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Sub-Saharan Africa is presently the poorest region in the world, but has this always been the case? This book explores this question through the study of the material living standards of the population in pre-colonial West Africa, focusing on the Gold Coast.

Labour and Living Standards in Pre-Colonial West-Africa employs a variety of sources, ranging from travel accounts to economic accounts of European companies established in the region. From these sources, this book gathers evidence on the conditions that common Africans worked under and the economic living standards that could be achieved by the money earned from their labour. Using records from the English Royal Africa Company, alongside contemporary published accounts, Roennbaeck is able to reconstruct the material wealth and living standards of the population at a time when the Atlantic slave trade brought money and men into the area. He explores the racial bias that permeated the colonists' accounts and how the 'lazy African' stereotype was used to justify slavery.

This volume will enrich the understanding of long term West African economic development and the issues that still exist today. It is suitable for those who study development economics, economic history and African history.