrimination based on race or nationality in so far as the general principles of compensation for industrial accidents and occupational diseases are concerned. 12. It should be an objective of policy to eliminate as far as possible the restrictions which exclude from the scope of existing legislation workers in certain occupations, in particular agricultural workers. This might be done by measures of progressive application restricted, if necessary, in the initial stages, to specified regions or specified undertakings. 13. There should be a progressive elimination of limitations based on the cause or type of the accident or the nature of the undertaking. 14. Compensation for occupational diseases should be based on the same general principles as compensation for industrial accidents. In those cases where present legislation covers only industrial accidents, it should therefore be amended to guarantee victims of occupational diseases, or their dependants, compensation at a rate not lower than that provided for injuries resulting from industrial accidents. 15. It should be an objective of policy to provide victims of industrial accidents or of occupational diseases with medical treatment, which should be as complete as possible and should include at least general practitioner care, including domiciliary visiting, specialist care at hospitals for in-patients and out-patients, as well as such specialist care as may be available outside hospitals, provision of essential pharmaceutical supplies, and hospitalisation where necessary. It would also be desirable to provide victims of industrial accidents or occupational diseases with such dental treatment, and to supply, repair and replace such prosthetic and orthopaedic appliances, as may be required by the disablement resulting from the accident or disease. 16. As regards the extent of medical benefits which should be furnished in case of industrial accident or occupational disease, any kind of discrimination based on race which may exist in the legislation of particular territories should be abolished. 17. Existing legislation should be modified or completed, where necessary, by provisions making the full cost of medical care a charge on the employer or on the insurer. Where, by reason of special circumstances, it is not possible effectively to do so, the cost of medical care should be assumed by the public authority but so that no charge should fall on the workman who has been injured or is suffering from an occupational disease. APPENDIX i: STANDARDS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 613 18. Present legislation usually provides for the payment of different cash benefits according to whether the incapacity of a worker is temporary or permanent. The amount of the benefit is related to the wage in case of temporary incapacity, and both to the wage and the degree of incapacity in the case of permanant incapacity. Eligibility for these benefits is not in principle conditional on a certain period of employment, except in the case of occupational diseases, for which reasonable qualifying periods can be prescribed, account being taken of the nature of the disease. These standards should be adopted in all non-metropolitan territories. 19. With a view to meeting the need for providing, in case of temporary incapacity for work, a sufficient income which will not be too disproportionate to the normal earnings which the worker would have been drawing if he had not been injured, the following provisions are applied in a great many non-metropolitan territories: (a) full payment of the normal wage is made for the day of the accident; (b) the waiting period is three days or less; (c) benefits are normally paid at the same intervals as wages; (d) the amount of benefit is at least equal to half the wage usually received, account being taken of payments in kind received by the worker at the time of the accident. It is desirable that these standards should be extended to all non-metropolitan territories. 20. It should be an objective of policy to eliminate as far as possible lump-sum payments in cases of permanent incapacity or death, and to provide, as a general rule, for the payment of benefits in periodical instalments during the period of incapacity or dependency. These periodical payments should be commuted into a lump-sum payment only when the degree of incapacity is slight, or when the competent authorities are satisfied that the lump sum will be judiciously employed. However, the commutation of the whole of the periodical payments into lump-sum payments may sometimes be justified by the particular conditions in certain non-metropolitan territories, especially when it is impracticable effectively to control periodical payments as, for example, in certain cases as regards migrant workers, or when, in the case of survivors' benefits, all the beneficiaries, being of age and capable of managing their own affairs, expressly request commutation, or, there being a government insurance fund in the territory, the competent authority considers it to be in the interests of the injured or sick worker that there should be a commutation of the periodical payments with a view to investing or otherwise placing the capital. Consequently, exceptions might be made to the general principle allowing for the payment of benefits periodically, especially in the cases mentioned above, provided that, with a view to avoiding possible abuses, the decision to commute the periodical benefits is taken by the administrative or judicial authorities at the end of a specified period after the accident. 21. Provision should be made for the grant of supplementary compensation, amounting to at least 20 per cent., in cases of permanent total incapacity where the injured person requires the constant assistance of another person to perform the ordinary acts of life. 22. A child who has lost both father and mother should receive a benefit higher than would otherwise be paid in his case. 23. Provision should be made, in the manner best suited to the circumstances of the territory, to define the persons entitled to benefit as dependants. 24. The prescribed procedure for the review and adjustment of benefit rates should enable one or other of the parties to submit an application for review within a reasonable period, which should be fixed at not less than three years. The decision in regard to any such application should be taken by the appropriate administrative authority, or by the government insurance agency, where such exists, with a final right of appeal to a judicial authority. 25. A reasonable allowance for burial expenses should be paid by the employer where death results from an industrial accident or occupational disease. The maximum amount of such allowance should be fixed by local laws or regulations. 26. It would be desirable to extend existing provisions for notification and inquiry, where necessary, so as to put an obligation on the employer to notify the appropriate authority, within a specified period, of the occurrence of an industrial accident or of the 614 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY diagnosis of an occupational disease, in cases where the accident or the disease is fatal or where there is incapacity for work for a period at least equal to the waiting period. Provision might also be made for an administrative or judicial inquiry to be compulsory where the accident or the occupational disease is of a serious nature. 27. The amount of compensation, even if agreed upon between the parties, should in every case be fixed by the appropriate administrative authority; the medical certificate should be drawn up under supervision of the competent authority, and the procedure to be followed in case of dispute should be laid down by law and the final decision should be given either by an arbitrator or by the appropriate judicial authority. 28. In order to cover the need for specially protecting the actual sums owing as compensation, the following provisions, already widely covered by legislation, should be adopted in all non-metropolitan territories: (a) periodical payments should not be transferable or liable to attachment; (b) any debt owed to the injured worker in respect of the cost of medical attention and for cash benefits should partake of the nature of a preferential debt in the same way as wages; (c) if an insured employer goes bankrupt, his rights in relation to the insurance company should normally pass to the worker who had the accident or contracted the disease. 29. Employers should be under an obligation to insure their risks in respect of industrial accidents and occupational diseases and as soon and so far as possible under a system of insurance not carried on for profit. Exceptions to the obligation to insure should only be permitted under conditions prescribed by law. 30. Provision should be made for a special guarantee fund administered by the public authorities to ensure payment of benefits in cases where, for any reason, there is default on the part of the employer or the insurance company. 31. Governments should consider, with due regard to local circumstances, whether it would not be advantageous to transform systems of workmen's compensation based on the responsibility of employers, whether in fact carried through insurance or not, into insurance schemes, supervised and guaranteed by the public authority and administered by boards under government supervision and including representatives of employers and workers. 32. It should be borne in mind, in considering the possibility of creating such schemes to cover workmen's compensation risks, that they might, properly planned and administered, be subsequently adapted to bring within their scope schemes covering other contingencies. Sickness 33. Having regard to the predominantly rural character of most non-metropolitan territories, their largely subsistence economies in which money plays little part, the generally low standard of living and the need for extension of existing medical care facilities, government policy in such territories should be to give priority to the development, by all appropriate means, of full, satisfactory and well-balanced medical care and other public health services for the whole population, without contribution or means test, due regard being had to existing facilities for sections of the population provided for by other means. 34. To the extent that employers can reasonably be expected to provide minimum medical care services for their workers, they should be encouraged or required to do so as appropriate. 35. Consideration should be given to the introduction of contributory sickness insurance benefit schemes in those territories where important sections of the population are engaged in wage-paid labour, covering the whole or particular categories of workers or particular areas. Medical care facilities for such schemes should as far as possible be provided through, or be co-ordinated with, the public medical care service. 36. While the benefits provided by such schemes might ensure to members special medical care facilities in co-operation with the public medical care service, their aim should be as soon as and to the extent possible, to provide cash benefits during absence from employment owing to sickness. APPENDIX i: STANDARDS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 615 37. In all territories consideration should be given, as an initial measure of security, to requiring employers, by law, to pay full wages to employees during absence from work due to certified sickness, for limited periods which may depend on the length of the employee's service and the nature of his contract and otherwise have regard to local circumstances including the possibilities for the workers of insuring against this risk. Maternity 38. It should be an objective of policy to establish maternity insurance schemes as soon as possible for the benefit of women workers. In this connection, consideration might be given to the possibility of providing for joint administration of maternity insurance along with existing or future government controlled and guaranteed compulsory insurance systems covering industrial accidents and occupational diseases in non-metropolitan territories. 39. For the future maternity protection for women workers should in every case conform to the following standards: (a) Medical, including surgical, care should include at least prenatal, confinement and postnatal care, as well as hospitalisation where necessary. (b) The benefits paid in respect of suspension of earnings should be sufficient for the full and healthy maintenance of the woman and her child. Such benefits should be paid periodically and for a period of not less than 12 weeks. (c) The woman worker should not be permitted to work during the six weeks following her confinement. She should have the right to leave work without notice, on production of a medical certificate stating that her confinement will probably take place within six weeks. She should have the right, if nursing her child, to interrupt her work for this purpose at a time or times to be prescribed by territorial laws or regulations. (d) In case of illness medically certified as arising from the pregnancy or confinement, there should be provision for extending the 12-week period of maternity leave. During this period it should not be lawful for the employer to give the worker notice of dismissal, nor for any previously given notice of dismissal to expire. Invalidity 40. The particular conditions prevailing in the vast majority of non-metropolitan territories do not make it possible, in any large number of cases, to contemplate the immediate establishment of a general system of invalidity insurance. It would seem that, in principle, such a system might be established after the creation of a contributory system of old-age pensions, and that the benefits might include the grant of annual allowances to invalid workers who have been employed for a specified number of years, payable until replacement by an old-age pension. However, governments should give immediate attention to the possibilities of establishing progressively in the future a general system of invalidity insurance. 41. It would be desirable to develop as much as possible assistance to invalids of insufficient means especially in the direction of encouraging the creation of mutual aid societies and extending action by the social services in this field. Old Age 42. With a view to encouraging habits of thrift and to limiting non-contributory assistance to persons unable to maintain themselves in any other way, and in view of the need in a large number of non-metropolitan territories to afford some security in their old age to an ever-increasing number of permanent workers, governments should consider the advisability of creating old-age insurance schemes for the benefit of such workers. The operation of these schemes should be by way of government provident funds supported by contributions from employers and workers. 616 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY 43. It would seem that, having regard to existing conditions, old-age pensions schemes on an insurance basis for the benefit of workers could only be established by stages in the majority of the territories. Among the various transitional measures which governments could consider in establishing such schemes may be included the following: (a) the development of such private provident funds as may already exist; (b) the encouraging of ex gratia grants of pensions or gratuities by employers to their aged workers who have been long in their employment; (c) the establishment where opportune of schemes financed exclusively by employers for the benefit of aged workers; (d) in territories where labour migration is important, the possibility of agreements between the competent authorities whereby employers who use the services of migrant workers would make contributions to the government of the territory of emigration, towards funds to provide retirement pensions or gratuities for the benefit of these workers ; (e) the limitation of old-age insurance to certain categories of workers in the early stages, beginning with those workers who have actually broken off all ties with their tribal milieu or, more generally, with workers in industrial and commercial concerns which employ a sufficient number of permanent workers; (f) the postponement of the payment of survivors' benefits in favour of widows and orphans to a later stage of the development of old-age pension schemes. 44. It would be desirable to broaden as well as to increase in every possible way government-financed assistance accorded to the aged poor. Such assistance could be developed either by the establishment of old people's homes and villages or by increasing the assistance given generally, taking account only of age, residence and means. Child Maintenance 45. While the measures, already in force in some territories and in course of realisation in others, as regards family benefits for child maintenance have been noted with appreciation, the diversity of the existing economic and social structures and the differences in wages policies render it inappropriate to make concrete proposals applying to all territories in regard to the introduction of any formal system covering these matters. There is, however, everywhere need further to develop forms of social assistance rendered to the family by means appropriate to local circumstances. Unemployment and Underemployment 46. Governments, especially of territories in which important proportions of the occupied population are already engaged permanently in wage-earning activities and in which unemployment assumes serious proportions, should vigorously pursue appropriate types of action calculated to create wage-earning opportunities and to promote a high level of employment. 47. Underemployment is also a serious cause of low standards of living in many non-metropolitan territories. Governments should therefore study the reasons for present maldistribution of manpower in their territories with a view to appropriate action for the elimination of underemployment. 48. The progress already made in certain non-metropolitan territories as regards the introduction of systems of unemployment insurance is noted. Governments of territories where local conditions are similar are invited to study these systems with a view to considering whether they could be adapted to circumstances in their territories. 49. The attention of governments is directed to the importance which precise and detailed information of the state of the employment market can have as regards measures for the reduction of unemployment and underemployment. It would therefore seem wise, either to expand or, where they do not already exist, to establish in every non-metropolitan territory free public employment services which can help to maintain a state of full employment by means of registration of workers as well as by recording as precisely as possible fluctuations in the employment market. APPENDIX i: STANDARDS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 617 (6) Industrial Relations1 1. Workers and employers, without distinction whatsoever, should have the right to establish (subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948) and, subject only to the rules of the organisation concerned, to join organisations of their own choosing without previous authorisation. 2. Steps should therefore be taken to apply in all territories the provisions in this regard of the Right of Association (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention, 1947. 3. It should be an aim of policy to apply in full in all non-metropolitan territories the provisions of the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948, and the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949, by such stages and in such a manner as may promote the development of a free, independent, stable and responsible trade union movement. 4. In territories where special legal provision is necessary to enable employers' and workers' organisations to perform their accepted and normal functions with legality in view of the position at common law in the absence of such provisions, the necessary legislation should be enacted in respect of all such territories. 5. It should be an objective of policy to apply the same legislation regarding the right to organise to all sections of the community. 6. It should be an objective of policy to encourage the development of trade unions constituted, as to membership, on the basis of common economic and social interest, without regard to race, national origin or political affiliations. 7. Workers' organisations should devote their attention primarily to the advancement of the social and economic interests of their members through industrial action. 8. Collective bargaining constitutes the method of determining wages and conditions of employment which is in the best interest of all parties and is the most conducive to equitable and harmonious relations between employer and worker. Appropriate measures should therefore be taken to guarantee effective recognition of the right to organise and of collective bargaining in all territories and to facilitate collective bargaining in practice. 9. With a view to faciUtating the development of employers' and workers' organisations for collective bargaining purposes, formalities and legal requirements in respect of the formation, registration, activities and membership of such organisations should be as simple as possible. 10. Where the registration of employers' and workers' organisations is a necessary prerequisite for the functioning of such organisations and is subject to the discretion of the authorities in any respect, provision should be made for the possibility of judicial review of administrative decisions taken in respect of registration. 11. In order to facilitate compliance with the necessary formalities in regard to formation of employers' and workers' organisations, the competent authority should place, through Labour Departments in the territories, advisory services at the disposal of incipient organisations. Care should, however, be taken to ensure that the operation of such services is not in practice such as to restrict the normal field of activity of trade unions. 12. Governments should bear in mind that the early stages of the development of workers' organisations may be hampered by too extensive and detailed regulations fixing wages, hours and conditions of work, but policies designed to take this consideration into account should not be such as to prejudice the safeguarding and progressive development of workers' interests as a whole. 13. In order that collective bargaining procedures should be more extensively utilised in the territories, it is essential that employers' organisations of a representative character, adequate to the employment patterns of the territory concerned, should be encouraged to develop. 1 Conclusions adopted at the Committee's Fourth Session (Dakar, 1955). 618 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY 14. The more extensive utilisation of collective bargaining procedures in non-metropolitan territories is, above all, dependent on the responsibility, strength and effectiveness of workers' organisations. It is therefore essential that workers in the territories should make every effort to establish representative organisations based on a stable dues-paying membership to represent their industrial interests. 15. Particularly in territories in which employers' and workers' organisations are not as yet highly developed or firmly established, consideration should be given to the enactment of legislation specifically designed to ensure that workers enjoy adequate protection against acts of anti-union discrimination and that workers' and employers' organisations enjoy adequate protection against any acts of interference by each other in their establishment, functioning or administration. 16. Where appropriate, having regard to established collective bargaining practices, governments should give consideration to the extension of all or certain stipulations of collective agreements reached by organisations of a sufficiently representative character, to employers and workers not members of the organisations concerned but engaged in the occupation or industry covered by the agreement. In this connection, however, regard should be had to the provisions of Paragraph 5 of the Collective Agreements Recommendation, 1951. 17. In territories in which the law provides for restrictions in respect of strikes and lockouts, governments should take the responsibility for encouraging the setting up of suitable machmery for joint negotiation in the occupation, industry or undertakings concerned. 18. Facilities should be developed to enable leaders of management and labour in the territories to study general labour-management problems and human relations in industry and to enable trade union officials to familiarise themselves with appropriate methods to be utilised in their day-to-day activities, such as administrative methods, procedure for meetings, accounting, and the promotion of membership drives. 19. Facilities should be developed for education of the worker and trade union member in trade union principles. 20. Appropriate measures should be taken to promote, especially at the present early stage of development of most territories in respect of industrial relations, all means of organised contact between employers and workers, particularly at the level of the undertaking and through joint negotiating machinery at the level of the industry. 21. Employers, workers and their organisations should be associated in the framing of labour and social policy and legislation through such machinery as regional and territorial Labour Advisory Boards. 22. Provision should be made for the participation, in equal numbers and on equal terms, of employers' and workers' representatives in machinery for wage fixing. 23. Provision should be made in all territories for conciliation machinery for the investigation and settlement of industrial disputes and for the consultation and association of representatives of employers and workers in the establishment and working of such machinery. To this end, steps should be taken to apply the provisions in this regard of the Right of Association (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention, 1947. 24. Provision should be made to ensure the availability, where need arises, of suitable arbitration machinery for the use of the parties concerned. (7) Social and Economic Conditions in Rural Areas from Which Workers Migrate1 1. The governments concerned should intensify the efforts they are already making to improve the social and economic conditions prevaihng in the rural areas in which migrant workers originate, thus counteracting the disequilibrium resulting from the present practices of migration. 1 Conclusions adopted at the Committee's Second Session (Geneva, 1951). APPENDIX i: STANDARDS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 619 2. The governments concerned should, where necessary, also invite (whether individually or jointly or through the intermediary of such regional organisations as the Commission for Technical Co-operation South of the Sahara) the competent international organisations such as the United Nations, the International Labour Organisation, the Food and Agriculture Organisation, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the World Health Organisation, to co-operate in the study of these problems, in working out solutions and in their implementation by providing technical and financial assistance. 3. Without wishing to prejudice the technical measures to be studied, the points enumerated below should be given full consideration in connection with any policies designed to raise the economic and social level of the rural communities from which the migrant workers come: (a) policies to be adopted or improved with regard to the use, alienation and reservation of land, involving regulations concerning occupation, use and tenure of lands, methods and purposes of ahenation, guarantees of use in the interest of the population as a whole, building up of reserves of land for cultivation and resettlement in case of overcrowding, bilateral agreements as to the use of land in a neighbouring territory to relieve population pressure, collective and co-operative cultivation, purchase or expropriation of unused privately owned land reserves; (b) the establishment of comprehensive programmes for soil conservation and reconditioning, for the improvement of cultivation methods and crop selection, for the progressive mechanisation of agriculture where appropriate and the development of irrigation systems where necessary, for the setting up in rural areas of agricultural processing industries and of other industries using raw materials produced in the region ; (c) the establishment of comprehensive programmes for the improvement of animal husbandry and of the use of land set apart for that purpose and for the production of animal proteins in general, whether in the form of cattle, poultry or fish; (d) the organisation of markets within easy reach of the agricultural producers; (e) improvement of local and main communications in order to facilitate the movement of agricultural products and the reduction of costs of transportation to the markets and of the number of middlemen; (f) the development of appropriate price and marketing policies, including co-operative marketing, and of credit facilities for farmers, including co-operative credit facilities ; (g) the establishment, in rural areas, of suitable industries, both of the factory and of the handicraft type; (h) the introduction or development of technical training adapted to the needs of the rural communities and the establishment of agricultural and husbandry extension services ; (i) revision of systems of taxation and labour levies of a nature which cause peasants and their famihes to seek wage-earning employment elsewhere or leave them insufficient time for agriculture itself; (j) the development of rural housing, education, health and social welfare facilities, with particular attention to a progressively improved diet for the Native population; and (k) the furthering of community development activities to raise living standards. (D) CONCLUSIONS ADOPTED BY THE INTER-AFRICAN LABOUR CONFERENCE OF THE C.C.T.A.1 [The following section contains—(1) a general resolution of the First Session, followed by conclusions adopted by subsequent sessions on (2) free public employment services, (3) organisation of technical and vocational training, (4) efficiency of workers, (5) preliminary consideration of methods of initiating the study of productivity, (6) human factors in productivity, (7) productivity of labour, (8) vocational training, vocational guidance For a note on the C.C.T.A. See Appendix V. 620 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY and apprenticeship, (9) advancement of African workers and the training of supervisors, (10) wage-fixing machinery, (11) employment of women, (12) housing of workers, (13) improvement of welfare of workers, (14) definition, aim and application of social security, (15) family allowances, (16) old-age pensions, (17) sickness benefit, (18) accident compensation, (19) prevention of accidents and occupational diseases, (20) relations with trade unions in Africa, (21) settlement of labour disputes, (22) prevention and settlement of disputes, (23) organisation and functions of labour departments, (24) stabilisation and migration of workers and floating urban manpower.] (1) Final Resolution of Fust Session (Jos, 1948) The discussions of the Conference, after taking account of different methods of organisation and local conditions, have shown that there is a similar trend in policy in all the territories represented. In particular the Conference recognises the constructive role to be played by the African trade union movement, when fully representative of workers' interests. It has made recommendations on the essential part to be played by technical and professional education in raising the standard of Ufe in African society as well as on the necessity of improving present systems of social security. It recommends the extension wherever possible of voluntary systems of collective bargaining on general conditions of work and especially on wages. Finally, it emphasises the essential role to be played, from the point of view of putting its recommendations into effect, by Labour Departments, and considers that it is important that such Departments should be granted for that reason authority commensurate with their high responsibilities in social progress. (2) Free Public Employment Services1 General Aims of the Employment Service The Service should aim to bring together labour supply and labour demand in a balanced relationship, both in respect of total numbers and in respect of each category of worker. The way in which it can best achieve this aim depends on the circumstances of each country. General Principles for an Employment Service in an African Setting 1. Placement should not necessarily be regarded as the primary function of the Service. 2. The needs of each territory must be considered separately and objectively; this involves consideration of— (a) the growth, health and movement of population; (b) the composition of the labour force, both actual and potential, and the anticipated manpower requirements arising both in the normal course of development of agriculture, industry and commerce and as a result of any projected government economic development plans; (c) training facilities available; (d) the way the employment market works—the areas of recruitment ; the areas of shortage and surplus; the way in which workers and jobs are brought together; the efficiency of this system to enable the employer to obtain the worker he needs, and the worker to have a wide choice of employment. 3. To obtain such information some form of continuing organisation is required to undertake regular reporting of changes in the manpower situation in all areas. Such reports will enable the administration to develop a manpower policy taking into account— (a) economic development; 'Conclusions adopted at the Fourth Session (Beira, 1955). APPENDIX i: STANDARDS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 621 (b) (c) vocational training; the areas of recruitment. This organisation should, as experience is gained, become an essential part of the Employment Service. 4. The Employment Service should include machinery to facilitate mobility of workers, or if mobility is excessive, the means of taking practical measures to reduce it. It should also be able to give advice or assistance to workers and their families on—• (a) employment prospects within the territory and in other countries; (b) provision of assistance in transport; (c) welfare facilities in transit; (d) medical examination; (e) provision of identity papers and employment books; (f) assistance in the payments of remittances to dependants of migrant workers. 5. The Employment Service should be able to indicate the needs of the territory in the field of vocational training and should be associated with the selection of trainees and their subsequent placement in employment. In the case of apprenticeship schemes the Service should be associated with the administration of these schemes. 6. Provision should be made as soon as possible for giving vocational guidance on the basis of employment information available and, at a later stage, simple aptitude testing. 7. Placement work may be either on a national, regional or local basis, or in certain employments. Special arrangements may be made to obtain the services of seasonal workers. 8. Priority should be given to the establishment of employment offices in the main urban centres and in the principal areas of employment. The Employment Service organisation should be controlled by government and the Service should, as far as possible, be free to the workers. 9. Provision should be made, where appropriate, for consultation with representatives of employers and workers regarding the operation of the Service. Review of Existing Employment Services Territories should review the working of their existing Service in the light of the foregoing principles. In evaluating the efficiency of existing services, regard should be had not only to the number of placements achieved but to the way in which the Service assists in the formation and execution of manpower policy. Technical Requirements of an Employment Service All these activities—reporting, guidance, selection, placement—require technical competence and the possession of occupational information. Basic codes of occupational classification and industrial classification are essential, also some knowledge of the collection and presentation of manpower statistics. Opportunity should be given to personnel to remain on employment service work for some time and to acquire training on the job by such methods as special courses and visits to employers' establishments. It would thus be possible to build up a body of experienced officials who will be able to adjust the supply of manpower according to needs. Registration, Identification and Trade Testing It is desirable that arrangements be made as far as possible for registration and identification of workers in wage-earning employment and for the provision of employment books in which details of employment and wage rates are recorded. Such arrangements should normally include the use of finger-prints and photographs, with central records for control purposes. Entries in employment books should not be authorised which would adversely affect the workers' employment opportunities. 622 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Wherever possible, skilled workers in the main occupations should be trade-tested and furnished with certificates of competence. The trade tests should conform to a uniform standard throughout the territory. Identification certificates, employment books and trade-test certificates may be separate documents or, as is already the case in some territories, a single document may contain two or all three of these records. (3) Organisation of Technical and Vocational Training1 1. After a full and informative exchange of information regarding the different systems of technical and vocational training in operation or contemplated in the different territories represented, it was agreed that such training was of the highest importance, both from the point of view of increasing the wage-earning capacity and general standard of living of the peoples of Africa and the creation of a well-balanced state of society. 2. In the latter connection it was noted that the provision of appropriate training for women would have particularly valuable social results. 3. The Conference further considered the particular role of Labour Departments in connection with technical and vocational training. It appeared to the Conference that in so far as it is the State's responsibility to provide such facilities, the primary executive responsibility should rest with the Education Department. In order, however, that the training provided shall be directly related to the industrial economy of the territories, the discharge of this responsibility by the Education Department should be effectively guided by the advice of the Labour Department, of employers (including both government and private employers) and, where appropriate and possible, of workers' representatives. 4. The Labour Department's direct responsibility lies in the establishment of an independent system of trade tests and in the control of the placing of trainees in employment. (4) Efficiency of Workers 2 To increase the efficiency of the African worker, regard must be had to his physical condition and to his standard of vocational training. These are essential factors conditioning his ability to realise his desire for higher wages. A. Physical examination gives a general assessment of a man's ability but the object of selection must be to obtain men capable of performing duties requiring particular skill or demanding certain determined reactions. This requires recourse to a system of ability tests by which the worker can be guided towards the trade or group of trades which suits him best. This method of approach has given encouraging results in the French Cameroons and the Belgian Congo. B. The great mass of African workers are still learners. To acquire technical qualifications a degree of incentive is needed. To achieve this, there should be a number of grades of qualification because the African's progress must be gradual owing to his lack of industrial background. His sense of responsibility will grow as he moves from grade to grade. It is important that the technical standard of each grade shall be clearly defined, if possible by means of trade tests. These tests should have regard to speed and output. II Generally speaking it is necessary, in order to achieve greater efficiency in labour, to promote conditions in which workers can be stabilised. This can be achieved if the following conditions obtain: (a) reasonable housing; 1 Conclusions adopted at the First Session (Jos, 1948). •Conclusions adopted at the Second Session (Elizabethville, 1950). APPENDIX i: STANDARDS AND RECOMMENDATIONS (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) 623 a proper diet; encouragement of normal family life; attractive social surroundings; at least the same social security as he would have in his country of origin; the level of wages of skilled workers should be comparable to that of clerical workers. Ill Good relations between the worker and the employer will affect output. To produce these good relations, it is necessary— (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) to remember that in certain parts of Africa the artisan was formerly high in the social order, but in any case, whatever has been his social state in the past, it is necessary today to stress the value of manual work; that the employer should help the African to adapt himself to his new way of life ; this adaptation must be progressive and should keep pace with the increase in his technical skill; that wherever possible, the employer should provide highly skilled workmen to help and work alongside the worker. This constant example of efficiency will develop the worker's desire to emulate his work and also his sense of pride; that the employer should see that work is well organised in his workshops and, particularly, that the right tools are available, and the best use made of them; that the employer should see that his workmen thoroughly understand the technical and social purpose of the work demanded of them; that supervisors and foremen should be trained to teach the trade in which they hold a position of responsibility. IV In order to promote the efficiency of the worker, provision must be made for his education and also for the education of his family: (a) Where possible, classes for adults should be held at regular intervals and such classes should have a vocational bias. If the teaching is carried out by the employer with his skilled workers, co-operation in business will be strengthened. The education of adults in this way will maintain the respect due by the younger to the older. (b) It is essential to raise the wife of the worker parallel with her husband in the social scale by education of a practical nature and the teaching of the young girl should take the same form as that of her mother. (c) As the over-riding need of Africa is good workers, it is necessary that elementary school children are given a high respect of manual work, in order to diminish the wrong sense of superiority of the clerical worker. This should not prejudice the best pupils from having the opportunity to advance to secondary and higher education. V (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) With regard to the agricultural worker it is necessary to stress the following points: Agricultural workers need much supervision in order that they may learn the correct way to carry out their various tasks. It is as important to provide social centres in rural areas as it is in industrial areas. There should be provided sufficient schools for the children in rural areas. The teaching in these schools should have an agricultural bias. Social welfare workers should be provided for rural areas. In order to promote proper relations between the new employer and his African agricultural employee, each country should ensure that such employer is made fully aware of his responsibilities and of the way he should discharge them. 624 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY VI The Conference took note from a study of the papers submitted by the various delegations that most territories have adopted measures to guarantee minimum wages; it expresses the hope that those territories which have not adopted such measures will do so as soon as possible, on the basis of the periodic study of " minimum needs ". It is understood that the " minimum wage " will be higher than the absolute " minimum needs ". VII The Conference has not addressed itself to the question of promoting output of efficiency by means of bonus schemes in different industries and in different territories. The study of such schemes should be encouraged in each country. (5) Preliminary Consideration of Methods of Initiating the Study of Productivy 1 1. The interest in increased production is world-wide and various methods are being introduced in many countries to increase productivity and thereby achieve a higher standard of human welfare. The Conference at Elizabeth ville in 1950 recognised the need to extend common action to improve the material and social conditions of workers in Africa. In Africa, as elsewhere, it is important to increase productivity in agriculture, mining, manufacturing industries, commerce and the common services. Two special factors increase this importance; in the first place, Africa still lags behind in general economic development; secondly, there is at present a threatened shortage of manpower in Africa. 2. Productivity can be examined in relation to: (a) the whole economy of a country; (b) one field in that economy, e.g. manufacturing industries; (c) one industry; (d) one establishment. The wider the field of study the greater is the number of experts required. Unfortunately, there would seem to be no expert, either in Africa or elsewhere, capable of examining the enormous field of productivity as a whole. In contrast, the smaller the area and the more limited the study, the more likely will the conclusions be precise, practicable and useful. Indeed, the most practicable level of research and application would seem to be at the level of an individual establishment. Of course, since each area and each industry, and sometimes each undertaking, has its own special problems, some of the conclusions can only be of limited application. 3. Productivity as a human objective is no new concept. Many methods of increasing productivity have been examined and put into practice. These cover such aspects as education (general and technical), vocational guidance, work studies, production planning, working conditions, incentive schemes, merit rating, and so on. It is not, however, suggested that there is no need for further research and experiment into the many factors affecting productivity—even in advanced industrialised countries. It is suggested, however, that as Africa can make use of the knowledge and experience gained in other countries, her limited personnel, time and resources could find their most productive use in fields more peculiar to herself. For example, attention could be concentrated on specific factors in Africa, such as fundamental characteristics due perhaps to climate, human traditions or attitudes, which may tend to limit the successful application of new techniques to increase productivity and call for modified application of new methods to African conditions. Such specialisation in labour studies would inevitably add something to the world's store of knowledge and thus help to increase general productivity. 1 Conclusions adopted at the Third Session (Bamako, 1953). APPENDIX i: STANDARDS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 625 The Conference, therefore, while recognising the influence of many factors in productivity, considers that the field of study must at this stage be severely limited if any useful and practicable conclusions are to be reached. Moreover the problem of productivity is urgent and calls for the earliest possible action—another factor which suggests a limitation of the scope of study. 4. The Conference accordingly is of the opinion that there are specific factors affecting productivity and labour relations in Africa and that these are to be found mainly on the human side. It is true that many of these human factors were discussed at the last Conference. At the same time the considerations suggested in regard to them concern only the more obvious and immediately practicable steps. The special factors to which, however, the Committee wishes to draw attention can be said to include— (a) certain objective influences: nutrition, disease, climate; (b) psychological and social factors: motives in life, attitude to work and wealth, tradition, customs, tribal security, sense of " belonging ", prestige, sense of responsibility, education ; (c) economic factors: disciplines of industrial life, concept of time, supervision. 5. On the basis of the above considerations the Conference is of the opinion that the following topics are of immediate and urgent importance: (a) incentives, motives, workers' status, attitudes to work; (b) attitudes to working with, or for, members of other racial or tribal groups; (c) diet and efficiency; (d) effects of climate (e.g. high temperature) on sustained work; (e) labour instability, particularly migrant labour; (f) status and influence of women in African society, particularly on attitude to work and standards of living. 6. The 1950 Conference recommended setting up an Inter-African Labour Bureau with the duty, inter alia, of collecting, co-ordinating and distributing information received from member governments and of maintaining contact with such specialists as may be able to assist with information and advice. This institute is now established at Bamako. The Conference therefore recommends that the institute should— (a) draw up and send a questionnaire to the member governments, with the object of finding the scope and content of existing information on the items mentioned in paragraphs 4 and 5; (b) analyse and summarise the replies, reports and memoranda submitted; (c) distribute summarised information to the member governments. In this way a good deal of valuable information and experience would be made more productive and as a result encourage more research and discussion of the special African aspects of productivity. The Conference also considers that, in view of the specialised scope and character of the required information and reports, some short-term assistance/either by an individual expert and/or a specialised organisation will be necessary to help the institute in the preparation of the inquiry and in the evaluation of the material. The Conference recommends that governments should consider whether the work of collecting the necessary information could with advantage be carried out in consultation with a specially appointed committee or committees which should include representatives of employers' and workers' organisations. 7. The Conference is of the opinion that the member governments could usefully promote a wider understanding of the meaning of greater productivity and its aims, together with the determining factors and the anticipated results. 8. Finally, the Conference considers that member governments could help to promote increased productivity by giving all possible encouragement to research into methods of increasing productivity, including encouragement to all those persons and organisations whose initiative and co-operation could contribute to increasing human welfare. 41 626 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY (6) Human Factors in Productivity1 (A) Health and Nutrition Health. (1) As regards the general measures to be taken in any campaign against endemic diseases in respect of the whole population in any particular region, it is recommended to governments that, while they should concentrate their efforts in areas of growing economic development, they should not neglect the areas from which the workers originate, where the preventive aspect of medical work should be stressed. (2) The Conference draws the attention of the governments to the importance of medical services for the workers, considers that systematic and periodic examinations of the workers are desirable, more especially in unhealthy industries—a meticulous examination should always be obligatory for a worker in unhealthy undertakings at the end of his employment and should be carried out as far as possible in other undertakings—and recommends that when these examinations are carried out or when other medical examinations are required, regular statistics should be established and communicated to the government departments concerned. Nutrition. Considering that in widespread areas of Africa the diet of the indigenous populations shows some deficiencies prejudicial to productivity the Conference recommends, so far as the nutrition of workers is concerned— (1) That governmental or other specialised organisations should wherever possible, determine the composition of a minimum balanced diet, taking into account local resources and customs. (2) That in the undertakings where a medical service is organised the medical officer should determine from time to time whether or not the workers suffer from malnutrition or undernourishment and, if that is established, should report to the management who should, if they supply the workers with food, make such alterations in the diet as the medical officer recommends, subject to the requirements of existing legislation or in the absence of such legislation the directions of any competent authority. The Conference further recommends that all possible means should be used to educate workers who feed themselves to the use of proper diets and to ensure that the appropriate commodities for such diets are readily obtainable. When the ration is given in kind, consideration should be given, where local circumstances justify such a policy, to replacing it gradually by its real value in money which, in the light of consideration of health, should in particular permit the worker to acquire a diet suitable and sufficient for himself and his family. In examining this question the workers should be consulted wherever poásible. (B) Incentives to Productivity Increases in Remuneration. On the basis of the information collected and of the work of the Fourth Session, the Conference notes that increases of remuneration ought in principle: (a) to lead to the social advancement of the worker and bring about a fuller realisation of his obligations; and (b) to provide an incentive to the employer to improve the conditions of work of his labour and its productivity. Considering that abnormally low wages result in the retention of productivity at a low level, the Conference recommends— that the guaranteed minimum wage, wherever it is established, should be fixed with a view to covering the vital needs of the worker. 1 Conclusions adopted at the Fourth Session (Beira, 1955). APPENDIX i: STANDARDS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 627 Considering that any increase in the wages of semi-skilled and skilled workers normally results from an improvement in their technical skill, the Conference recommends— (1) That employers should be encouraged to introduce rates of pay which take into account the degree of skill attained by the worker in his trade. (2) That all appropriate means should be used to facilitate the technical advancement of the worker. The Conference takes the view that wages must rise in relation to the increased productivity of the workers concerned. Payment for Task Work. The Conference considers that payment for work on a task basis is a form of remuneration which is often detrimental to an increased productivity. The Conference recognises, however, that in certain fields of activity and in certain areas any other method of remuneration would be difficult to apply in present circumstances and might not give good results. The Conference recommends that this method of remuneration should only be retained in cases where there is no alternative. Production Bonuses. The Conference recommends— That governments should encourage employers to introduce production bonus systems wherever possible. It is essential that the worker should understand beforehand the relation which exists between the bonus and the increase in productivity. In order to be effective such a system must produce attractive bonus rates and it is advisable that information concerning the bonus earned should be communicated to the worker as soon as possible after it has been earned. Housing. Considering that suitable housing indirectly influences the productivity of labour, the Conference draws the attention of governments to the conclusions concerning the housing of workers reached at the Second Session at Elizabethville, and recommends— That where, owing to the isolated situation of undertakings suitable accommodation is not available, governments should require the employers to provide housing for their workers. Other Incentives. The Conference is of the opinion that action taken in regard to the organisation of leisure pursuits, transport facilities, education of the workers' children and social security may have a less direct influence on the productivity of labour, but that it is likely to create an atmosphere favourable to the increase of productivity. Human Relations. The Conference considers that good human relations within the undertaking constitute one of the most important factors in the productivity of labour and are primarily conditioned by the quality of management and supervision, and— (1) That in the selection of managers and supervisors particular attention should be paid not only to the necessary technical quahfications but also to qualities of character which will ensure the right approach to labour relations. (2) That where necessary, managers and supervisors selected should be given instruction in the social and economic conditions of the area in which they are to be employed. With regard to African supervisors the Conference recommends in particular that employers should ensure that these supervisors are given such status, remuneration and other conditions of employment as will help them to maintain their authority. The Conference notes that excellent results have been obtained in a number of territories by the use of special techniques of training within industry which have been used in Europe and adapted to local circumstances, and also notes that in one instance particularly 628 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY good results were obtained from the employment for this purpose of supervisors with a long experience of African conditions. The Conference further considers that a clear and easy medium of communication between worker and worker and between worker and supervisor is of outstanding importance and recommends that where this does not exist a common language should be gradually adopted. In this connection it is considered that this should be an official European language in the territory, but until such time as the African workers are sufficiently acquainted with this language supervisors should be required to have a knowledge of the most appropriate African language. The Conference considers that good human relations condition good industrial relations and constitute an important factor affecting the productivity of labour and recommends that all suitable measures be taken for the estabhshment of suitable industrial relations machinery within the structure of the undertaking. The Conference considers that good human relations can be promoted by the setting up of freely constituted professional organisation within the framework of existing legislation on condition that particular attention be paid to the training of trade union leaders. (7) Productivity of Labour1 The Fourth Session of the Inter-African Labour Conference. . . recommends to governments—■ That a fuller synthesis of the information supplied should be prepared by the InterAfrican Labour Institute. This study will be communicated to member governments and eventually be published by the Commission for Technical Co-operation in Africa South of the Sahara. Considering that it is necessary to pursue further studies and inquiries on the human factors in productivity in order to arrive at practical conclusions which could be used by any authority or person interested in these problems, the Conference recommends to governments^ (1) That they should instruct the Inter-African Labour Institute to undertake a scientific inquiry into the human factors in productivity in specified regions in the African territories chosen so as to cover various branches of activity. (2) That the Advisory Committee of the Inter-African Labour Institute, assisted by experts selected by reason of their experience, academic qualifications and scientific research work—■ (a) should determine the areas of the work; (b) should lay down the patterns of the studies and inquiries; (c) should work out the programme of the studies and research; (d) should propose for the approval of governments the research workers with different lines of specialisation who will make up the local teams; (e) should determine the equipment required and the load of execution of the work; (f) should direct and supervise the studies and research undertaken. The reports should be centralised at the Inter-African Labour Institute and communicated to member governments. The Director of the Inter-African Labour Institute should consolidate the reports into a synthesis for submission to the next session of the Inter-African Labour Conference. (8) Vocational Training, Vocational Guidance and Apprenticeship2 Pre-Apprenticeship Training During the child's education, side by side with his academic training, preliminary instruction in the manual trades generally practised in the region should be provided: 1 ! Conclusions adopted at the Fourth Session (Beira, 1955). Conclusions adopted at the Third Session (Bamako, 1953). APPENDIX i: STANDARDS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 629 elementary instruction in the trades envisaged, such as the handling of tools, the making of small articles of the usual type; in rural areas, elementary instruction in land and animal husbandry. This preliminary instruction should be regarded as a means of awakening in children the taste for manual crafts. Apprenticeship 1. A contract of apprenticeship, which should be preferably in writing, consists of an undertaking by an employer to give systematic occupational training to another person within a specified period, and by that person to perform work in the trade with a view to the completion of apprenticeship. Under the contract of apprenticeship the parties must comply with usages and customs of the trade. The employer must specify in the contract the training course which he undertakes to arrange for the apprentice to follow, either in the undertaking itself or outside it, where such courses are not laid down by legislation or regulations. 2. Regulations may require apprenticeships to be compulsory in certain undertakings and they may also specify the percentage of apprentices in proportion to the number of workers employed. 3. Suitable measures should be provided to ensure that an employer accepting apprentices is of good standing and has adequate means for training. 4. Regulations governing apprenticeship should include, inter alia, the following provisions : (a) the employer must agree to employ an apprentice only within the limits of the latter's capacity and only in work connected with the exercise of the trade; (b) the employer must take care of the health of the apprentice; (c) when apprentices are housed by the employer he must provide good living conditions ; (d) the duration of apprenticeship and arrangements to permit the transfer of an apprentice from one employer to another in cases when such transfer appears necessary or desirable; (e) the issue of a certificate of competency at the end of apprenticeship after an examination when necessary; (f) supervision of the conditions of employment of the apprentice must be arranged. Technical and Vocational Education before Employment 1. The purpose of technical and vocational education is to provide both theoretical and practical training in special schools, with a view to training workers at all levels of skill. 2. Technical instruction should provide several levels, and in particular the training of— (a) skilled workers; (b) highly skilled workers; (c) supervisors. 3. Each territory should develop a school system corresponding to the degree of its economic development. The number of skilled men trained in each group of occupations should be adapted to economic requirements. In order to fulfil these requirements programmes of economic development, either in force or in process of planning, will be taken into account. To this end the number of skilled men at all stages of technical education should be laid down in collaboration with employment services, when they exist, and wherever possible in collaboration with employers' and workers' organisations. 4. Teaching programmes should enable the trainees to go from one level to the next according to their abilities ; they must include a suitable admixture of theoretical and practical teaching; they should leave room for general culture and the development of a sense of social responsibility. 5. The required qualification at each level of instruction and the certificates and diplomas issued on leaving school should correspond to uniform standards in each trade in a given territory. 630 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY 6. Technical and vocational education should be provided by a competent staff having extensive experience of its trades and adequate teaching training. Occupational Training during Employment 1. All workers in employment, whether or not they have undergone occupational training, should have the possibility of developing their knowledge and aptitudes. For this purpose there should be provision for suitable measures designed to— (a) give training to unskilled workers; (b) improve the qualification of skilled men; (c) encourage in every way the promotion of workers. 2. During employment, occupational training may be given in special centres, or in undertakings, or at evening classes. It may include a complete training programme or supplementary courses either after work or during work. In order to obtain good results in the field it would be advisable to give present and potential supervisors and foremen of undertakings a training in teaching (T.W.I.). 3. Contributions to the financing of special centres, training centres in undertakings, and evening classes, by both government and employers might be envisaged. 4. Certificates of competency should be issued at the end of training after examination where applicable. 5. All suitable steps should be taken to ensure in the territory the standardisation of training and its adaptation to economic requirements. Side by side with this supplementary technical training, instruction may be given in order to complete the workers' general education and development of a sense of social responsibility. 6. All the measures provided for in this section and the supervision of their application by the authorities concerned should take place in close liaison with the employment services where they exist. 7. It would be desirable to consult employers' and workers' organisations on the organisation of centres and the drawing up of programmes. Training of Rural Craftsmen 1. Wherever the development of the rural economy makes it possible, consideration should be given to the setting-up of training centres for rural craftsmen to enable them to acquire sufficient knowledge of one or more crafts corresponding to local requirements. 2. These centres, in or near the area concerned, should operate in close liaison with the technical services, the agricultural services and the labour services. 3. Instructors specially prepared for the training of rural craftsmen should, in addition to the requisite theoretical knowledge, have sufficient knowledge of traditional techniques and of the social environment. 4. Those undergoing training at training centres for rural craftsmen should preferably be chosen from amongst the members of local communities. 5. At the end of the training period a certificate should be issued. 6. In deserving cases consideration might be given to the granting of a loan to help rural craftsmen holding such certificates to meet the expenses involved in establishing themselves in the trade for which they have undergone training. Vocational Guidance 1. The purpose of vocational guidance is to give the individual all necessary assistance in the choice of a trade, and in his subsequent progress, taking into account his aptitudes and the requirements of the labour market. 2. Vocational guidance should be made available to all persons on completion of primary education or seeking employment or any form of training or apprenticeship. APPENDIX i: STANDARDS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 631 3. Vocational guidance, to the extent applicable to individual cases, should be based upon— (a) a medical examination with a view to determining the conditions of health of the persons concerned and their physical fitness for the training or type of employment envisaged; (b) ability, aptitude and possibly other tests; (c) information as to the nature and advantages of jobs, the opportunities they offer in the employment market, the aptitudes and training they require; (d) any other advice that may assist the person concerned in his choice of training or employment. 4. Those responsible for vocational guidance may be called upon to check the reaction of workers to that training in order to ascertain that their aptitudes are compatible with the training and possibly to advise a transfer to different employment. 5. Those concerned with vocational guidance should work in close touch with employment services where they exist. In order to guide children and juveniles they should work in co-operation with education departments and parents' and youths' associations, if any. Co-operation with employers' and workers' organisations should also be encouraged. 6. Vocational guidance officers should be chosen for their practical as well as their theoretical qualifications. (9) Advancement of African Workers and the Training of Supervisors1 I. Advancement of African Workers 1. A basic condition for success in artisan training is that the trainee should have attained a reasonable level of general education. To a large extent, therefore, vocational training programmes will need to be geared to general educational policy and services. 2. The Conference considers that, in principle, it is the responsibility of industry to shoulder the main burden of artisan training. However, it is accepted that, in the present stage of development in most African territories, it is both right and necessary that governments themselves should provide the general framework of training facilities, particularly for African workers. 3. There is a need in all territories for more technical institutions for the training of artisans, and also for the development of rural training centres where selected workers can receive basic instruction in the crafts required in the rural economy. It is recommended that, in the siting of technical and trade schools, governments should as far as possible adopt a policy of decentralisation. 4. It is agreed that the aim of institutional training programmes should not be in every case to produce a fully quahfied artisan, but generally to turn out workers with a basis of technical knowledge which will enable them to serve usefully in industry and, at the same time, to take advantage of the opportunities for further training provided in their employment. 5. There is an urgent need for the development of on-the-job training in all branches of industry. Employers have a special responsibility in regard to this. It is recommended that governments should do all in their power to encourage apprenticeship training in industry, and should also aim at improving the facilities available for the part-time technical instruction of apprentices in training. 6. Trade testing should be regarded as an essential element in any system of artisan training applied to Africans. Governments are urged to give special consideration to its development, bearing in mind the need for centralised direction and the need also for uniformity in standards of testing. 1 Conclusions adopted at the Fifth Session (Lusaka, 1957). 632 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY 7. With the object of achieving uniformity in the nomenclature used for describing standards of attainment in artisan training, it is recommended that the Inter-African Labour Institute be invited to make a special study of this subject. II. Training of Supervisors 1. The Conference urges upon governments the need for expanding facilities for the training of supervisors, and stresses particularly the desirability of encouraging the emergence of a foreman class from among the African workers. 2. In all forms of supervisory training, it is essential to inculcate in the supervisor the idea that he is part of the management cadre ; one way of achieving this is by managements consulting supervisors before taking decisions affecting their spheres of responsibility. 3. Special care is needed in the selection of supervisors, and aptitude testing techniques may well be of value in this regard. (10) Wage-Fixing Machinery1 1. The fixing of wage rates by collective agreements freely negotiated between recognised trade unions, which are also representative of the workers concerned, and employers or employers' organisations shall be an accepted aim of policy. 2. (a) Where no adequate arrangements exist for the fixing of wages by negotiation, necessary arrangements shall be made for minimum wages to be fixed by statute, such statutory machinery providing scope for consultation with employers' and workers' representatives. (b) Such wage-fixing arrangements shall have regard to significant changes in indices of retail prices in the areas concerned. 3. Systematic surveys should be undertaken to determine typical workers' budgets, and indices of retail prices based on such surveys should be published at regular intervals. (11) Employment of Women1 1. With the object of safeguarding the position of women in the wage-earning economy, the Conference recommends as follows: (a) In territories where minimum wage regulation is practised, such regulation should be applied to female as well as to male workers. (b) Education policies should as far as possible be designed so as to offer the same opportunities for females as for males. (c) Governments should give special consideration to the provision of vocational training facilities for women in occupations especially suited to their employment. (d) It should be the aim of employment service organisations to cater adequately for female work-seekers. In areas where large numbers of women attend at employment exchanges, special arrangements, preferably under the charge of female officers, should be made for their reception. (e) In the framing of labour policy, governments should have careful regard to the social problems likely to arise from the increasing employment of women in urban areas. 2. In view of the increasing entry of women into wage-earning occupations, it is recommended that governments should keep the subject of their legal protection continuously under review. Provision exists in the legislation of most territories for the exercise of rulemaking powers. It is thought that greater use might be made of these powers, particularly in regard to such matters as the prohibition of employment of women in occupations liable to tax their physical capacity or otherwise detrimental to their health. 1 Conclusions adopted at the Fifth Session (Lusaka, 1957). APPENDIX i: STANDARDS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 633 (12) Housing of Workers1 I 1. In every township or trading centre there should be sufficient land provided for the housing of African workers. 2. Such areas should be zoned to provide land for— (a) housing to be constructed by employers for their African workers; these should be taken over by public authorities as soon as practicable; (b) housing to be built for Africans or by Africans for their own occupation or for the accommodation of other Africans; (c) houses to be constructed by public authorities for letting to employers at economic rents or for accommodation to be let to individual Africans; or where any area is set aside for use of public authorities there should be land for the construction of houses of the family type with a view to allowing the African occupant to purchase on easy terms. 3. The Conference expresses the hope that as many Africans as possible will become the owners of their own homes as soon as is practicable. II 1. In the allocation of areas for African housing, good building land should be chosen where possible in order to keep the cost of construction and development as low as possible. 2. Wherever possible, any need for land for the purpose of garden produce should be met by setting aside a suitable area for allotments. Ill 1. During the first years of construction, suitable officers should be appointed to supervise development schemes. 2. One of the essential duties of the officers should be to supervise and assist the African in building his own home to a proper standard. IV Plans should be made with a view to the training of African assistants to understudy these officers. The rights of occupation of the African living in his own house constructed under such scheme should be protected. VI 1. Communal services (roads, water supplies, drainage, lighting, etc.) should as far as possible be installed prior to or parallel with the development of the scheme. 2. Suitable regulations should be made as to the construction for observance by the builder of African houses under this scheme. VII 1. It is proper that the African householder should make a reasonable contribution towards the bettering of services provided for him. ' Conclusions adopted at the Second Session (Elizabethville, 1950). 634 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY 2. Since the need for African housing is so great, the training of building artisans should receive the highest priority. Youth organisations should be also directed toward this sphere of social endeavour. VIII Arrangements should be made to afford the supply of necessary materials of good quality at cheap rates to Africans building their own houses. IX The principle should be accepted of financing by way of loan, advance of materials, or by way of a system of tenant purchase for Africans building under the scheme. The building of an adequate fence or of a temporary fence pending the planting and growth of a hedge, should be made a condition of all grants of plots for the erection of individual houses. XI 1. As an emergency measure, in areas where it is found necessary, a sub-zone should be created where Africans could build their own houses in temporary materials. Such houses should not be let. 2. Where possible the plinth, at least, should be in permanent materials. 3. Reconstruction of, or addition to such buildings should only be carried out in permanent materials. XII The search for cheap methods of construction should be continued. XIII Governments should take steps to reduce the duty on materials imported for use in the building of houses for African workers. (13) Improvement of the Welfare of Workers1 General Principles 1. The improvement of the welfare of the workers consists in raising the standard of their physical conditions, intellectual attainments, and moral and spiritual values. 2. For the purpose of this Conference the expression " workers' welfare " has a limited meaning and consists, on the one hand, of medical services and, on the other hand, of social services, including the provision of necessary accommodation and facilities. Provision of housing is not included, as the subject was fully discussed at the Conference at Elizabethville in 1950. 3. The improvement of workers' welfare has several aspects and assumes that suitable measures will be taken in the interests of the workers both within the undertaking and outside it. 4. It is generally accepted that measures to be taken within the undertaking should be the responsibility of the employer, while the improvement of the workers' welfare outside the undertaking should be the responsibility of public authorities. 5. It is therefore essential to ensure close co-operation between undertakings and public authorities in order to co-ordinate effort and avoid duplication. 1 Conclusions adopted at the Third Session (Bamako, 1953). APPENDIX I! STANDARDS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 635 6. It is furthermore important to bear in mind the extent of the medical services which should be made available to the population as a whole in order to raise the existing standards of health to a satisfactory level. 7. Social services have two aspects, those during working hours and those after working hours. The aims of the social services are in particular— (a) during working hours, to encourage the use of methods which will make work more attractive and less arduous; (b) outside working hours, to study and put into effect methods of promoting individual and social education of workers and their families so as to enable them to make the most of their resources and broaden their lives. Medical Services The Conference recommends that member States— 1. Recognise that workers and their families should be provided with or have made available to them medical services which would be the responsibility either of the employers or of competent authorities, or would result from a joint contributory medical benefit scheme. 2. Undertake to pay particular attention to the question of maternity care, including prenatal and postnatal benefits for female workers. 3. Make legislative or administrative provision, taking into account the numbers employed in an undertaking, for minimum standards to be observed in the provision of medical care and in particular medical and health staff, equipment and accommodation. 4. Organise as far as possible a system of medical inspection to ensure the observance of legislation relating to the health of workers. Social Services The Conference recommends that member States— 1. Recognise the necessity for the progressive improvement of workers' conditions by taking suitable measures to secure the provision of special services and, with this object in view, shall give active consideration to the following: (a) during working hours and at the place of work, attention should be paid to such matters as working methods, resting and feeding arrangements, and facilities for occupational hygiene, with a view to appropriate action being taken; (b) as regards social services outside working hours, attention should be paid to such matters as design and layout of housing, general, technical and domestic education of workers and their families, and facilities for full enjoyment of leisure. 2. Accept as an aim of policy— (a) the creation and development of suitably staffed public social welfare services; (b) the organisation by undertaking (in so far as they are able) efficient social services for the benefit of their workers; and (c) in view of desirability and necessity of creating in all workers a social conscience and sense of responsibility, the encouragement of their participation, both financial and administrative, to the fullest possible extent in the conduct of social services. (14) Definition, Aim and Application of Social Security1 1. The Conference sought for a definition of the term " social security " and decided to deal only with social security as applied to wage earners. After discussion the Conference unanimously agreed to give the term " social security " the meaning given to it in 1 Conclusions adopted at the First Session (Jos, 1948). 636 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY article 12 of the Social Policy in Dependent Territories (Supplementary Provisions) Recommendation adopted by the International Labour Conference in Paris in 1945 (No. 74). 2. It was agreed that the aim of social security was— (a) to protect the wage earner against all risks liable to lessen his earning capacity in cases of accident, sickness, maternity, old age, death of the breadwinner or unemployment; and (b) to assist the wage earner in meeting his immediate family obligations. 3. As regards the application of social security measures to African territories, the Conference was of the opinion that—• (a) legislation covering workmen's compensation for accidents and occupational diseases should be introduced without delay where it does not already exist. The aim should be that until systems of state insurance are possible legislation should be based on compulsory insurance by the employer and should provide machinery for periodic payments where this is considered desirable in the interests of the seriously injured worker or in the case of his death for his immediate dependants; (b) thereafter the possibility and practicability of applying the other measures must be progressive in nature according to the stage of development of the populations. The order of priority shall be the responsibility of each territory having regard to local conditions ; (c) where tribal organisation has ceased to be effective, consideration should be given to the introduction for the wage earners of a system of old-age pensions and family assistance, with due regard to local conditions; (d) where there exist means of representation, the advice of the representative bodies should be sought on social security questions and taken into consideration so far as possible; (e) at such time as it is possible to institute measures of social security, the organisation and direction of these measures shall be vested in a central organisation. This organisation should include representatives of employers and workers. The metropolitan countries should render technical assistance for the introduction of such a system. (15) Family Allowances1 The Conference has studied the various reports submitted on the preparatory work done on the question of family allowances and has heard reports of countries and territories that already have a system of family allowances. The Conference agrees that it is desirable that the wages (which may be in the form of basic wages plus special allowances) paid to the worker, taken together with the social services and any other benefits available to him, should take account of and include provision for his family responsibilities. On the proposal of certain delegations, the following text was examined by the Conference and recommended by it for further study: 1. Taking into consideration the particular conditions obtaining in each country a system of family allowances could be applied in the following manners: (a) as regards beneficiaries— (i) benefits extended to all workers, irrespective of their origin; (ii) limited application, taking into account demographic and social factors, and the wage structure peculiar to each country. (b) as regards benefits— (i) assistance to the family unit in the form of benefits in kind and in services ; or 1 Conclusions adopted at the Third Session (Bamako, 1953). APPENDIX i: STANDARDS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 637 (ii) assistance to the family in the form of allowances in cash; or (iii) assistance under (i) and (ii) combined, the relative proportions being determined by the special circumstances of the country. It is recommended that, whatever the form of allowance decided upon, the views of the beneficiaries be obtained in order to achieve the objects for which it is intended. 2. As it is desirable that such assistance should in the first place be given to workers who, by reason of their being detribahsed, no longer benefit from the traditional help enjoyed by workers who have remained in their tribal environment, the proposed scheme will for the time being be applied only to wage earners, from wheresoever they may have come. 3. In view of the necessity of paying due regard on the one hand to requirements of the general economy and, on the other, to ensuring that the assistance decided upon is directed to its intended purpose, it is desirable to define precisely the rights envisaged, both in cash and in kind, and also the means of guaranteeing the validity of claims thereto. 4. The right to allowances, in cash and in kind, will be granted only to a person who has effective charge of the child concerned and on condition that the child lives with him, except in cases when the separation is due to force majeure (such as in illness) or to educational requirements or the needs of his job. 5. The guarantees referred to in paragraph 3 may be of several kinds: (a) to avoid attempts at fraud— (i) a stipulation that the assistance would be granted only in respect of legitimate children, that is, children properly registered, or made legitimate by a subsequent marriage, the recognised natural issue of a marriage which is legitimate in accordance with local custom, or lastly, adopted children; (ii) the application of a procedure for certificates and periodical verification of the facts that the child is alive and still in the worker's charge; (iii) the application of effective control, by the competent authorities, of the use made of the assistance provided, and provision whereby the assistance might be suspended or terminated if it is not properly applied on behalf of the beneficiaries. (b) to avoid the possibility of misuse by stipulating that the grant of assistance is conditional on— (i) a minimum period of continuous service as a wage earner; (ii) attendance at work for a minimum number of days in each month, save for absences for good reason. 6. Family assistance may be given in three categories of allowances in cash and in kind: (i) prenatal, (ii) maternity, (iii) family. Prenatal and maternity allowances should be conditional on periodical medical examinations of the mother and on the obligation to use the services of doctors, or midwives approved by the health authorities. The allowances, in cash and in kind, will be granted in respect of children up to a given age, determined by local circumstances. They would also be conditional on the presentation of the children (up to an age to be determined by competent authorities) for periodical medical examination. 7. The cost of the introduction of a scheme of family allowances, which would not be within the expenses normally undertaken by specific public services, might be charged to employers or the public purse or the two together. This could be arranged by the creation of family assistance funds controlled jointly by officials and by representatives of employers and workers, or by any other system which might be judged preferable in the light of local conditions. Whatever may be the system operated, every means should be adopted for ensuring that fathers of families are not forced out of the labour market. 638 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY (16) Old-Age Pensions1 1. Persons in wage-earning employment who fulfil certain conditions in respect of stabilisation, to be determined by each government, should be entitled to benefits under an old-age pension scheme. 2. Benefits should be paid in the form of a pension or of allowances at intervals as short as possible. Exceptionally, the payment of a lump sum should be considered at the request of the beneficiary if he is recognised by a competent authority as able to make a sound investment of the funds thus placed at his disposal. 3. The necessary steps should be taken to establish the identity of workers and their entitlement to benefits, these measures being subject to control by the competent authorities. 4. Where contributions are payable, these should be paid to government organisations, or where collected by private organisations to a management committee on which employers and employees should, as far as possible, be represented subject to adequate government control. 5. The assigning or impounding of benefits should be prohibited except in cases specifically provided for in law. 6. The right of appeal should be ensured to beneficiaries. Any machinery set up for this purpose should ensure the expeditious settlement of disputes. 7. The maximum and minimum benefits which shall be payable shall be determined with due regard to local conditions. (17) Sickness Benefit1 1. It is desirable, where conditions permit, that workers who are in continuous employment should receive sickness benefits in respect of periods of temporary absence from work owing to sickness and that the scheme for the payment of sickness benefits for temporary incapacity, should, if possible, be considered on the basis of government participation or through an insurance scheme providing for the payment of contributions by employers and workers, or any other suitable means. 2. It is also desirable that benefits should be provided for workers permanently incapacitated through sickness or accident not attributable to their occupations, either by an insurance scheme or any other method. (18) Accident Compensation 2 The Inter-African Labour Conference, having considered the general principles which should be applied to the fixing of allowances, compensation and pensions, the provision of medical care and of drugs, the specifying of persons entitled to claim compensation, the means of substantiating claims and the method of insurance, recommends: 1. Fixing of Allowances, Compensation and Pensions. (a) With a view to guaranteeing the worker who has met with an accident a reasonable purchasing power to enable him to obtain the means of subsistence not only for himself but also for his family, he should be paid compensation calculated on a daily basis. This compensation should be based on the wages which he was receiving at the time of the injury and should continue during the period of his incapacity. 1 ! Conclusions adopted at the Fifth Session (Lusaka, 1957). Conclusions adopted at the Second Session (Elizabethville, 1950). APPENDIX i: STANDARDS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 639 (b) When temporary incapacity becomes permanent, the daily allowance should be replaced by a periodical payment, calculated in proportion to the wages and degree of incapacity of the injured worker. (c) In determining the periodical payment for permanent incapacity, regard should be had to the principle that compensation should be paid irrespective of whether the disability results in loss of earning capacity or not. (d) Until the injury is stable, the worker should be the subject of periodical medical examination and, if necessary, periodical payments should be revised according to the progress of the injury. (e) In case of death, periodical payments should be made to dependants, and, in determining dependency, the competent authority should pay due regard to local custom with respect to family relationships. (f) Compensation may be paid wholly or partly in a lump sum only when considered expedient by the competent authority. 2. Medical Care and Provision of Drugs. (a) An injured worker should be given reasonable medical aid, including drugs, artificial aids and hospitalisation, for as long as may be necessary. (b) The scale of charges for medical and surgical aid and drugs should be determined in consultation with the medical authorities of the territory. (c) Employers should be required to provide free transport for the removal of the injured worker from the place where the accident occurred to the place where medical care will be given. 3. Persons Entitled to Claims. Notwithstanding the difficulty of applying workmen's compensation law to workers in certain employments, it should be an aim of policy to provide compensation to all workers disabled by accidents arising out of and in the course of employment. In the case of death, compensation should be paid to dependants as defined in recommendation 1 (e). 4. Means of Substantiating Claims. (a) All accidents occurring in the course of work should be regarded as arising out of work. (b) It should therefore be sufficient to prove that the accident occurred in the course of work to establish the right to compensation. (c) The proof of the accidents should be provided by the compulsory reporting of all accidents resulting in death or incapacity of a prescribed period. The report should be submitted by the employer to the competent authority and insurance organisation. (d) The refusal of compensation should follow only when it is proved that the facts are contrary to those contained in the report. (e) An accident should not be considered as occurring in the course of and arising out of employment, if it is proved that the victim wilfully injured himself with the object of claiming compensation. Furthermore, the right to compensation may be contested in case of gross and wilful negligence, except when the accident causes death or serious incapacity. 5. Method of Insurance. (a) It is recommended that insurance against workers' compensation risk should be compulsory because— (i) insurance is a guarantee that the liability to pay compensation will be met; (ii) it provides an economic method of balancing good and bad risks between undertakings. (b) Exceptions to compulsory insurance should be permitted only under such conditions and supervision as are prescribed by law. (c) The Conference, being of the opinion that state insurance or any other similar system of insurance can best ensure the effective application of a policy of prevention, 640 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY confirms the principle accepted at Jos and recommends that industrial accident insurance should be, as soon as is practicable, put on a non-commercial basis. B The Inter-African Labour Conference, having reaffirmed the necessity for making adequate provision for compensation for industrial accidents, records its opinion that it is equally important to take all possible steps to prevent accidents and industrial diseases with their unnecessary human suffering, waste of manpower and economic loss. To this end, it recommends to the consideration of member territories— (a) the encouragement of industrial hygiene, safety, first aid, occupational re-education and rehabilitation generally; (b) the institution or financing of subsidiary bodies including joint works committees whose duties will be to encourage accident prevention and first-aid services in individual areas or establishments, and furnishing the necessary technical and other advice and assistance to such bodies; (e) the development of education, propaganda and pubhcity techniques, including the necessary documentation, on the subject of hygiene, safety, first aid and industrial medicine, including the training of personnel for propaganda and educative purposes; (d) generally taking any other steps, in consultation with the factory inspectorate, public bodies, organisations of employers, trade unions, etc., in the interests of industrial safety. The Inter-African Labour Conference, having noted with appreciation the steps taken by territories represented at the Jos Conference to put into effect the recommendations made thereat concerning workmen's compensation, hereby reaffirms the principles then enunciated. (19) Prevention of Accidents and Occupational Diseases1 1. It is desirable that all governments should seek by way of legislation to secure a reduction in the incidence of accidents and of cases of occupational diseases arising out of employment. 2. It should be an aim of policy that as soon as may be practicable such legislation shall provide for compulsory notification by the employer, to the appropriate authority or authorities, of the occurrence of any accident or case of occupational disease to a person in his employment. 3. The report of an accident or case of occupational disease provided for by the legislation recommended in paragraph 1 shall be made promptly after the occurrence of the event to which it relates in order to facilitate not only the statistical study of occupational hazards but also the investigation of the circumstances of the event with a view to preventing a recurrence. 4. It should be an aim of policy that as soon as may be practicable the legislation shall require that any premises or place (not being solely and exclusively a dwelling place) in or at which any person works under a contract of service or apprenticeship, oral or written, shall satisfy minimum standards of hygiene, such standards to include, inter alia, conditions relating to cleanliness, ventilation, sanitation, and lighting. 5. The legislation shall further require that— (i) any dangerous machinery used on the premises or at the place described in paragraph 1 shall be securely fenced or otherwise safeguarded so as to protect the persons working therein or thereat from the risk of accident; 1 Conclusions adopted at the Third Session (Bamako, 1953). APPENDIX i: STANDARDS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 641 (ii) the premises shall be constructed and maintained so as to provide safe working conditions and adequate means of preventing fire and of escape in case of fire; (iii) any process carried on within the premises or at the place shall be conducted in such manner as not to expose the persons working therein or thereat to avoidable risk; and (iv) any dangerous trade or occupation carried on within the premises or at the place shall be conducted in accordance with such regulations as may be made by a competent authority in the exercise of powers conferred upon such authority by the legislation. 6. The legislation shall further provide for the medical examination of workers before employment as to their fitness for work, for re-examination subsequently in the case of any relevant change in the worker's fitness and, as may be necessary, for the periodical examination of workers after engagement. 7. The legislation shall contain, as well as provisions relating to the prosecution of offences and the imposition of penalties, special provisions enabling such authority as may be competent in any case— (i) to take urgent action, by prohibiting the use of the whole or part of the premises or by prohibiting the carrying on of any process or by any other means, to prevent the exposure of workers to grave and imminent risk; and (ii) to require the completion of any remedial measure within a specified time. 8. The legislation shall include, where necessary, provision for the appointment of inspectors or other officers with adequate powers to enter the premises and places and to examine witnesses. 9. It is desirable that all governments should, in addition to taking the legislative measures detailed in the foregoing articles, encourage the adoption by competent authorities, employers and workers of other means of securing and maintaining safe working conditions. Such means shall include the following: (i) constant consultation and co-operation between employers and workers; (ii) the maintenance of co-operation between employers and workers within an undertaking by the appointment of a person or persons charged with duties in connection with safety matters, the setting up of joint safety committees or by other means appropriate to the circumstances of the undertaking; (iii) the observance of the spirit as well as the letter of the law by both employers and workers as a matter of their common duty; (iv) the establishment, where they do not already exist, of official and unofficial organisations to engage in consultation with representatives of employers and workers wherever such consultation is appropriate in promoting the effective application of safety measures and in the conduct of research in this field; (v) the facilitation of the work of the organisations referred to in the preceding subparagraph. 10. The successful achievement of the aims of the policy recommended in paragraph 9 requires that action shall be taken towards securing the following conditions: (i) the basic training of workers with a view to the development of safe working habits; this basic training should include training in discipline, concentration, care and accuracy in movement, and in the elements of safety, hygiene and first aid; it should begin, wherever practicable, before the worker is employed on normal productive work; (ii) the special training of supervisors in safety matters; (iii) the further pursuit of the aims of the instruction described in subparagraphs (i) and (ii) by means of— (a) patient and continuous propaganda by the employer; (b) the setting of good examples by supervisors; (c) control by government inspection; (d) the employment, where appropriate, of the services of specialists in safety matters ; 642 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY (e) the encouragement of a competitive spirit in the achievement and maintenance of a high degree of safety; (f) lectures and specially produced films of familiar surroundings which both entertain and instruct; and (g) the distribution of literature prepared by organisations specialising in the study of safety matters and the exhibition of suitable safety posters. (iv) the ready availability to both employers and workers of advice regarding both safety measures and equipment which are of high standard and in compliance with the requirements of the law. (20) Relations with Trade Unions in Africa1 1. From the reports submitted by delegates, the Conference notes the steady growth of the trade union movement in the non-metropolitan territories in Africa. While there are differences, due to local conditions, the existing relations between the respective Administrations and the trade unions are of such a nature as will result in the promotion of an atmosphere of mutual trust between the employers and workers. 2. In order to promote this development, the Conference thinks that, in practice, the following points should be taken into consideration: (a) Trade unions legally created should have complete autonomy in the conduct of their own affairs. (b) Without prejudice to the principle enunciated in (a) the infant trade union movement should be afforded every assistance and advice to overcome the handicap of lack of experience. Without formulating any recommendation as to the type of adviser, the following qualifications should be sought in the individual : (i) a sound knowledge of labour legislation ; (ii) trade union experience ; (iii) a general knowledge of industrial conditions. Officers entrusted with those advisory duties should preferably be members of the Labour Department. (c) Wherever possible the formation of trade unions should be encouraged. When local conditions are not favourable to the creation of trade unions, steps should be taken for the establishment of machinery in which representatives of the workers are included. This procedure will contribute to the development of a cadre of responsible trade union officers. (d) It seems desirable to discourage the multiplication of trade unions for the same trade particularly in the shape of breakaway movements arising from personal rivalries. (21) Settlement of Labour Disputes 2 The Conference, taking into account the conclusions of the Jos Conference (1948), regarding relations with trade unions, wage-fixing machinery and the duties of Labour Departments, Recommends— 1. that, with a view to the prevention of disputes, there should be regular contacts between employers and representatives of their workers; that the representatives of the workers should be chosen by themselves, save when this method of selection proves impossible; that employers' and ¡workers' representatives should meet regularly to discuss conditions of employment and, in particular, the determination of wages; and that a procedure should be designed, in accordance with the circumstances of each territory, in order to minimise, as far as possible, disputes on these questions. It is recognised, however, that many questions of conditions of employment, in particular the question of wages affecting more than one undertaking, may have to be determined 1 1 Conclusions adopted at the First Session (Jos, 1948). Conclusions adopted at the Second Session (Elizabethville, 1950). APPENDIX i: STANDARDS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 643 on a wider basis by negotiation between organisations of employers and organisations of workers covering more than one undertaking. Where adequate arrangements for collective negotiation cannot be made and it is necessary for the competent authority to set up machinery for the determination of wages and conditions of employment, the machinery should provide for consideration of the views of the representatives of both employers and workers before a final decision is reached; 2. that, in order to settle disputes in the quickest way—■ fa) a system of conciliation between the parties should be provided for, including whenever necessary recourse to an independent organisation or authority which is outside the dispute and is likely to assist in its amicable settlement; and (b) failing conciliation, impartial arbitration machinery should be made available; 3. that all measures, by agreement or regulation in accordance with territorial circumstances, designed to forbid recourse to strikes or lockouts, before or during the progress of conciliation or arbitration proceedings should be encouraged; 4. that, as collective agreements generally minimise labour disputes it seems advisable, where such agreements are concluded by organisations representing a majority of the employers and of the workers, that steps should be taken to extend the application of the agreements to all employers and workers within the industrial and territorial scope of such agreements. (22) Prevention and Settlement of Disputes1 1. With a view to the maintenance of good industrial relations and the avoidance of trade disputes, there should be provision for regular consultations between employers and workers or their representatives, who shall be elected unless this is impracticable. 2. The form of such consultative arrangements should be determined according to the number of workers in an undertaking. 3. Every encouragement should be given to the further development of negotiation and conciliation procedures between parties to disputes, including the participation of representative organisations where these exist; full use should be made, according to circumstances, of the services of independent persons or authorities whose co-operation is likely to facilitate the process of conciliation. These procedures should as far as possible be free of charge and expeditious. 4. Where a dispute has become the subject of conciliation or arbitration procedures, every effort should be made in accordance with territorial circumstances to avoid recourse to strikes or lockouts until these procedures have been exhausted. 5. As collective agreements generally minimise labour disputes, it seems advisable, where such agreements are concluded by recognised organisations representing the majority of the employers and of the workers, that steps should be taken to extend the application of the agreements to all employers and workers within the industrial and territorial scope of such agreements. (23) Organisation and Functions of Labour Departments 2 1. The Conference agrees to recommend that Labour Departments should be separate from and not regarded as part of the political administration of the territory. It appears to the Conference from the reports presented that, in the main, this situation already obtains in all the British and French territories in Africa. In the British territories the Labour Departments are in fact separate Departments responsible directly to the Colonial Governments. In the French territories the Labour Department is responsible jointly to the Ministry of Overseas France and to the High Commission in the territory. In the Belgian 1 Conclusions adopted at the Fifth Session (Lusaka, 1957). * Conclusions adopted at the First Session (Jos, 1948). 644 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Congo there is an increasing trend towards the development of a separate and distinct Labour Department, though under existing arrangements the demarcation of duties as between the Labour Department and the political administration is not distinctly defined. 2. In all the territories represented at the Conference there is uniformity in the following essential functions of the Labour Departments: (a) to see that the existing labour legislation, as well as the social legislation enacted to give effect to the requirements of international Conventions, under the auspices of the International Labour Organisation, ratified by their respective governments, is properly observed; (b) to make recommendations, in consultation v/ith representatives of employers and workers, for the improvement of labour legislation wherever necessary; (c) to clarify the issues arising between employers and workers by advice and recommendation, to help in the prevention of, and in the settlement of individual and collective labour disputes, and to foster, at all times, good relations between workers and employers; (d) to give advice and formulate suggestions on all problems relating to labour; to place persons in employment through the agencies of employment bureaux and training establishments; and to advise on the utilisation of labour; (e) to keep the competent authority informed on conditions of labour in the territory; (f) to collect labour statistics and all relevant information. The functions at (a) and (f) above are not exclusive of other functions as may have been or are being carried out by the various Labour Departments. They are merely those in which the practices and procedure are similar. 3. It is recommended that, in order to ensure freedom of action in pursuance of their duties, the personnel of Labour Departments, whose status vis-à-vis the political administration is discussed in paragraph 1 above, should be accorded rank and status equivalent to Administrative Officers where this is not already the case. 4. Specialised training should be arranged for all members of the Labour Departments. (24) Stabilisation and Migration of Workers and " Floating " Urban Manpower1 I The migration of labour—that is the voluntary movement of a considerable number of workers within the boundaries of their own countries or from their own countries to other countries—may, in the absence of any protective measures, lead to social evils such as (1) destitution and vagrancy; (2) the spread of disease; (3) the break-up of family and communal life and a reduction in the normal birth rate; (4) the wasteful dissipation of manpower; (5) unsatisfactory conditions of employment; (6) damage to the economy and development of the migrants' own country and of the country to which they migrate. II It is therefore desirable, in the interest of the migrants and of the countries from which, within which and into which this migration takes place, that these countries should make provisions, individually by law, or together by agreement, or by both these means combined or otherwise, for the protection of the migrants. Ill (1) (2) These provisions should be directed to the following objects so far as may be practicable : to prevent any migration not likely to lead to the employment of the migrants; to secure the welfare of the workers on their journeys to and from the country or place of employment, provision being made in particular for mechanical transport where practicable and for rest camps at suitable intervals along the route at which shelter, 1 Conclusions adopted at the Second Session (Elizabethville, 1950). APPENDIX i: STANDARDS AND RECOMMENDATIONS (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) 645 food, water and first aid may be obtained, these facilities being extended to any members of the workers' famihes who may properly accompany them; to protect the workers' health, and in particular in the case of a recruited worker by providing for his medical examination before his departure and again before his return, and if circumstances require, for a period of acclimatisation before his beginning full employment; to establish definite and satisfactory conditions of employment for the migrant, including consideration for the health, welfare, housing and feeding of himself and, if they properly accompany him, of his family, during his period of employment away from his home; to encourage the appointment, at the place of employment, of welfare officers who are familiar with the languages and customs of the workers; to secure that arrangements are made to facilitate the exchange of correspondence between workers and their place of origin and to enable workers to satisfy their legitimate intellectual and religious aspirations; to facilitate the transmission of voluntary family remittances from the worker to his home and to secure that provision is made for the accumulation of deferred pay to be paid to the worker on his return to his own country; to ensure that any migrant worker and his family may return, on the completion of a period of service, to his home. IV The special question of migrations which are not subject to control or are not amenable to control should be considered by the governments concerned with a view to securing, so far as practicable, for the workers who migrate in such conditions protection comparable with that described in the foregoing recommendation. [The Portuguese delegation deems that the conclusions of the Third Committee of the Conference are not complete since, while there is agreement on the social inconveniences which result from migration of workers for which no protection measures exist, as stated in section I of these conclusions, no mention is made thereafter on the need of stopping clandestine migration. The inconveniences of a social order which result from clandestine migrations are really more important than those indicated in section I, as has been explained in the reports presented by the Portuguese delegation; moreover, provisions exist to restrain clandestine migration, even in countries whose population has already reached a high degree of civihsation. The Portuguese delegation expresses this reservation after having received instructions from its own Government regarding the study of clandestine migration.] It is a desirable general aim of policy that workers, other than those employed temporarily or on seasonal work away from their homes, should be established permanently in residence with their families at or near their places of employment. VI (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) The means of achieving this aim include the following: agricultural, industrial and commercial development; raising the standard of living; ensuring the provision of an adequate standard of housing for the workers and their families ; increasing the social and recreational facilities; improving the educational, medical and health facilities; encouraging handicrafts, particularly in rural areas; encouraging the development of co-operative institutions; fostering the establishment and maintenance of good relations between employers and workers. 646 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY VII In the case of workers or groups who are in employment which may become permanent in areas away from their home, the following additional measures would be desirable in order to ensure them a degree of social security not lower than that enjoyed by them in their home areas, and would consequently assist towards their stabilisation in their new environment : (1) arranging for the supply at reasonable prices of adequate quantities of consumer goods, particularly of the kinds to which the workers are accustomed ; (2) wherever practicable, allocating a sufficient area of land for the production of staple foodstuffs; (3) wherever desirable, facilitating the establishment of tribal or other communal organisation. VIII In order to prevent, as far as may be practicable, undesirable movement of workers, the following measures should be considered: (1) the limitation of recruiting activities to areas wherein there is a surplus of manpower; (2) the more economical utilisation of manpower, in particular by way of better organisation of work, improved direction and supervision and also increased mechanisation. IX Until the measures described in sections VI, VII and VIII can be fully effective the special problem of " floating " urban manpower will persist and such steps as appear desirable and practicable locally should be taken towards its reduction. APPENDIX II REFERENCE LIST OF LABOUR LEGISLATION In this appendix an attempt has been made to indicate the main legislation in force on labour matters in the countries and territories covered by the survey. Owing to differences in legislative practice the selection of enactments given varies considerably according to the country or territory concerned. In the case of British territories, Ghana, Liberia, the Sudan, the Union of South Africa and South-West Africa, the list has been virtually confined to the main Acts, ordinances or proclamations on labour matters, omitting the subsidiary legislation (in the form of regulations, orders, rules, etc.) dealing with the implementation of the main instruments. Reference has, as far as possible, been made to the latest available revised edition of the laws of the country or territory concerned.1 In the case of the Belgian, French and Portuguese territories, a much wider selection has been necessary in order to indicate the implementation of provisions often drafted in very general terms in the principal instruments. For example, the main instrument applying throughout the French African territories is the Labour Code for Overseas Territories of 15 December 1952 but the principles laid down in this Code have been elaborated by ministerial orders (arrêtés) and in the local orders applying them to the individual territories. These local orders often vary only in minor details from territory to territory and sometimes, therefore, the text covering a particular point has been cited only for one territory by way of example. The following abbreviations have been used: B.A. —• Bulletin administratif du Congo belge. B.O. — Bulletin officiel du Congo belge. J.O. — Journal officiel (of the French territory named). J.O.R.F. — Journal officiel de la République française. L.S. — I.L.O. Legislative Series. Bol. — Boletim oficial (of the Portuguese territory named). Belgian Territories2 I. GENERAL ENACTMENTS Decree of 23 March 1921 respecting co-operative and mutual benefit societies (S.O., 1921, p. 345). Decree of 19 July 1926 respecting vocational instruction in government and government-approved schools (B.O., 1926, p. 712). Act of 5 June 1928 to regulate seamen's articles of agreement {B.O., 1928, p. 1345), as amended, inter alia, by Legislative Orders of 16 December 1943 (Ö.O., 1944, p. 124) and 25 March 1944 (B.O., 1944, p. 213). Decree of 1 April 1933 to issue regulations for river boatmen's articles of agreement (B.O., 1933, p. 294) (L.S., 1933—Bel. 8). Decree of 31 May 1934 respecting state lands, lands in abeyance, certification of the rights of indigenous persons and the transfer of such rights {B.O., 1934, p. 676), as amended, inter alia. 1 For example, a reference to Cap. 20 of the Laws of the Gambia, 1955, means that the law referred to is to be found in Chapter 20 of the revised edition of the laws of the Gambia brought up to date in 1955 and therefore containing all previous legislation, including amendments up to that time. * Special legislation has been enacted for the trust territory of Ruanda-Urundi where the situation in that territory differs from the situation in the Belgian Congo, for example, on the indigenous political organisation, the organisation of the judiciary, taxation, forests, etc. However, identical provisions apply to labour in both territories, either because the Governor of Ruanda-Urundi has given effect to decrees or legislative ordinances enacted for the Belgian Congo or because provisions have been issued for direct application to Ruanda-Urundi by the Belgian legislative authorities or the Governor-General of the Belgian Congo after consultation with the Governor of Ruanda-Urundi. This bei ng so it has not been considered necessary to include a special column of references for texts published in the Bulletin officiel du Ruanda-Urundi. 648 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY by Decrees of 2 January 1937 (B.O., 1937, p. 110), 22 July 1938 (S.O., 1938, p. 802) and 10 January 1940 (B.O., 1940, p. 276). Legislative Ordinance of 5 August 1941 to establish an indigenous agricultural credit fund {B.A., 1941, p. 1857). Legislative Order of 20 May 1943 to ratify the Forced Labour Convention, adopted by the International Labour Conference at its 14th (1930) Session in Geneva (Moniteur belge, 1943, p. 279) {L.S., 1943—Bel. 2). Decree of 20 December 1945 respecting compensation for injury due to industrial accidents suffered by persons not belonging to the indigenous population (B.O., 1946, p. 34), as amended, inter alia, by Decrees of 31 December 1946 (B.O., 1947, p. 224), 28 February 1947 (B.O., 1947, p. 291) and 10 November 1947 (B.A., p. 2579). Decree of 20 December 1945 respecting compensation for injury due to occupational diseases contracted by persons not belonging to the indigenous population (S.O., 1946, p. 59), as amended, inter alia, by Decrees of 28 February 1947 (B.O., p. 291) and 10 November 1947 (B.A., 1947, p. 2579). Legislative Ordinance of 17 March 1946 respecting indigenous occupational organisation (B.A.. 1946, p. 618), as amended, inter alia, by Legislative Ordinance of 20 January 1948 (B.A., 1948, p, 389) and by Decree of 25 January 1957 to regulate the exercise of the right of association (B.O., 1957, p. 206). Decree of 25 June 1949 respecting contracts of salaried employment (B.O., 1949, p. 1274) as amended, inter alia, by Decree of 31 December 1949 {B.O., 1950, p. 57). Decree of 1 August 1949 respecting compensation for injuries resulting from industrial accidents and occupational diseases contracted by indigenous workers (B.O., 1949, p. 1912) (L.S., 1949 —Bel. 11A), as amended, inter alia, by Legislative Ordinance of 24 June 1950 (B.A., 1950, p. 1518), by Decree of 30 June 1954 (B.A., 1954, p. 1481), and by Legislative Ordinance of 20 August 1957 (B.A., 1957, p. 1635). Decree of 16 March 1950 to institute labour inspection (B.A., 1950, p. 350) (L.S., 1950—Bel.C. 1). Decree of 21 March 1950 respecting technical safety and health in workplaces (S.O., 1950, p. 568). Decree of 26 May 1951 to establish a scheme of family allowances for indigenous workers (B.O., 1951, p. 851) (L.5., 1951—Bel.C .1), as amended, inter alia, by Decree of 19 December 1952 (B.O., 1953, p. 86) and by Legislative Ordinance of 20 August 1957 (B.A., 1957, p. 1634). Decree of 30 March 1952 to establish an African Urban Housing Office (B.O., 1952, p. 815). Royal Order of 19 July 1954 to consolidate the provisions of the Decree of 30 June 1954 and those of the Decree of 16 March 1922 respecting the contract of wage-earning employment of indigenous workers (B.O., 1954, p. 1430) (L.S., 1954—Bel.C. 2). [These texts were amended by Legislative Ordinances of 10 June 1955 (B.A., 1955, p. 896), 11 July 1957 (B.A., 1957, p. 1399) and 20 August 1957 (B.A., 1957, p. 1632).] Decree of 8 December 1954 respecting family allowances for non-indigenous employees (B.O., 1955, p. 1856), as amended by Decree of 19 November 1955 (B.O., 1955, p. 1695). Decree of 27 July 1955 respecting employment rules (B.O., 1955, p. 1256) {L.S., 1955—Bel.C. 1). Royal Order of 18 October 1955 to establish the King's Fund, a philanthropic institution for the improvement of the living conditions of the indigenous population of the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi (S.O., 1955, p. 1550). Decree of 24 March 1956 respecting indigenous co-operatives (B.O., 1956, p. 658) (L.S., 1956— Bel.C. 1). Decree of 6 June 1956 respecting workers' pensions in the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi (B.O., 1956, p. 846) (L.S., 1956—Bel.C. 2), as amended, inter alia, by Legislative Ordinances of 22 July 1957 and 20 August 1957 {B.A., p. 1623). Decree of 25 January 1957 to regulate the exercise of the right of association of the inhabitants of the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi, other than of agents and auxiliary agents of the African Administration and the judiciary, including temporary officials (B.O., 1957, p. 206) (Z..S., 1957—Bel.C. IB). Decree of 19 February 1957 to establish invalidity allowances for workers in the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi (B.O., 1957, p. 604) (L.S., 1957—Bel.C. 2). Decree of 14 March 1957 to prescribe the maximum hours of work and to provide for rest on Sundays and public holidays (5.O., 1957, p. 970) (L.S., 1957—Bel.C. 3). Decree of 10 May 1957 respecting indigenous districts (B.O., 1957, p. 1254). Decree of 23 July 1957 respecting the contract of apprenticeship (B.O., 1957, p. 1669) (L.5., 1957 —Bel.C. 4). Legislative Ordinance of 20 September 1957 respecting conciliation and arbitration procedure in collective labour disputes (B.A., 1957, p. 1773) (L.S., 1957—Bel.C. 5). II. MAIN IMPLEMENTING ENACTMENTS Ordinance of 11 September 1926 respecting vocational schools (B.A., 1926, p. 376). Ordinance of 4 October 1930 to issue mining regulations (B.A., 1930, p. 491) (Extracts: L.S., 1930 —Bel. 14). APPENDIX II : PRINCIPAL LABOUR LEGISLATION 649 Ordinance of 26 January 1935 respecting contracts relating to indigenous lands (B.A., 1935, p. 62), as amended by Ordinance of 4 August 1949 (B.A., 1949, p. 1319). Ordinance of 17 April 1942 respecting the conditions in which indigenous districts and non-tribal centres are empowered to issue loans to their inhabitants (B.A., 1942, p. 461), as amended by Ordinance of 1 September 1947 (B.A., 1947, p. 2092). Ordinance of 6 April 1946 to organise indigenous works councils and local committees of indigenous workers {B.A., 1946, p. 913) (L.S., 1946—Bel. 7), as amended by Ordinances of 20 January 194S {B.A., 1948, p. 391), 13 October 1948 {B.A., 1948, p. 2766) and 25 January 1957. Ordinance of 6 April 1946 to institute and organise regional and provincial indigenous labour and social progress boards (B.A., 1946, p. 919) (L.S., 1946—Bel. 8), as amended, inter alia, by Ordinances of 20 January 1948 {B.A., 1948, p. 393) and 14 December 1951 (B.A., 1952, p. 10). Order of the Regent of 21 December 1946 to issue the rules of the Colonial Invalidity Fund (B.A., 1947, p. 199), as amended by Royal Order of 1 August 1956 (S.O., 1956, p. 1873). Ordinance of 10 January 1947 respecting the conditions in which indigenous districts and nontribal centres are empowered to borrow money and issue loans to their inhabitants for the construction of houses in durable or semi-durable materials (B.A., 1947, p. 122), as amended by Ordinances of 6 December 1947 (B.A., 1947, p. 2813) and 11 June 1952 (B.A., 1952, p. 1262). Ordinance of 20 January 1948 respecting the employment of indigenous women at night {B.A., 1948, p. 387). Ordinance of 20 January 1948 respecting the employment of indigenous children at night (B.A., 1948, p. 563) (¿.S., 1948—Bel. 2). Ordinance of 14 February 1952 respecting the medical supervision of silicosis (B.A., 1952, p. 571), as amended by Ordinance of 7 August 1953 (B.A., 1953, p. 1521). Royal Order of 14 April 1952 to make rules for the African Urban Housing Office (B.O., 1952, p. 845). Ordinance of 12 February 1953 respecting dangerous, unhealthy and obnoxious establishments (B.A., 1953, p. 549). Ordinance of 6 May 1953 respecting general provisions as to safety in workplaces (B.A., 1953, p. 967). Ordinance of 12 December 1954 respecting the recruitment and acclimatisation of indigenous workers (B.A., 1954, p. 1833). Ordinance of 12 December 1954 respecting the implementation of the Decree of 30 June 1954 respecting the contract of wage-earning employment (B.A., 1954, p. 1842), as amended, inter alia, by Ordinances of 24 August 1955 (B.A., 1955, p. 1116) and 8 October 1956 (B.A., 1956, p. 1807). Royal Order of 1 August 1956 to issue the rules of the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi Workers' Pension Board (B.A., 1956, p. 1875). Ministerial Order of 3 October 1956 to issue general regulations for workers' pension insurance in the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi (B.A., 1956, p. 1796). Ordinance of 9 October 1956, under the Decree of 6 June 1956 respecting workers' pensions in the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi (B.A., 1956, p. 1817). Ordinance of 8 March 1957 to govern the exercise of the right of association of the inhabitants of the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi who have been under a contract of service for less than three years (.B.A., 1957, p. 652) (L.S., 1957—Bel.C. 1C). British Territories BASUTOLAND Native Labour Proclamation, No. 5 of 1942, as amended by Proclamations No. 79 of 1956 and No. 42 of 1957. Trade Unions and Trade Disputes Proclamation, No. 16 of 1942, and regulations thereunder (Notice No. 149 of 1949). Labour Regulations (Notice No. 62 of 1942). Workmen's Compensation Proclamation, No. 4 of 1948. ■ BECHUANALAND Masters and Servants Acts 1856 to 1889 of the Cape of Good Hope, as amended by Cap. 34 of the Laws of Bechuanaland, 1948. Employment of Women and Children Proclamation, Cap. 41. Protection of Native Labourers Proclamation, Cap. 63 {L.S., 1936—Bech. 1). Native labour Proclamation, Cap. 64, as amended by Proclamation No. 12 of 1954. Works and Machinery Proclamation, Cap. 98. Mining Health Proclamation, Cap. 99. 650 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Women and Boys Underground Work Proclamation, Cap. 100. Workmen's Compensation Proclamation, Cap. 122. Wages Proclamation, Cap. 123. Trade Unions and Trade Disputes Proclamation, Cap. 124. Shop Hours Proclamation, Cap. 132. Wages Boards Proclamation, No. 52 of 1949. GAMBIA Children and Young Persons Ordinance, Cap. 20 of the Laws of the Gambia, 1955. Labour Ordinance, Cap. 85. Factories Ordinance, Cap. 86. Employment Exchange and Registration of Employees Ordinance, Cap. 87. Trade Union Ordinance, Cap. 88 (L.S., 1932—Gam. 1). Employment of Ex-Servicemen Ordinance, Cap. 89. Forced Labour Ordinance, Cap. 90. Recruiting of Workers Ordinance, Cap. 91. Native Labour (Foreign Service) Ordinance, Cap. 92. Workmen's Compensation Ordinance, Cap. 93. Merchant Shipping (International Labour Convention) Ordinance, Cap. 154. Arbitration Ordinance, No. 6 of 1955. KENYA Registration of Persons Ordinance, Cap. 50 of the Laws of Kenya, 1948, as amended by Ordinances No. 13 of 1951 and No. 39 of 1956. Employment Ordinance, Cap. 109 (L.S., 1938—Ken. 1), as amended by Ordinances No. 11 of 1950, No. 14 of 1951, No. 39 of 1956 and No. 16 of 1957. Domestic Employment (Registration) Ordinance, Cap. 110. Employment of Women, Young Persons and Children Ordinance, Cap. Ill, as amended by Ordinances No. 35 of 1950 and Nos. 12 and 39 of 1956. Resident Labourers Ordinance, Cap. 113, as amended by Ordinances No. 50 of 1949, No. 21 of 1950, No. 16 of 1955 and No. 39 of 1956. Shop Hours Ordinance, Cap. 114 (L.S., 1925—Ken. 1, 1930—Ken. 1). Trade Disputes (Arbitration and Inquiry) Ordinance, Cap. 118. Workmen's Compensation Ordinance, Cap. 119, as amended by Ordinance No. 45 of 1955. Mombasa Shop Hours Ordinance, No. 26 of 1949, as amended by Ordinance No. 34 of 1952. Trade Union Registration Ordinance, No. 35 of 1949. Essential Services (Arbitration) Ordinance, No. 41 of 1950, as amended by Ordinance No. 13 of 1952. Factories Ordinance, No. 38 of 1950, as amended by Ordinances No. 38 of 1951 and No. 39 of 1956. Regulation of Wages and Conditions of Employment Ordinance, No. 1 of 1951 (Z..5., 1951—Ken. 1), as amended by Ordinances No. 41 of 1951, No. 63 of 1951, No. 9 of 1954 and No. 34 of 1956. Trade Unions Ordinance, No. 23 of 1952, as amended by Ordinances Nos. 11 and 39 of 1956. Reinstatement in Civil Employment Ordinance, No. 57 of 1952. MAURITIUS Industrial Courts Ordinance, Cap. 183 of the Laws of Mauritius, 1945, as amended by Ordinances No. 23 of 1954 and No. 20 of 1955. Employment of Women, Young Persons and Children Ordinance, Cap. 211 (L.S., 1934—Maur. 1, 1935—Maur. 1), as amended by Ordinances No. 43 of 1945 and No. 5 of 1952. Labour Ordinance, Cap. 214, as amended by Ordinances Nos. 44 and 67 of 1945, No. 20 of 1946, Nos. 6 and 36 of 1947, No. 36 of 1948, No. 37 of 1951, No. 33 of 1952 and No. 40 of 1955. Recruitment of Workers Ordinance, Cap. 218. Dockers' Safety Ordinance, Cap. 219. Workmen's Compensation Ordinance, Cap. 220, as amended by Ordinances No. 64 of 1947, No. 16 of 1950, No. 78 of 1952 and No. 15 of 1954. Shops Ordinance, Cap. 409, as amended by Ordinances No. 56 of 1945, No. 72 of 1946, No. 14 of 1949, No. 20 of 1950 and No. 9 of 1952. Reinstatement in Civil Employment Ordinance, No. 42 of 1945, as amended by Ordinance No. 38 of 1946. Sugar Industry Retiring Fund Ordinance, No. 59 of 1945, as amended by Ordinance No. 30 of 1953. Apprenticeship Ordinance, No. 13 of 1946. Factories Ordinance, No. 42 of 1946. APPENDIX II : PRINCIPAL LABOUR LEGISLATION 651 Employment Exchanges Ordinance, No. 67 of 1947, as amended by Ordinances No. 17 of 1949 and No. 3 of 1950. Minimum Wages Ordinance, No. 36 of 1950. Employees' Superannuation Fund Ordinance, No. 28 of 1954. Trade Union Ordinance, No. 36 of 1954. Trade Disputes Ordinance, No. 37 of 1954. Sugar Industry Pension Fund Ordinance, No. 42 of 1955. NIGERIA Labour Code Ordinance, Cap. 99 of the Laws of Nigeria, 1948 (L.S., 1946—Nig. 1), as amended by Ordinances No. 18 of 1948, No. 29 of 1948 {L.S., 1948—Nig. 1), No. 7 of 1949 (L.S., 1949— Nig. 1), No. 34 of 1950 (L.S., 1950—Nig. 1), No. 14 of 1953 and No. 3 of 1956. Trade Unions Ordinance, Cap. 218. Trade Disputes (Arbitration and Inquiry) Ordinance, Cap. 219. Workmen's Compensation Ordinance, Cap. 234, as amended by Ordinances No. 23 of 1950 and No. 14 of 1956. Docks (Safety of Labourers) Ordinance, No. 27 of 1954. Factories Ordinance, No. 33 of 1955. Wages Boards Ordinance, No. 5 of 1957. Statistics Ordinance, No. 11 of 1957. Trade Disputes (Arbitration and Inquiry) (Federal Application) Ordinance, No. 46 of 1957. NORTHERN RHODESIA Trade Union and Trade Disputes Ordinance, Cap. 25 of the Laws of Northern Rhodesia, 1952 (L.S., 1949—N.R. 1), as amended by Ordinance No. 35 of 1956. Industrial Conciliation Ordinance, Cap. 26 (L.S., 1949—N.R. 2). Reinstatement in Civil Employment Ordinance, Cap. 56. Employment of Natives Ordinance, Cap. 171 (L.S., 1929—N.R. 1,1930—N.R. 3), as amended by Ordinance No. 30 of 1953. Apprenticeship Ordmance, Cap. 187. Workmen's Compensation Ordinance, Cap. 188, as amended by Ordinances No. 35 of 1955 and Nos. 7 and 45 of 1956. Silicosis Ordmance, Cap. 189, as amended by Ordinances No. 15 of 1955 and Nos. 15 and 42 of 1956. Minimum Wages and Conditions of Employment Ordinance, Cap. 190, as amended by Ordinances No. 53 of 1953 and Nos. 4 and 27 of 1955. Employment of Women, Young Persons and Children Ordinance, Cap. 191 (L.S., 1933—N.R. 1, 1936—N.R. 1, 1950—N.R. 1A and 1950—N.R. IB). Shop Assistants Ordinance, Cap. 192, as amended by Ordinance No. 38 of 1954. Factories Ordinance, Cap. 193, as amended by Ordinances No. 58 of 1955 and No. 14 of 1956. African Migrant Workers Ordinance, Cap. 233. African Labour Corps Ordinance, Cap. 235. Public Utility Undertakings and Public Health Services Arbitration Ordinance, Cap. 253. Employment Exchanges Ordinance, No. 19 of 1956. NYASALAND Employment of Women, Young Persons and Children Ordinance, Cap. 39 of the Laws of Nyasaland, 1946. Factories Ordinance, Cap. 42, as amended by Ordinances No. 7 of 1950 and No. 22 of 1953. Shops (Hours of Closing) Ordinance, Cap. 106. Trade Unions and Trade Disputes Ordinance, Cap. 120, as amended by Ordinances No. 29 of 1947 and No. 17 of 1957. Workmen's Compensation Ordinance, Cap. 132, as amended by Ordinance No. 6 of 1949. Africans on Private Estates Ordinance, No. 8 of 1952. Trade Disputes (Arbitration and Settlement) Ordinance, No. 20 of 1952, as amended by Ordinance No. 28 of 1954. African Emigration and Immigrant Workers Ordinance, No. 1 of 1954, as amended by Ordinance No. 5 of 1958. African Employment Ordinance, No. 3 of 1954 (L.5., 1954—Ny. 1), as amended by Ordinances Nos. 12 and 21 of 1955. Convicted Prisoners (Employment on Public Work) Ordinance, No. 16 of 1954. Regulation of Minimum Wages and Conditions of Employment Ordinance, No. 4 of 1958. 652 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY SIERRA LEONE African Labourers (Employment at Sea) Ordinance, Cap. 5 of the Laws of Sierra Leone, 1946. Docks (Safety of Labourers) Ordinance, Cap. 66. Employer and Employed Ordinance, Cap. 70 {L.S., 1934—S.L. 1), as amended by Ordinances No. 32 of 1947 and No. 9 of 1956. Machinery (Safe Working and Inspection) Ordinance, Cap. 134, as amended by Ordinance No. 20 of 1955. Recruiting of Workers Ordinance, Cap. 199. Trade Disputes (Arbitration and Inquiry) Ordinance, Cap. 237. Trade Disputes Ordinance, Cap. 238, as amended by Ordinance No. 39 of 1946. Trade Unions Ordinance, Cap. 242. Wages Boards Ordinance, Cap. 258, as amended by Ordinances No. 42 of 1946, No. 15 of 1947, No. 30 of 1947 and No. 3 of 1952. Workmen's Compensation Ordinance, No. 18 of 1954 (L.S., 1954—S.L. 1). Registration of Employees Ordinance, No. 8 of 1956. Forced Labour Ordinance, No. 33 of 1956 {L.S., 1956—S.L. 1). SOMALI LAND Ports Ordinance, Cap. 97 of the Laws of British Somaliland, 1950, as amended by No. 8 of 1954. Employer's Liability Ordinance, Cap. 106. Women, Young Persons and Children Employment Ordinance, Cap. 107. Minimum Wages Ordinance, Cap. 109. Native Labour Ordinance, Cap. 110. Trade Unions and Trade Disputes Ordinance, Cap. 111. Public Holidays Ordinance, No. 4 of 1953. Contracts of Employment (Indigenous Workers) Ordinance, No. 6 of 1953 (Z..S., 1953—Som. (Br.) 1). Workmen's Compensation Ordinance, No. 7 of 1953, as amended by No. 16 of 1957. SOUTHERN RHODESIA Native Labour Regulations Act, Cap. 86 of the Laws of Southern Rhodesia, 1939. Workmen's Compensation Act, No. 12 of 1941, as amended by Act No. 47 of 1948. Shop Hours Act, No. 20 of 1945. Industrial Conciliation Act, No. 21 of 1945. Native Labour Boards Act, No. 26 of 1947, as amended by Acts No. 52 of 1940, No. 18 of 1953 and No. 17 of 1954. Migrants Workers Act, No. 9 of 1948. Factories and Works Act, No. 20 of 1948 (L.5., 1948—S.R. 1), as amended by Act No. 30 of 1957. Silicosis Act, No. 33 of 1949, as amended by Act No. 15 of 1953. SWAZILAND Transvaal Mines, Works and Machinery Ordinance, 1903, and regulations thereunder. Native Labour Regulations Proclamation, Cap. 66 of the Laws of Swaziland, as amended by No. 82 of 1950. Wages Determination Proclamation, Cap. 123. Workmen's Compensation Proclamation, Cap. 124, as amended by Proclamation No. 89 of 1955. Trade Unions and Trade Disputes Proclamation, Cap. 125. Employment of Women and Children Proclamation, Cap. 126. African Labour Proclamation, No. 45 of 1954 (L.S., 1954—Swa. 1), as amended by Proclamation No. 87 of 1956. TANGANYIKA Apprenticeship Ordinance, Cap. 81 of the Laws of Tanganyika, 1946, as amended by Ordinance No. 40 of 1949. Employment of Women and Young Persons Ordinance, Cap. 82. Shop Hours Ordinance, Cap. 85. Workmen's Compensation Ordinance, Cap. 263, as amended by Ordinances No. 25 of 1953, No. 28 of 1954 and No. 4 of 1957. Trade Disputes (Arbitration and Settlement) Ordinance, No. 43 of 1950, as amended by Ordinance No. 32 of 1954. APPENDIX II : PRINCIPAL LABOUR LEGISLATION 653 Regulation of Wages and Terms of Employment Ordinance, No. 15 of 1951, as amended by No. 5 of 1956. Factories Ordinance, No. 46 of 1950, as amended by Ordinance No. 34 of 1952. Dock Workers (Regulation of Employment) Ordinance, No. 20 of 1953. Accidents and Occupational Diseases (Notification) Ordinance, No. 25 of 1953. Employment Ordinance, No. 47 of 1955 (L.S., 1955—Tan. 1), as amended by Ordinance No. 35 of 1956. Trade Unions Ordinance, No. 48 of 1956 (L.S., 1956—Tan. 1), as amended by Ordinance No. 11 of 1957. Employment (Forced Labour) Regulations, 1957. Employment (Recruitment) Regulations, 1957. UGANDA Employment Ordinance, Cap. 83 of the Laws of Uganda, 1951, as amended by Ordinance No. 9 of 1955 {L.S., 1955—Ug. 1). Employment of Women Ordinance, Cap. 85 {L.S., 1931—Ug. 2, 1936—Ug. 1). Shop Hours Ordinance, Cap. 88. Trade Disputes (Arbitration and Settlement) Ordinance, Cap. 90 {L.S., 1949—Ug. 1, 1950—Ug. 1), as amended by Ordinance No. 11 of 1952. Workmen's Compensation Ordinance, Cap. 91, as amended by Ordinance No. 43 of 1955. Employment of Children Ordinance, Cap. 186. Trade Unions and Trade Disputes Ordinance, No. 10 of 1952. Factories Ordinance, No. 5 of 1952, as amended by Ordinance No. 3 of 1953. Minimum Wages Advisory Boards and Wages Councils Ordinance, No. 21 of 1957. ZANZIBAR Ports Decree, Cap. 74 of the Laws of Zanzibar, 1934, as amended by Decrees No. 25 of 1937 and No. 16 of 1947. Apprentices Decree, Cap. 130. Forced Labour Decree, Cap. 131. Native Seamen's Engagement Decree, Cap. 135, as amended by Decree No. 7 of 1950. Minimum Wages Decree, No. 1 of 1935. Trade Unions Decree, No. 3 of 1941, as amended by Decree No. 7 of 1942. Factories (Supervision and Safety) Decree, No. 8 of 1943. Labour Decree, No. 11 of 1946, as amended by Decrees No. 25 of 1951, No. 10 of 1952 and No. 2 of 1957. Emergency Powers Decree, No. 18 of 1948, as amended by No. 8 of 1950. Shop Hours Decree, No. 30 of 1948. Employment of Children, Young Persons and Adolescents (Restriction) Decree, No. 8 of 1952. Employment of Women (Restriction) Decree, No. 9 of 1952. Trade Disputes (Arbitration and Settlement) Decree, No. 21 of 1954. Ghana Labour Ordinance, Cap. 89 of the Laws of the Gold Coast, 1951. Conspiracy and Protection of Property (Trade Disputes) Ordinance, Cap. 90. Trade Unions Ordinance, Cap. 91, as amended by Ordinance No. 19 of 1953. Trade Disputes (Arbitration and Inquiry) Ordinance, Cap. 93. Workmen's Compensation Ordinance, Cap. 94, as amended by Ordinance No. 43 of 1954. Regulation of Docks Ordinance, Cap. 243. Reinstatement in Civil Employment Ordinance, No. 31 of 1945. Factories Ordinance, No. 33 of 1952. Ethiopia Revised Constitution of 4 November 1955 (art. 27).1 Constitution (Eritrea) (art. 33).2 Factories Proclamation, 29 April 1944. 1 See United Nations : Yearbook on Human Rights 1955, p. 63. 'Idem, Yearbook on Human Rights 1952, p. 111. 654 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY French Territories 1 I. APPLICABLE TO ALL TERRITORIES (a) Acts Act No. 52-1322 of 15 December 1952 to establish a Labour Code in the Territories and Associated Territories under the Ministry for Overseas France (J.O.R.F., 15-16 December 1952} (L.S., 1952—Fr. 5), as amended by Legislative Decree No. 55-567 of 20 May 1955 (J.O.R.F., 21 May 1955). Act No. 56-332 of 27 March 1956 to amend the scheme of annual leave with pay (J.O.R.F., 31 March 1956). Act No. 56-416 of 27 April 1956 to ensure freedom of association and the protection of the right to organise (J.O.R.F., 28 April 1956) {L.S., 1956—Fr. 1). (b) Decrees Decree No. 55-184 of 2 February 1955 to lay down rules respecting co-operative societies in the territories under the Ministry for Overseas France (J.O.R.F., 5 February 1955) (L.S., 1955— Fr. 1), as amended by Decrees No. 56-1136 of 13 November 1956 and No. 57-209 of 23 February 1957 (J.O.R.F., 14 November 1956 and 24 February 1957). Decree No. 55-972 of 16 July 1955 respecting attachment, garnishment or assignment of, and deductions from, the wages or salaries of workers, {J.O.R.F., 21 July 1955), as amended qy Decree No. 57-471 of 8 April 1957 (J.O.R.F., 12 April 1957). Decree No. 55-1679 of 29 December 1955 to issue regulations defining the status of the inspectorsgeneral and inspectors of labour and social legislation of Overseas France (J.O.R.F., 30 December 1955). Decree No. 56-1137 of 13 November 1956 respecting overseas agricultural credit (J.O.R.F., 14 November 1956), as amended by Decree No. 57-210 of 23 February 1957 (j.O.R.F., 28 February 1957). Decree No. 57-246 of 24 February 1957 respecting the recovery of sums owed by employers to the family benefit equalisation funds (J.O.R.F., 28 February 1957). Decree No. 57-245 of 24 February 1957 respecting compensation for and the prevention of industrial accidents and occupational diseases in the overseas territories and the Cameroons (J.O.R.F., 28 February 1957), as amended by Decree No. 57-819 of 23 July 1957 (J.O.R.F., 24 July 1957) (L.S., 1957—Fr. 1). (c) Ministerial Orders Order of 4 May 1953 to make provision for the organisation and operation of the Higher Labour Council (J.O.R.F., 14 May 1953), as amended by Order of 16 May 1956 (J.O.R.F., 19 May 1956). Order of 16 November 1954 to provide for exceptions to the maximum duration of contracts concluded for a specified period (J.O.R.F., 21 November 1954). Order of 16 November 1954 to prescribe the period of effective service giving rise to an entitlement to leave (J.O.R.F., 21 November 1954). Order of 13 June 1955 to prescribe the minimum rates of the displacement allowances referred to in article 94 of the Overseas Labour Code (J.O.R.F., 19 June 1955). 1 Code: In view of the similarity between many of the texts enacted for the local implementation of the Overseas Labour (a) a single territory has been taken as an example in the case of the federations of French West Africa and French Equatorial Africa; (b) a few of the more characteristic texts have been listed to illustrate how the provisions governing the 40-hour week and industrial safety and health have been applied. 655 APPENDIX II : PRINCIPAL LABOUR LEGISLATION II. 1 ENACTMENTS IMPLEMENTING THE LABOUR CODE FOR OVERSEAS TERRITORIES (a) 1. Contracts of Employment Individual Contracts of Employment. French West Africa: 31 August 1953 French Equatorial Africa: 26 December 1953 Cameroons: 7 November 1953 Togoland: 13 March 1954 Madagascar: 5 November 1953 Somaliland: 8 April 1954 J.O., 5 September 1953 J.O., 1 January 1954 J.O., J.O., J.O., J.O., 11 20 13 20 November 1953 March 1954 November 1953 June 1954 French West Africa: 29 December 1953 French Equatorial Africa: 24 October 1953 Cameroons: 28 May 1953, amended 4 October 1957 Togoland: 17 November 1955 Madagascar: 17 November 1953 Somaliland: 8 April 1954 J.O. (Sénégal), 14 February 1954 J.O., 15 November 1953 French West Africa: 10 April 1954 French Equatorial Africa: 1 December 1953 Cameroons: 28 May 1953 Togoland: 19 March 1954 Madagascar: 20 July 1954 Somaliland: 3 December 1953 J.O., 24 April 1954 J.O., 15 December 1953 2. 14 December 1953 20 March 1954 31 July 1954 1 January 1954 General Order respecting the manner of communicating, depositing and posting up works rules of employment. J.O. (Sénégal), 14 January 1954 J.O., 15 November 1953 J.O., J.O., J.O., J.O., 14 December 1953 20 March 1954 22 May 1954 1 January 1954 Local Order respecting the conditions as to form and substance, the effects, causes and consequences of termination, and measures for supervising performance of contracts of apprenticeship. Employees of Subcontractors. French West Africa: 29 December 1953 French Equatorial Africa: 24 October 1953 Cameroons: 28 May 1953 Madagascar: 30 June 1954 4. J.O., J.O., J.O., J.O., Local Order respecting the terms concerning duration and notice in the case of occupations and branches of activity not covered by existing collective agreements. Apprenticeship. French West Africa: 29 December 1953 French Equatorial Africa: 24 October 1953 Cameroons: 12 December 1953 Togoland: 19 March 1954 Madagascar: 19 May 1954 Somaliland: 3 December 1953 3. J.O., 10 June 1953 and 6 November 1957 J.O., 16 December 1955 J.O., 21 November 1953 J.O., 20 June 1954 General Order respecting the form and manner of concluding contracts of employment and engagements on probation. J.O. (Sénégal), 14 January 1954 J.O., 15 November 1953 J.O., 10 June 1953 J.O., 10 July 1954 Local Order respecting the conditions in which the status of the subcontractor and the name and address of the contractor are to be brought to the knowledge of workers. Collective Agreements. French West Africa: 31 August 1953 French Equatorial Africa: 7 May 1957 Cameroons: 8 May 1956 Togoland: 26 July 1954 J.O. (Sénégal), 31 August 1953 J.O., 1 June 1957 J.O., 23 May 1956 J.O., 16 August 1954 Local Order respecting the general conditions of employment of domestic servants. 1 The local orders quoted apply in Senegal in the case of French West Africa and in the Middle Congo in the case of French Equatorial Africa. A list of the enactments issued to implement the Labour Code for Overseas Territories up to March 1956 appears in the various chapters of P. CHAULEUR: Le Régime du travail dans les territoires d'Outre-mer, Encyclopédie d'Outre-mer (Paris, 1956). 656 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY French West Africa: 16 September 1953 and 19 November 1953 French Equatorial Africa: 1 December 1953 Cameroons: 7 November 1953 Togoland: 19 March 1954 Madagascar: 15 July 1955 Somaliland: 28 December 1953 J.O., 26 September 1953 and 28 November 1953 J.O., 15 December 1953 J.O., J.O., J.O., J.O., French West Africa: 6 February 1954 French Equatorial Africa: 1 December 1953 Cameroons: 19 March 1955 Togoland: 19 March 1954 Madagascar: 15 July 1955 Somaliland: 19 December 1953 5. 11 November 1953 20 March 1954 23 July 1955 1 February 1954 General Order to prescribe the conditions in which collective agreements shall be published, deposited and translated, and the conditions governing the adherence of parties to such agreements. J.O., 20 February 1954 J.O., 15 December 1953 J.O., J.O., J.O., J.O., 30 March 1955 20 March 1954 23 July 1955 1 January 1954 General Order to prescribe the manner in which consultation shall take place prior to the extension, or cancellation of extension, of a collective agreement. Security Deposits. French West Africa: 26 February 1954 French Equatorial Africa: 23 November 1953 Cameroons: 1 March 1954 Togoland: 4 May 1955 Madagascar: 30 June 1954 J.O., 13 March 1954 J.O., 23 November 1953 J.O., 17 March 1954 J.O., 16 May 1955 J.O., 10 July 1954 (b) French West Africa: 10 December 1953 French Equatorial Africa : 29 December 1953 Cameroons: 5 December 1953 and 5 January 1956 Togoland: 24 August 1953 Madagascar: 17 February 1954 French West Africa: 10 July 1953 1 French Equatorial Africa: 29 December 1953 Cameroons: 12 December 1953 and 5 January 1956 Madagascar: 17 February 1954 French West Africa: 31 August 1953 French Equatorial Africa: 24 October 1953 Cameroons: 28 May 1953 Togoland: 3 March 1954 Madagascar: 26 October 1953 Somaliland: 28 November 1953 French West Africa: 9 November 1957 French Equatorial Africa: 11 January 1958 Cameroons: 30 October 1956 Togoland: 10 January 1956 Madagascar: 7 November 1957 Somaliland: 21 July 1955 1 1 vory Coast. Only recent orders are quoted. 8 Remuneration J.O. (Sénégal), 10 December 1953 J.O., 1 January 1954 J.O., 11 J.O., J.O., General Order to prescribe the manner of making security deposits, and the banks authorised to receive such deposits. 14 December 1953 and January 1956 25 August 1953 27 February 1954 J.O. (Côte d'Ivoire), 30 July 1953 J.O., 1 January 1954 J.O., 14 December 1953 and 11 January 1956 J.O., 27 February 1954 Local Order respecting the supply of daily rations to workers. Local Order respecting accommodation for workers. J.O. (Sénégal), 31 August 1953 J.O., 15 November 1953 J.O., J.O., J.O., J.O., 10 June 1953 3 March 1954 13 November 1953 1 January 1954 J.O. (Sénégal), 12 November 1957 J.O., 15 February 1958 J.O., J.O., J.O., J.O., 31 October 1956 1 February 1956 9 November 1957 1 August 1955 Local Order to institute individual pay sheets and pay registers. Local Order to fix wage zones and guaranteed interoccupational minimum wages.2 APPENDIX II : PRINCIPAL LABOUR LEGISLATION (c) 1. 657 Conditions of Employment Hours of Work. General Order respecting authorisation of exceptions to the statutory provisions governing hours of work. French West Africa: 2 June 1953 French Equatorial Africa: 27 October 1953 J.O., 6 June 1953 J.O., 1 November 1953 French West Africa: 26 June 1953 French Equatorial Africa: 29 December 1953 Cameroons: 31 July 1953 Togoland: 24 August 1953 Madagascar: 23 September 1953 Somaliland: 4 August 1953 J.O. (Sénégal), 11 July 1953 J.O., 1 January 1954 French West Africa: 1 July 1953 French Equatorial Africa: 29 December 1953 Cameroons: 5 January 1956 Togoland: 24 August 1953 Madagascar: 18 January 1954 Somaliland: 12 November 1953 J.O. (Sénégal), 11 July 1953. J.O., 1 January 1954 French West Africa: 8 July 1953 French Equatorial Africa: 29 December 1953 J.O. (Sénégal), 10 July 1953 J.O., 1 January 1954 Local Order to make rules for overtime and the manner of its remuneration. French West Africa: 18 February 1954 J.O. (Sénégal), 4 March 1954 Local Order respecting the recovery of hours of work lost in types of commerce affected by slack seasons. French West Africa: 5 May 1954 J.O. (Sénégal), 20 May 1954 Local Order respecting the recovery of hours of work lost as a result of bad weather in the building trades and public works. 2. J.O., J.O., J.O., J.O., 31 July 1953 25 August 1953 6 October 1953 1 September 1953 29 February 1956 25 August 1953 23 January 1954 1 December 1953 Local Order to fix the hours of work on farms. Night Work. French West Africa: 26 June 1953 French Equatorial Africa: 24 October 1953 Cameroons: 28 May 1953 Togoland: 24 August 1953 Madagascar: 10 December 1953 Somaliland: 12 February 1954 3. J.O., J.O., J.O., J.O., Local Order to prescribe the manner of implementing the 40-hour week in the various branches of activity other than agriculture.1 J.O. (Sénégal), 11 July 1953 J.O., 15 November 1953 J.O., J.O., J.O., J.O., 10 June 1953 25 August 1953 12 December 1953 1 March 1954 Local Order respecting the hours during which work is deemed to be night work. Women and Children. French West Africa: 22 June 1954 French Equatorial Africa: 24 October 1953 Cameroons: 27 February 1954 Madagascar: 5 February 1954 Somaliland: 17 June 1955 J.O. (Sénégal), 8 July 1954 French West Africa: 19 July 1954 French Equatorial Africa: 25 November 1954 Cameroons: 27 February 1954 Togoland: 28 October 1955 Madagascar: 5 February 1954 Somaliland: 17 June 1955 J.O., 31 July 1954 J.O., 15 December 1954 J.O., J.O., J.O., J.O., J.O., J.O., J.O., J.O., 15 November 1953 17 March 1954 6 February 1954 1 July 1955 17 March 1954 25 November 1955 6 February 1954 1 July 1955 Local Order respecting the employment of children. General Order respecting the employment of women and expectant mothers. 1 In addition to the enactments quoted, other local orders have been issued to apply the 40-hour week in the various branches of activity. See P. CHAULEUR, op. cit., pp. 383-390. 658 4. AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Weekly Rest. French West Africa: 26 June 1953, 13 January 1954 and 6 April 1954 J.O. (Sénégal), 11 July 1953, 28 January 1954 and 15 April 1954 J.O., 15 November 1953 French Equatorial Africa: 24 October 1953 Cameroons: 3 December 1954 Togoland: 19 March 1954 Madagascar: 16 November 1953 Somaliland: 23 December 1953 J.O., J.O., J.O., J.O., Local Order respecting the manner of giving effect to the weekly rest. 22 December 1954 20 March 1954 21 November 1953 1 January 1954 5. Annual Leave and Transportation. French West Africa: 3 September 1953 French Equatorial Africa: 26 December 1953 Cameroons: 31 July 1953 Madagascar: 29 October 1956 Somaliland: 3 December 1953 J.O., 31 July 1953 J.O., 3 February 1957 J.O., 1 January 1954 French West Africa: 13 July 1955 Cameroons: 28 May 1953 J.O., 23 July 1955 J.O., 10 June 1953 J.O., 12 September 1953 General Order to prescribe transitional arrangements concerning the granting of leave and traveUing expenses to workers. J.O., 1 January 1954 General Order to specify the period of effective service giving entitlement to annual leave in the cases referred to in article 122 (b) of the Labour Code. (d) Health and Safety: Medical Service 1. Health and Safety. French West Africa: 14 December 1953 French Equatorial Africa: 10 December 1953 Cameroons: 22 December 1953 Togoland: 19 March 1954 Madagascar: 7 January 1954 Somaliland: 18 January 1954 French West Africa: 24 December 1953 French Equatorial Africa: 19 February 1954 French West Africa: 19 July 1954 French Equatorial Africa: 25 November 1954 Cameroons: 28 June 1954 and 3 June 1955 Madagascar: 5 November 1954 and 2 September 1955 J.O., 19 December 1953 J.O., 1 January 1954 J.O., J.O., J.O., J.O., 23 December 1953 20 March 1954 30 January 1954 1 February 1954 J.O., 9 January 1954 J.O., 1 April 1954 General Order respecting the establishment, under the Inspector-General of Labour, of a Technical Advisory Committee to study questions related to the health and safety of workers. General Order respecting the establishment, under the territory labour inspectorate, of a Technical Advisory Committee to study questions related to the health and safety of workers. J.O., 31 July 1954 J.O., 15 December 1954 J.O., 7 July 1954 and 22 June 1955 J.O., 13 November 1954 and 10 September 1955 General Order to prescribe the health and safety conditions1 to be observed at workplaces. 2. Medical Services, French West Africa: 18 January 1955 French Equatorial Africa: 27 November 1954 Cameroons: 30 June 1954 Togoland: 28 October 1955 Madagascar: 5 November 1954 J.O., 29 January 1955 J.O., 15 December 1954 J.O., 7 July 1954 J.O., 25 November 1955 J.O., 13 November 1954 General Order respecting the classification of undertakings for the purpose of determining the minimum facilities to be provided by employers in the way of medical and nursing staff. 1 Special o ders covering the various health and safety measures to be observed in particular establishments have been issued in the different territories after consultation with the Technical Advisory Committee. See P. CHAUIEUH, op. cit., p. 454. APPENDIX H! PRINCIPAL LABOUR LEGISLATION French West Africa: 18 January 1955 French Equatorial Africa: 27 November 1954 Cameroons: 30 June 1954 Togoland: 28 October 1955 Madagascar: 5 November 1954 J.O., 29 January 1955 General Order to prescribe how sick bays, dressing stations and first-aid chests are to be installed in undertakings and kept supplied with medicaments and dressings. J.O., 15 December 1954 J.O., 7 July 1954 J.O., 25 November 1955 J.O., 13 November 1954 French West Africa: 28 April 1955 French Equatorial Africa: 15 July 1955 Cameroons: 7 June 1955 Togoland: 28 October 1955 Madagascar: 31 May 1955 659 J.O. (Sénégal), 12 May 1955 J.O., 15 August 1955 J.O., 22 June 1955 J.O., 25 November 1955 J.O., 4 June 1955 Local Order respecting the institution and operation of inter-establishment medical and nursing services. (e) Administration of Labour Laws French West Africa: 31 March 1953 and 6 May 1953 French Equatorial Africa: 16 March 1953 and 24 June 1954 Cameroons: 27 April 1953 and 16 June 1954 Togoland: 4 May 1953 Madagascar: 1 April 1953 Somaliland: 21 April 1953 J.O., 4 April 1953 and 14 November 1953 J.O., 1 April 1953 and 15 July 1954 J.O., 30 April 1953 and 30 June 1954 J.O., 16 May 1953 J.O., 18 April 1953 J.O., 1 May 1953 French West Africa: 8 April 1953 French Equatorial Africa: 23 June 1953 Madagascar: 1 April 1953 J.O. (Sénégal), 16 April 1953 J.O., 1 August 1953 French West Africa: 4 September 1953 French Equatorial Africa: 9 December 1953 Cameroons: 5 October 1953 and 15 June 1956 Togoland: 2 April 1954 Madagascar: 19 May 1954 Somaliland: 14 April 1954 French West Africa: 3 September 1953, 27 February 1954 and 26 April 1954 French Equatorial Africa: 29 September 1953 Cameroons: 5 October 1953 and 1 March 1954 Togoland: 3 March 1954 Madagascar: 26 October 1953 Somaliland: 13 November 1953 French West Africa: 4 March 1954 and 7 May 1954 French Equatorial Africa: 29 September 1953 Cameroons: 2 December 1953 Togoland: 2 September 1954 Madagascar: 26 October 1953 Somaliland: 14 September 1953 French West Africa: 13 July 1955 French Equatorial Africa: 29 September 1953 Cameroons: 5 October 1953 J.O., 18 April 1953 General Order respecting the establishment of an Advisory Labour Committee under the Inspector-General of Labour and Social Legislation. Local Order respecting the establishment of a Territory Advisory Labour Committee under the Territory Inspector of Labour and Social Legislation. J.O., 12 September 1953 J.O., 15 December 1953 J.O., 21 October 1953 and 27 June 1956 J.O., 16 April 1954 J.O., 22 May 1954 J.O., 20 June 1954 General Order to give effect to article 164 of the Labour Code, respecting staff representatives. J.O., 12 September 1953, 13 March 1954 and 8 May 1954 J.O., 1 November 1953 J.O., 17 J.O., J.O., J.O., 21 October 1953 and March 1954 3 March 1954 13 November 1953 1 December 1953 J.O., 13 March 1954 22 May 1954 J.O., 1 November 1953 J.O., J.O., J.O., J.O., 30 June 1954 16 September 1954 13 November 1953 1 October 1953 J.O., 4 February 1956 J.O., 1 November 1953 J.O., 21 October 1953 General Order respecting employers' registers. and General Order respecting declaration of undertakings. General order to prescribe rules for periodical manpower returns. General Order to prescribe rules for the reporting of the movement of labour. 660 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY French West Africa: 14 February 1956 J.O. (Sénégal), 15 February 1956 French West Africa: 9 December 1953 French Equatorial Africa: 26 December 1953 and 12 October 1954 Cameroons: 4 November 1953 and 16 July 1954 Somaliland: 6 April 1954 J.O., 19 December 1953 J.O., 11 November 1953 and 4 August 1954 J.O., 20 June 1954 French West Africa: 5 June 1954 J.O. (Sénégal), 29 July 1954 J.O., 1 January 1954 and 1 November 1954 Local Order respecting the occupational groups in respect of which employers are provisionally exempt from notifying the movement of labour. General Order respecting the general organisation of the manpower offices. Local Order respecting the establishment of a Manpower Office in Senegal, its location, competence, and the membership of its management board. (f) Disputes relating to Employment French West Africa: 1 August 1953 and 21 October 1953 French Equatorial Africa: 27 January 1954 Cameroons: 8 March 1954 and 11 June 1956 Togoland: 17 December 1953 Madagascar: 21 December 1953 and 3 February 1956 Somaliland: 3 November 1953 J.O. (Sénégal), 6 August 1953 and 29 October 1953 J.O., 15 February 1954 J.O., 24 March 1954 and 27 June 1956 J.O., 1 January 1954 J.O., 26 December 1953 and 11 February 1956 J.O., 1 December 1953 Local Order to establish labour courts. French West Africa: 22 August 1953 and 15 October 1953 French Equatorial Africa: 17 October 1953 Cameroons: 8 March 1954 Togoland: 17 December 1953 Madagascar: 21 December 1953 and 22 March 1955 Somaliland: 3 November 1953 J.O., 5 September 1953 and 15 October 1953 J.O., 1 November 1953 General Order to specify the allowance of time for distance travelled in proceedings before the labour courts. General order respecting the form of register to be kept by labour courts. General order to fix the maximum amount in respect of which the judgments of labour courts may order immediate execution. J.O., 24 March 1954 J.O., 1 January 1954 J.O., 26 December 1953 and 2 April 1955 J.O., 1 December 1953 (g) Family Benefits French West Africa: 5 December 1955 and 11 September 1956 French Equatorial Africa: 8 March 1956 and 20 August 1957 Cameroons: 23 June 1956 Togoland: 7 March 1956 Madagascar: 17 and 22 January 1956 J.O. (Sénégal), 10 December 1955 and 13 September 1956 J.O., 1 April 1956 and 1 October 1957 J.O., 28 June 1956 J.O., 15 March 1956 J.O., 3 March 1956 Local Order to establish a scheme of family benefits for employed persons. French West Africa: 29 December 1955 J.O. (Sénégal), 17 January 1956 Local Order respecting the organisation and operation of the Family Benefit Equalisation Fund. French West Africa: 11 Februray 1956 J.O. (Sénégal), 9 March 1956 Local Order to fix the average monthly guaranteed interoccupational minimum wage for the purpose of determining rates of family benefits. APPENDIX II : PRINCIPAL LABOUR LEGISLATION 661 French West Africa: 11 February 1956 J.O. (Sénégal), 9 March 1956 Local Order to prescribe the maximum remuneration upon which contributions are payable by employers to the family benefit scheme. French West Africa: 14 February 1956 J.O. (Sénégal), 9 March 1956 Local Order to fix the rate of employers' contributions to the wage earners' family benefit scheme. French West Africa: 14 February 1956 J.O. (Sénégal), 9 March 1956 Local Order to fix the rate of family benefits. French West Africa: 27 February 1956 J.O. (Sénégal), 9 March 1956 Local Order to prescribe the standing orders of the Family Benefit Equalisation Fund. Somalia Abolition of Forced Labour Ordinance, No. 13 of 1952. Employment Accident Insurance Ordinance, No. 27 of 1951 (L.S., 1951—Som. It. 1), as amended by the Employment Injury (Occupational Diseases) Ordinance, No. 7 of 1954 (L.S., 1954— Som. It. 2). Employment of Young Persons Ordinance, No. 12 of 1953 (L.5., 1953—Som. It. 1). Rules respecting the constitution and activity of associations, corporations and institutions, Ordinance No. 2 of 1954. Rules for the employment of women, Ordinance No. 4 of 1954 (L.S., 1954—Som. It. 1). Rules respecting public assemblies, Ordinance No. 1 of 1954. Liberia Labor Law (Title 19 of Liberian Code of Laws of 1956^ Portuguese Territories2 Indigenous Labour Code: Decree No. 16199 of 6 December 1928 (Diario do Governo, Series I, No. 281, 6 December 1928) (L.S., 1928—Por. 3) (applicable to indigenous workers in all territories). ANGOLA Indigenous Labour Regulations: Legislative Decree No. 2797 (Bol., Series I, No. 52, 31 December 1956). Labour Regulations (Europeans and Assimilated Persons) : Legislative Decree No. 287 (Bol., Series I, No. 23, 5 June 1957). Indigenous Identification Regulations: Order No. 6224 (Bol., Series I, 21 February 1948). Placement Offices (Europeans and Assimilated Persons): Order No. 6622 (Bol., Series I, No. 2, 12 January 1949). Practical Training of Indigenous Workers: Order No. 7869 (Bol., Series I, No. 26, 25 June 1952). Indigenous Settlements: Legislative Decree No. 2266 (Bol., Series I, No. 25, 5 July 1950). Workers' Housing: Legislative Decree No. 2415 (Bol., 1 October 1952). Indigenous Housing: Legislative Decree No. 2799 (Bol., No. 1, 2 January 1957). Employment of Women and Young Persons (Europeans and Assimilated Persons): Order No. 9934 of 23 October 1957 (Bol., Series I, No. 43, 23 October 1957). CAPE VERDE ISLANDS Methods of Minimum Wage Fixing: Legislative Decree No. 1053 (Bol., No. 34, 26 August 1950). Labour Welfare Service: Legislative Decree No. 1146 (Bo!., No. 5, 30 January 1954). Labour Welfare Service (Regulations): Order No. 4520 (Bol., No. 6, 6 February 1954). Placement Services (Commercial Employees): Order No. 4636 (Bol., No. 43, 23 October 1954). Penal Sanctions: Legislative Decree No. 1192 (Bol., No. 43, 23 October 1954). 1 1 Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, 1957, pp. 755-765. In addition to the enactments mentioned here, the legislation of Portugal governing such subjects as workers' unions, employers' associations and workmen's compensation is applicable in the African territories to Europeans and assimilated persons. 662 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Labour Co-ordination Committees: Legislative Decree No. 1242 {Bol., No. 20, 14 May 1955). Social Welfare Standards: Legislative Decree No. 1285 {Bol., No. 15, 14 April 1956). Social Welfare (Regulations): Order No. 5083 (Bol., No. 44, 3 November 1956). Migrant Workers: Legislative Decree No. 1280 (Bol., No. 11, 17 March 1956). Family Benefits: Order No. 5215 (Bol., No. 18, 4 May 1957). MOZAMBIQUE Indigenous Labour Regulations: Order No. 1180 (Bo!., 4 September 1930). Forced Labour in Lieu of Taxes: Order No. 4963 (Bol., 26 December 1942), as amended by Order No. 5175 (Bol., 26 June 1943). Workmen's Compensation: Order No. 5483, (Bol., Series I, No. 15, 8 April 1944). Indigenous Identification Regulations: Order No. 6490 (Bol., 15 June 1946). Placement Offices (Europeans and Assimilated Persons): Order No. 7468 (Bol., 19 August 1948). Indigenous Workers Regulations (Domestic Servants): Order No. 7798 (Bol., Series I, No. 14, 2 April 1949). Indigenous Labour Standards: Order of 17 August 1953 (Bol., Series I, 17 August 1953). Labour Standards (Europeans and Assimilated Persons): Legislative Decree No. 1595 of 28 April 1956 (Bol., Series I, No. 18, 7 May 1956). Workmen's Compensation (Europeans and Assimilated Persons): Legislative Decree No. 1706 of 19 October 1957 (Bol., Series I, No. 42, 19 October 1957). Workmen's Compensation (Europeans and Assimilated Persons): Order No. 12432 (Bol., Series I, No. 10, 8 March 1958). Workmen's Compensation (Europeans and Assimilated Persons): Resolution of 29 March 1958 (Bol., Series I, No. 13, 29 March 1958). PORTUGUESE GUINEA Indigenous Labour Regulations: Legislative Decree No. 938 (Bo!., No. 21 (Supplement), 16 November 1935) (L.S., 1935—Por. 7A). Indigenous Labour: Legislative Decree No. 1122 (Bol., 2 December 1940). Forced Labour in Lieu of Taxes: Order No. 8 (Bol., 22 January 1945). SAO TOMé AND PRINCIPE Indigenous Labour Regulations: Order No. 977 (Bol., 26 February 1947). Recruitment and Stabilisation of Manpower: Decree No. 36888 (Bol., No. 28, 10 July 1948). Medical Care: Order No. 1578 (Bol., No. 11, 26 July 1951). Industrial Accidents: Order No. 1723 (Bol., No. 19, 10 May 1952) (L.S., 1952—S. Tomé 1). Wages: Order No. 1767 (Bol., No. 34 (Supplement), 26 August 1952). Hours of Work in Commerce and Industry: Order No. 1766 (Bol., No. 34 (Supplement), 26 August 1952). Hours of Work on Plantations: Order No. 1825 (Bol., No. 50, 13 December 1952). Medical Care: Decree No. 40195 (Bol., No. 27, 2 July 1955, and No. 30, 23 July 1955). Workers Migrating from Cape Verde: Order No. 2268 (Bol., No. 5, 4 February 1956). Spanish West Africa Order to regulate labour in the Territories of Spanish West Africa (Boletín Oficial del Estado, 24 March 1954) (L.S., 1954—Sp. 1). Territorial Labour Regulations (Ibid., 12 December 1957). Sudan 1 Apprenticeship Ordinance, 1908. Domestic Servants Ordinance, 1921. Employment of Children Ordinance, 1929 (L.5., 1929—Sudan 1). Shops, Trades and Factories (Weekly Closing) Ordinance, 1939. Employers and Employed Persons Ordinance, 1949. Regulation of Trades Disputes Ordinance, 1949. Trade Unions Ordinance, 1949. Trades Disputes (Arbitration and Enquiry) Ordinance, 1949. Workmen's Compensation Ordinance, 1949. Wages Tribunals Ordinance, 1952 (Z,.^., 1952—A.E.S. 1). 1 The ordinances earlier than 1954 will be found in Volume 8 of the Laws of the Sudan, 1954. APPENDIX II : PRINCIPAL LABOUR LEGISLATION 663 Workshops and Factories Ordinance, 1949. Employment Exchanges Ordinance, 1955, No. 6 of 1955 (L.S., 1955—A.E.S. 1). Union of South Africa Native Labour Regulation Act, No. 15 of 1911, as amended by Acts No. 56 of 1949, No. 54 of 1952 and No. 36 of 1957. Native Service Contract Act, No. 24 of 1932 (L.S., 1932—S.A. 1), as amended by Act No. 67 of 1952. Electrical Wiremen and Contractors Act, No. 20 of 1939, as amended by Acts No. 65 of 1955 and No. 35 of 1957. Shops and Offices Act, No. 41 of 1939, as amended by Acts No. 50 of 1952 and No. 34 of 1954. Factories, Machinery and Building Work Act, No. 22 of 1941 (L.S., 1941—S.A. 3), as amended by Acts No. 50 of 1952 and No. 34 of 1954. Workmen's Compensation Act, No. 30 of 1941, as amended by No. 27 of 1945, No. 36 of 1949, No. 5 of 1951 and No. 51 of 1956 (L.S., 1941—S.A. 2, 1945—S.A. 1, 1949—S.A. 1, 1951—S.A. 1 and 1956—S.A. 3). Apprenticeship Act, No. 37 of 1944, as amended by Act No. 28 of 1951 (L.S., 1944—S.A. 1, 1951— S.A. 2A). Native (Urban Areas) Consolidation Act, No. 25 of 1945, as amended by Acts No. 42 of 1946, No. 54 of 1952, No. 16 of 1955 and No. 69 of 1956. Registration for Employment Act, No. 34 of 1945 (L.S., 1945—S.A. 2). Silicosis Act, No. 47 of 1946, as amended by Acts No. 42 of 1950 and No. 57 of 1956. Unemployment Insurance Act, No. 53 of 1946, as amended by Acts No. 41 of 1949, No. 48 of 1952, No. 10 of 1954 and No. 9 of 1957 (L.S., 1946—S.A. 1, 1949—S.A. 2, and 1952—S.A. 1). Native Building Workers Act, No. 27 of 1951, as amended by Acts No. 38 of 1953 and No. 60 of 1955. Training of Artisans Act, No. 38 of 1951 (L.S., 1951—S.A. 2B). Native Services Levy Act, No 64 of 1952. Natives (Abolition of Passes and Co-ordination of Documents) Act, No. 67 of 1952. Native Labour (Settlement of Disputes) Act, No. 48 of 1953 (L.S., 1953—S.A. 1), as amended by Acts No. 59 of 1955 and No. 28 of 1956 (L.5., 1956—S.A. 1). Vocational Education Act, No. 70 of 1955. Mines and Works Act, No. 27 of 1956. Industrial Conciliation Act, No. 28 of 1956 (L.S., 1956—S.A. 1). Workmen's Wages Protection Act, No. 40 of 1956 (L.S., 1956—S.A. 2). Pneumoconiosis Act, No. 57 of 1956. Wage Act, No. 5 of 1957 (L.S., 1957—S.A. 1). South-West Africa Control and Treatment of Natives on Mines Proclamation, No. 3 of 1917, as amended by No. 6 of 1924. Mines Proclamation, 1917. Vagrancy Proclamation, 1920. Native Administration Proclamation, No. 118 of 1922, as amended. Master and Servants Proclamation, No. 34 of 1920, as amended by No. 19 of 1923, No. 10 of 1927, No. 22 of 1938, No. 7 of 1947, and No. 26 of 1950, and by Ordinance No. 4 of 1955. Native Labour Regulation Proclamation, No. 6 of 1925, as amended by No. 27 of 1931. Native Administration Proclamation, No. 15 of 1928. Native Labour Regulation (Mines and Works) Proclamation, No. 33 of 1929, as amended by No. 35 of 1930 and No. 4 of 1939. Extra-Territorial and Northern Natives Control Proclamation, 1935. Workmen's Compensation Act, No. 30 of 1941, as amended by Act No. 51 of 1956 of the Union of South Africa (L.S., 1956—S.A. 3), both applied to the territory in 1956. Natives Minimum Wages Proclamation, No. 1 of 1944, as amended by No. 5 of 1944 (not in force). Natives (Urban Areas) Proclamation, No. 56 of 1951, as amended. Factories, Machinery and Building Works Ordinance, No. 34 of 1952. Wage and Industrial Conciliation Ordinance No. 35 of 1952. Societies of Employers of Contracted Natives Ordinance, No. 48 of 1952. Pneumoconiosis Act, No. 57 of 1956 (of the Union of South Africa). J APPENDIX III ADDITIONAL TABLES This appendix contains a number of tables (referred to at various places in the survey) which give additional statistical information on various aspects of the economic and social situation in the countries and territories of Africa. TABLE 1. Territory POPULATION AND POPULATION DENSITY Non-Africans Africans Europeans 1955 Angola Basutoland Bechuanaland Belgian Congo British Cameroons British Somaliland British Togoland (since 1957 part of Ghana) Ethiopia French Cameroons French Equatorial Africa .... French Somaliland French Togoland French West Africa Gambia Gold Coast Kenya Liberia Madagascar Mozambique Nigeria Northern Rhodesia Nyasaland Portuguese Guinea Ruanda-Urundi Sierra Leone Somalia Southern Rhodesia South-West Africa Spanish Guinea Sudan Swaziland Tanganyika Uganda Union of South Africa 1935 3,147,045 560,000 263,000 9,572,000 842,000 350,000 4,147,000 627,000 324,000 12,562,000 1,500,000 640,000 58,098 1,434 1,900 18,000 354 314,000 43 1,283,000 313,000 168,000 429,000 20,000,000 3,146,000 4,665,000 63,000 1,080,000 18,640,000 285,000 4,620,000 5,815,000 1,250,000 4,776,000 6,030,000 31,254,000 2,085,000 2,560,000 540,000 4,362,000 2,050,000 1,276,000 2,400,000 453,000 208,000 154,000 5,106,000 3,644,000 6,495,000 223,000 8,205,000 5,300,000 9,161,000 2,339,000 3,386,000 763,000 14,702,000 200,000 3,065,000 3,028,000 3,758,000 4,487,000 19,100,000 1,380,000 1,603,000 380,000 3,406,000 1,890,000 2^257 4,463 418 19,061 217 2,800 18,000 23,131 5,246 9,913 1,781 893 718 55^419 32,000 2,735 8,455 2,000 1,970,000 Asiatics and others 1955 103,419 ' 1,689 s 2,379 s 97,466 771 16,042* 25,2364 4,4224 1,242 91,0884 269 11,0006 52,400 74,085 4 48,2138 15,000 65,000 6,300 2,263 8 6,486 ' 96412 4,30013 167,000 55,200 4,436 " 3,201 > 25,000 7,800 2,856,000 1935 19,872 Area (sq. kms.) 1955 a 38,000 22,6199 227 2,500 « 30,240! 876 1,176 = 180,8006 15,802' 39,39210 6,300 9,400 4,579 2,07412 31,000" 12,600 24,000 14,860 974,000 " 745 3 94,40015 55,10016 1,652,00018 No. of inhabitants per sq. km. in 1955 1,246,700 30,344 712,800 2,343,930 88,270 176,120 3 21 0.4 5 17 4 33,776 1,184,320 432,000 2,510,000 22,000 57,000 4,633,985 10,369 204,097 582,646 111,370 590,000 783,030 878,447 746,256 127,368 36,125 54,172 72,326 461,341 389,362 823,876 28,051 2,505,825 17,364 939,361 243,411 1,223,409 13 17 7 2 3 19 4 27 21 10 11 35 3 20 15 79 28 3 6 > M Z O g H o z > r > tö r m 1 7 Í2 3 23 11 '1954 figures. ' Coloured (mixed) only. s 1946 figures. * 1956 figures covering Europeans and the like (Syrians, Lebanese, etc.). s 1953 figures, including 1,930 Syrians and Lebanese. * Incl. 144,100 Indians. * Incl. 10,902 Indians and 4,900 Chinese. » 1950 figures. " Incl. 13,259 Coloured (mixed), 8,304 Indians and 1,056 other Asiatics. « 1950 figures. Incl. 12 630 Indians, 1,613 other Asiatics, and 24,892 Coloured (mixed). "Incl. 2,000 Indians. 1! 1948 figures. ia1953 figures. »Incl. 30,000 Arabs and 1,000 Indians »Incl. 72,500 Indians. • Incl. 52,000 Indians. " Incl. 757,000 Cape Coloured and 217,000 Asiatics. " Incl. 1,242,000 Cape Coloured and 410,000 Asiatics. 0\ TABLE 2. POPULATION AND LABOUR FORCE OS Africans1 Territory Economically active male population * 1935 Angola Basutoland Bechuanaland Belgian Congo British Cameroons ... British Somaliland British Togoland (since 1957 part of Ghana) Ethiopia French Cameroons French Equatorial Africa French Somaliland French Togoland French West Africa Gambia Gold Coast Kenya Liberia Madagascar Mozambique Nigeria Northern Rhodesia Nyasaland Portuguese Guinea Ruanda-Urundi Sierra Leone Somalia Southern Rhodesia South-West Africa Spanish Guinea Swaziland Tanganyika Uganda Union of South Africa 785,750 140,000 65,750 2,393,000 209,500 87,500 78,500 584,750 846,000 190,750 3,675,000 50,000 766,000 657,000 939,500 1,121,750 4,777,500 345,000 400,750 85,000 851,500 472,500 320,750 78,250 42,000 38,500 1,276,500 911,000 1,623,750 (1) Non-Africans (2) 1955 1,036,750 156,750 81,000 3,140,500 375,000 160,000 107,250 5,000,000 786,500 1,166,250 15,750 270,000 4,666,000 71,250 1,270,000 1,453,750 312,500 1,194,000 1,507,500 7,813,500 521,250 640,000 135,000 1,090,500 512,500 319,000 600,000 113,250 52,000 55,750 2,051,250 1,325,000 3,290,250 « 1938 315,549 522,527 Economically active male population Wageearning workers (4) as percentage (4) (5) (6) 38.3 33,368« 23,172« ' 69.4 18.2 13.2 6,148' 10,322' 1,090 ' 500» 29,256' 8,748 ' 84.7 (2) as percentage of (1) Wage earners ' 1955 1938 (3) 1955 of (5) 38.6 400,921 ' 1,206,043 143,900« 154,754« 63,779 172,760 24,466 • 372,500 • 4,823 s 233,585'» 434,577'» 8.3 26.2 9.5 7.9 6.7 18.3 29.9 227,451 152,23o15 177,000" 247,562 « 542,746" 319,755" 252,937'« 289,123" 4.7 44.1 44.1 2Ó.7 36.0 4.0 48.4 45.1 4.8 ! 22,107" 232,767 ° 41,619" 4.6 21.3 8.1 107,581 " 267,286 " 33.5 44.5 207,106 ■■ 72,680 389,220 » 225,453 !« 16.2 7.9 18.9 17.0 > 23,257 ' 4,717 » 43,668 s 24,118' 33,101" 17,505 ' 29,448 " >• > 2a 72.9 88.9 27,786" 3,740" 2,236" 68,886' 33,555 • 9,997' 1,021,829" ' The statistics for French West Africa, French Equatorial Africa, Sierra Leone, the Belgian Congo, Angola, Mozambique and Madagascar do not distinguish between male and female labour; for the other territories the figures used are those for male labour. * Where no statistics are available the figures have been calculated on the assumption that able-bodied male adults account for 25 per cent, of the total population. ' 1954 figures. * 1955 figures. « 7,219 government employees and 15,953 company employees. «Excl. government employees. ' 1951 figures. » 1952 figures. • 1936 figures. '» 1954 figures. " Employment in agriculture, mining, manufacturing, building and construction, transport and domestic service. 1950 figures for last three occupational groups, 1953 figures for other groups. Incl. 320,699 migrants working in other territories. " 1950 figures. " Incl. 12,062 civil servants. " 1953 figures. Excl. employment in undertakings with less than ten workers. " Incl. 54,254 migrants working in other territories. " 1956 figures. Ind. 39,925 migrants working in other territories ; excl. 44,575 migrants from other territories. " 1956 figures. " 113,500 migrants working in other territories. " 1956 figures. Incl. 148,042 migrants working in other territories; excl. 8,099 workers from other territories. " 1956 figures. Incl. 86,906 migrants working in other territories. " Excl. employment in undertakings with less than five workers. M 1936 figures. Excl. 144,901 migrants from other territories. "* 1956 figures. Excl. 297,676 migrants from other territories. " Excl. 45,000 migrants from other territories. >s Africans only; incl. 21,350 migrants working in other territories; excl. 37,449 migrants from other territories. " Excl. employment in undertakings with less than five workers. *' 1946 figures. > » o d fa C < TABLE 3. Territory and year Angola, 1955 Belgian Congo: 1950 1956 French Cameroons: 1952 1955 French Equatorial Africa: 1952 1955 French Togoland: 1952 1955 French West Africa: 1952 1955 Gold Coast : 1948-49 1954 Kenya: 1950 1956 Madagascar: 1952 1955 Mozambique, 1953 . Nigeria, 1953 Northern Rhodesia: 1951 1956 Nyasaland, 1956 . . Ruanda-Urundi, 1956 Sierra Leone: 1948 1954 Southern Rhodesia: 1946 1956 Tanganyika: 1952 1955 Uganda: 1951 1956 Union of South Africa . . . . . . . . NUMBERS OF WAGE EARNERS IN THE MAIN BRANCHES OF ECONOMIC ACTIVITY1 Agriculture and forestry Mining and quarrying 22,758 47,255 238,835 300,791 114,350 84,287 32,307 40,000 Building and construction Transport 134,466 152,758 84,869 124,319 62,211 91,789 62,050 81,548 265,228 362,404 ■ 4,706 2,000 4,713 10,900 12,000 18,100 9,295 8,000 13,718» 16,400' 10,052 ' 11,000' 28,822 ' 37,500 ' 115,613 143,900 47,586 39,945 24,305 19,575 11,129 14,941 57,140 22,089 7,988 15,713 12,216 s 13,042» 13,000 4 15,15o1 28,626 » 21,374 » 201,990 154,754 1,874 2,584 105 686 380 2,691 456 1,243 850 11,690 as 11,814 1,400 ' 1,212' 5 5 26,401 24,466 63,622 73,600 11,225 11,700 24,578 31,000 55,363 42,800 25,733 33,300 37,589 52,000 19,901 33,929 35,898 36,959 2,130 14,755 20,033 49,690 9,983 21,775 203,500 235,200 8,500 9,000 43,400 57,700 19,200 29,500 80,828 96,693 117,912 53,850 • 9,595 7,996 5,138 50,342 24,000 21,489 29,866 " 16,022 57,025 40,602 68,589 25,594 37,709 37,582 530 20,546 19,375 24,585 18,203 5,610 2,686 2,288 6,581 4,901 Manufacturing Commerce Government services Total 30,902 962,009 1,179,896 8,338 7,065 24,071 ' 20,500 ' 114,032 6 107,600 ' 356,213 372,500 15,758 24,486 7,682 30,275 19,544 32,547 130,930 244,417 31,900 47,800 28,500 37,900 40,800 45,700 84,700 134,100 460,500 596,700 12,477 19,554 16,882 ' 54,434 5,925 9,528 9,408 ' 36,951 15,239 3 22,913* 35^837 36,253 « 26,985 * 58,879 • 24,742 46,424 64,094 25,094 14,390 6,158 4,144 15,514 9,305 14,477 11,156 10,982 52,670" 73,951 1! 36,542 30,264 8,511 10,963 3,705 5,004 5,477 4,962 1,910 " 2,688 1S 96,027 I5 124,037 » 37,862 49,390 " 89,519 99,368 443,597 413,100 14,329 32,384 44,471 49,722 207,132' 225,729 ' 7,838 s s 225,835 248,346 63,805 60,658 57,227 73,117 54,079 58,084 11,207 13,705 22,023 30,006 234,317 201,350 16,529 14,346 22,539 19,014 21,253 12,161 6,951 6,204 14,627 11,267 9,258 5,375 527,991 ' 23,619 24,868 641,775 " 39,063 37,107 147,878 7,076 8,913 204,090 " 4,448 5,326 100,000 » 64,868 » 62,034 » 700,000 » Domestic and other services !0 300,000 S!1 44,325 42,404 5L656 s s 228,642 247,562 323^834 > 228,676 263,132 164,278 123,401 7,976 11,162 36,846 ' 41,968 ' > tn Z O > O O H O z> r H >CO r tn 530,203 609,953 1 Incl. women and young workers. The figures given for the Belgian Congo, Mozambique, Nigeria, Northern Rhodesia, Nyasaland, Sierra Leone, Southern Rhodesia, Tanganyika and Uganda are for African labour; in other cases the figures are for all labour. ' Incl. 39,699 office workers. s Incl. employees in banking and the professions. * Domestic workers only. 1 General administration and technical services,10 excl. civil servants. * Incl. cotton ginning and processing of agricultural produce such as tea, sisal and sugar cane. ' 1950 figures. ■ Domestic workers only (1950 figures). * Incl. fishing. Figures for undertakings employing more than ten workers. 11 Incl. 20,528 domestic workers. 12 Incl. 30,805 in domestic service, government and local government, electricity, water and sanitation, etc. " Seafarers and dockworkers only. " Figures for undertakings employing more than six workers. " Incl. domestic workers (53,874 in 1951, 71,578 in 1956), government and local government, electricity, water and sanitation, etc. " Incl. 30,000 domestic workers. " Incl. cotton ginning, forestry and fishing. 18 Figures for undertakings employing more than five workers. " Department of Native Affairs estimates for 1953. Africans only. " 1952-53 figures. " 1953 figures. " Department of Native Affairs estimates for 1953. African domestic workers only. CTN 668 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY TABLE 4. PRODUCTION OF SELECTED AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES IN AFRICA, 1947-49 (As percentage ofpre-war production1) Crop Cereals: Barley Maize Rice Pulses: Dry peas Root crops: Potatoes Vegetable oils and seeds: Cotton seed Groundnuts Olive oil Palm oil and kernels Sesame-seed Citrus fruits Sugar Beverages : Cocoa Coffee Tea Fibres: Sisal Wool Tobacco Rubber 1947 1948 1949 94 137 112 142 122 135 157 134 137 213 227 240 122 136 147 95 123 62 99 227 147 112 130 129 83 106 129 184 126 133 86 221 189 102 235 178 105 230 189 110 75 157 325 129 82 157 358 132 80 171 383 157 112 Source; United Nations; Review of Economic Conditions in Africa, op. cit., p. 25. Figures are for the whole of Africa excluding Egypt. 1 In most cases the average for the years 1934-38. 669 APPENDIX Hi: ADDITIONAL TABLES TABLE 5. OUTPUT OF SELECTED AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES BY COUNTRY AND TERRITORY (In thousands of metric tons) Commodity and country Groundnuts : Belgian Congo French Cameroons . . . French Equatorial Africa . French West Africa . . . Gambia Nigeria (including Cameroons) Uganda Union of South Africa . . Sugar: Angola Mauritius Mozambique Réunion Uganda Union of South Africa . . Cocoa: French West Africa . . . Ghana (formerly Gold Coast) Nigeria and Cameroons. . Coffee: Angola Belgian Congo British East Africa .... Ethiopia French West Africa . . . Madagascar Tea: Kenya Mozambique Nyasaland Uganda Cotton: Sudan Belgian Congo French Equatorial Africa . Mozambique Nigeria Tanganyika Uganda Sisal: British East Africa .... Portuguese Territories . . Tobacco : Northern Rhodesia . . . Nyasaland Southern Rhodesia . . . Union of South Africa . . 1934-38 1953-54 1954-55 1955-56 1956-57 128.0 35.0 16.0 713.0 180.0 70.0 161.0 895.0 63.0 188.0 80.0 106.0 794.0 59.0 175.0 87.0 182.0 938.0 58.0 1,100.0 870.0 160.0 202.0 790.0 170.0 195.0 1,000.0 180.0 222.0 800.0 71.0 14.0 32.0 310.0 46.0 90.0 29.0 453.0 46.0 512.0 93.0 171.0 43.0 688.0 44.0 499.0 90.0 176.0 68.0 752.0 42.0 533.0 124.0 177.0 71.0 853.0 53.0 572.0 139.0 180.0 75.0 770.0 55.7 72.0 53.0 75.0 76.0 282.6 90.8 240.0 106.0 218.0 100.0 209.0 90.0 238.0 119.0 16.4 17.0 41.4 12.0 11.4 24.0 75.0 38.0 63.0 40.0 87.0 45.0 58.0 42.0 99.0 46.0 77.0 44.0 79.0 51.0 93.0 54.0 120.0 55.0 81.0 57.0 97.0 49.0 110.0 51.0 3.7 0.5 4.3 0.1 6.0 3.0 6.0 2.0 8.0 5.0 8.0 3.0 9.0 6.0 8.0 3.0 10.0 7.0 9.0 3.0 53.0 33.0 8.0 6.0 8.0 10.0 59.0 87.0 45.0 33.0 34.0 26.0 9.0 73.0 89.0 48.0 38.0 28.0 34.0 19.0 54.0 95.0 49.0 37.0 22.0 27.0 22.0 65.0 134.0 52.0 34.0 30.0 120.0 26.0 210.0 53.0 217.0 54.0 218.0 65.0 220.0 63.0 0.7 8.0 10.5 9.1 4.0 15.0 55.0 18.0 4.0 10.0 56.0 16.0 5.0 15.0 70.0 14.0 3.0 14.0 65.0 20.0 183Í0 240 68.0 Source: United Nations: Review of Economic Conditions in Africa, op. cit., pp. 29 ff ; Review of Economic Activity in Africa 1950 to 1954 (New York, 1955), pp. 123 ff., and Economic Developments in Africa, 1956-1957 (New York, 1958), pp. 71 ff. 670 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY TABLE 6. SHARE OF AFRICA IN WORLD PRODUCTION OF SELECTED CROPS BEFORE AND AFTER THE SECOND WORLD WAR (Percentages) Crop Sisal Palm oil and kernels Cocoa Groundnuts Millet and sorghum Coffee Sesame-seed Olive oil . . Wine Dry peas Wool Cane sugar Citrus fruits Tobacco Tea Rubber . ... Pre-war » 1948 63.3 54.8 66.3 18.9 20.1 6.2 6.6 8.0 11.0 3.5 8.9 5.5 3.3 2.6 1.8 0.9 75.5 69.5 68.3 21.6 20.6 15.3 14.2 11.9 9.7 7.7 7.4 5.7 4.3 3.5 3.3 2.8 Source: United Nations: Review of Economic Conditions in Africa, op. cit., p 24. The percentages apply to the whole of Africa except Egypt. 1 The figures relate in general to the years 1934-38. TABLE 7. CLASSIFICATION OF AREAS UNDER AFRICAN CULTIVATION IN SELECTED AFRICAN COUNTRIES AND TERRITORIES (In thousands of hectares) Crops mainly for export Territory and period Area Belgian Congo, 1947-50 . . French Equatorial Africa, 1948-50 French West Africa, 1947-49 Gold Coast, 1950 Kenya, 1947-50 Nigeria, 1950-51 Southern Rhodesia, 1950. . Tanganyika, 1952 .... Uganda, 1948-50 Total . . . Percentage of total Crops partly for export and partly for local consumption Area Crops mainly for local consumption Percentage of total Area Percentage of total Total area 49 2 587 27 1,577 71 2,213 297 305 728 21 3 45 25 1,487 2 16 242 3 18 1,891 5 22 146 700 6 28 81 3 1,065 7,796 884 352 6,494 912 2,209 1,835 77 81 55 95 75 100 91 72 1,387 9,588 1,612 370 8,627 912 2,436 2,535 2,467 8 4,089 14 23,124 78 29,680 Source: United Nations: Enlargement of the Exchange Economy in Tropical Africa, op. cit., p. 11. 671 APPENDIX Di: ADDITIONAL TABLES TABLE 8. SHARE OF AFRICA IN WORLD PRODUCTION OF SELECTED MINERALS (Percentages of total production in terms of weight) 1937 1948 1951 2.7 34.8 84.9 46.5 17.7 21.1 2.8 0.2 1.9 9.9 12.0 30.8 80.1 58.9 18.2 29.4 2.8 0.3 3.3 15.3 36.8 45.1 85.2 56.1 23.3 45.5 4.0 0.8 4.3 14.0 22.9 38.3 80.0 56.7 25.9 37.6 5.0 1.0 3.6 14.5 12.8 1.3 97.1 35.6 13.6 2.2 98.4 35.5 16.8 2.4 97.5 34.6 17.0 2.8 98.4 28.7 Metallic mineral ores (metal con- tained) : Antimony Chrome Cobalt Gold Copper Manganese Iron Nickel Silver Tin concentrates Non-metallic minerals: Asbestos Coal Diamonds Phosphate rock Source: United Nations: Review of Economic Conditions in Africa, op. cit., p. 42, and Review of Economic Activity in Africa, 1950 to 1954, op. cit., p. 30. TABLE 9. RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF MINING PRODUCTION IN SELECTED AFRICAN COUNTRIES AND TERRITORIES, 1953 Country Item Nigeria Northern Rhodesia Sierra Leone Southern Rhodesia French West Africa South-West Africa . . Union of South Africa / ■ ■{ Cobalt Tin Diamonds Tungsten and zinc ores Silver Copper Tin Copper Iron Asbestos Chrome Bauxite Lead Vanadium Gold Coal Magnesite Chrome Antimony Asbestos Nickel Iron Diamonds Percentage of total produced in Africa 86 60 64 53 51 34 32 58 14 40 38 74 30 nearly 100 87 86 70 60 54 44 32 20 14 Source: United Nations: Review of Economic Activity in Africa, 1950 to 1954, op. cit., p. 29. 672 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY TABLE 10. OUTPUT OF SELECTED MINERALS IN AFRICAN COUNTRIES (In thousands of metric tons except where otherwise stated) Mineral and country Gold (kilogrammes): Bechuanaland .... Belgian Congo .... French Cameroons . . Ethiopia Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland . . . French Equatorial Africa French West Africa . . Gold Coast Kenya Liberia Madagascar Mozambique Nigeria Sierra Leone Sudan Tanganyika Uganda Union of South Africa . Diamonds (thousands of metric carats) : Angola Belgian Congo .... French Equatorial Africa French West Africa . . Gold Coast Sierra Leone South-West Africa . . Tanganyika Union of South Africa . Iron ore (metal content): Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland . . . Sierra Leone Liberia Union of South Africa . Copper ore (metal content) : Angola Belgian Congo .... Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland . . . South-West Africa . . Union of South Africa . Tin concentrates (metric tons) : Belgian Congo .... Nigeria Tanganyika Uganda South-West Africa . . Union of South Africa . 1937 1947 1950 1953 1955 1956 — — — — — — — 8.0 10,557.0 226.0 1,141.0 34.0 11,540.0 32.0 17.0 11,506.0 16.0 18.0 11,635.0 13.0 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 626.4 4,925.2 5.6 57.7 1,577.7 913.4 196.8 3.2 1,030.4 799.2 5,474.5 107.1 62.3 852.5 605.6 197.6 92.2 1,242.4 — — — 15,944.0 15,688.0 16,320.0 16,788.0 1,685.0 1,448.0 1,266.0 1,711.0 590.0 149.0 18.0 14.0 21,444.0 22,736.0 21,373.0 19,844.0 298.0 431.0 714.0 296.0 — — 300.0 431.0 60.0 51.0 30.0 30.0 50.0 32.0 39.0 39.0 70.0 14.0 21.0 21.0 — 108.0 44.0 15.0 — 110.0 68.0 47.0 2,072.0 1,844.0 2,304.0 2,146.0 16.0 13.0 8.0 11.0 362,782.0 371,395.0 454,182.0 494,443.0 539.0 10,148.0 112.0 125.0 944.0 656.0 505.0 71.0 1,732.0 729.0 12,580.0 141.0 180.0 2,164.0 482.0 610.0 171.0 2,718.0 743.0 13,041.0 137.0 318.0 2,227.0 420.0 813.0 326.0 2,629.0 740.0 14,010.0 146.0 381.0 2,520.0 547.0 989.0 359.0 2,586.0 46.0 784.0 1,163.0 1,262.0 64.0 797.0 1,439.0 1,310.0 — — 367.0 410.0 29.0 711.0 295.0 708.0 717.0 35.0 848.0 893.0 1,228.0 — — 150.6 150.8 2.0 176.0 2.0 214.0 3.0 235.0 4.0 250.0 249.8 11.8 11.4 195.6 5.1 30.0 281.0 11.0 33.0 368.0 12.0 35.0 348.0 21.0 43.0 390.0 27.0 44.0 9,159.0 10,955.0 247.0 387.0 172.0 546.0 12,610.0 9,280.0 93.0 157.0 148.0 491.0 13,680.0 8,391.0 99.0 130.0 15,538.0 8,347.0 48.0 91.0 213.0 1,382.0 15,270.0 8,289.0 42.0 69.0 15,145.0 9,314.0 15.0 34.0 1,305.0 1,457.0 — — — 653.0 — — Source: United Nations: Review of Economic Conditions in Africa, op. cit., pp. 41 ff., Review of Economic Activity in Africa, 1950 to 1954, op. cit., pp.130 ff, Economic Developments in Africa 1955-1956, op. cit., pp. 90 ff., and Economic Developments in Africa 1956-1957, op. cit., pp. 77 ff. 673 APPENDIX Hi: ADDITIONAL TABLES TABLE 10. OUTPUT OF SELECTED MINERALS IN AFRICAN COUNTRIES (concl.) (In thousands of metric tons except where otherwise stated) Mineral and country 1937 Bauxite: Gold Coast French West Africa . . Mozambique Cobalt (metric tons): Belgian Congo .... Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland . . . Manganese (metalcontent) : Angola Belgian Congo .... Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland . . . Gold Coast Union of South Africa . TABLE 11. 1950 1947 1953 1955 1956 117.0 338.0 3.0 118.0 493.0 3.0 140.0 452.0 4.0 49.0 97.0 2.0 ~3.0 117.0 9.0 4.0 1,500.0 3,563.0 5,148.0 8,278.0 8,567.0 9,084.0 884.0 420.0 670.0 854.0 670.0 1,037.0 0.3 15.5 0.3 5.0 5.0 9.0 32.0 108.0 14.0 231.0 13.0 165.0 0.6 278.0 268.8 311.0 121.0 376.0 332.0 3.0 360.0 333.0 9.0 260.0 220.0 17.0 307.0 248.0 UNION OF SOUTH AFRICA: SALES OF MINERALS (In thousands of South African pounds) 1955 Minerals 1954 1956 1955 First nine months Gold Other precious metals Metalliferous minerals, excluding copper Copper Coal Other non-metalliferous minerals .... Diamonds Uranium and thorium 164,675 7,282 10,349 9,802 16,311 7,237 13,235 14,835 182,745 7,690 11,208 12,372 16,927 9,021 13,186 29,960 136,429 14,067 15,577 8,186 12,426 6,094 9,882 20,043 147,971 9,846 15,445 6,655 8,899 27,825 Source: United Nations: Economic Developments in Africa, 1955-1956, op. cit., p. 37. TABLE 12. UNION OF SOUTH AFRICA: PRODUCTION IN SELECTED INDUSTRIES (In thousands of metric tons except where otherwise stated) 1955 Item 1956 1955 First nine months Electric power (millions of kilowatt hours) Pig-iron Crude steel Cement Building bricks (millions) Construction Tyres (thousands) 14,636 1,197 1,428 2,162 728 70,578 1,591 16,351 1,301 1,584 2,337 786 74,717 1,722 12,207 971 1,195 1,712 587 59,501 1,296 Source: United Nations: Economic Developments in Africa, 1955-1956, op. cit., p. 38. 13,212 1,011 1,203 1,848 598 7,908 1,399 674 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY TABLE 13. LENGTH OF RAILWAY IN RELATION TO AREA AND POPULATION IN SELECTED AFRICAN COUNTRIES AND TERRITORIES, 1949 Country Area per km. of railway line (km.!) Population per km of railway line 493 286 145 357 11 473 145 1,184 875 4,922 694 20 1,241 120 259 626 370 773 95 2,264 7,752 4,008 2,815 2,387 1,052 4,008 19,190 5,595 8,100 5,035 1,921 4,244 2,145 4,708 2,258 2,938 2,444 558 Belgian Congo Nigeria Sierra Leone Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika Mauritius Northern and Southern Rhodesia Nyasaland Ethiopia French Cameroons French Equatorial Africa . . . Madagascar Réunion French West Africa French Togoland Gold Coast Angola Mozambique Sudan Union of South Africa .... Source: United Nations: Review of Economic Conditions in Africa, op. cit., p. 64. TABLE 14. RAILWAY FREIGHT TRAFFIC IN SELECTED AFRICAN COUNTRIES AND TERRITORIES IN 1948 AND 1949 COMPARED WITH PRE-WAR TRAFFIC Country Belgian Congo Nigeria Sierra Leone Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika . Northern and Southern Rhodesia French Cameroons French Equatorial Africa . . . . Madagascar Réunion French Somaliland French West Africa French Togoland Gold Coast Angola Mozambique Sudan Union of South Africa Base year 1937 1938 1938 1939 1937 1938 1938 1938 1938 1938 1938 1938 1938-1939 1943 1938 1938 1937 As percentage of base year 1948 ¡ 1949 140 110 141 162 119 135 207 143 73 224 122 192 193 191 165 112 155 Source: United Nations: Review of Economic Conditions in Africa, op. cit., p. 66. 134 154 207 131 94 247 141 221 205 135 172 675 APPENDIX III: ADDITIONAL TABLES TABLE 15. LENGTH OF ROADWAY IN SELECTED AFRICAN COUNTRIES AND TERRITORIES AFTER THE SECOND WORLD WAR Co unto- Belgian Congo .... Ruanda-Urundi .... Gambia Nigeria Sierra Leone Kenya Mauritius British Somaliland . . . Tanganyika Uganda Zanzibar Northern Rhodesia . . Nyasaland Southern Rhodesia . . . Basutoland Bechuanaland French Equatorial Africa Madagascar French West Africa . . French Somaliland . . . Gold Coast Liberia Angola Mozambique Sudan Union of South Africa . Total length (km.) 100,000 7,874 970 42,232 2,659 1,273 1,144 2,826 39,280 13,885 483 15,955 5,140 15,600 1,260 4,540 40,000 5,008 101,000 57 13,058 1,159 35,084 29,000 22,531 170,591 Population per km. of road 108 465 258 562 752 348 388 248 144 293 542 107 414 120 441 66 103 858 158 789 284 1,380 128 211 351 68 Area per km.8 of road (km. ) 23 7 11 21 27 48 2 62 24 18 5 47 24 25 24 157 63 118 46 381 156 96 36 27 121 7 Source: United Nations: Review of Economic Conditions in Africa, op. cit., p. 68. The figures refer principally to 1947. 676 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY TABLE 16. PRODUCTION OF ELECTRICITY IN SELECTED AFRICAN COUNTRIES AND TERRITORIES (In millions of kilowatt hours) Country Belgian Congo .... Nigeria Sierra Leone Kenya Mauritius Uganda Northern Rhodesia . . Nyasaland Southern Rhodesia . . Ethiopia French Equatorial Africa Madagascar French West Africa . . Gold Coast Liberia Angola Mozambique Sudan Union of South Africa . Pre-war year 1948 272.3 (1939) 497.3 0.8 (1937) 13.7 (1938) 0.3 (1938) 5.1 47.6 15.4 6.1 79.5 (1938) 330.0 13.3 (1937) 8.4 (1937) 24.9 202.0 1.0 (1937) 7.1 (1937) 11.3 (1937) 9.5 22.5 18.4 16.7 9,481.0 5,336.0 (1937) 1955 1,445.0 243.0 12.0 209.0 34.0 80.0 1,268.0 9.0 1,179.0 39.0 44.0 57.0 117.0 241.0 31.0 52.0 53.0 45.0 16,351.0 1956 1,743.0 285.0 14.0 240.0 37.0 95.0 1,372.0 1,320.0 43.0 33.0 58.0 138.0 231.0 77.0 47.0 17,659.0 Source: United Nations: Review of Economic Conditions in Africa, op. cit., p. 56; Review of Economic Activity in Africa, 1950 to 1954, op. cit., p. 40; and Economic Developments in Africa 1956-1957, op. cit., p. 81. TABLE 17. EXTERNAL TRADE OF SELECTED AFRICAN COUNTRIES AND TERRITORIES, 1956 (In millions of dollars) Country Angola Belgian Congo1 . . . . Ethiopia (and Eritrea) . French Cameroons . . . French Equatorial Africa French West Africa . . Gold Coast Liberia Kenya and Uganda . . Madagascar Mozambique Nigeria Réunion Rhodesia and Nyasaland Sierra Leone Sudan Tanganyika Union of South Africa2 Exports Imports 114 535 63 75 79 343 222 45 208 93 53 377 36 509 37 192 127 110 413 67 95 117 381 249 27 282 132 95 427 46 446 65 130 92 1,156 1,385 Source: United Nations: Economic Developments in Africa, 1956-1957, op. cit., p. 31 Including Ruanda-Urundi. Including South-West Africa. 1 2 Balance +4 + 122 -4 -20 -38 -38 -27 + 18 -74 -39 -42 -50 -10 + 63 -28 +62 + 35 -229 677 APPENDIX Di: ADDITIONAL TABLES TABLE 18. SHARES OF METROPOLITAN COUNTRIES IN THE TRADE OF THE NON-METROPOLITAN TERRITORIES FOR WHICH THEY ARE RESPONSIBLE, 1950-53 (Percentages of total) Year Imports : 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 Exports : 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 British Africa French African territories Portuguese Africa Belgian Congo 50.5 44.0 46.3 51.6 45.1 45.2 43.8 68.6 71.9 66.4 67.1 67.4 65.3 65.4 39.9 40.9 39.2 38.6 37.6 37.7 38.3 39.2 40.1 39.2 38.7 36.1 36.3 34.6 47.6 51.8 52.2 56.9 53.5 51.3 53.0 70.1 69.4 68.1 65.7 65.0 60.1 63.6 31.8 22.1 32.3 24.1 27.9 30.0 24.0 58.4 45.0 57.1 56.9 53.5 51.3 53.0 Source: United Nations: Economic Developments in Africa 1956-1957, op. cit., pp. 34 ff. The figures for British Africa include Southern Rhodesia and (up to 1952) South-West Africa; from 1953 onwards they apply to the sterling area countries of Africa with the exception of the Union of South Africa and South-West Africa. TABLE 19. PRICE INDICES OF PRINCIPAL AFRICAN EXPORTS, 1954-56 (January-June 1950=100) Item Cocoa Coffee Tea Cotton Sisal Wool Groundnuts Rubber Tobacco Copper Tin Manganese 1954 1955 1956 220 165 125 112 71 96 145 105 110 158 120 145 141 119 105 101 63 80 145 174 110 223 124 151 101 122 104 92 60 85 140 148 117 209 132 158 Source: United Nations: Economic Developments in Africa, 1956-1957, op. cit., p. 64. 678 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY TABLE 20. PROPORTION OF SCHOOL-AGE POPULATION ENROLLED IN PRIMARY, SECONDARY AND TECHNICAL SCHOOLS, 1955 School enrolment of 5-14 year age group Number of countries and territories in the world falling within category African countries and territories falling within category 80 per cent, or more 36 (none) 60-80 per cent. 26 Réunion Basutoland Mauritius 40-60 per cent. 18 Gold Coast Southern Rhodesia Union of South Africa 20-40 per cent. 36 Kenya Northern Rhodesia Nyasaland Belgian Congo Bechuanaland Madagascar Nigeria Swaziland French Togoland Uganda French Cameroons Ruanda-Urundi South-West Africa Less than 20 per cent. 21 British Somaliland Gambia Sierra Leone Somalia Sudan French Equatorial Africa French West Africa Portuguese Guinea Liberia Mozambique Tanganyika Zanzibar Angola Ethiopia Source: Report on the World Social Situation, op. cit., p. 67. 679 APPENDIX Hi: ADDITIONAL TABLES TABLE 21. NUMBER OF INHABITANTS PER HOSPITAL BED IN SELECTED COUNTRIES Inhabitants per hospital bed Country Africa: Belgian Congo Ruanda-Urundi Nigeria Sierra Leone Kenya Mauritius Tanganyika Uganda Zanzibar Northern Rhodesia Nyasaland Southern Rhodesia Basutoland Ethiopia French Equatorial Africa Madagascar Réunion French West Africa Gold Coast Liberia Sudan Union of South Africa 1952 1953 1952 1952 1952 1952 1952 1952 1952 1952 1952 1952 1952 1953 1952 1952 1952 1952 1952 1952 1952 1951 222 910 2,200 1,550 740 135 530 870 340 490 700 205 540 3,500 340 280 220 700 1,100 4,000 1,100 175 Asia and the Far East : Japan (lowest) Burma (highest) 1952 1952 196 10,800 Middle East and Northern Africa: Israel (lowest) Iran (highest) 1952 1952 155 2,300 Latin America and Caribbean : Surinam (lowest) Mexico (highest)1 1952 1953 85 875 Europe: France (lowest) Greece (highest) 1952 1951 65 365 North America and Oceania: New Zealand (lowest) United States of America (highest) 1953 1953 76 101 Source: Report on the World Social Situation, op. cit., pp. 43-45. The ratio of 1,500 is given for Haiti, but is stated to be based on incomplete figures. 1 680 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY TABLE 22. STRUCTURE OF CURRENT EXPENDITURE IN SELECTED BRITISH TERRITORIES, 1952 (In percentages of total) General administration Justice and public order Defence Financial services Social services Economic services ... Public works Postal and telegraph services Kenya Uganda Northern Rhodesia Nigeria1 13.2 14.8 5.6 1.8 27.7 20.5 16.4 10.1 7.1 2.7 2.3 24.8 11.3 41.7 8.4 4.6 2.6 0.8 19.8 41.4 19.1 3.3 13.0 6.3 6.9 3.3 6.5 20.5 32.7 10.8 : s Source: United Nations: Special Study on Economic Conditions in Non-Self-Governing Territories, op. cit., pp. 178 ff. ' Financial year 1952-53. 1 Responsibility of British East Africa High Commission TABLE 23. STRUCTURE OF CURRENT EXPENDITURE IN SELECTED FRENCH TERRITORIES, 19521 (In percentages of total) General administration Social services Economic services Public works . Postal, telegraph and telephone services . Industrial services French West Africa French Equatorial Africa Madagascar French Somaliland 30.2 29.7 11.5 15.7 8.4 4.5 32.7 29.9 12.9 14.7 8.2 1.6 33.0 29.2 12.6 15.4 8.6 1.2 41.2 21.8 4.2 11.5 5.4 16.9 Source: United Nations: Special Study on Economic Conditions in Non-Self-Governing Territories, op. cit., pp. 178 ff. 1 Excluding public debt and extra-budgetary accounts. 681 APPENDIX Hi: ADDITIONAL TABLES TABLE 24. HOURLY WAGES OF ADULT WAGE EARNERS IN 41 OCCUPATIONS IN FIVE AFRICAN COUNTRIES, OCTOBER 1953 Industry and occupation Coal mining: 1. Coal hewers, (underground) 2. Helpers, loaders (underground) Food manufacturing industries: 3. Bakers (ovenmen) .... Manufacture of textiles: 4. Spinners (mule) 5. Weavers 6. Loom fixers (tuners) . . . 7. Labourers (unskilled) . . Manufacture of wearing apparel (men's cotton shirts) : 8. Sewing-machine operators Manufacture of furniture: 9. Cabinet makers 10. Upholsterers 11. French polishers (hand rubbers) Printing and publishing: 12. Hand compositors .... 13. Machine compositors . . 14. Press operators 15. Bookbinders (machine sewing) 16. Labourers (unskilled) . . Manufacture of chemicals: 17. Mixers 18. Labourers (unskilled) . . Iron and steel basic industries: 19. Melters 20. Labourers (unskilled) . . Manufacture of machinery: 21. Fitters (assemblers) . . . 22. Iron moulders (hand, bench) 23. Pattern makers (wood) . . 24. Labourers (unskilled) . . Manufacture of transport equipment {repair of motor vehicles) : 25. Garage mechanics, general duties Construction: 26. Bricklayers 27. Structural steel erectors 28. Cement finishers .... 29. Carpenters 30. Painters 31. Plumbers 32. Electrical fitters (inside wiremen) 33. Labourers (unskilled) . . Electric light and power: 34. Electrical fitters (outside lines) 35. Labourers (unsk.) (power plant) Transport: (a) Railways: 36. Goods porters (platform loaders) 37. Permanent way labourers . (b) Trams and buses : 38. Drivers 39. Conductors (c) Urban freight transport: 40. Truck drivers (under 2 tons) Municipal services: 41. Labourers (unskilled) (public parks and gardens) . . Source: y-. 1 Excl. Vooc provided (■, :IL"2 Belgian Congo Nigeria Northern Rhodesia Sudan Leopoldville Whole country Whole country Whole country Cape Town Witwatersrand, Johannesburg Minimum rates 1 Average rates Average rates * Average rates Minimum rates Minimum rates Belgian francs Pence Piastres Pence Pence 5.5 43.5 8.0 71.8 71.8 71.8 71.8 71.8 71.8 6.0 6.5 5.5 55.8 62.6 55.8 61.5 69.1 61.5 5.5 3.5 55.8 61.5 6.5 72.9 72.9 72.9 72.9 72.9 72.9 Union of South Africa 9.75 5.75 7.00 11.00 6.00 7.00 7.00 s 3.40 3.75 3.75 3.25 4.75 10.00 * 6.50 s 12.00 7.5 8.25 15.65 18.75 12.50 11.50 11.50 11.50 11.50 7.00 11 13 16.75 6.25 4.50 3.50" 12.75 6.25 9.10 13.75 7.25 10.50 3.50 13.75 13.75 3.50 6.5 8.0 3.5 7.0 56.7 63.5 9.00 8.00 9.0 7.00' 8.50 3 7.00 10.75 10.75 10.75 10.75 10.75 10.75 74.0 74.0 74.0 74.0 69.0 74.0 85.0 85.0 85.0 85.0 85.0 85.0 6.00» 3.50» 10.75 3.75 9.0 3.5 74.0 85.0 5.00» 14.00 8.0 67.5 67.5 3.50' 4.50 3.5 3.50» 4.00' 5.00 5.00 3.5 3.5 10.00' 5.00» 10.75 7.00 5.0 5.0 8.00» 7.75 5.5 3.50» 5.50 3.5 8.0 8.0 8.0 ~4' (Geneva, Z I O., *Çf-'!0, pp. '1ú £"d "17. :mum rates. a r:¿Y-ling raies. 4 Afwcuns. 32.3 Excl. value of housing 682 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY TABLE 25. HOURLY WAGES OF ADULT WAGE EARNERS IN 41 OCCUPATIONS IN 12 AFRICAN COUNTRIES, OCTOBER 1956 Belgian Congo Industry and occupation Coal mining: 1. Coal hewers (underground) 2. Helpers, loaders (underground) Food manufacturing industries: 3. Bakers (ovenmen) .... Manufacture of textiles: 4. Spinners (mule) 5. Weavers 6. Loom fixers (tuners) . . . 7. Labourers iunskilled) . . Manufacture of wearing apparel (men's cotton shirts): 8. Sewing-machine operators Manufacture of furniture: 9. Cabinet makers 10. Upholsterers 11. French polishers (hand rubbers) Printing and publishing: 12. Hand compositors .... 13. Machine compositors . . 14. Press operators 15. Bookbinders (machine sewing) 16. Labourers (unskilled) . . Manufacture of chemicals: 17. Mixers 18. Labourers (unskilled) . . Iron and steel basic industries: 19. Melters 20. Labourers (unskilled) . . Manufacture of machinery: . 21. Fitters (assemblers) . . . 22. Iron moulders (hand. bench) 23. Pattern makers (wood) . . 24. Labourers (unskilled) . . Manufacture of transport equipment (repair of motor vehicles) : 25. Garage mechanics, general duties Construction: 26. Bricklayers 27. Structural steel erectors 28. Cement finishers .... 29. Carpenters 30. Painters 31. Plumbers 32. Electrical fitters (inside wiremen) 33. Labourers (unskilled) . . Electric light and power: 34. Electrical fitters (outside lines) 35. Labourers (unsk.) (power plant) Transport: (a) Railways: 36. Goods porters (platform loaders) 37. Permanent way labourers . (b) Trams and buses: 38. Drivers 39. Conductors (c) Urban freight transport: 40. Truck drivers (under 2 tons) Municipal services: 41. Labourers (unsk.) (public parks and gardens) . . . Indices of consumer prices, October 1956 (Base 1953='100). Cameroons (Fr. Adm.) French Equatorial Africa Elisabethville Leopoldville Douala Bangui Brazzaville Abidjan Average earnings1 Average earnings 1 Average rates Prevailing rates Average rates Minimum rates Belg. francs Belg. francs Fr. C.F.A. Fr. C.F.A. Fr. C.F.A. Fr. C.F.A. 40.25« 25.00 30.00 59.40 — — — 10.00s 12.00 20.00 24.00 8.75 18.00 45.70 45.70 75.45 28.20 24.12 45.70 — — 6.50 — — 6.60 7.65 8.34 6.00' 6.00 5.90 5.25 — — — — — — 8.20 9.20 — 28.00 13.10 12.00 10.75 35.00 10.30 — — 62.00 14.00 17.00 13.50 22.00 24.50 15.00 50.00 47.50 47.50 31.00 7.40 6.00 14.60 4.50 48.00 22.25 ' 19.00 12.50 s — 9.50 9.40 6.65 — — — — — — — 30.00 4.50 — — — — — — — — — 10.25 — —. — — — 35.00 — — — — — — — 75.45 59.40 59.40 42.04 42.04 .— 75.45 75.45 59.40 28.97 19.00 59.40 28.20 — — — — — — 50.00 22.00 — — — — — ■— — — — — ■— — — 8.15 10.00 60.00 30.00 40.00 59.40 10.00 7.25 8.10 8.20 7.00 8.95 6.60 9.00 10.50 9.00 9.50 12.50 38.00 35.00 38.00 36.00 38.00 32.00 20.00 35.00 48.00 25.00 15.00 35.00 30.00 29.00 30.00 59.40 59.40 59.40 59.40 59.40 59.40 16.50 7.90 11.25 4.50 42.00 22.25 35.00 12.50 30.00 22.00 59.40 28.20 19.00 11.25 — 55.00 45.00 59.40 6.50 4.75 12.50 20.00 28.20 7.75 8.40 4.50 5.70 8.00 — 22.25 ' — — — — — 20.00 22.00 28.20 45.70 12.50 6.00 — — — — 48.50 15.00 30.00 25.00 -— — 9.70 10.00 40.00 50.00 28.00 48.40 5.20 5.75 22.25 « 12.50 20.00 28.20 105 ' — 100a 104» — 100 * Source: Year Book of Labour Statistics, 1957 (Geneva, I.L.O., 1957), pp. 321 ff. 1 Excl. food and lodging provided. ~ Cotton. 3 Index for Europeans. 4 Minimum rates. bookbinders. ' Women. • Hand 683 APPENDIX III: ADDITIONAL TABLES TABLE 25. HOURLY WAGES OF ADULT WAGE EARNERS IN 41 OCCUPATIONS IN 12 AFRICAN COUNTRIES, OCTOBER 1956 (COM.) Industry and occupation Coaî mining: 1. Coal hewers (underground) 2. Helpers, loaders (underground) Food manufacturing industries: 3. Bakers (ovenmen) .... Manufacture of textiles: 4. Spinners (mule) 5. Weavers 6. Loom fixers (tuners) . . . 7. Labourers (unskilled) . . Manufacture of wearing apparel (men's cotton shirts): 8. Sewing-machine operators Manufacture of furniture: 9. Cabinet makers 10. Upholsterers 11. French polishers (hand rubbers) Printing and publishing: 12. Hand compositors .... 13. Machine compositors . . 14. Press operators 15. Bookbinders (machine sewing) 16. Labourers (unskilled) . . Manufacture of chemicals: 17. Mixers 18. Labourers (unskilled) . . Iron and steel basic industries: 19. Melters 20. Labourers (unskilled) . . Manufacture of machinery: 21. Fitters (assemblers) . . . 22. Iron moulders (hand, bench) 23. Pattern makers (wood) . . 24. Labourers (unskilled) . . Manufacture of transport equipment (repair of motor vehicles) : 25. Garage mechanics, general duties Construction: 26. Bricklayers 27. Structural steel erectors 28. Cement finishers 29. Carpenters 30. Painters 31. Plumbers 32. Electrical fitters (inside wiremen) 33. Labourers (unskilled) . . Electric light and power: 34. Electrical fitters (outside lines) 35. Labourers (unsk.) (power plant) Transport: (a) Railways: 36. Goods porters (platform loaders) 37. Permanent way labourers . (b) Trams and buses: 38. Drivers 39. Conductors (c) Urban freight transport: 40. Truck drivers (under 2 tons) Municipal services: 41. Labourers (unsk.) (public parks and gardens) . . . Indices of consumer prices, October 1956 (Base 1953=100) . 1 Index for Europeans. 2 Antsirabé. French West Africa Madagascar Mauritius Bamako Conakry Tananarive Whole country Minimum rates Minimum rates Minimum rates Average earnings Average earnings Fr. C.F.A. Fr. C.F.A. Fr. C.F.A. Fr. C.F.A. Cents 51.55 61.20 68.15 60 48.00 48.00 84.00 26.00 43.30 43.30 68.15 31.00 22 ! 24« 16s 48.00 44.30 40 63.05 51.55 84.00 61.20 68.15 53.80 100 100 51.55 61.20 53.80 52 63.05 63.05 51.55 84.00 84.00 61.20 68.15 68.15 53.80 42 65 60 51.55 21.00 61.20 26.00 53.80 31.00 42 24 - 36 23 - 65 24 42 51.55 61.20 53.80 53 74 51.55 51.55 51.55 51.55 51.55 51.55 61.20 61.20 61.20 61.20 61.20 61.20 44.30 53.80 53.80 53.80 53.80 53.80 41 50 50 50 41 41 66 66 41 79 75 51.55 21.00 61.20 26.00 53.80 31.00 41 22 80 39 51.55 61.20 53.80 52 80 21.00 26.00 31.00 21 38 21.00 41.00 26.00 48.00 31.00 44.30 25 26 60 40 42.50 45.00 21.00 26.00 41.45 31.00 103 ' 3 38 21 104' Piecework. * Linotype. ^ Index for manual workers. 96 s 684 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY TABLE 25. HOURLY WAGES OF ADULT WAGE EARNERS IN 41 OCCUPATIONS IN 12 AFRICAN COUNTRIES, OCTOBER 1956 (COM.) Northern Rhodesia Nigeria Industry and occupation Coal mining: 1. Coal hewers (underground) 2. Heipers, loaders (underground) Food manufacturing industries: 3. Bakers (ovenmen) .... Manufacture of textiles: 4. Spinners (mule) 5. Weavers 6. Loom fixers (tuners) . . . 7. Labourers (unskilled) . . Manufacture of wearing apparel (men's cotton shirts) : 8. Sewing-machine operators Manufacture of furniture: 9. Cabinet makers 10. Upholsterers 11. French polishers (hand rubbers) Printing and publishing: 12. Hand compositors . . . . 13. Machine compositors . . 14. Press operators 15. Bookbinders (machine sewing) 16. Labourers (unskilled) . . Manufacture of chemicals: 17. Mixers 18. Labourers (unskilled) . . Iron and steel basic industries: 19. Melters 20. Labourers (unskilled) . . Manufacture of machinery: 21. Fitters (assemblers) . . . 22. Iron moulders (hand, bench) 23. Pattern makers (wood) . . 24. Labourers (unskilled) . . Manufacture of transport equipment (repair of motor vehicles) : 25. Garage mechanics, general duties Construction: 26. Bricklayers 27. Structural steel erectors . 28. Cement finishers 29. Carpenters 30. Painters 31. Plumbers 32. Electrical fitters (inside wiremen) 33. Labourers (unskilled) . . Electric light and power: 34. Electrical fitters (outside lines) 35. Labourers (unsk.) (power plant) Transport: (a) Railways: 36. Goods porters (platform loaders) 37. Permanent way labourers . (b) Trams and buses: 38. Drivers 39. Conductors (c) Urban freight transport: 40. Truck drivers (under 2 tons) Municipal services: 41. Labourers (unsk). (public parks and gardens) . . . Indices of consumer prices, October 1956 (Base 1953 = 100) . 1 Government employees only. Lagos Eastern region Western region Average earnings Prevailing rates Average earnings Average earnings * Average earnings 3 Pence Pence 10.5 Pence Pence Pence — — — — — — — 10.5 — Whole country — -— — — — — .— ■— — ■— — — — — —• 4.5 5.5 — — — 15.0 .— — 6.5 10-12 15.5 — — 5.5 ■— 11.25 12-27 12-27 — — — — 20.00 32.00 20.00 25.5 ' 25.5' 25.5" 11.0 11.0 12.0 10.5 10.5 10.5 20.00 9.00 25.5' 7.5 6.0 3.5 10.5 5.5 — — — — — — — — —. — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — -— — — — — — — — — — — — — — „ — — — — — 12-20 12-20 5.5-7.5 16.00 12-20 8.5 7.0 138 18.00 18.00 18.00 10.00 10.00 12-20 12-20 12-20 12-20 12-20 12-20 10-12 10-12 10-12 10-12 9-12 9-12 15.5 10.5 15.5 15.5 10.5 15.5 132 132 132 132 120 132 18.00 9.00 12-20 5.5-7.5 10-12 5-6.5 12.0 5.5 126 13.00 12-20 13.0 12.0 132 9.00 5.5-7.5 6.7 — — 7 7 7.0 7.0 7.5 7.5 — — 5.0 3.0 12.0 8.0 — — — — 4.7 10.5 8.5 6.0 7.00 7.00 — 7.00 119 — — — 12-20 18 7.5 — — * Africans: excl. value of housing provided. ■— —■ — | 111- * Europeans. * Index for Europeans. 685 APPENDIX m: ADDITIONAL TABLES TABLE 25. HOURLY WAGES OF ADULT WAGE EARNERS IN 41 OCCUPATIONS IN 12 AFRICAN COUNTRIES, OCTOBER 1956 (concl.) Industry and occupation Coal mining: 1. Coal hewers (underground) 2. Helpers, loaders (underground) Food manufacturing industries: 3. Bakers (ovenmen) .... Manufacture of textiles: 4. Spinners (mule) 5. Weavers 6. Loom fixers (tuners) . . . 7. Labourers (unskilled) . . Manufacture of wearing apparel (menys cotton shirts) : 8. Sewing-machine operators Manufacture of furniture: 9. Cabinet makers 10. Upholsterers 11. French polishers (hand rubbers) Printing and publishing: 12. Hand compositors .... 13. Machine compositors . . 14. Press operators 15. Bookbinders (machine sewing) 16. Labourers (unskilled) . . Manufacture of chemicals: 17. Mixers 18. Labourers (unskilled) . . Iron and steel basic industries: 19. Melters 20. Labourers (unskilled) . . Manufacture of machinery: . 21. Fitters (assemblers) . . . 22. Iron moulders (hand, bench) 23. Pattern makers (wood) . . 24. Labourers (unskilled) . . Manufacture of transport equipment (repair of motor vehicles) : 25. Garage mechanics, general duties Construction: 26. Bricklayers 27. Structural steel erectors . 28. Cement finishers .... 29. Carpenters 30. Painters 31. Plumbers 32. Electrical fitters (inside wiremen) 33. Labourers (unskilled) . . Electric light and power: 34. Electrical fitters (outside lines) 35. Labourers (unsk.) (power plant) Transport: (a) Railways: 36. Goods porters (platform loaders) 37. Permanent way labourers . (b) Trams and buses: 38. Drivers 39. Conductors (c) Urban freight transport: 40. Truck drivers (under 2 tons) Municipal services: 41. Labourers (unsk.) (public parks and gardens) . . . Indices of consumer prices, October 1956 (Base 1953 = 100) . Sierra Leone Southern Rhodesia Sudan Whole country 1 Whole country Khartoum Cape Town Witwatersrand Average earnings Average earnings Average rates Minimum rates Minimum rates Pence 41.25» Piastres Pence Pence — — — — — 125.00 5.50 45.0 56.8 .— — — — .— — — — — — — — Pence — — — — — — — — 18.3 18.3 13.5 — — — — — — — — 7.5" 26.253 31.00« 112.50 7.00' 36.00' 130.50 130.50 14.50' — 9.50 8.50 Union of South Africa 48.7 52.7 (women: 29.2) (women: 40.3) 68.7 67.6 68.7 67.6 8.00 68.7 67.6 136.00 136.00 136.00 7.00 7.50 5.50 70.8 79.1 70.8 76.5 85.6 76.5 136.00 7.00' 5.50 3.50 70.8 — 76.5 116.00 7.00' 60.8' 12.9 60.8» 15.6 — — — — — 76.7 13.4 76.7 11.1 112.50» — . . 110.00 9.50 76.7 76.7 18.3 18.3 7.5 110.00 110.00 7.00' 8.00 9.50 3.50 76.7 76.7 13.4 76.7 76.7 11.1 18.3 110.50 9.50 66.5 66.5 18.3 118.00 99.00 122.00 ' 116.00 113.00 123.00 8.50 8.00 6.00 6.00 79.5 79.5 79.5 79.5 74.5 79.5 88.5 88.5 88.5 88.5 88.5 88.5 104.00 7.00' 7.00 3.50 81.5 23.5 88.5 17.2 110.00 7.50 81.5 88.5 .— 7.5 18.3 18.3 18.3 18.3 — — — 7.00' 3.50 — — — — — — — — 3.50 3.50 — — 6.0O 6.00 56.0 55.0 65.3 65.3 — — — — — .— — 7.00' 3.50 — 105« 106' 107 ■ — — 1 3 Highest wage zones. * Light work. Excl. cost-of-living allowance. * Excl. value of housing provided. Plasterers. * Index for Europeans. ' Index for low-salaried government officials. 8 Skilled workers with six or more years' experience. 5 686 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY TABLE 26. MINIMUM DAILY WAGE RATES IN THE BELGIAN CONGO ON 1 JANUARY 19581 (In Belgian francs) Place Leopoldville Coquilhatville Stanleyville . Bukavu . . . Elizabethville Luluabourg . Money wage Value of additions in kind Total 20.50 11.00 13.50 12.00 16.00 11.00 20.20 13.60 16.40 13.80 20.10 11.20 40.70 24.60 29.90 25.80 38.10 22.20 1 The rates given are those for ordinary workers; those for heavy workers are slightly higher and those for workers on light work rather lower. The additions in kind comprise food and housing. In some localities cash is paid in lieu. Their provision is not compulsory if the daily wage reaches or exceeds a certain limit fixed for each locality. In the city of Leopoldviile this limit is SO francs. TABLE 27. MINIMUM HOURLY WAGE RATES IN FRENCH AFRICAN TERRITORIES IN JUNE 1957 (In C.F.A. francs) Territory Occupations subject to the 40-hour week (non-agricultural) Agriculture and assimilated occupations 22.55-28.20 18.00-27.00 15.60-26.00 18 15.00-20.00 26.35-31.00 16.80-21.00 13.00-18.00 16.45-23.50 16.10-23.40 13.70-22.50 15 14.00-17.50 22.80-26.83 15.65-19.25 11.25-15.00 8.40-20.10 9.45-17.25 7.50-12.50 7.00- 8.50 11.15-22.25 14.25-22.00 23.10-25.20 10.00-22.00 7.00-16.75 7.90-15.40 6.25-10.60 6.00- 7.50 9.50-19.30 12.57-17.94 21.10 9.00-19.00 French West Africa: Dahomey Guinea Niger Mauritania Senegal Sudan Upper Volta French Equatorial Africa: Middle Congo Gabon Ubangi Tchad Cameroons Togoland Somaliland N.B. are given. The actual wage varies according to the region. The minimum and maximum fixed for each territory 687 APPENDIX III: ADDITIONAL TABLES TABLE 28. MINIMUM WAGES FOR SELECTED CATEGORIES OF WORKERS IN ANGOLA IN 1956 (In escudos) Monthly Category Overtime (hourly) Without food, etc. 57.50 158.00 5.00 1.25 70.00 225.00 7.50 1.75 84.00 300.00 10.00 2.50 Agricultural workers (own district) Agricultural workers (outside own district) .... Special categories (including industrial workers) . . . TABLE 29. Daily With food, etc. UNION OF SOUTH AFRICA: AVERAGE ANNUAL WAGES OF WORKERS IN PRIVATE INDUSTRY, 1944-45 TO 1953-54 Males Females Wage (in pounds) Wages as percentage of 1944-45 figure Wages as percentage of figure for Whites Wage (in pounds) Wages as percentage of 1944-45 figure Wages as percentage of figure for Whites Whites 1944-45 1945-46 1946-47 1947-48 1948-49 1949-50 1950-51 1951-52 1952-53 1953-54 . . . . . . . . . 389 403 424 463 496 520 555 622 675 706 100 104 109 119 128 134 143 160 174 181 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 178 185 201 214 231 239 259 290 312 331 100 104 113 120 130 134 145 163 175 186 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 Coloured 1944-45 1945-46 1946-47 1947-48 1948-49 1949-50 1950-51 1951-52 1952-53 1953-54 . . . . . . . . . . . . 168 177 184 196 210 211 222 239 258 264 100 105 110 117 125 126 132 142 155 157 43 44 43 42 42 41 40 38 38 37 119 129 139 148 155 157 169 178 191 199 100 108 117 124 130 132 142 149 161 167 67 70 69 69 67 66 65 61 61 60 Asiatics 1944-45 . . . 1945-46 . 1946-47 . 1947-48 . 1948-49 . 1949-50 . 1950-51 . 1951-52. 1952-53 . 1953-54 . 147 157 169 177 188 195 206 218 238 252 100 107 115 120 128 133 140 148 162 171 38 39 40 38 38 37 37 35 35 36 100 111 128 135 139 148 142 165 167 177 100 111 128 135 139 148 142 165 167 177 56 60 64 63 60 62 55 57 54 53 Natives 1944-45 1945-46 1946-47 1947-48 1948-49 1949-50 1950-51 1951-52 1952-53 1953-54 92 96 100 105 110 111 117 126 133 139 100 104 109 114 120 121 127 137 145 151 24 24 24 23 22 21 21 20 20 20 80 91 104 101 114 112 121 123 130 137 100 114 130 126 142 140 151 154 162 171 45 49 52 47 49 47 47 42 42 41 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 N.B. The percentages of women to men in the various groups between 1947-48 and 1953-54 varied as follows: Whites: 22.7 per cent, in 1947-48 to 20.8 per cent, in 1953-54; Coloured: 36.1 per cent, to 38.5 per cent. ; Asiatics : 5.4 per cent, to 6.9 per cent.; Natives: 1.3 per cent, to 2.5 per cent. (These figures, however, include both wage and salary earners and exclude working proprietors.) TABLE 30. oo oo STRUCTURE OF LABOUR ADMINISTRATION IN THE BELGIAN CONGO ADVISORY AND OTHER BODIES ADMINISTRATIVE BODIES MINISTRY FOR THE COLONIES Commission for Indigenous Employment and Labour Problems 4th Department: Agriculture and Colonisation, Economic Studies, Commerce, Labour and Social Security Colonial Commission for Industrial Accidents (Europeans) BELGIAN CONGO CENTRAL GOVERNMENT (Gouvernement général) 2nd Department: Indigenous Affairs and Social Welfare Central Conciliation Board Statistics Committee Colonial Commission for Industrial Accidents (Europeans) Labour Commission (attached to the Labour and Social Welfare Division) Div. 1 : Indigenous Afifairs and Labour (A.I.M.O.) Div. 2 I I Section I: Indigenous Policy Div. 3: Labour and Social Welfare I I Section II: Indigenous Labour Section I: Social Studies Section II: Safety, Health and Labour Inspection > 2 o > > Cd O G 7) vi C PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT Provincial Commission for Labour and the Social Progress of Africans Conciliation and Arbitration Board < Department of Indigenous Affairs and Labour Div. 1 : Indigenous Policy and Labour (Native Policy, Application of legislation, Employment Statistics, Industrial Relations, Trade Unions, Workers' Welfare, Industrial Accidents, Family Allowances, etc.) DISTRICT Regional Commission for Labour and the Social Progress of Africans Indigenous Works Councils Indigenous Workers' Committees Indigenous Labour Control Office Officials and local agents acting as Judicial Police Officers Labour Inspectors 689 APPENDIX m: ADDITIONAL TABLES TABLE 31. LABOUR DEPARTMENT STAFF IN THE TERRITORIES UNDER BRITISH ADMINISTRATION Territory and dat at which i.nformat was :given -5 a s I s Si 6 fi 1? o-S C u 3 .2 3 O 3 0 •s •a S3 IJ? •3 1 S 2 s S Si I >-o 1 -3 Us a" .a .2 »- Nigeria (1956) . Sierra Leone (1955) . . . Gambia (1952). Cameroons (1953) . . . Togoland (1954) Uganda (1954). Kenya (1955) . Tanganyika (1955) . . . Northern Rhodesia (1954) . Southern Rhodesia (1952)1. Swaziland, Bechuanaland, Basutoland (1954) . . . Zanzibar (1954) Somaliland (1954) . . . Mauritius (1954) Nyasaland(1954) 1941 Labour Office o *IS| l'a 1 19 32 1 2 54 6 1 — — 6 1 — 7 — — — — — — — 16 38 17 27 5 5 13 24 130 500 131,658 234,700 4 1 130 89,000 1 9 — 3 1 10 260 125,550 18 400 207,420 — 7 85 5 24,978 1 8 1940 2 23 33 1940 1 22 1946 1 12 — — — — — — 1 — — — 1 None Labour Office — None 1938 1941 — — — — — — 1 1 3 — 2 7 6 8 3 2 8 5 Native Labour Department only. 4> ta So âl.I -111 8S ¡"S"aa 1 (Under Nigeria) Under Cîold Co ast Labour 1departirlent 1943 1 1 1940 2 2 I , 13 1938 (Ministry since 1953) 1942 s Ifs läl í i >S Gold Coast (1954) . . . co 1 — — — 1,683 3 — — 120 26,687 TABLE 32. LABOUR ADMINISTRATION IN THE TERRITORIES UNDER FRENCH ADMINISTRATION, JUNE 1957 O ADMINISTRATIVE BODIES ADVISORY AND OTHER BODIES MINISTRY FOR OVERSEAS FRANCE 1 ; I Ins pectorate-General of Labour and Social L< gislation Central Labour Council 1 Central Employment Office Territory Inspectorate of Labour and Social Legislation General French West Africa 25 inspectors) French Equatorial Africa (8 inspectors) Dakar Territorial Regional Senegal Sudan Guinea Ivory Coast Upper Volta Dahomey Niger Mauretania 4 3 2 3 2 Middle Congo Gabon Ubangi-Chari Tchad Brazzaville 2 ( + Supervision Officers) 1 2 Labour Advisory Boards 1 federal 8 territorial (1 for each territory) Technical Advisory Committees 1 federal 8 territorial (1 for each territory) 1 federal 4 territorial (1 for each territory) 4 1 Yaounde Yaounde ' Douala N'Kong Samba 1 territorial 1 territorial Madagascar (8 inspectors) Tananarive Tananarive s Majunga Fianarantsoa Diego Suarez Tamatave Tuléar 1 central 6 provincia (1 for each province) 1 central 1 territorial I territorial Djibouti 1 territorial 1 territorial Anjouan 1 central 4 local 1 territorial | Comoro Islands (1 inspector) 1 Inter-regional inspectorate. * Provincial inspectorate. Lomé [ Labour courts 1 7 1 federal 4 territorial (1 for each territory) Cameroons (6 inspectors) Togoland (1 inspector) French Somaliland (1 inspector) Employment offices | | 22 of which: Senegal Sudan Guinea the Ivory Coast Upper Volta Dahomey Niger Mauretania 13 of which: 3 in Middle Congo 5 in Gabon 3 in Ubangi-Chari 2 in Tchad 5: Yaounde Douala N'Kong Samba Garoua Edea 7: Tananarive Tuléar Tamatave Fianarantsoa Majunga Diego Suarez Nossi Be 1 4 5 2 3 2 2 2 2 in in in in in in in in 1 1 3: Mayotte Anjouan Moroni z> f 1 | > « o G VI C ¡s < | | 691 APPENDIX III: ADDITIONAL TABLES TABLE 33. REGISTERED EMPLOYERS' AND WORKERS' ORGANISATIONS IN SELECTED BRITISH AFRICAN TERRITORIES, 1951, 1955 AND 19561 Employers' organisations Territory Gambia Nigeria Sierra Leone .... Kenya Mauritius Tanganyika .... Uganda Zanzibar Northern Rhodesia Nyasaland Workers' organisations Year 6 .... 1951 1955 1956 1951 1955 1956 1951 1955 1956 1951 1955 1956 1951 1955 1956 1951 1955 1956 1951 1955 1956 1951 1955 1956 1951 1955 1956 1951 1955 1956 Number Membership — — — — 25 19 25 1,571 507 719 — — 1 2 2 — — 22 — — 5 6 5 9 10 445 323 999 425 4 684* 1 1 1 35 1 100 1 1 4 12 12 1 1 3 10 10 — — 3 3 — — — 3 3 3 25 60 100 Number 3 6 3 127 162 222 7 12 11 8 15 18 21 32 44 4 17 25 1 7 85 4 5 5 13 25 25 1 5 5 Membership 446 1,966 3 108,427 2 140,897 » 150,723 ' 15,955 18,550 23,726 9,180 32,850 25,650 " 18,506 16,342* 19,833 * 500 504 * 9,344 3 783 2 1,942 813 517 3 907 29,2502 50,000 (approx.) 50,000 (approx.) 70 459 1,192 1 Based on information communicated by the Colonial Office and representing the position as known on 1 April 1951, 1 September 1955 and 31 December 1956. ! Incomplete figures. a Not available. * Paid-up membership. 5 Not including 4 employees' associations with a total of 2,848 members. ■ Registration during the years under consideration was not compulsory. ' Membership of 129 unions only. 692 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY TABLE 34. INDUSTRIAL DISPUTES IN SELECTED BRITISH AFRICAN TERRITORIES, 1951-561 Territory Nigeria Sierra Leone .... Kenya Tanganyika Uganda Northern Rhodesia . . Southern Rhodesia . . Year Number of disputes Number of workers invoived Number of working days lost 1951-52 1952-53 1953-54 1954-55 1955-56 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1951 a2 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1951 2 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1954 1955 1956 33 26 33 30 43 2 1 1 4 6,930 11,855 10,024 6,602 89,522 3,000 2,000 800 350 20,243 59,857 26,874 12,166 901,000 57 84 39 33 35 39 73 82 61 43 42 54 54 59 53 59 75 56 91 114 94 143 49 6,610 5,957 3,221 1,518 17,852 5,164 7,851 10,547 7,131 4,621 8,877 17,695 4,490 6,004 7,369 6,507 7,543 8,236 10,896 42,282 6,421 44,531 39,963 10,708 5,718 2,674 2,026 81,870 27,900 12,775 15,923 6,812 7,842 12,562 58,066 5,593 8,618 14,738 11,449 18,320 12,494 76,606 669,557 24,230 589,209 1,548,420 36 54 97 11,508 2,290 9,773 53,548 4,050 18,692 —. — 2,000 1,800 484 — — — — 1 Unless otherwise stated the figures are taken from I.L.O. : Year Book of Labour Statistics, 1957 (Geneva, I.L.O., 1937). Details of the extent to which the figures are comparable are to be found therein. * Figures taken from the annual reports of the Labour Departments of the territories concerned. TABLE 35. NUMBER OF INTERNATIONAL LABOUR CONVENTIONS RATIFIED BY AFRICAN STATES MEMBERS, JUNE 1958 States Member Ethiopia Ghana1 Liberia Sudan Union of South Africa No. of Conventions ratified 1 10 1 5 11 1 In June 1958 Ghana had ratified 10 Conventions and had undertaken to apply Conventions Nos. 84 and 85, which had previously been accepted by the United Kingdom on behalf of the Gold Coast. 693 APPENDIX Hi: ADDITIONAL TABLES TABLE 36. DECLARATIONS OF APPLICATION UP TO JUNE 1958 AND THE EXTENT OF APPLICATION OF CONVENTIONS IN APRIL 19571, IN NON-METROPOLITAN TERRITORIES IN AFRICA Degree of application Declarations of application Country responsible and territories Belgium: Belgian Congo . . Ruanda-Urundi . . France: Cameroons .... Comoro Islands . . French Equatorial Africa French Somaliland . French West Africa Madagascar . . . Togoland .... Italy: Somalia . . . Without modifications With modifications Substan- Beginnings of tially application Inapplicable Decision reserved Fully 11 11 20 20 14 13 11 11 14 9 22 23 11 8 15 7 10 18 14 14 14 14 14 18 25 22 22 19 24 9 17 15 6 6 12 10 10 11 8 8 22 17 17 10 11 7 Not applied 15 Portugal: Angola Cape Verde .... Mozambique . . . Portuguese Guinea. Sao Tomé and Principe Spain: Spanish Guinea . . Spanish West Africa United Kingdom : Basutoland . . . Bechuanaland . . British Somaliland Gambia .... Kenya Mauritius . . . Nigeria .... Northern Rhodesia Nyasaland . . Sierra Leone . Southern Rhodesia Swaziland . . Tanganyika . . Uganda . . . Zanzibar . . . Insufficient information 12 7 14 17 19 14 11 7 15 9 8 16 15 10 12 9 9 6 6 6 9 10 7 7 12 7 5 10 7 6 9 11 10 14 15 10 10 12 6 8 14 9 10 22 21 15 14 9 10 10 14 17 12 22 20 9 14 10 Union of South Africa: South-West Africa . 1 As regards the degree of application, the date April 1957 is that of the last estimate by the Committee of Experts; the figures given are based on information contained in the table annexed to Report of the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations, Report HI, Part IV International Labour Conference, 40th Session, Geneva, 1957, (Geneva, I.L.O., 1957), an extract from which is to be found in table 37. From this it appears that the term " substantially " means that all substantive provisions of the Convention have been applied; the phrase " beginnings of application " is used when certain substantive provisions of the Convention are not applied or when there are beginnings of application; the term "not applied " is used when it is apparent that there are no measures giving effect to the Convention. 694 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY (Table 37 is inserted opposite) TABLE 38. REPORTS RECEIVED AND REPORTS NOT RECEIVED FOR THE YEARS 1955, 1956 AND 1957, IN RESPECT OF NON-METROPOLITAN TERRITORIES IN AFRICA Countries and territories Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi . . French territories (average per territory) Somalia Angola Cape Verde Mozambique Portuguese Guinea Sao Tomé and Principe Spanish Guinea Spanish West Africa South-West Africa British territories (average per territory) Number of reports received Number of reports not received 1955 1956 1957 1955 1956 1957 7 52 52 9 9 0 9 9 44 54 52 9 9 0 0 9 34 0 0 3 3 12 3 3 0 0 1 3 3 12 12 3 7 32 4 32 44 61 55 0 13 0 13 11 0 32 4 35 0 10 3 12 2 0 0 13 0 13 0 2 32 0 3 12 APPENDIX IV BIBLIOGRAPHY This list is not intended to be in any way definitive and does not include many of the references given in the individual chapters of the survey. It is rather intended, first, to show the main recurring sources of information on Africa and, secondly, to suggest some of the more important sources of background material relating to the various countries and territories dealt with. Official Publications of Governments (Published at Regular Intervals) BELGIAN TERRITORIES Rapport sur l'administration de la colonie du Congo belge, présenté aux Chambres législatives. Brussels, Etablissements généraux d'Imprimerie S.A. (annual). La situation économique du Congo belge. Brussels, Ministère des Colonies (annual). Rapport soumis par le gouvernement belge à VAssemblée générale des Nations Unies au sujet de l'administration du Ruanda-Urundi. Brussels, Imp. Fr. Van Muysewinkel (annual). BRITISH TERRITORIES Annual Reports. London, H.M. Stationery Office. Departmental Reports (Labour, Education, Agriculture, Co-operation, Medical Services, etc.) (published annually in the territory concerned). Labour Administration in the Colonial Territories. London, H.M. Stationery Office (at intervak of a few years). The Colonial Territories. London, H.M. Stationery Office (annual). GHANA Annual Reports for the Gold Coast (up to 1956). London, H.M. Stationery Office. Departmental Reports. Government Printer, Accra (annual). FRENCH TERRITORIES Bulletin bibliographique. Paris, Ministère de la France d'outre-mer, Service de statistiques, abstracts (bi-monthly). Bulletin mensuel de statistique d'outre-mer. Paris, Ministère de la France d'outre-mer, Service de statistiques (monthly) No annual or departmental reports are available, except for Trust Territories, as follows: Rapport annuel du gouvernement français à l'Assemblée générale des Nations Unies sur l'administration du Cameroun placé sous la tutelle de la France. Paris, Chaix (annual). Rapport annuel du gouvernement français à l'Assemblée générale des Nations Unies sur l'administration du Togo placé sous la tutelle de la France. Paris, Chaix (annual). SOMALIA Rapport du gouvernement italien à l'Assemblée générale des Nations Unies sur l'administration de tutelle de la Somalie. Rome, Ministère des Affaires étrangères (annual). PORTUGUESE TERRITORIES Boletim Gérai do Ultramar. Lisbon, Agencia Gérai do Ultramar (monthly). Anuario Estatistico do Ultramar. Lisbon, Instituto Nacional de Estatístico. Actividade Económica de Angola. Luanda, Direcçao dos Services de Economia. Anuarios Estatisticos for Angola and Mozambique. Luanda and Lourenço Marques. 696 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY SUDAN Labour Department: Report. Khartoum, Ministry of Social Affairs (annual). UNION OF SOUTH AFRICA Reports of Government Departments, e.g. Labour, Native Affairs. Pretoria, Government Printer (annual). Official Year Book of the Union of South Africa and of Basutoland, Bechuanaland Protectorate and Swaziland. Pretoria, Government Printer (annual). Other official publications are listed, as their importance for the purposes of the survey warrants, along with other publications under the region or territory to which they relate. It should be mentioned, too, that nearly all governments publish official gazettes, bulletins or journals, some of which, in addition to details of new legislation, also contain a certain amount of other useful information on economic and social matters. International Labour Office Publications International Labour Conference: Conventions and Recommendations, 1919-1949. Geneva, 1949. Official Bulletin (for the texts of Conventions and Recommendations adopted subsequent to the 32nd Session of the International Labour Conference, 1949). The International Labour Code 1951} Two volumes. Geneva, 1952. Year Book of Labour Statistics (containing wage, cost-of-living and other statistics). Legislative Series (containing English texts of some of the main legislative enactments of the various countries and territories). International Labour Conference documents: Summary of Reports on Ratified Conventions (Article 22 of the Constitution); Report III, Part I, submitted to each session of the Conference. Twenty-ninth Session, Montreal, 1946, Report IV: Proposed International Obligations in Respect of Non-Self-Governing Territories. Part 1. Preliminary Report and Questionnaire. Part 2. Replies of Governments. Thirtieth Session, Geneva, 1947, Report III: Non-Metropolitan Territories. Part 1. Proposed Texts Referred to Governments. Part 2. Replies of Governments. Part 3. Amended Texts Submitted to the Conference. Thirty-seventh Session, Geneva, 1954, Report V: Migrant Workers (Underdeveloped Countries). Parti. Preliminary Report and Questionnaire. Part 2. Replies of Governments. — Report VI: Penal Sanctions for Breaches of Contract of Employment. Part 1. Preliminary Report and Questionnaire. Part 2. Replies of Governments. Thirtyeighth Session, Geneva, 1955, Report V: Migrant Workers (Underdeveloped Countries). Parti. Proposed Text Referred to Governments. Part 2. Replies of Governments. — Report VI : Penal Sanctions for Breaches of Contract of Employment. Part 1. Proposed Text Referred to Governments. Part 2. Replies of Governments. Fortieth Session, Geneva, 1957, Report VII: Discrimination in the Field of Employment and Occupation. Part 1. Preliminary Report and Questionnaire. Part 2. Replies of Governments. — Report VIII : Conditions of Employment of Plantation Workers. Part 1. Preliminary Report and Questionnaire. Part 2. Replies of Governments. Forty-second Session, Geneva, 1958, Report IV: Discrimination in the Field of Employment and Occupation. Part 1. Proposed Texts Referred to Governments. Part 2. Replies of Governments. — Report V: Conditions of Employment of Plantation Workers. Part 1. Proposed Texts Referred to Governments. Part 2. Replies of Governments. International Labour Review (monthly) and, in particular, the following articles: BRIEY, P. de: "Industrialisation and Social Problems in Central Africa". Vol. LXIII, No. 5, May 1951, pp. 475-506. — "The Productivity of Africa Labour." Vol. LXXII, Nos. 2/3, Aug.-Sep. 1955, pp. 119-137. CHARLES, Rev. P. : "Tribal Society and Labour Legislation." Vol. LXV.No. 4, Apr. 1952, pp. 425-441. COPPET, M. de: "Manpower Problems and Prospects in Madagascar." Vol. LIX, No. 3, Mar. 1949, pp. 249-270. 1 The International Labour Code 1951, is a systematic annotated arrangement of the I.L.O. Conventions and Recommendations, classified according to subject, with appendices containing other standards formulated by the I.L.O. and certain other international organisations, up to the year 1951. It is of particular value as a permanent reference work for students of social legislation as well as for officials responsible for applying social and labour legislation or drafting proposals for new legislation or treaties. APPENDIX IV : BIBLIOGRAPHY 697 "Economic and Social Conditions in Somaliland under Italian Trusteeship." Vol. LXVI, No. 3, Sep. 1952, pp. 221-245. SISTER MARIE-ANDRé DU SACRé-CœUR: "Tribal Labour and Social Legislation in French Tropical Africa." Vol. LXVIII, No. 6, Dec. 1953, pp. 493-508. " The Development of Wage-Earning Employment in Tropical Africa." Vol. XXIV, No. 3, Sep. 1956, pp. 239-258. "Inter-Territorial Migrations of Africans South of the Sahara." Vol. LXXVI, No. 3, Sep. 1957, pp. 292-310. "Interracial Wage Structure in Certain Parts of Africa."Vol.LXXVIII, No. 1, July 1958, pp. 20-55. Industry and Labour (fortnightly). Report of the Ad Hoc Committee on Forced Labour. Studies and Reports, New Series, No. 36. Geneva, 1953. Co-operation. A Workers' Education Manual. Geneva, 1956. GAVIN, R.: Publications of the United Nations, Specialised Agencies and Other International Organisations UNITED NATIONS Economic Developments in Africa, 1954-1955, New York, 1956 (E/2881 ; Sales No. 1956.II.C.3) and idem, 1955-1956 (Sales No. 1957.II.C.3). Enlargement of the Exchange Economy in Tropical Africa. New York, 1954 (ST/ECA/23; Sales No. 1954.II.C.4). The Population of Ruanda-Urundi. New York, 1953 (Sales No. 1953.XIII.4). The Population of Tanganyika. New York, 1949-52 (Sales Nos. 1949.XIII.2 and 1952.XIII.3). Report of the United Nations Commission on the Racial Situation in the Union of South Africa. New York, 1953 (A/2505 & Add. 1). Second Report, 1954 (A/2719). Third Report, 1955 (A/2947). Review of Economic Activity in Africa, 1950 to 1954. New York, 1955 (E/2738; Sales No. 1955.II.C.3). Scope and Structure of Money Economies in Tropical Africa. New York, 1955 (E/2739; Sales No. 1955.II.C.4). Report on the World Social Situation. New York, 1957 (E/CN.5-324, Rev. l-ST/SOA/33, 1957). Committee on South-West Africa: Reports of the Committee on South-West Africa to the General Assembly. New York, 1954 (A/2666), 1955 (A/2913) and 1956 (A/3151). Information and Documentation on South-West Africa: 1947 to 1953 (A/AC.73/L.3 and Add. 1 and Corr. 1; Add. 2; Add. 3 and Corr. 1). 1954 1955 1956 1957 (A/AC.73/L.7 and Add. 1). (A/AC.73/L.8 and Add. 1). (A/AC.73/L.10). (A/AC.73/L.12). Trusteeship Council: Reports of Visiting Missions to African Trust Territories (various dates). Annual Reports of the Trusteeship Council to the General Assembly (yearly since 1947). Committee on Information from Non-Self-Governing Territories: Summaries of Information Transmitted to the Secretary-General (yearly since 1946). Report of the Committee on Information from Non-Self-Governing Territories to the General Assembly (yearly since 1947). Special Studies of Economic, Educational and Social Conditions in Non-Self-Governing Territories (irregular). UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC AND CULTURAL ORGANISATION Social Implications of Industrialisation and Urbanisation in Africa South of the Sahara. Paris, 1956. WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION CAROTHERS, 1953. J. C : The African Mind in Health and Disease. Monograph Series, No. 17. Geneva, 698 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY 1 COMMISSION FOR TECHNICAL CO-OPERATION IN AFRICA SOUTH OF THE SAHARA Bulletin of the Inter-African Labour Institute (every two months). Bulletin of the Inter-African Committee on Statistics (occasionally). Reports Series on the following subjects: Agriculture. Co-operatives. Education. Housing. Labour. Rural Welfare. Statistics. INTER-AFRICAN LABOUR INSTITUTE The Human Factors of Productivity in Africa. London, C.C.T.A., 1957. SCIENTIFIC COUNCIL FOR AFRICA SOUTH OF THE SAHARA Research on Nutrition in Africa South of the Sahara. Publication No. 19. Research on the Social Sciences in Africa South of the Sahara. Publication No. 7. ORGANISATION FOR EUROPEAN ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION Investments in Overseas Territories in Africa South of the Sahara. Paris, 1951. Other Publications (Official and Non-Official) GENERAL In English R. L. The Native Problem in Africa. Two volumes. London, Macmillan, 1928. The Development of Africa. Report of a Group of Experts presented to the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe. Strasbourg, 1957. Ethnographic Survey of Africa. London, International African Institute, various dates. GROVE HAINES, C. (Ed.) Africa Today. Baltimore, Johns Hopkins Press, 1955. HAILEY, Lord. An African Survey. Revised 1956. London, New York, Toronto, Oxford University Press, 1957. HANCE, W. A. African Economic Development. Council on Foreign Relations, New York, Harper & Bros., 1958. MOORE, W. E. Industrialisation and Labour—Social Aspects of Economic Development. New York, Cornell University Press, 1951. ORDE BROWNE, G. The African Labourer. London, International African Institute, Oxford University Press, 1933. STAMP, L. D. Africa. A Study in Tropical Development. New York, John Wiley, 1953. WESTERMANN, D. The African Today and Tomorrow. International African Institute, London, Oxford University Press, 1949. BUELL, In French Le développement de l'Afrique, Rapport d'un groupe d'experts. Strasbourg, Sep. 1957, Paris, Librairie générale de droit. BALANDIER, G.: Sociologie actuelle de l'Afrique noire, dynamique des changements sociaux. Paris, Presses universitaires de France, 1955. — Afrique ambiguë. Paris, Pion, 1957. BERTIEAUX, R. : Aspects de Vindustrialisation en Afrique centrale. Brussels, Institut de relations internationales, 1953. ASSEMBLéE CONSULTATIVE DU CONSEIL DE L'EUROPE: BUREAU INTERNATIONAL DE RECHERCHE SUR LES IMPLICATIONS SOCIALES DU PROGRèS TECHNIQUE: Conséquences sociales de l'industrialisation et problèmes urbains en Afrique. Paris, Conseil international des sciences sociales, 1954. CHARDONNET, J.: Une œuvre nécessaire: l'industrialisation de l'Afrique. Geneva, Droz, 1956. DRESCH: L'Eurafrique. Paris, Présence africaine, Apr. 1956. Du JONCHAY, J. : L'industrialisation de l'Afrique. Paris, Payot, 1953. DURAND, H.: Essai sur la conjoncture de l'Afrique noire. Paris, Dalloz, 1957. EHRHARD, J. : Le destin du colonialisme. Paris, Eyrolles, 1958. 1 See Appendix V. APPENDIX IV : BIBLIOGRAPHY 699 Colloque colonial sur l'économie indigène. Brussels, Université libre de Bruxelles, 1956. LAURE, R. : L'Afrique au milieu du siècle. Paris, Lavauzelle, 1952. LECAILLON, J.: "Les problèmes du sous-développement économique", in Notes documentaires du Secrétariat social d'outre-mer. (Paris), Nov. 1956. LEDUC, G. : "Le sous-développement et ses problèmes ", in Revue d'économie politique (Paris), Mar.-Apr. 1952. LY, A.: " Les masses africaines et l'actuelle condition humaine ", in Présence africaine (Paris), 1956. MANNONI, O.: Psychologie de la colonisation. Paris, Editions du Seuil, 1950. MEEKER, O.: L'Afrique s'éveille. Paris, Editions France-Empire, 1957. me PARAF, P.: L'ascension des peuples noirs; le réveil politique, social et culturel de l'Afrique au XX siècle. Paris, Payot, 1958. SOEUR MARIE-ANDRé DU SACRé-CœUR: La condition humaine en Afrique noire. Paris, Grasset, 1953. INSTITUT DE SOCIOLOGIE: BELGIAN TERRITORIES BACQ, M.: Petit code économique du Congo belge. Brussels, Agence économique et financière, 1952. BAECK, L.: Etude socio-économique du centre extra-coutumier d'Usumbura. Brussels, Académie royale des sciences coloniales, 1957. F.: Problèmes structurels de l'économie congolaise. Louvain, Institut de recherches économique et sociales, 1957. BROSSEL, C. : Le décret du 25 juin 1949 sur le contrat d'emploi au Congo belge. Brussels, Bruylant, 1949. CAPELLE, E.: La cité indigène de Léopoldville. Elizabethville, C.E.S.A. and C.E.P.S.I., 1947. Code du travail. Brussels, Editions du Marais, 1953. Contribution à l'étude du problème de l'économie rurale indigène au Congo belge. Ghent, S.C. Volksdrukkerij, 1952. DOUCY, A. and FELDHEIM, P.: Problèmes du travail et politique sociale au Congo belge. Brussels, Librairie encyclopédique, 1952. — Travailleurs indigènes et productivité du travail au Congo belge. Brussels, Université libre de Bruxelles, Institut de sociologie Solvay, 1958. EVRARD, M. J. P. and VANDERIJST, W. : Le régime des cessions et concessions de terres agricoles forestières et d'élevage au Congo belge. Brussels, Direction de l'agriculture, des forêts, de l'élevage et de la colonisation, 1953. GRéVISSE, F. : Le centre extra-coutumier d'Elisabethville. Quelques aspects de la politique indigène au Katanga industriel. Brussels, Institut royal colonial belge, 1951. HARROY, J. P.: Afrique, terre qui meurt. Brussels, Hayez, 1944. HEYSE, T.: Grandes lignes du régime des terres du Congo belge et du Ruanda-Urundi. Brussels, G. van Campenhout, 1947. LEFéBURE, J. : Structures économiques du Congo belge et du Ruanda-Urundi. Brussels, Editions du Treurenberg, 1955. MINISTèRE DES COLONIES: Plan décennal pour le développement économique et social du Congo belge. Brussels, de Visscher, 1949. — Plan décennal pour le développement économique et social du Ruanda-Urundi. Brussels, de Visscher, 1951. ORBAN, P.: Louage de service au Congo belge. Brussels, Larcier, 1949. STANER, P.: Les paysannats indigènes du Congo belge et du Ruanda-Urundi. Brussels, Direction de l'agriculture, des forêts et de l'élevage, 1955. WALEFFE, F. and HENNEKINE, J. L.: La sécurité sociale au Congo belge et au Ruanda-Urundi. Brussels, Fonds colonial des invalidités, 1954. BéZY, BRITISH TERRITORIES General Commission on Higher Education in the Colonies: Report. Command 6647. London, H.M. Stationery Office, 1945. An Economie Survey of the Colonial Territories, 1951. Vol. I: The Central African and High Commission Territories; Vol. II: The East African Territories; Vol. Ill: The West African Territories. London, H.M. Stationery Office, various dates. Education Policy in British Tropical Africa: Memorandum on the Education of African Communities. Colonial No. 103, London, H.M. Stationery Office, 1935. Housing in British African Territories. Colonial No. 303. London, H.M. Stationery Office, 1954. KUCZYNSKI, R. R. : Demographic Survey of the British Colonial Empire. London, Oxford University Press, 1948. LIVERSAGE, V.: Land Tenure in the Colonies. Cambridge, University Press, 1949. Major Capital Works in the Colonial Territories. Colonial No. 285. London, H.M. Stationery Office, 1952. 700 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Mass Education in African Society. Colonial No. 186. London, H.M. Stationery Office, 1944. MEEK, C. K.: Land Law and Custom in the Colonies. London, Oxford University Press, 1946. Native Agriculture in Tropical African Colonies: Report of a Survey of Problems of Mechanisation. Colonial Advisory Council of Agriculture, Animal Health and Forestry, Publication No. 1. London, H.M. Stationery Office, 1950. PIM, Sir A.: Colonial Agricultural Production. London, Oxford University Press, 1948. West Africa P. T.: West African Trade. Cambridge, University Press, 1954. Commission on Higher Education in West Africa. Command 6655. London, H.M. Stationery Office, 1945. ORDE BROWNE, G.: Labour Conditions in West Africa. Command 6277. London, H.M. Stationery Office, 1941. PEDLER, F. J.: West Africa. London, Methuen, 1951. BAUER, British Cameroons. Phyllis N.: Women of the Grasslands. Colonial Research Publications No. 14. London, H.M. Stationery Office, 1952. KABERRY, Gambia. SOUTHORN, Lady: The Gambia. London, Allen & Unwin, 1952. Nigeria. K. D. S. : The Niger Agricultural Project: An Experiment in African Development. Oxford, Blackwell, 1957. BOWER, P. A., BROWN, A. and Others : Mining Commerce and Finance in Nigeria. London, Faber, 1948. BUCHANAN, N. M. and PUGH, J. C: Land and Peoples in Nigeria. London, University of London Press, 1955. ELIAS, T. O. : Nigerian Land Law and Custom. London, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1953. FEDERAL DEPARTMENT OF STATISTICS: Urban Consumer Surveys in Nigeria. Lagos, Federal Government Statistician, 1957. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT: The Role of the Federal Government in Promoting Industrial Development in Nigeria. Lagos, Federal Government Printer, 1958. FORDE, D. and SCOTT, R.: The Native Economies of Nigeria. London, Faber, 1946. GALLETTI, BALDWIN and DINA: Nigerian Cocoa Farmers. London, Oxford University Press, 1956. INTERNATIONAL BANK FOR RECONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT. The Economic Development of Nigeria. Baltimore, Johns Hopkins Press, 1955. JACKSON, I. C. : Advance in Africa. London, Oxford University Press, 1956. LEITH-ROSS, Sylvia: African Women. London, Faber, 1939. MEEK, C. K.: Land Tenure and Land Administration in Nigeria and the Cameroons. Colonial Research Studies No. 22. London, Colonial Office, 1957. SMITH, M. G. : The Economy of Hausa Communities of Zaria. Colonial Research Studies No. 16. London, Colonial Office, 1955. STAPLETON, G. B.: The Wealth of Nigeria. London, Oxford University Press, 1958. BALDWIN, Sierra Leone. LEWIS, R.: Sierra Leone, A Modern Portrait. London, H.M. Stationery Office, 1954. East Africa Some Notes on Industrial Development in East Africa. Nairobi, East African Industrial Council, 1956. East African Economic and Statistical Bulletin. Nairobi, Government Printer (quarterly). EAST AFRICAN INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL RESEARCH: East African Studies. Various subjects and dates. EAST AFRICA ROYAL COMMISSION, 1953-1955: Report. Command 9475. London, H.M. Stationery Office, 1955. EAST AFRICAN STATISTICAL DEPARTMENT: Periodic Reports. Nairobi, various dates. The East African Year Book. Nairobi, The English Press (annual). THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT: The Economy of East Africa: A Study of Trends. Nairobi, 1955. ELKAN, W. : An African Labour Force. East African Studies No. 7. East African Institute of Social Research, Kampala, 1956. MATHESON, J. K. and BOVILL, W. E. (Eds.) : East African Agriculture. London, Oxford University Press, 1950. EAST AFRICA HIGH COMMISSION: APPENDIX IV : BIBLIOGRAPHY 701 NoRTHCOTT, C. H.: African Labour Efficiency Survey. Colonial Research Publication No. 3. London, H.M. Stationery Office, 1949. ORDE BROWNE, Sir G. : Labour Conditions in East Africa. Colonial No. 193. London, H.M. Stationery Office, 1946. ROBINSON, E. A. G. : Report on the Needs for Economic Research and Investigation in East Africa. Entebbe, Government Printer, 1955. Kenya. Report of the Committee on African Wages. Nairobi, Government Printer, 1954. R. J. M.: A Plan to Intensify the Development of African Agriculture in Kenya. Nairobi, Government Printer, 1954. TROUP, L. G.: Report of Inquiry into the General Economy of Farming in the Highlands. Nairobi, Government Printer, 1953. VASEY, E. A. : Report on African Housing in Township and Trading Centres. Nairobi, Government Printer, 1950. SWYNNERTON, Tanganyika. Dr. K. C. : The Welfare of the African Labourer in Tanganyika. Dar-es-Salaam, Government Printer, 1944. MALCOLM, D. W. : Sukumaland, An African People and Their Country. A Study of Land Use in Tanganyika. London, Oxford University Press, 1953. MOFFETT, J. P. (Ed.): Tanganika. A Review of Its Resources and Their Development. Dar-esSalaam, Government Printer, 1955. A Preparatory Investigation of the Manpower Position. Dar-es-Salaam, Government Printer, 1951. WRIGHT, F. C. : African Consumers in Nyasaland and Tanganyika—An Inquiry into the Distribution and Consumption of Commodities among Africans Carried Out in 1952-1953. Colonial Office Research Studies No. 17. London, H.M. Stationery Office, 1955. CHARRON, Uganda. P. G.: Economic Policy and Labour. A Study in Uganda's Economic History. Kampala, East African Institute of Social Research, 1957. Report of the Agricultural Productivity Committee. Entebbe, Government Printer, 1955. Report of the Committee on the Advancement of Africans in Trade. Entebbe, Government Printer, 1955. Statement of Policy on African Urban Housing. Entebbe, Government Printer, 1954. Technical and Commercial Education in Uganda. Entebbe, Government Printer, 1954. POWESLAND, Mauritius. HARLOW, F. J.: Technical Education in Mauritius. Port Louis, Government Press, SALARIES COMMISSION 1951 : Final Report—Cost-of-Living Allowances, Salaries and Wages. 1955. Salary Scales, Port Louis, Government Press, 1951. Central Africa Central African Territories: Geographical, Historical and Economic Survey. Command 8234. London, H.M. Stationery Office, 1951. DEANE, P.: Colonial Social Accounting. Cambridge, University Press, 1953. GRAY, J. A. (Ed.) : Rhodesia and Nyasaland: A Survey of the Central African Federation. London, Marshall Press, 1957. THOMPSON, C. H. and WOODRUFF, H. W. : Economic Development in Rhodesia and Nyasaland. London, Dobson, 1954. Northern Rhodesia. Advancement of Africans in the Copper Mining Industry in Northern Rhodesia: Report of Board of Inquiry (Forster Report). Lusaka, Government Printer, 1954. African and Euro-African Housing in Lusaka: Report of a Committee of Inquiry. Lusaka, Government Printer, 1953. Commission Appointed to Inquire into the Unrest in the Mining Industry in Northern Rhodesia in Recent Months: Report (Branigan Report). Lusaka, Government Printer, 1956. Commission of Inquiry into Advancement of Africans in Industry: Report (Dalgleish Report). Lusaka, Government Printer, 1952. DAVIS, J. Merle: Modern Industry and the African. London, Macmillan, 1933. EPSTEIN, A. L. : Politics in an Urban African Community. Rhodes-Livingstone Institute. Manchester, University Press, 1958. 702 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY M. : A Social Survey of the African Population of Livingstone. Rhodes-Livingstone Institute. Manchester, University Press, 1956. MITCHELL, J. Clyde: African Urbanisation in Ndola and Luanshya. Rhodes-Livingstone Institute, Lusaka, 1954. RICHARDS, A. I. : Land, Labour and Diet in Northern Rhodesia. International African Institute. London, Oxford University Press, 1939. THOMSON, Betty P.: Two Studies in African Nutrition: An Urban and a Rural Community in Northern Rhodesia. Lusaka, Rhodes-Livingstone Institute, 1954. MCCULLOCH, Nyasaland. F.: Nyasaland, the Land of the Lake. London, H.M. Stationery Office, 1955. Domasi Community Development Scheme 1949-54. Zomba, Government Printer, 1956. Memorandum on Native Land Tenure. Zomba, Government Printer, 1950. Report on Loans to Africans. Zomba, Government Printer, 1957. DEBENHAM, Southern Rhodesia. BATSON, E.: The Poverty Line in Salisbury. Cape Town, University of Cape Town, 1945. ENGLEDOW, Sir F.: Report on the Agricultural Development of Southern Rhodesia. Salisbury, HIGH COMMISSIONER'S OFFICE, LONDON. The African in Southern Rhodesia. London, 1952. 1950. Native Education Inquiry Commission: Report. Bulawayo, 1952. What the Native Land Husbandry Act Means to the Rural African and to Southern Rhodesia. Salisbury, Government Printer, 1955. Basutoland. ASHTON, H.: The Basuto. London, Oxford SHEDDICK, V.: Land Tenure in Basutoland. University Press, 1952. Colonial Research Studies No. 13. London, H.M. Stationery Office, 1954. Bechuanaland. I.: Migrant Labour and Tribal Life. London, Oxford University Press, 1947. Native Land Tenure in the Bechuanaland Protectorate. Loveday Press, 1943. SILLERY, A.: The Bechuanaland Protectorate. London, Oxford University Press, 1952. SCHAPERA, — GHANA Accra Survey of Household Budgets. Accra, Government Printer, 1953. BUSIA, K. A. : Report on a Social Survey of Sekondi-Takoradi. Crown Agents for the Colonies (for the Gold Coast Government), 1950. Development Progress Report 1955. Accra, Government Printer, 1956. Economic Survey ¡954. Accra, Government Printer, 1955. HILL, P.: The Gold Coast Farmer: A Preliminary Survey. London, Oxford University Press, 1956. LEWIS, Prof. W. A.: Industrialisation and the Gold Coast. Accra, Government Printer, 1953. ROYAL INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS : Ghana: A Brief Political and Economic Survey. London, Oxford University Press, 1957. ETHIOPIA W. E. H.: Public Administration in Ethiopia. A Study in Retrospect and Prospect. Groningen, Walters, 1956. MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE: Agriculture in Ethiopia. Addis Ababa, 1953. MINISTRY OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY: Economic Handbook of Ethiopia. Addis Ababa, 1951. — Economic Progress in Ethiopia. Addis Ababa, 1955. TALBOT, D. A.: Contemporary Ethiopia. New York, Philosophical Library, 1952. HOWARD, FRENCH TERRITORIES General P. : "A propos des prestations familiales dans les territoires français d'Afrique noire ", in Population (Paris), Presses universitaires de France, Jan.-Mar. 1954. CARBON, DE: " L'investissement et les problèmes de développement économique dans les territoires africains ", in Cahiers économiques (Paris), June 1952. CENTRE FRANçAIS D'INFORMATION SUR L'éDUCATION DE BASE: Expériences françaises d'éducation de base en Afrique noire. Paris, U.N.E.S.C.O., Sep. 1954 CHAULEUR, P. : Le régime du travail dans les territoires d'outre-mer. Paris, Encyclopédie d'outremer (Éditions de l'Union française), 1956. AUBIN, APPENDIX IV : BIBLIOGRAPHY 703 (C.E.L.P.U.F.) : " Observations sur la brochure " Les incidences économiques et financières du Code du travail " de J. Lecaillon ", in Bulletin du C.E.L.P.U.F. (Paris), 1 July 1954. CONSEIL NATIONAL DU PATRONAT FRANçAIS: " Les prestations familiales dans les territoires d'outremer ", in Bulletin du C.N.P.F. (Paris), Jan. 1955. DESCHAMPS, H.: L'éveil politique africain. Paris, Presses universitaires de France, 1952. — " Les assemblées locales dans les territoires d'outre-mer ", in Politique étrangère (Paris), Centre d'études de politique étrangère, special number, Oct. 1954. — Peuples et nations d'outre-mer. Paris, Dalloz, 1954. — L'Union française. Paris, Berger Levrault, 1956. DIA MAMADOU: L'économie africaine. Etudes et problèmes nouveaux. Paris, Presses universitaires de France, 1958. DIDIER, H. : " Formation technique et africanisation des cadres en A.O.F. et en Afrique noire française ", in Nouvelle revue française d'outre-mer (Paris), July 1956. ESPERET, G.: "Le syndicalisme en Afrique noire", in Droit social (Paris), Mar. 1958. GONIDEC, P. F. : " Droit du travail des territoires d'outre-mer ", in La documentation africaine (Paris), 1958. GORSE, G.: " N'imposons pas en Afrique les normes et méthodes de l'Occident ", in Productivité française (Paris), Special edition, July-Aug. 1953. GOUROU, P.: Les pays tropicaux. Paris, Presses universitaires de France, 1953. — LABOURET, H., LEIRIS, M. and PAUVERT, J. : " Le travail en Afrique noire ", in Présence africaine (Paris), Editions du Seuil, 1952. HARDY, G.: Histoire sociale de la colonisation française. Paris, Larose, 1953. HOFFHERR, R.: Coopération économique franco-africaine. Paris, Sirey, 1958. KIRSCH, M. : " Les prestations familiales ", in Industries et travaux d'outre-mer (Paris), Nov.-Dec. 1957. — Les tribunaux du travail. Paris, Collection de droit d'outre-mer, Librairies techniques, 1956. — "Le préavis ", in Travail outre-mer (Paris), Editions S.O.M., May 1957. — " La rupture abusive du contrat de travail à durée indéterminée ", in Travail outre-mer, JulyN Aug. 1957. LABOURET, H.: Colonisation, colonialisme, décolonisation. Paris, Larose, 1952. LAWRENCE, A.: Conjoncture de l'Afrique noire. Paris, Conseil économique, 1954. LECAILLON, J. : Les incidences économiques et financières du Code du travail. Dakar, Grande imprimerie africaine, Institut des hautes études de Dakar, 1954. — " Ixs répercussions du Code du travail en Afrique noire ", in Revue de sciences et de législation financières (Paris), July-Sep. 1954. LEDUC, G.: "Réflexions sur les plans de développement des territoires français d'outre-mer", in Civilisations (Brussels), 1956. — " La mise en place du crédit au service de l'économie africaine sera une mesure de longue haleine ", in Marchés tropicaux du monde (Paris), 7 July 1956. MANNONI, O.: "Programme d'amélioration de la productivité dans les territoires de la France d'outre-mer", in Marchés tropicaux du monde, 26 Feb. 1955. MINISTèRE DE LA FRANCE D'OUTRE-MER: L'équipement des territoires français d'outre-mer, 1949-1950. Paris, Imprimerie nationale, 1950. MOLARD, R.: "Propositions pour l'Afrique" in Esprit, (Paris), July 1952. MOUNIER, E. : L'éveil de l'Afrique noire. Paris, Editions du Seuil, 1948. MOUSSA, P.: Les chances économiques de la communauté franco-africaine. Paris, Armand Colin, 1957. "Problèmes africains", in Présence africaine (Paris), 1956. SECRéTARIAT SOCIAL D'OUTRE-MER: "Aide à la famille et prestations familiales dans les territoires d'outre-mer", in Notes documentaires (Paris), Oct. 1954-Jan. 1955. SENGHOR, E. : " L'avenir de la France dans l'Outre-mer ", in Politique étrangère (Paris), Oct. 1954. SERVOISE, R. : " Introduction aux problèmes de la République française ", in Politique étrangère, Oct. 1954. VANEETVELDE, A.: Etudes juridiques et commentaires du Code du travail dans les territoires de la France d'outre-mer. Dakar, Librairie Clairafrique, 1953. VILLEMS, M.: " Un bilan de la colonisation française: L'économie de l'Afrique noire", in Les temps modernes (Paris), Apr. 1955. YOULA, N. : " Les chances de la coopération dans les pays outre-mer ", in Coopération (Paris), Nov. 1956. COMITé D'éTUDES ET DE LIAISON DU PATRONAT DE L'UNION FRANçAISE Cameroons. Encyclopédie de VAfrique française. Cameroun, Togo. Paris, Encyclopédie coloniale et maritime, 1951. GUILBOT, J. : Petite étude sur la main-d'œuvre à Douala. Yaounde, 1947. LEMBEZAT, B. : Le Cameroun. Paris, Editions maritimes et coloniales, 1954. OFFICE DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE OUTRE-MER: L'habitat au Cameroun. Paris, Editions de l'Union française, 1952. SœUR MARIE-ANDRé DU SACRé-CœUR: Civilisations en marche. Paris, Grasset, 1956. 704 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY French Equatorial Africa "L'Afrique équatoriale française 1953", in Encyclopédie mensuelle d'outre-mer, 1953. G.: Sociologie des Brazzavilles noires. Paris, Colin, 1955. " L'état actuel de la formation professionnelle rapide en A.E.F. ", in Bulletin d'A.E.F. de VAgence France-Presse (Brazzaville), 18 July 1952. " Indices des prix à la consommation familiale. Indices comparés", in Bulletin d'informations économiques et sociales (Brazzaville), July 1954. POUQUET, J. : L'Afrique équatoriale française et le Cameroun. Paris, Presses universitaires de France, 1954. TREZENEM, E. : L'Afrique équatoriale française. Paris, Editions maritimes et coloniales, 1955. BALANDIER, Togoland. Encyclopédie de VAfrique française. Cameroun-Togo. Paris, Encyclopédie coloniale et maritime, 1951. "Naissance de la République togolaise", in L'Afrique et l'Asie, 4th quarter, 1956. French West Africa "L'A.O.F. 1958", in Marchés tropicaux du monde (special issue), 22 Mar. 1958. " L'Alimentation autochtone en A.O.F. ", in Encyclopédie mensuelle d'outre-mer (Paris), Feb. 1956. " Conditions de travail et niveau de vie du prolétariat en A.O.F.", in Cahiers internationaux (Paris), July-Aug. 1952. L'équipement de V A.O.F. Paris, Notes et études documentaires. La documentation française, 11 Apr. 1951. L'équipement social de l'A.O.F. Paris, Cahiers français d'information. La documentation française, 15 Mar. 1955. Encyclopédie de l'Afrique française. Afrique occidentale française. Paris, Encyclopédie coloniale et maritime, 1949. GAURY, M.: Rapport général de la mission d'information en A.O.F., 1952. Paris, Centre d'études et de recherches du machinisme agricole, 1952. HAUSER,A.: "Les industries de transformation de la région de Dakar", in Bulletin de l'I.F.A.N. (Institut français d'Afrique noire, Dakar), 1952. — "Quelques relations des travailleurs de l'industrie à leur travail en A.O.F.", in Bulletin de l'I.F.A.N., Jan.-Apr. 1955. HAUT-COMMISSARIAT DE LA RéPUBLIQUE FRANçAISE EN A.O.F.: Plan quadriennal A.O.F. 1953-1957. Dakar, Imprimerie officielle, 1953. MASSA, Ch.-A. : "Les conditions de vie du travailleur africain en A.O.F.", in Afrique et Asie (Paris), 3rd quarter 1952. PéLISSON, P.: "Les conventions collectives en A.O.F.", in Droit social, Feb. 1957. POUQUET, J. : L'Afrique occidentale française. Paris, Presses universitaires de France, 1954. SENGHOR, L.: " Les problèmes généraux de l'A.O.F. en 1955 " in Monde nouveau (Paris), Sep. 1955. SIRIEX, P.: Une nouvelle Afrique, A.O.F. 1957. Paris, Pion, 1957 THOMAS, L. : " Réflexions sur quelques activités techniques en Basse-Casamance ", in Bulletin de l'I.F.A.N., July-Oct. 1957. Madagascar. CHEVALIER, L. DECARY, R.: : Madagascar, population et ressources. Paris, Presses universitaires de France, 1952. Madagascar et dépendances. Paris, Société d'éditions géographiques, maritimes et coloniales, 1952. DESCHAMPS, H.: Madagascar. Paris, Berger-Levrault, 1951. Encyclopédie de l'Afrique française. Madagascar. Paris, Encyclopédie coloniale et maritime, 1947. HAUT-COMMISSARIAT DE LA RéPUBLIQUE FRANçAISE DE MADAGASCAR ET DéPENDANCES. Plan de développement économique et social. Rapport d'exécution de la Section de Madagascar, 1" juillet 1955-30 juin 1957. Tananarive, Imprimerie officielle, 1957. "L'habitat à Madagascar", in Marchés tropicaux du monde, 21 Dec. 1953. HATZFELD, O.: Madagascar. Paris, Presses universitaires de France, 1952. "L'immigration Karany ou indo-pakistanaise à Madagascar", in L'Afrique et l'Asie, 4th quarter, 1954. ISNARD, H.: Madagascar. Paris, Armand Colin, 1955. " Madagascar au travail", in Bulletin de Madagascar (Tananarive, Haut-commissariat de la République française à Madagascar), 1956. MANICACCI, J.: Guide pratique de l'immigrant à Madagascar. Paris, Librairie de Médicis, 1951. ROTIVAL, M.: Madagascar, essai de planification organique. Tananarive, Service géographique de Madagascar, 1952. APPENDIX IV : BIBLIOGRAPHY 705 LIBERIA R. E. : Liberia, America's African Friend. Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina Press, 1953. BUELL, R. L. : Liberia: A Century of Survival, 1847-1947. Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1947. TAYLOR, W. C. : The Firestone Operations in Liberia. Washington, National Planning Association, 1956. ANDERSON, UNITED STATES FOREIGN OPERATIONS ADMINISTRATION AND FOREIGN AGRICULTURAL SERVICE: Agriculture in Liberia. Washington, 1954. C. M. : Liberia. New York, Sloane, 1947. WILSON, PORTUGUESE TERRITORIES Marcello: Os Nativos na Economía Africana. Coimbra, Coimbra Editora Limitada, 1954. — Portugal e o Direito Colonial Internacional. Lisbon, Livraria Moráis, 1948. CARREIRA, Antonio : " Problemas do trabalho indígena na colonia da Guiñé ", in Boletim Geral das Colonias (Lisbon, Agencia Geral do Ultramar), No. 282, Dec. 1948. COSTA, J. J., Junior: " Native Agriculture in Mozambique ", in Civilisations, Vol. VI, No. 4, 1956. DAVIDSON, Basil: The African Awakening. London, Jonathan Cape, 1955. DA SILVA CUNHA, J. M. : "A Reforma do Código do Trabalho dos Indígenas ", in Estudos Coloniais (Lisbon, Instituto Superior de Estudos Ultramarinos), Vol. IV (1953-54). — O Trabalho Indígena. Lisbon, Agencia Geral do Ultramar, 1955. Dos SANTOS LOUREIRO, Manuel : " O factor trabalho na economia de Moçambique ", in Revista de Economia (Lisbon), Vol. X, Fase. IV, Dec. 1957. EGERTON, F. C. C: Angola Without Prejudice. Lisbon, Agencia Geral do Ultramar,1955. GASPAR, José María: " Les coopératives agricoles indigènes dans les provinces d'outre-mer portugaises ", in Etudes coloniales (Brussels), Vol. III: Vers la promotion de l'économie indigène. Compte rendu du colloque colonial sur l'économie indigène, 9-13 Jan. 1956. Brussels, Université libre, Institut de sociologie Solvay. Situation économique des colonies portugaises. Notes et études documentaires. La documentation française, No. 1964, 27 Dec. 1954. CAETANO, SUDAN DEPARTMENT OF STATISTICS: The Pilot Population Census for the First Population Census in the Sudan. Khartoum, 1955. P.: Shifting Cultivation in Africa: The Zande System of Agriculture. London, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1956. FAWZI, Saad Ed Din : The Labour Movement in the Sudan, 1946-1955. London, Oxford Univesity Press, 1957. — Social Aspects of Low-Cost Housing in the Northern Sudan. Khartoum, Ministry of Social Affairs, Labour Department, 1954. The Gezira from Within. Khartoum, Government Printer, 1954. MACMICHAEL, Sir H.: The Sudan. London, Benn, 1954. SOUTHERN DEVELOPMENT INVESTIGATION TEAM: Natural Resources and Development Potential in the Southern Provinces of the Sudan: A Preliminary Report. London, 1955. TOTHILL, J. D. (Ed.): Agriculture in the Sudan. London, Oxford University Press, 1948. DE SCHLIPPE, UNION OF SOUTH AFRICA AND SOUTH-WEST AFRICA E. H. and HORWITZ, N. : The Native Reserves of Natal. Cape Town, Oxford University Press, 1957. CALDERWOOD, D. M. : Native Housing in South Africa (Thesis of University of the Witwatersrand). Johannesburg, 1953. BROOKES, COMMISSION FOR THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE BANTU AREAS WITHIN THE UNION OF SOUTH AFRICA (the Tomlinson Commission) : Summary of the Report. Pretoria, Govern- ment Printer, 1955. DE KOCK, A.: Industrial Laws of South Africa. Cape Town, Juta, 1956. FRANKLIN, N. N. : Economics in South Africa. Cape Town, Oxford University Press, 1948. GIBSON, O. : The Cost of Living for Africans. The Results of an Enquiry into the Cost of Living for Africans in the Locations and African Townships in Johannesburg and Alexandra. Johannesburg, South African Institute of Race Relations, 1954. HELLMAN, E. : Sellgoods. A Sociological Survey of an African Commercial Labour Force. Johannesburg, South African Institute of Race Relations, 1953. — (Ed.): Handbook on Race Relations in South Africa. Cape Town, Oxford University Press, 1949. 46 706 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY A.: The African Worker in South Africa: A Study in Trade Unionism. London, Africa Bureau, 1956. HOFMEYR, J. H.: South Africa. Second edition. London, Benn, 1952. HORRELL, M.: A Survey of Race Relations in South Africa 1954/1955 and 195511956. Johannesburg, South African Institute of Race Relations, 1955 and 1956. — South Africa's Non-White Workers. Johannesburg, South African Institute of Race Relations, 1956. — and DRAPER, M. : The Group Areas Act: Its Effect on Human Beings. Johannesburg, South African Institute of Race Relations, 1956. INDUSTRIAL LEGISLATION COMMISSION OF ENQUIRY: Report. Pretoria, Government Printer, 1951. NATAL UNIVERSITY: Natal Regional Survey. Cape Town, Oxford University Press (13 volumes), 1950 to 1957. NATAL UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS: The African Factory Worker: A Sample Study of the Life and Labour of the Urban African Worker. Cape Town, Oxford University Press, 1950. PATTERSON, S. : Colour and Culture in South Africa. A Study of the Status of the Cape Coloured People within the Social Structure of the Union of South Africa. London, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1953. ROBERTSON, H. M. : South Africa: Economic and Political Prospects. Durham, N. C, Duke University Press, 1957. SACHS, E. S. : The Choice before South Africa. London, Turnstile Press, 1952. SMITH, R. H.: Labour Resources of Natal. Cape Town, Oxford University Press, 1950. WDC, E.: The Cost of Living. An Enquiry into the Cost of Essential Requirements for African Families Living in Johannesburg, Pretoria and the Reef Towns, August-December 1950. Johannesburg, South African Institute of Race Relations, 1951. HEPPLE, Short List of Periodicals IN ENGLISH Africa (London). Monthly. African Abstracts (London). Monthly. African Affairs (London). Monthly. African Women (London). Twice a year. African World (London). Monthly. Central African Examiner (Salisbury). Weekly. Corona (London). Monthly. East Africa and Rhodesia (London). Weekly. East African Economics Review (Nairobi). Twice a year. Journal of African Administration (London). Quarterly. New Commonwealth (London). Fortnightly. Oversea Quarterly (formerly The Colonial Review) (London). Monthly. Race Relations Journal (Johannesburg). Twice a year. Race Relations News (Johannesburg). Monthly. The Rhodes-Livingstone Journal (Livingstone). Occasionally. The South African Journal of Economics (Pretoria). Quarterly. The Times—British Colonies Review (London). Quarterly. West Africa (London). Weekly. West African Review (London). Monthly. IN FRENCH L'Afrique et l'Asie (Paris). Quarterly. L'agronomie tropicale (Paris). Bi-monthly. Annales africaines. Institut des hautes études de Dakar (Paris). Published at irregular intervals. Bulletin de l'A.E.F., Agence France-Presse (Paris). Fortnightly. Bulletin de l'Institut français d'Afrique noire (Dakar). Quarterly. Bulletin de Madagascar (Tananarive). Monthly. Les cahiers de l'A.O.F., Agence France-Presse (Paris). Fortnightly. Chroniques d'outre-mer (Paris). Monthly. Encyclopédie mensuelle d'outre-mer (Paris). Monthly. Industries et travaux d'outre-mer (Paris). Monthly. Interafrique Presse (Paris). Weekly. Marchés tropicaux du monde (Paris). Weekly. La nouvelle revue française d'outre-mer (Paris). Monthly. Notes et études documentaires, série outre-mer. La documentation française (Paris). Published at irregular intervals. Notes documentaires du Secrétariat social d'outre-mer (Paris). Quarterly. APPENDIX rv: BIBLIOGRAPHY 707 Présence africaine (Paris). Bi-monthly. Revue juridique et politique de l'Union française (Paris). Quarterly. Union française et Parlement (Paris). Monthly. Bulletin agricole du Congo belge (Brussels). Bi-monthly. Bulletin de la Banque centrale du Congo belge et du Ruanda-Urundi (Brussels). Monthly. Bulletin des séances de l'Académie royale des sciences coloniales (Brussels). Published at irregular intervals. Bulletin de l'Association des intérêts coloniaux belges (Brussels). Fortnightly. Bulletin trimestriel du Centre d'études des problèmes sociaux indigènes C.E.P.S.I. (Elizabethville). Quarterly. Civilisations (Brussels). Quarterly (in English and French). Le courrier d'Afrique (Leopoldville). Daily. Problèmes d'Afrique centrale (Brussels). Quarterly. La revue coloniale belge (Brussels). Monthly. La revue congolaise du bâtiment et de l'industrie (Leopoldville). Fortnightly. Zaïre (Louvain). Ten times a year. IN PORTUGUESE Boletim Geral do Ultramar (Lisbon). Monthly. Revista do Gabinete de Estudos Ultramarinos (Lisbon). Quarterly. Actividade Económica de Angola (Luanda). Three times a year. IN SPANISH Boletín de Divulgación Social (Madrid). Monthly. APPENDIX V NOTE ON THE COMMISSION FOR TECHNICAL CO-OPERATION IN AFRICA SOUTH OF THE SAHARA, THE INTER-AFRICAN LABOUR INSTITUTE AND THE INTER-AFRICAN LABOUR CONFERENCE THE COMMISSION FOR TECHNICAL CO-OPERATION IN AFRICA SOUTH OF THE SAHARA Established in January 1950, the Commission for Technical Co-operation in Africa South of the Sahara (C.C.T.A.) was the subject of an intergovernmental agreement signed in London on 18 January 1954. It now consists of the following Governments : Belgium, Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, France, Ghana, Liberia, Portugal, Union of South Africa, United Kingdom. Object To ensure technical co-operation between territories for which member Governments are responsible in Africa south of the Sahara. Functions (1) To concern itself with all matters affecting technical co-operation between the member Governments and their territories within the territorial scope of the C.C.T.A. (2) To recommend to member Governments measures for achieving such co-operation. (3) To convene technical conferences as agreed by member Governments. (4) To supervise, from the financial and general points of view, the work of the organisations placed under its aegis and make recommendations thereon to the member Governments. (5) To make recommendations to the member Governments for the setting up of new organisations or the revision of existing arrangements for securing technical co-operation within the territorial scope of C.C.T.A. (6) To make recommendations to the member Governments with a view to the formulation of joint requests for technical assistance from international organisations. (7) To advise member Governments on any other subject in the field of technical co-operation which the member Governments may bring to its notice. (8) To administer the Inter-African Research Fund and the Inter-African Foundation for the Exchange of Scientists and Technicians. Financial Resources Contributions from member Governments. Organisation (1) The C.C.T.A. meets at least once a year. Its recommendations and conclusions are submitted to member Governments for unanimous approval and for implementation in the territories concerned. (2) The Scientific Council for Africa South of the Sahara (C.S.A.), scientific adviser to the C.C.T.A., was established in November 1950, following the Johannesburg Scientific Conference (1949). Its members are eminent scientists chosen in such a maimer that the APPENDIX V 709 main scientific disciplines important at the present stage of the development of Africa shall be represented. As members of the Council they do not receive instructions from governments but are responsible individually to the Council. (3) Technical bureaux and committees deal with specific aspects of regional and interterritorial co-operation in Africa south of the Sahara. (4) A joint secretariat serves the C.C.T.A. and the C.S.A. It has two seats, one in London, and one in Bukavu (Belgian Congo). It is administered by a Secretary-General, assisted in London by an Assistant Secretary-General and in Bukavu by a Scientific Secretary. Publications Publications dealing with scientific and technical problems, the data of which are usually collected in Africa by C.S.A., are issued in London. THE INTER-AFRICAN LABOUR INSTITUTE AND THE INTER-AFRICAN LABOUR CONFERENCE The Inter-African Labour Institute operates under the aegis of the C.C.T.A. It is closely linked with the Inter-African Labour Conference, of which it is the permanent organ. History The Inter-African Labour Conference originated in a meeting in 1948 (at Jos, Nigeria) of senior officials of labour departments in British, French and Belgian territories south of the Sahara to discuss labour problems of common interest and to arrange for exchanges of information on a permanent basis. At the Second Session of the Conference (Elizabethville, Belgian Congo, 1950), widened by the inclusion of delegates from Portugal, Southern Rhodesia and the Union of South Africa and the addition of representatives of workers' and employers' organisations, the creation of the Inter-African Labour Institute was recommended, and on the invitation of the French Government it was established by the six member Governments of the C.C.T.A. at Bamako (French West Africa) in 1952. Functions The Institute provides a permanent centre of information for the co-ordination, dissemination and exchange of information on all aspects of labour problems in Africa. For this purpose it is required to collect information of general interest on labour matters, which is regularly supplied to it by member Governments and their territories in Africa: and to analyse and distribute such information. It compUes with individual requests for documentation from member Governments and their territories, and in cooperation with them prepares monographs and carries out studies on particular subjects. Additionally, it is within its competence to facilitate and encourage arrangements for interchanges of visits and other informal contacts between ofBcials of departments of member Governments and their territories in Africa charged with the administration of labour matters and, where it may be of assistance in its work, to compare and exchange information with specialised agencies and other organisations, as approved by the C.C.T.A. ; to organise under the direction of member Governments the sessions of the Inter-African Labour Conference held under the auspices of the C.C.T.A. and generally to carry out any other functions entrusted to it by the C.C.T.A. Organisation The Institute comprises— (a) an Advisory Committee, which serves the C.C.T.A. as its specialist advisory body in all matters in the labour field which member Governments may refer to it; (b) a Director, who is responsible for the general administration and the activities of the Institute and for performing such functions as are entrusted to him by the member Governments on the recommendation of the Advisory Committee; (c) executive staff. INDEX OF REFERENCES TO COUNTRIES AND TERRITORIES1 Angola: see under Portuguese Territories. Basutoland: 21, 75, 96, 132, 187, 234, 246, 267, 309-10, 314, 318, 319, 334, 450, 478, 502. Bechuanaland: 8, 21, 55, 64, 75, 96, 107, 132, 133, 187-188, 234, 246, 267, 298, 299, 309-310, 314, 318, 319, 334, 450, 478, 502. Belgian Congo: 10, 11, 14, 17, 18, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 34, 40, 42, 45, 47, 55, 57, 61, 63, 73, 75, 76, 78, 80, 83, 91, 101, 103, 106, 107, 108, 111, 114, 116, 122, 129, 130, 135, 142, 144, 145, 149, 150, 155, 160, 164, 165, 166, 168, 170, 171, 172, 174, 175, 178, 179, 184, 193, 198, 199, 200, 203, 204-205, 207-208, 213, 214, 220-223, 231-232, 240-241, 253, 255, 261, 262-263, 273, 277-278, 279, 284, 286, 288, 290, 297, 298, 301, 304-306, 316-317, 323, 324, 325, 326-329, 333, 346, 348, 350, 351, 353, 357, 363, 364-366, 377, 378, 380, 381, 382, 383, 384, 385, 386, 387, 388, 389, 390, 391, 392, 395-396, 400, 401, 402, 404, 406, 407, 408, 409, 410, 417-418, 428, 434, 436-437,438439, 441, 442, 464, 466-468, 475, 477, 480, 481, 482, 483, 484, 485, 486, 488, 491, 494, 498, 499, 501, 502, 503, 504, 506, 507, 508, 509, 510, 511, 512, 513, 515, 521. British Cameroons: see Cameroons, British. British Somaliland: see Somaliland, British. Cameroons, British: 18, 45, 64, 68, 75, 80, 106, 155, 185, 307, 331, 348, 350, 354, 444. Cameroons, French: see under French Equatorial Africa. French Equatorial Africa: 8, 11, 13, 14, 17, 22, 26, 29, 37, 47, 75, 78, 85, 102, 107, 121, 125, 134, 145, 148, 151, 162, 165, 166, 172, 179, 188, 189, 199, 209, 236, 237, 238, 249, 269, 275, 307, 311, 336, 337, 339, 346, 370, 371, 376. 397, 400, 402, 404, 423, 424, 440, 462, 470, 471, 472, 478, 510. Cameroons: 17, 21, 29, 37, 42, 47, 73, 75, 101, 121, 125, 134, 160, 179, 188, 189, 209, 236, 269, 311, 320, 337, 338, 339, 397, 400, 402, 404, 423, 424, 439, 440, 470, 471, 472, 485, 510. 100, 199, 370, 456, Gabon: 102, 130, 149, 159, 160, 237, 238, 307, 320, 337, 338. Middle Congo: 63, 79, 160, 237, 238, 324, 337, 338. Tchad: 102, 134, 149, 237, 238, 311, 337, 338. Ubangi-Chari : 125, 144, 160, 237, 238, 320, 324, 337. French Somaliland: see Somaliland, French. French Togoland: see Togoland, French. French West Africa: 14, 17, 22, 29, 36-37, 40, 47, 58, 63, 64, 73, 75, 82, 84, 89, 91, 100, 101, 102, 106, 112, 113, 115, 121, 125, 128, 133, 134, 140, 161, 165, 171, 172, 173, 176-177, 179, 180, 188, 189, 190, 198, 199, 201, 208, 214, 216, 236, 238, 249, 268, 320, 337, 338, 339, 346, 348, 370, 371, 376, 380, 397, 400, 402, 404, 410, 423, 424, 428, 435, 439, 440, 452-456, 470, 471, 472, 487, 507, 510, 511. Dahomey: 75, 106, 236, 238, 324, 337. Cape Verde Islands: see under Portuguese Territories. Guinea: 106, 108, 121, 133, 198, 199, 236, 238, 311, 452, 455. Comoro Islands: 337, 338, 339, 400, 402, 404, 471, 510. Ivory Coast: 68, 75, 102, 106, 133, 134, 142, 145, 155, 206, 236, 238, 311, 337, 435, 452. Dahomey: see under French West Africa. Mauritania: 236, 238, 337. Ethiopia: 17, 21, 42, 72, 75, 188, 220, 227, 235, 247, 267, 297, 501, 515. Niger: 130, 133, 199, 236, 238, 337, 435, 452, 455. 1 This index merely indicates the pages in the body of the survey (i.e. not including the appendices) on which the various countries and territories of Africa south of the Sahara are mentioned. 711 INDEX OF REFERENCES TO COUNTRIES AND TERRITORIES Senegal: 53, 64, 70, 128, 133, 160, 236, 238, 275, 337, 452, 455, 462. Sudan: 53, 63, 133, 134, 206, 236, 238, 311, 337, 455, 479. Upper Volta: 133, 199, 236, 238, 311, 337,455. Gabon: see under French Equatorial Africa. Gambia: 17, 18, 46, 53, 70, 84, 96, 106, 123, 133, 185, 201, 210, 232, 246, 263, 299, 306, 307, 330, 331, 348, 366, 367, 378, 384, 388, 408, 419, 442, 502. Ghana: 4, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18-19, 25, 27, 28, 29, 31, 41, 42, 46, 48-49, 53, 55, 63, 68, 73, 75, 79, 82, 89, 91, 99, 103, 106, 112, 124, 130, 133, 142, 171, 188, 201, 202, 210, 227, 234-235, 246247, 267, 279, 286, 299, 310, 319-320, 335, 349, 350, 354, 355, 358, 361, 369, 379, 380, 381, 384, 385, 386, 387, 422, 434, 451-452, 469, 475, 477, 478, 480, 481, 482, 486, 488, 491, 501, 508, 511, 513, 515, 521, 522. Guinea, French: see under French West Africa. Guinea, Portuguese: see under Portuguese Territories. Guinea, Spanish: see under Spanish Territories. Ivory Coast: see under French West Africa. Kenya: 11, 13, 14, 15, 19, 27, 28, 29, 36, 41, 46, 53, 55, 56, 59, 61, 71, 76, 79, 83, 94, 96, 105, 107, 109, 110, 113, 116-117, 118, 119, 124, 130, 131, 145, 147, 160, 171, 176, 178, 180, 185, 186, 187, 194, 200, 201, 203, 205, 208, 211, 215, 216, 225, 232, 233, 245, 254, 264, 275, 277, 284, 288-289, 290, 299, 306, 307, 308, 318, 319, 323, 331, 332, 333, 346, 348, 350, 351, 353, 354, 355, 358, 366, 368, 369, 378, 379, 380, 382, 384, 385, 386, 387, 388, 392, 398-399, 407, 408, 409, 410, 419-420, 428, 435, 445, 469, 478, 484, 485, 491, 502, 510, 513. Niger: see under French West Africa. Nigeria: 10, 11, 13, 14, 18, 27, 28, 29, 31, 35, 36, 41, 42, 46, 53, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 68, 69, 70, 71, 75, 80, 84, 87, 94, 95, 96, 106, 111, 112, 119, 123, 130, 143, 148, 167, 171, 175, 178, 180, 185, 193, 198, 200, 205, 232, 244, 254, 261, 263-264, 275, 279, 298, 306, 307, 318, 319, 324, 330, 331, 346, 348, 350, 351, 352, 354, 355, 357, 358, 361, 366, 367-368, 378, 379, 380, 384, 385, 386, 388, 392, 393, 398, 404, 407, 419, 434, 443-444, 462, 469, 478, 484, 486, 492, 502, 510, 511, 513, 515. Northern Rhodesia: see Rhodesia, Northern. Nyasaland: 8, 10, 20, 26, 27, 28, 31, 35, 36, 53, 55, 59, 61, 64, 71, 73, 74, 76, 79, 96, 107, 109, 118, 119, 124, 130, 131, 132, 135, 139, 142, 147, 149, 160, 163, 166, 187, 195, 205, 216, 225, 232, 234, 241-242, 246, 253, 266, 275, 306, 307, 308, 318, 319, 333, 334, 346, 348, 350, 355, 358, 367, 369, 422, 449, 469, 478, 484, 515. Portuguese Territories: 10, 11, 28, 38, 41, 47, 58, 61, 75, 80,109, 116, 126, 147, 151, 155, 160, 164, 176, 179, 190, 195-196, 202, 206, 229, 237, 250, 262, 270, 273, 278, 299-301, 311-314, 320-321, 324, 325, 340-342, 349, 350, 353, 358, 379, 380, 381, 382, 383, 384, 385, 386, 387, 389, 392, 425, 435, 441, 458-459, 465, 473, 476, 479, 481, 483, 485, 489, 502, 504, 508, 509, 511, 512, 515, 521. Angola: 8, 23, 29, 38, 41, 105, 107, 109, 110, 111, 135, 136, 142, 148, 181, 237, 270, 300, 301, 312, 358, 378, 381, 383, 385, 408, 409, 425, 426, 440, 481, 485, 506 47, 63, 73, 77, 78, 113, 116, 122, 126, 190, 191, 206, 209, 313, 321, 341, 342, 388, 391, 393, 398, 458, 462, 479, 480, Cape Verde Islands: 126, 135, 190, 191, 237, 311, 313, 321, 340, 341, 473. Guinea: 17, 191, 206, 301, 314, 378, 393. Liberia: 17, 23, 26, 29, 38, 42, 75, 78, 103, 106, 190, 220, 228, 237, 249-250, 269, 279, 299, 340, 465, 472, 479, 483, 489, 501, 502, 515, 521. Mozambique: 23, 27, 29, 31, 38, 105, 107, 109, 110, 113, 122, 142, 181, 190, 191, 196, 209, 300, 301, 308, 313, 314, 321, 378, 381, 383, 384, 391, 393, 425, 458-459, 462, 508. Madagascar: 22, 29, 134, 142, 151, 188, 311, 320, 337, 338, 404, 406, 407, 423, Sao Tomé and Principe: 135, 148, 191, 237, 313, 341, 358, 387, 393, 473. 77, 100, 101, 109, 189, 206, 209, 236, 339, 370, 380, 397, 425, 440, 462, 470, 113, 249, 400, 471, 125, 269, 402, 510. Mauritania: see under French West Africa. Mauritius: 17, 19, 28, 29, 53, 77, 96, 224, 233, 245, 265, 379, 391, 394, 398, 421, 446, 469, 478, 501, 510, 513. Middle Congo: see under French Equatorial Africa. Mozambique: see under Portuguese Territories. Rhodesia, Northern: 8, 11, 14, 29,31,35,36,61,62,64,73, 107, 109,111, 112, 113, 114, 131, 132, 135, 139, 142, 147, 171, 178, 181, 187, 195, 198, 233, 234, 242, 246, 253, 255, 284, 291, 306, 308, 318, 319, 350, 355, 357, 358, 363, 366, 380, 381, 382, 383, 384, 386, 394,395,404,408,409,421, 42, 47, 73, 77, 126, 135, 136, 237, 239, 270, 341, 342, 358, 398, 400, 402, 15, 20, 25, 27, 28, 76, 94, 95, 96, 105, 118, 124, 128, 130, 149, 160, 163, 166, 205, 207, 215, 216, 261, 265, 279, 280, 333, 334, 346, 348, 367, 369, 378, 379, 387, 388, 389, 392, 435, 449, 478, 515. 712 AFRICAN LABOUR SURVEY Rhodesia, Southern: 11, 13, 14, 15, 20, 21, 25, 27, 28, 29, 40, 42, 47, 55, 56, 64, 73, 76, 78, 96, 105, 107, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 117, 118, 119, 124, 128, 130, 131, 132, 135, 139, 142, 145, 147, 149, 152, 158, 160, 163, 171, 178, 187, 195, 205, 207, 208, 216, 225-226, 243-244, 246, 255, 266, 275, 277, 279, 281, 284, 290, 306, 307, 308, 313, 314, 318, 319, 324, 333, 334, 346, 348, 355, 357, 358, 363, 366, 367, 369, 378, 381, 382, 383, 384, 421, 435, 450, 469, 478, 482, 502, 511, 515. Ruanda-Urundi: 10, 11, 17, 18, 34, 40, 45, 53, 61, 78, 80, 103, 106, 107, 119, 129, 130, 142, 149, 150, 151, 155, 164, 166, 184-185, 193, 207, 213, 220-223, 231-232, 240-241, 253, 261, 262-263, 298, 304-306, 308, 316-317, 325, 327, 348, 350, 357, 364-366, 378, 380, 381, 382, 383, 384, 385, 386, 387, 388, 389, 390, 391, 392, 395-396, 400, 401, 402, 406, 407, 408, 409, 410, 417-418, 436, 441, 442, 464, 466-468, 475, 477, 480, 481, 482, 483, 485, 486, 491, 498, 499, 501, 502, 503, 504, 506, 507, 508, 509, 510, 511, 512, 513, 515, 521. Sao Tomé and Principe: see under Portuguese Territories. Senegal: see under French West Africa. Sierra Leone: 18, 29, 35, 36, 46, 62, 66, 71, 95, 96, 106, 112, 123, 155, 175, 185, 193, 232, 244, 254, 262, 264, 275, 306, 307, 318, 330, 331, 346, 348, 350, 358, 366, 367, 378, 379, 380, 382, 384, 385, 398, 407, 408, 418, 444, 469, 501, 502, 510, 511. Somalia: 4, 22, 37-38, 41, 72, 75, 190, 206, 228, 237, 249, 262, 340, 349, 350, 351, 352, 359, 377, 378, 380, 382, 383, 384, 385, 386, 387, 389, 390, 391, 393, 397, 405, 409, 425, 440, 456-458, 464, 472, 476, 479, 480, 481, 482, 483, 485, 489, 498, 499, 502, 503, 504, 508, 510, 511, 512, 513, 514, 515, 521. Somaliland, British: 4, 19, 72, 75, 96, 186, 246, 265, 318, 319, 419, 478, 501, 510. Somaliland, French: 4, 29, 72, 75, 125, 249, 337, 339, 470, 471, 472, 510. Spanish Territories: 38, 262, 274, 350, 508,509. Guinea: 130, 307. Spanish West Africa: 270. Southern Rhodesia: see Rhodesia, Southern. Sudan: 17, 23, 29, 58-59, 72, 75, 126, 134, 206, 229, 239, 250, 270, 379, 380, 382, 386, 387, 388, 426, 473, 482, 501, 511, 515, 521. Sudan, French: see under French West Africa. Swaziland: 21, 55, 64, 96, 132, 187, 234, 246, 267, 299, 306, 309-310, 314, 318, 319, 334, 378, 379, 381, 408, 450. Tanganyika: 11, 13, 14, 17, 19, 28, 29, 35, 36, 45, 46, 56, 57, 61, 64, 74, 76, 78, 79, 96, 105, 109, 110, 113, 116, 118, 124, 130, 131, 135, 176, 186, 194, 198, 201, 205, 211, 216, 233, 245, 254, 265, 298, 299, 306, 307, 308, 318, 319, 332, 333, 346, 348, 350, 354, 355, 358, 366, 368, 378, 379, 382, 384, 386, 387, 388, 391, 392, 395, 398, 404,408, 409, 420-421, 428, 429, 434, 446-447, 469, 478, 481, 484, 502, 510, 513. Tchad: see under French Equatorial Africa. Togoland, French: 4, 22, 37, 40, 47, 100, 101, 106, 125, 188,269,320, 337, 339, 400, 401, 402, 404, 424, 471, 510. Ubangi-Chari: see under French Equatorial Africa. Uganda: 13, 14, 17, 20, 26, 28, 35, 36, 41, 45, 46, 52, 53, 64, 67, 71, 75, 76, 78, 84, 94, 96, 97-98, 105, 107, 109, 110, 112, 113, 116, 118, 124, 128, 129, 130, 131, 142, 144, 145, 156, 160, 162, 163, 176, 178, 186, 194, 198, 201, 202, 203, 205, 214, 225, 232, 233, 245, 253, 265, 298, 299, 306, 308, 318, 332, 333, 346, 348, 350, 355, 356, 366, 368, 369, 378, 379, 380, 382, 383, 384, 386, 387, 388, 391, 408, 409, 420, 447-448, 462, 469, 478, 484, 502, 510, 514. Union of South Africa: 4, 10, 11, 12, 15, 20, 23-24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 39, 41, 42, 47, 53, 54, 55, 58, 59, 61, 64, 75, 77, 79, 83, 96, 103, 105, 106, 109, 110, 112, 113, 117, 119, 126, 128, 131, 132, 133, 135, 136-137, 139, 142, 145, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151, 155, 160, 161, 164, 165, 167, 171, 173, 176, 179, 181-182, 183, 191, 196-197, 198, 200, 201, 204, 206, 207, 209, 211, 215, 220, 229-230, 239, 251-252, 261, 262, 270-271, 273, 276, 278, 279, 281-284, 285, 297, 301, 307, 308, 309-310, 313, 314, 315, 321-322, 324, 333, 342-344, 349, 350, 351, 356, 359, 361, 363, 371-373, 378, 379, 380, 381, 382, 383, 384, 385, 387, 388, 391, 393, 394, 398, 400, 405, 408, 409, 426-427, 435, 440-441, 459-461, 464, 465, 474, 480, 481, 482, 483, 484, 489, 501, 502, 504, 508, 509, 511, 512, 515. Upper Volta: see under French West Africa. South-West Africa: 4, 8,24,25,31, 39, 55,107,135, 231, 239, 252, 272, 315, 322, 378, 379, 380, 382, 387, 499, 510. Zanzibar: 20, 35, 75, 77, 79, 96, 186, 234, 246,253, 265, 378, 449, 478, 502, 510.