Page 378
Economic Development
24. Since 1939 the economic development of all three territories has gone forward rapidly and the finagcial position of the two moetlentesfiteges, and particularly Northern Rhodesia, has improved substantially in relation to Southern Rhodesia. The advance which has been made is illustrated by the following figures of Government revenue,(*) imports and exports, and national income, although it must be remembered in the comparison between 1939 and the present day that the real value of the pound has decreased. Southern Rhodesia's revenue has increased from £34 million in 1938-39 to £164 million in 1950-51, Northern Rhodesia's from £1 million in 1938 to £144 million in 1951, and Nyasaland's from £4 million in 1938 to £3 million in 1951. Southern Rhodesia's imports of merchandise rose from £91 million in 1938 to £54 million in 1949, Northern Rhodesia's from £5 million to £21 million, and Nyasaland's from £2 million to £5 million in the same period. Southern Rhodesia's domestic exports of merchandise rose from £10 million in 1938 to £29 million in 1949, Northern Rhodesia's from £10 million to £33 million and Nyasaland's from £1 million to £44 million in the same period. National income figures are not available for 1939, but the national income of Southern Rhodesia is estimated to have risen from £46 million in 1946 to £73 million in 1949, while Northern Rhodesia's national income rose from £12 million to £27 million in the same period. Thus the national income of Northern Rhodesia has been rising more rapidly than that of Southern Rhodesia. It is clear from these figures that rapid economic progress is being made by all three territories, that the inequality between them is growing less, and that their combined resources, which are now far greater than they were in 1939, should be fully adequate to support a scheme of closer association.
Economic
(II) THE NEED FOR CLOSER ASSOCIATION
25. Experience over the last decade has confirmed the need for co-ordina- tion of policy and action between the three territories in economic and develop- ment matters. Their economies are so inter-dependent that closer association between them in the field of economic planning is essential to remove the present causes of friction, still more so to secure the maximum economic development of the area as a whole in the interests of the people. It is mainly in the economic field that difficulties have arisen in recent years owing to the lack of inter-territorial machinery with effective power to enforce co-ordination. If economic policy can be effectively integrated and such economic barriers as exist between the territories can be broken down, the task of developing Central Africa as a whole will be very much eased. In external economic relations Central Africa operating as a single unit would be more effective than the three territories operating singly.
26. From the long-term point of view the economic future of the area cannot be regarded as secure so long as responsibility for directing its economy rests on three separate administrations. All three territories are reasonably prosperous at present; but their prosperity has in a considerable degree been brought about by abnormal conditions which continue to obtain. A slump in the price of tobacco, tea and cotton, or a serious falling off in the demand for chrome, asbestos and copper, would have a disastrous effect on the territories working as isolated economic units. Clearly an economic crisis could be faced more confidently if the units were closely integrated into an area having a widely based economy.
(3) The 1951 figures are, of course, estimates.
4040 Page 379 of 587
11