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| Karl Peters |
WHY DID THEY FAIL?
The chartered companies did not last longer because of the following reasons.
African resistances weakened the ability of the companies to an extent of not being entrusted by their colonial masters. For example the African resistance in German East Africa which weakened the power of the German East African Company.
Also shortage of Capital; The companies lacked enough money to run (finance) all desired activities E.g. they fail to construct infrastructure and so on.
Shortage of enough personnel; the companies were required to cover large areas while they had a few number of officials this led to the failure of the companies.
Remoteness of the colonies; the colonies had no enough infrastructure, many areas couldn’t be accused by the chartered company officials.
Hostile environment; the presence of tropical diseases such as Malaria threatened the Europeans to come and serve in Africa in the chartered companies.
Abandonment by the colonial masters, the companies with less capital such as the G.E.A.Co ought to be financed by the German government but they weren’t supported financially.
Means of communication; There was the breakage of information between the officers of the chartered companies and their African subjects (Language barriers). This also weakened the chartered company performance.
Lack of qualified (professional) administrators; Most of the officers weren’t skilled on administration, most of them were traders. This also weakened the chartered company activities.
