Belgian Financial Elites and Destructive Entrepreneurship in King Leopold’s Congo Free State

Abstract

This paper investigates the role of financial elites in one of the worst colonial regimes in history. An analysis of director interlocks between firms operating in the Congo Free State (CFS) and Belgian firms listed on the Brussels Stock Exchange (BSE) reveals that the Belgian financial establishment was a crucial contributor to CFS entrepreneurship from the start, contradicting the idea that business in the CFS was driven by a few rogue financiers. While the number of CFS firms was small and their economic importance was limited, 40% of listed Belgian firms, accounting for more than half of the BSE stock market capitalization, had at least one CFS firm director on their board by 1900. Most of these directors also held a directorship at a Belgian bank. Almost all the large banks, including the Société Générale de Belgique, had two or more CFS firm directors on their board.

Keywords: Financial networks, destructive entrepreneurship, colonialism, Belgium, Congo

JEL Classification: F54, G20, L26, N23, N47