Colonisation and accounting development in Sub-Saharan Africa

Figures & data

Table 1. List of SSA countries/colonisation/accounting standards/independence

Members	Colonisation	Legal Systems	Independence Date
Angola	Portugal	Portuguese Civil law	1975
Benin	French	French Civil Law	1960
Botswana	British	Roman-Dutch Law	1966
Burkina Faso	French	French Civil Law	1960
Burundi	French	German-Belgium law	1960
CAR	French	French Civil Law	1960
Cameroon	French	French Civil Law	1960
Chad	French	French Civil Law	1960
Cape Verde	Portugal	Portugal Civil Law	1960
Comoros	French	French/English Law	1975
Congo	French	German Belgium Law	1960
Côte D’Ivoire	French	French Civil Law	1960
Djibouti	French	French Civil Law	1977
Ethiopia	Italy	Federal Law/Islamic	1941
Gabon	French	French Civil Law	1960
Gambia	British	English/Islamic Law	1965
Ghana	British	English Common Law	1957
Guinea	French	French Civil Law	1958
Guinea Bissau	French	N/A	1975
Kenya	British	English/Islamic Law	1963
Liberia	United States	English Common Law	1847**
Lesotho	British	Roman Dutch/English Law	1966
Madagascar	French	French Civil Law	1960
Mali	French	French Civil Law	1960
Malawi	British	English Common Law	1964
Mauritius	British	French/English Law	1968
Mauritania	French	French/Islamic Law	1960
Mozambique	Portugal	Portugal Civil Law	1975
Namibia	German	Roman Based Law	1990
Niger	French	French Civil Law	1960
Nigeria	British	English/Islamic law	1960
Rwanda	Belgium	German/Belgium Civil Law	1962
Réunion	French	French Civil Law	French Dependent
Senegal	French	French Civil Law	1960
Sierra Leone	British	English Common Law	1961
Seychelles	British	English/French Law	1961
Somalia	Italian	Islamic Law	1960
Sudan	British	English/Islamic Law	1956
Swaziland	British	Roman/Dutch/Tradition Law	1968
South Africa	British	Roman Dutch Law	1934, 1994*
Tanzania	British	English Common Law	1961
Togo	British	French Civil Law	1960
Uganda	British	English Common Law	1962
Zambia	British	English Common Law	1964
Zimbabwe	British	Roman Dutch Law	1980

Source: World Factbook 2003, IASC 2003

*Independent from white minority rule

Table 2. Accounting laws and accounting systems and practices in French colonies after independence until late 2000

Countries	Independence Year	Accounting Law(s)	Accounting Plan	Basis of Accounting Plan
Benin	1960	Commercial Code 1807 (Art. 8–17)	Benin Accounting Plan	French Accounting Plan 1957
Burkina Faso	1960	Commercial Code 1807 (Art 8–17)	Burkina Accounting Plan
CAR	1960	Commercial Code 1807 (Art. 8–17)	OCAM Accounting Plan	Simplified French Accounting Plan 1957
Cameroon	1960	Commercial Code 1807 Art. 8–17	OCAM Accounting Plan
Chad	1960	Commercial Code 1807 (Art 8–17)	Chad Accounting Plan	French Accounting Plan 1957
Congo	1960	Commercial Code 1807 (Art. 8–17)	OCAM Accounting Plan after 1970	Simplified Version of French Accounting Plan 1957
Gabon	1960	Between 1960–1971 Commercial Code 1807. Law 7–72, 5 June 1972- Art 24.	OCAM Accounting Plan after 1970
Guinea	1958	Commercial Code 1807 until 1986. Ordinance 63, 29 July 1987- Art 38	Guinean Accounting Plan	French Accounting Plan 1957
Ivory Coast	1960	Commercial Code 1807 Art 8–17	Ivory Accounting Plan
Madagascar	1960	Commercial Code 1807 Art. 8–17	Malagasy Accounting Plan 1987
Mali	1960	Commercial Code 1807 until 1985 Mali Commercial Code Art. 70–82 Law 86–13, March 1986.	French Accounting Plan 1957
Mauritania	1960	Commercial Code 1807 Art. 8–11	Mauritania Accounting Plan
Niger	1960	Commercial Code 1807 Art.8–17
Senegal	1960	Commercial Code 1807 Art. 8–11	Senegal Accounting Plan
Togo	1960	Commercial Code 1807 Art.8–17	French Accounting Plan 1957

Sources; To compile this table, the author has consulted and translated the relevant information from the following documents:

(i) Les Guides Juridiques et Fiscaux: Afrique Noire Francophone, 1984 (Legal and Fiscal Guide: Black French Speaking Africa

(ii) Droits des Societes en Afrique (1978) par Georges Messonnier, Bibliotheque Africaine et Malgache (Law of Partnership and Companies in Africa)

(iii) Code de Commerce des divers pays d’Afrique (Code of Commerce or Commercial Code of African Countries)

(iv) Droits Commercial et des Societes en Afrique par Arthur Young International 1989 (Commercial Law and Law of Partnerships and Companies in Africa)

Table 3. Accounting law(s) and accounting systems and practices in British colonies after Independence until 2000

Countries	Independence Year	Accounting Law(s)	Accounting systems and practices	Basis of accounting systems
Gambia	1965	Companies Act 1955	Generally Accepted Accounting Principles as mentioned in the law	UK Statement of Standard Accounting Practice (SSAPs)
Ghana	1957	Companies Act 1963
Kenya	1963	Companies Act 1948 (UK)
Lesotho	1966	Companies Act 1967		No evidence could be traced
Malawi		Companies Act 1989		UK SSAPs
Mauritius	1968	Companies Act 1976 Revised Companies Act 1984
Nigeria	1960	Companies Act 1912
Sierra Leone	1961	Companies Act 1960		No evidence could be traced
Sudan	1956	Companies Act 1925
Swaziland	1968	Companies Act 1956		UK SSAPs
Tanzania	1961	Companies Act 1913
Uganda	1962	Companies Act 1961
Zambia	1964	Companies Act 1964
Zimbabwe	1980	Companies Act 1948

To compile this table, the author has consulted the following documents:

(i) the Companies Acts of each of these countries are consulted and compared mainly with the UK 1948 Companies Act section on “Accounts and Audit”

(ii) World fact Book, 2010

(iii) A few audit reports chosen at random in the period between 1986 and 1995 to determine the accounting standards used by companies.

(iv) Discussion with colleagues in practice and the author’s own experience in these countries as a practitioner has been used.

Figure 1. Mode of accounting colonisation and responses of colonised.

Figure 2. Conceptual framework of ex-ante driving forces on accounting systems and practices.