Société anonyme belge pour le commerce du Haut-Congo

The Société anonyme belge pour le commerce du Haut-Congo (SAB) was a private enterprise in the Congo Free State, later the Belgian Congo, that operated a string of trading stations in the Congo River basin, and exported ivory, rubber and other local products. The ruthless treatment of the local people by SAB agents inspired Joseph Conrad to write his 1899 novel Heart of Darkness.

Foundation

The Compagnie du Congo pour le Commerce et l'Industrie CCCI was created by Albert Thys on 27 December 1886, the first Belgian colonial society to be involved in exploration and exploitation of the Congo.

The Sanford Exploring Expedition was created by the American businessman Henry Shelton Sanford in 1886 to trade along the upper Congo River, with concessions granted by King Leopold II of Belgium. The company brought the first commercial steamer up to Stanley Pool, the Florida, and in 1887 bought another steamer, the New York. It founded posts at Matadi, Kinshasa, Luebo and Equateur (Mbandaka). By 1888 the company was running out of money, and attempted without success to obtain funding from various American businessmen. At the end of 1888 the Sanford Exploring Expedition merged with the CCCI to create the SAB.

The Société anonyme belge pour le commerce du Haut-Congo (SAB) was founded on 10 December 1888. It was the third subsidiary of the CCCI. The headquarters were at 15, rue Bréderode, Bruxelles.

Trading and extraction

Louis Valcke returned to the Congo in July 1889 on behalf of the SAB, where he replaced Major Parminter as director until March 1890. He established trading posts of this company as far as the Stanley Falls (Boyoma Falls). As of 1 January 1894 the company had 83 factories and posts, including some in the French territory to the west of the Congo and Ubangi rivers. In 1895 12 of the SAB's 68 trading posts were in French territory. In 1900 the concession system was established in the French territory, and presumably SAB direct involvement there ended.

The CCCI was given the right to 150000 ha of land in return for its services in studying the Matadi-Léopoldville Railway project. The Compagnie du chemin de fer du Congo (CFC) was given 1500 ha of land for every 1 km of line put into operation, as well as a strip 200 m wide along the railway. The CCCI and CFC lands were mostly grouped into the Bloc de la Busira-Momboyo, created in 1901, along the Busira and Momboyo rivers. This property of 1041373 ha was exploited by the SAB. Between 1902 and 1910 the SAB sublet most of its activities to the Compagnie du Kasaï and Société du Busira concession companies. After this, SAB began to expand again as the concession system was gradually phased out.

Before 1920 the economy of the Congo was essentially based on harvesting natural products. Rubber and ivory generated the largest part of the revenues of companies such as SAB and of the state. However, SAB made efforts to spread the species that produced the most rubber. In 1893 SAB created a string of rubber plantations in the Busira concession, but most rubber was gathered from wild vines in the rainforests. Collection of rubber did not require much skill: the rubber-bearing vine was cut and its sap drained into a bucket. However, the villagers were brutally forced to meet quotas by the Force Publique, and this meant they had to travel deep into the flooded forest for days on end during the rainy season. They made no profit from the rubber, but ran short of food because they could not cultivate their crops at the most important time of the year.

By 1934 the Compagnie du Kasai was the second largest palm oil producer in the country after HCB. By 1935 it had sold shares to the SAB in exchange for a 3000 ha plot in the Manghay region where it was cultivating coffee and cocoa trees. On 26 June 1937 the "Bus Bloc" of the SAB was returned to the state, a huge area of 1041773 ha. The SAB was compensated financially and in land.

trade name	SAB
industry	Trade and industry
founded	December 10, 1888 in Brussels, Belgium
founder	Albert Thys
hq location city	Brussels
hq location country	Belgium
area served	Congo Free State, Belgian Coingo

Société anonyme belge pour le commerce du Haut-Congo

Foundation

Transport

Trading and extraction

Heart of Darkness

Notes

Sources