QUB History Seminar: Lloyd Maphosa

The History Seminar Series is delighted to host Dr. Lloyd Maphosa (Queen's University Belfast) on 7th November in Room 01.003, 27 University Square at 4:00pm. Please note this is back to our usual venue and time for seminars!

This paper examines the extent to which limited liability functioned as a political tool for Black entrepreneurs in the Cape Colony. Using records from the Cape Joint Stock Company archive, it explores how black businessmen leveraged joint-stock companies to navigate the political and economic constraints imposed by colonial rule. While limited liability was initially introduced to attract foreign capital and stimulate entrepreneurship among settlers, elite black entrepreneurs appropriated this legal structure to establish media companies as platforms for political expression. However, the presence of white capital in ventures such as Jabavu and Company Limited suggests that Western financial principles influenced the company’s operations and ideological stance. Similarly, while its rival, the Eagle Printing Company, was regarded as radical, its publications did not advocate for a complete dismantling of white political dominance, reflecting the complexities of cultural imperialism. This paper thus interrogates how African entrepreneurs engaged with limited liability, who they were, and whether these companies primarily functioned as instruments of political resistance or were constrained by economic dependencies and colonial ideological structures.

Lloyd Maphosa is a Research Fellow in the Centre for Economics, Policy and History project at Queen’s University Belfast. He completed his PhD in history in 2021 at Stellenbosch University. His work focuses on the financial history of the Cape Colony in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Refreshments, drinks, and snacks will be provided. We look forward to seeing you there!

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