Conclusion

Gijs Dreijer ()
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Gijs Dreijer: Erasmus University Rotterdam

Chapter Chapter 7 in Private Entrepreneurship and European Imperialism, 2026, pp 259-269 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract This chapter concludes the book and takes stock of the period between 1846 and 1914 when the Dutch entrepreneurs from the city of Rotterdam participated in the Scramble for Africa’s resources. It argues that these men made a conscious entrepreneurial choice to move into West (Central) Africa in search of commodities like palm oil and, through dispersion, became relatively successful entrepreneurs, despite the many challenges posed by the Partition of Africa and the expansion of European imperial states across the African continent. Overall, the book demonstrates that (1) doing business in the ‘empire of others’ brought opportunities but also posed major challenges and (2) historians should take into account the entrepreneurial agency of actors from purportedly ‘smaller’ countries when analysing imperialism in Africa as well as imperialism more broadly. Finally, the chapter shortly applies these lessons to ideas of a ‘New Scramble for Africa’, which has gained currency in societal debate in recent years.

Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:palscp:978-3-032-01086-5_7

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DOI: 10.1007/978-3-032-01086-5_7

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