The dynamics of pre-colonial west African economy: the Yoruba experience

Abstract

The increasing rate of globalization has not only facilitated the high level of socio-cultural diffusion in Nigeria but it has also watereddown indigenous economic activities. The colonial records also gave the impression that the economic activities of the Yoruba was static, hence there was inadequate or scanty records of the Yoruba economy in colonial documentation. It is against this background that this paper examines the dynamic nature of the Yoruba economy in precolonial era. The paper pays attention to agriculture, trade and indigenous technology (crafts) as the mainstay of the Yoruba economy. The paper concludes that the pre-colonial economy in West Africa was not stagnant as postulated by some western scholars and their sympathizers, rather the economy was holistically dynamic.