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Mozambique Company
The Mozambique Company, in Portuguese the Companhia de Moçambique, was a royal company in the Portuguese colony of Mozambique, that had the concession of the lands that include the present provinces of Manica and Sofala.
The company was established in February 1891 with a capital stock of about 5 million dollars obtained from financiers from Germany, the United Kingdom and South Africa. Isaacman and Isaacman report that the firm was capitalised at 40,000 pounds (not $5 M), and that British and French capital quickly predominated. [1]
The concession was granted for a period of 50 years, during which the company could not only exploit the resources and existing manpower (partly through the Chibalo system of forced labour) but also grant subconcessions. The company was granted the exclusive right to collect taxes, but was itself granted a 25 year tax holiday. In return the Portuguese state would receive 7.5% of the company's profits and 10% of the sold shares. The company was also required to settle 1000 Portuguese families, and provide education and public administration in its territory.
In practice, the company made only partial use of the prerogatives with which it had been bestowed; but this has balanced by the fact that it also met very few of its obligations. Having only limited capital, the company did little to develop the area, deriving most of its income from its ability to tax and its power to use conscripted labour on its plantations and for lease to adjacent estates. Resistance to the forced labour regime was a major cause of rebellions against the company which occurred in 1902 and 1917. Despite the company's obligation under its charter to provide forces to maintain law and order, it was unable to meet these crises, and on both occasions Portugal had to mount expensive interventions.
The Mozambique Company had its headquarters in Beira, where it controlled the public administration and the post offices. The company also founded a private bank, the Banco da Beira, which issued currency in Pounds.
Because of its bad performance and because of the shift, under the Salazar regime, towards Portuguese control and away from international control of the economy, the company's concession was not renewed when it ran out in 1942. The Governor of Manica and Sofala commented:
They did nothing to develop the potential wealth of this entire region, preferring to plunder it and alienate the natives.
On July 18, 1942, the territory of Manica and Sofala passed to the Portuguese colonial authorities and the Mozambique Company, now with the name SARL, continued to operate in the agricultural and commercial sectors.
On October 20, 1961, The Mozambique Company became the Grupo Entreposto Comercial de Moçambique, which transformed itself into a holding on September 6, 1972, with the participation of capital from other companies, like Entreposto-Gestão e Participações (SGPS) SA.
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COMPANHIA DE MOÇAMBIQUE
and África Oriental Portuguesa
Background: After difficult talks with Britain regarding the Mozambican border, Portugal finally ratified the clauses of the 1884 Congress of Berlin on 11 Jan. 1891. Among other things Portugal committed herself to build a railway from Beira to Rhodesia, who had been pressing heavily to gain access to the sea.
The Companhia de Moçambiqe SARL, formed in 1888 by Paiva de Andrade, administered by concession the central part, i.e. Manica and Sofála, of Portuguese East Africa (Mozambique) from 1891 until 1941*, when its 50 years (prolonged from 25 years in 1897) charter terminated.In 1939 the population was 370 000 and the area 155 000 sq. km. In 1893 the Mozambique Co's territory was enlarged south of the river Save (dotted line on the map below). That area was attached to Gaza and Inhambane in the 1940s.
The company had exclusive rights to develop the economy of its territory, which, of course, politically and legally continued to belong to Portugal. A 1928 b advert. The concession gave the company special trading privileges and even the authority to collect taxes and duties (revenue stamps were issued too), but infrastructure was to be constructed (including that railway!), public services maintained and a fee paid to the Portuguese government**. The important Beira–Salisbury railway was opened in 1899 and the line for Nyasaland in 1922.
The organisation of the postal service was part of the rights and obligations of the Mozambique Company, and between 1892 and 1941* it issued postage stamps (some 280 different). Most of the stamps from 1918 on were recess printed in London and are colourful and exotic, and thus popular with collectors. They are not expensive. The sale of stamps (frequently cancelled to order) certainly was a welcome income for the company. From 1942 on it continued as an ordinary non-chartered company and became in 1961 a subsidiary of the Portuguese Entreposto SGPS group. Strictly speaking the present day Companhia de Moçambiqe may be a new legal entity.
There were other similar chartered commercial companies (Port. companhias majestáticas) that issued stamps: the East India Company, the British North Borneo Company, the Imperial British East Africa Company, the Italian Benadir Company, and, also in Mozambique, the Nyassa Company***. The big British South Africa Company (chartered in 1889) operated Southern and Northern Rhodesia, and the Mozambique Company was actually chartered in order to help satisfying BSAC's contractual claims on neighbouring Portuguese East Africa, because Portugal's economy was weak at this time. Paradoxically most of the share capital of the Mozambique Company was furnished by private British interests. Below is a picture of a bearer share certificate issued in 1895.
The certificate (for 25 shares; printed in London) does not state where it was issued, but the legal domicile of the Companhia de Moçambiqe was Lisbon, not Beira (the capital of its territory). In the right hand margin there is a notation that this particular certificate has been exchanged in 1901 for three new ones by the Compagnie du Mozambique's Paris registrars. This share is from 1948 (or somewhat later). The Company also issued bank notesof its own (previously through its Banco da Beira). Some of the notes are denominated in Pounds Sterling, due to the Rhodesian influence on the economy.
| 1893–1919 (31 Dec.) each district of Port. East Africa except Gaza used its own stamps. In 1913 the old Zambezia was split into Quelimane and Tete. The Gaza district was detached in Jan. 1918 from Inhambane (which was created in 1895). 1895–1907 the Gaza area had had a special military status. The Quionga (German Kionga) triangle was occupied by the Portuguese on 11 April 1916 (acknowledged by the Treaty of Versailles in 1919), but it is not certain that it was annexed to the Nyassa Co's area. What stamps were in use there after the 1916provisionals? (At least in the 1926 UPU list there is no PO here.) |  |
Chinde, British Concession. In 1891 the Portuguese govt. granted the British govt. a concession (signed 1892, expanded to 10 hectares 1898, cancelled 1925) to an island with 400 metres of frontage on the Chinde River/Channel/Mouth (discovered 1889) and close to Chinde town, as a free trade area for transits to and from Nyasaland (BCA), who maintained a post office there. You may thus find Nyasaland stamps postmarked Chinde. Before the railways River Zambezi (via Chinde) was the main route to central Africa.
*The Company was chartered on 11 February 1891. A decree of 8 August 1892 authorized it to issue postage stamps. In accordance with a July 1941 decree the administration of Manica and Sofála reverted to the colonial authorities in January 1942 and Mozambican stamps came on sale at the same time [Simões Ferreira catalogue]. Stamps of the Mozambique Company in the hands of the public were valid up to 18 July 1942 inclusive [Portu-Info 14[1]:5, July 1978].
**Exploiting a colony was not that lucrative as people tend to think today, not even for the mightiest of the mighty: "The British South Africa Co. would not be sorry to give up [into effect in 1923] the burden of governing the two Rhodesias. In the 25 years of its life, it had not so far paid a penny of dividend to its shareholders. Instead of making a large profit every year, as it had hoped, it had lost money." [W. E. Ward. A History of Africa, Book three. London 1968. P. 94.] The Br. East Africa Co. only could hold out from 1887 to 1895. The share capital of the Mozambique Co. had to be halved.
When the BSAC's charter ended in 1923 the company retained interests in mining, railways, real estate and agriculture. In 1964, it was forced to hand over its last mineral rights to Zambia, and in 1965, BSAC merged with the Central Mining & Investment Corp. Ltd and the Consolidated Mines Selection Co. Ltd, to form the mining and industrial company Charter Consolidated Ltd (the biggest shareholder of which was Anglo American plc). The design of the share certificate has been the same since 1890. Note the similarities with the Mozambique Co. design.
***The majority of the shares of the Companhia do Nyassa (Companhia do Niassa), which administered the north (190 000 sq. km, pop. 824 000 in 1960) under a 35 years charter (granted in 1894, ended on 27 Oct. 1929), was in 1913–14 acquired from e.g. Portuguese interests by a group of German banks, with the intention of attaching the territory to German East Africa. However, in 1917 those shares were confiscated and sold to British investors. This company was obliged to build a railway from Porto Amélia to Lake Nyasa, but it never did.
Online translated:
COMPANHIA DE MOÇAMBIQUE and África Oriental Portuguesa
Background: After difficult talks with Britain regarding the Mozambican border, Portugal finally ratified the clauses of the 1884 Congress of Berlin on 11 Jan. 1891. Among other things Portugal committed herself to build a railway from Beira to Rhodesia, who had been pressing heavily to gain access to the sea.
The Companhia de Moçambiqe SARL, formed in 1888 by Paiva de Andrade, administered by concession the central part, i.e. Manica and Sofála, of Portuguese East Africa (Mozambique) from 1891 until 1941*, when its 50 years (prolonged from 25 years in 1897) charter terminated. In 1939 the population was 370 000 and the area 155 000 sq. km. In 1893 the Mozambique Co's territory was enlarged south of the river Save (dotted line on the map below). That area was attached to Gaza and Inhambane in the 1940s.
The company had exclusive rights to develop the economy of its territory, which, of course, politically and legally continued to belong to Portugal. A 1928 advert. The concession gave the company special trading privileges and even the authority to collect taxes and duties (revenue stamps were issued too), but infrastructure was to be constructed (including that railway!), public services maintained and a fee paid to the Portuguese government**. The important Beira–Salisbury railway was opened in 1899 and the line for Nyasaland in 1922.
The organisation of the postal service was part of the rights and obligations of the Mozambique Company, and between 1892 and 1941* it issued postage stamps (some 280 different). Most of the stamps from 1918 on were recess printed in London and are colourful and exotic, and thus popular with collectors. They are not expensive. The sale of stamps (frequently cancelled to order) certainly was a welcome income for the company. From 1942 on it continued as an ordinary non-chartered company and became in 1961 a subsidiary of the Portuguese Entreposto SGPS group. Strictly speaking the present day Companhia de Moçambiqe may be a new legal entity.
There were other similar chartered commercial companies (Port. companhias majestáticas) that issued stamps: the East India Company, the British North Borneo Company, the Imperial British East Africa Company, the Italian Benadir Company, and, also in Mozambique, the Nyassa Company***. The big British South Africa Company (chartered in 1889) operated Southern and Northern Rhodesia, and the Mozambique Company was actually chartered in order to help satisfying BSAC's contractual claims on neighbouring Portuguese East Africa, because Portugal's economy was weak at this time. Paradoxically most of the share capital of the Mozambique Company was furnished by private British interests. Below is a picture of a bearer share certificate issued in 1895.
The certificate (for 25 shares; printed in London) does not state where it was issued, but the legal domicile of the Companhia de Moçambiqe was Lisbon, not Beira (the capital of its territory). In the right hand margin there is a notation that this particular certificate has been exchanged in 1901 for three new ones by the Compagnie du Mozambique's Paris registrars. This share is from 1948 (or somewhat later). The Company also issued bank notes of its own (previously through its Banco da Beira). Some of the notes are denominated in Pounds Sterling, due to the Rhodesian influence on the economy.
1893–1919 (31 Dec.) each district of Port. East Africa except Gaza used its own stamps. In 1913 the old Zambezia was split into Quelimane and Tete. The Gaza district was detached in Jan. 1918 from Inhambane (which was created in 1895). 1895–1907 the Gaza area had had a special military status.
The Quionga (German Kionga) triangle was occupied by the Portuguese on 11 April 1916 (acknowledged by the Treaty of Versailles in 1919), but it is not certain that it was annexed to the Nyassa Co's area. What stamps were in use there after the 1916 provisionals?
Chinde, British Concession. In 1891 the Portuguese govt. granted the British govt. a concession (signed 1892, expanded to 10 hectares 1898, cancelled 1925) to an island with 400 metres of frontage on the Chinde River/Channel/Mouth (discovered 1889) and close to Chinde town, as a free trade area for transits to and from Nyasaland (BCA), who maintained a post office there. You may thus find Nyasaland stamps postmarked Chinde. Before the railways River Zambezi (via Chinde) was the main route to central Africa.
* The Company was chartered on 11/02/1891. A decree of 08/08/1892 authorized it to issue postage stamps. In accordance with a July 1941 decree the administration of Manica and Sofála reverted to the colonial authorities in January 1942 and Mozambican stamps came on sale at the same time [Simões Ferreira catalogue]. Stamps of the Mozambique Company in the hands of the public were valid up to 18/07/1942 inclusive [Portu-Info 14[1]:5, July 1978].
** Exploiting a colony was not that lucrative as people tend to think today, not even for the mightiest of the mighty: “The British South Africa Co. would not be sorry to give up [into effect in 1923] the burden of governing the two Rhodesias. In the 25 years of its life, it had not so far paid a penny of dividend to its shareholders. Instead of making a large profit every year, as it had hoped, it had lost money.” [W. E. Ward. A History of Africa, Book three. London 1968. P. 94.] The Br. East Africa Co. only could hold out from 1887 to 1895. The share capital of the Mozambique Co. had to be halved.
When the BSAC's charter ended in 1923 the company retained interests in mining, railways, real estate and agriculture. In 1964, it was forced to hand over its last mineral rights to Zambia, and in 1965, BSAC merged with the Central Mining & Investment Corp. Ltd and the Consolidated Mines Selection Co. Ltd, to form the mining and industrial company Charter Consolidated Ltd (the biggest shareholder of which was Anglo American plc). The design of the share certificate has been the same since 1890.
*** The majority of the shares of the Companhia do Nyassa (Companhia do
Niassa), which administered the north (190 000 sq. km, pop. 824 000 in 1960)
under a 35 years charter (granted in 1894, ended on 27/10/1929), was in 1913–14
acquired from e.g. Portuguese interests by a group of German banks, with the
intention of attaching the territory to German East Africa. However, in 1917
those shares were confiscated and sold to British investors. This company was
obliged to build a railway from Porto Amélia to Lake Nyasa, but it never did.
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COMPANY OF MOZAMBIQUE
The Mozambique Company was a majestic company (or own the majesty) of the Portuguese colony of Mozambique, which had the grant of land covering the present provinces of Manica and Sofala.
This company was founded in February 1891 with a capital of about $ 5 million of funding from Germany, UK and South Africa
The grant had a period of 50 years, during which the company could not only explore the resources and manpower that were there (through tax collection), but also subconcessionar parts of the territory. The Portuguese State would receive 7.5% of the profits of the Company.
The Mozambique Company realized the Territory of Manica and Sofala, offering (also through advertisements in 1928) one of the most fertile regions of Africa for the cultivation of corn and other cereals, tobacco, sugar, cotton, sizal, acacia and fruit, among other with great facilities for the colonists ...
Rich in gold, silver, copper and other minerals, the Company also offered lavish Regulation mining facilities in ... Still, propagated hunting many species, considering the ideal territory for hunting trips (the art of hunting), the paradise of hunters ...
The Mozambique Company had its headquarters in Beira, which controlled the government and the post office, including having created a private bank, the Bank of Beira currency issued under the name Pound.
Beira, the capital of the territory of Manica and Sofala, natural port of transit for the Rhodesia, modern port with rights offering very moderate, fast loading and unloading ...
Headquarters: Largo Library, 10 - Lisbon. Committee of London: Thames House, Queen Street Place, London. Paris Committee: 17, Boulevard Hausmann - Paris. For information go to the General Secretariat of the Government of Mozambique Company's Territory, PO Box 2, Beira - Portuguese East Africa.
During the monarchy, one of his most notable Governors was Gorjão Rafael Manuel Henriques (1898-1900), who asked the population of Beira, in September 1899, "an increase in their taxes," as reported in the Journal of Mozambique's 06 / 05/1965.
On 18/07/1942, the territory of Manica and Sofala moved to direct administration of the colonial government and the Mozambique Company, now under the name SARL, continued to operate in the agro-industrial sectors and commercial.
On 20/10/1961, the Mozambique Company Group has become the emporium of Mozambique, became the holding company 06/09/1972, with capital participation of several companies, the Warehouse - Management and Investments (SGPS ) SA
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COMPANHIA DE MOÇAMBIQUE
A Companhia de Moçambique foi uma companhia majestática (de ou próprio de majestade) da colônia portuguesa de Moçambique que tinha a concessão das terras que abrangem as atuais províncias de Manica e Sofala.
Esta empresa foi fundada em fevereiro de 1891, com um capital social de cerca de 5 milhões de dólares provenientes de financiadores da Alemanha, Reino Unido e África do Sul.
A concessão tinha o prazo de 50 anos, durante os quais a empresa podia, não apenas explorar os recursos e a mão-de-obra ali existentes (através da cobrança de impostos), mas também subconcessionar partes do território. O Estado Português receberia 7,5% dos lucros da Companhia.
A Companhia de Moçambique compreendeu o Território de Manica e Sofala, oferecendo (através de propagandas ainda em 1928) uma das regiões africanas mais férteis para a cultura de milho e outros cereais, tabaco, açúcar, algodão, sizal, acácia, frutas, entre outros, com grandes facilidades aos colonos...
Rico em ouro, prata, cobre e outros minerais, a Companhia também oferecia regulamento mineiro prodigo em facilidades... Ainda, propagava a caça de variadíssima espécie, considerando o território ideal para excursões cinegéticas (arte de caça), o paraiso dos caçadores...
A Companhia de Moçambique teve a sua sede na Beira, onde controlava a administração pública e os correios, inclusive tendo criado um banco privado, o Banco da Beira que emitia moeda com a denominação de libra.
Beira, a capital do território de Manica e Sofala, porto natural de trânsito para à Rodésia, oferecia porto moderno com direitos muito moderados, rapidez nas cargas e descargas...
Sede: Largo da Biblioteca, 10 – Lisboa. Comitê de Londres: Thames House, Queen Street Place, London. Comitê de Paris: 17, Boulevard Hausman – Paris. Para informações dirigir-se à Secretaria Geral do Governo do Território da Companhia de Moçambique, Caixa Postal 2, Beira – África Oriental Portuguesa.
Durante a Monarquia, um dos seus mais notáveis Governadores foi Manuel Rafael Gorjão Henriques (1898-1900), a quem a população da Beira pediu, em setembro de 1899, “um aumento dos seus impostos”, como relata o Diário de Moçambique de 06/05/1965.
Em 18/07/1942, o território de Manica e Sofala passou para administração direta do governo colonial e a Companhia de Moçambique, agora com a denominação SARL, continuou a operar nos setores agro-industrial e comercial.
Em 20/10/1961, a Companhia de Moçambique converteu-se no Grupo Entreposto Comercial de Moçambique que, a 06/09/1972 se transformou em holding, com a participação de capitais de várias sociedades, a Entreposto – Gestão e Participações (SGPS), SA.