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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Trade relations of northern Ethiopia with Italian Eritrea 1903-1935 |
Author: | Ahmad, Abdussamad H. |
Year: | 1997 |
Periodical: | Africa: rivista trimestrale di studi e documentazione |
Volume: | 52 |
Issue: | 3 |
Pages: | 416-430 |
Language: | English |
Geographic terms: | Ethiopia Eritrea Italy |
Subjects: | colonialism mercantile history |
External link: | https://www.jstor.org/stable/40761155 |
Abstract: | This article deals with trade relations between Italian Eritrea and northern Ethiopia during the first three decades of the 20th century. It argues that it was more the potential than the actual economic significance of northern Ethiopia which made it the focal point of Italian commercial activity. The ultimate aim of the Italians was to develop the agricultural potential of the region around Lake Tana, which would allow the settlement of Italian migrants in the area. The Italians managed to attract trade from northern Ethiopia, amongst others by building camel caravan routes, drilling wells for merchants along the routes, offering free camel transport, improving the ports of Massawa and Assab, and, in 1911, building a railroad from Massawa to Asmara. In 1917, nearly 60 percent of Eritrean trade was with Ethiopia. By 1932, Italy had created four consulates in Eritrea and, despite British and Japanese rivalry, had managed to extend its commercial influence in Ethiopia. Notes, ref. |