The Compagnie du Sénégal (SCOA) ( French for "the

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

Company" or "Company of the

"), officially the Compagnie du Sénégal et de la Côte occidentale d'Afrique ("Company of the Senegal and of the West Coast of Africa") was a 19th-century colonial French company involved in the

palm oil Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of oil palms. The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 36% of global oils produced from o ...

trade in

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

. The company was founded at

Marseilles Marseille (; ; see below) is a city in southern France, the prefecture of the department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the Provence region, it is located on the coast of the Mediterranean S ...

by a M. Verminck.Gantly, Patrick & al
''Histoire de la Société des Missions Africaines (SMA), 1856–1907: de la fondation par M^gr de Marion Brésillac (1856) à la mort du Père Planque (1907)'', Vol. 1, pp. 473 ff.
Karthala, 2009. Accessed 5 Apr 2014. Along with the French Equatorial African Association, the Senegal Company received subsidies from the

Léon Gambetta Léon Gambetta (; 2 April 1838 – 31 December 1882) was a French lawyer and republican politician who proclaimed the French Third Republic in 1870 and played a prominent role in its early government. Early life and education Born in Cahors, ...

administration and was intended to establish French claims on the lower

Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...

.McPhee, Allan
''The Economic Revolution in British West Africa'', pp. 75 ff
Frank Cass & Co. Ltd. (Abingdon), 1926 and reprinted 1971. Accessed 4 Apr 2014. Two years after it was founded, the company became a

joint stock company A joint-stock company (JSC) is a business entity in which shares of the company's capital stock, stock can be bought and sold by shareholders. Each shareholder owns company stock in proportion, evidenced by their share (finance), shares (certifi ...

, with Verminck as manager. At its height, it operated 14 trading posts on the

and Benue

rivers A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of its course if it ru ...

. The company also has two agencies in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

and

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, which make purchases of goods from the leading textile industrial power, then exchanged on the west coast of Africa, where it has nine agencies, eighteen sub-counters, 80 European and 300 African employees. Following a years-long price war and Gambetta's death in 1882, the company sold its interests in the region to the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

United African Company in October 1884.Geary, Sir William Nevill Montgomerie
''Nigeria under British Rule'', pp. 174 ff
Frank Cass & Co, 1927. Accessed 5 Apr 2014.

References

Defunct shipping companies of France {{French-company-stub

See also

References