Nigerian Careers in European Business: Working with the United Africa Company, 1940s to 1970s

Historical studies of international business operating in Africa have explored topics including exploitation; competition with local businesses; relationships with governments; labor and trade unions; as well as advertising and the politics of consumption. This paper will contribute to this growing field of studies by examining the careers of Africans working with a large international company. It will explore the career trajectories of a number of Nigerian managers employed by the United Africa Company (UAC), a subsidiary of the multinational Unilever. The period covered, from the 1940s through to the 1970s, captures the period of decolonization and the resulting reorientation of foreign business. The paper is mainly interested in uncovering the ways in which individual actors engaged with corporate business culture, and how this engagement was mediated through Nigerianization policies; the ways in which employees were embedded in local African political structures; the company’s personnel relations efforts, and so on. It will do this against the background of basic human resource management processes such as annual review of pay and promotion; training; and recruitment. The paper will highlight how these Nigerian managers managed to harness the skills and resources they acquired during their careers in UAC to develop their own business or political activities. Sources for the paper include the records from the UAC Personnel Department and the Public Relations Department in the UAC archive (held at the Unilever Archive) as well as interviews with former employees.