NEWS

Jonathan Schoots and Kate Ekama, both postdoctoral fellows, presented their research at the European Social Science History Congress, Gothenburgh 2023

Amy Rommelspacher (PhD, History) graduates, December 2022

LEAP hosts closing conference of Biography of an Uncharted People project, November 2022

LEAP hosts Cape of Good Hope Panel meeting, November 2022

Fugitives is a documentary produced by the Biography project in collaboration with Blindspot Films.

LEAP researchers attend the African Economic History Network meetings in Las Palmas, October 2022

LEAP researchers attend World Economic History Congress in Paris, July 2022

Our Long Walk to Economic Freedom published by Cambridge University Press.

What do you need to know to make the world a better place? Max Roser visits Stellenbosch University.

ABOUT LEAP

The Laboratory for the Economics of Africa’s Past (LEAP) is dedicated to the quantitative study of African economic and social history. It brings together scholars and students interested in understanding and explaining the long-term economic development of Africa’s diverse societies. LEAP is affiliated to the Department of Economics at Stellenbosch University, South Africa.

Stellenbosch University has a proud record of Economic History teaching and research. Prof. Sampie Terreblanche, appointed Professor of Economic History in 1968 and who died in February 2018, may ultimately be remembered for his fearlessness in speaking truth to power, and a public intellectual who constantly reminded apartheid and post-apartheid South Africa of the injustice inherent in economic inequality. The Department of Economics now honours Sampie, as he was widely known, with a dedicated website and repository of his written work.

The global renaissance of African economic history since the early 2000s has spurred a new generation of Stellenbosch economists to carry on the work of Prof. Terreblanche. Instrumental in this was the hosting of the 2012 World Economic History Congress. The Congress, held during a cold July in the picturesque town of Stellenbosch, attracted more than 800 international scholars and positioned Stellenbosch as one of the leading centres of economic history on the African continent. Following the Congress, plans were made to formalise the Economic History group at Stellenbosch University, with the aim of expanding and improving quantitative African economic history research.

Success depended on recruiting high-potential students and exposing them to the leading thinkers in African economic history and economic and social history more generally. 

The Department of Economics now teach an undergraduate and graduate Economic History course annually. To build the essential collaborative networks across Europe, North America and Africa, the department has appointed five Research Associates and one Extraordinary Professor in Economic History, Jan Luiten van Zanden, Professor of Economic History at Utrecht University. The economic history cluster, consisting of staff and students interested in African economic history, has met weekly since 2014 for a brown-bag seminar. The cluster was formalised at the beginning of 2015 when LEAP was launched.

In the last five years, LEAP has grown from a handful of students to a group of more than 25 students, postdocs and faculty. 

The Biography of an Uncharted People project, generously funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, has facilitated greater interaction with the History department at Stellenbosch University. The scope of work has expanded beyond economic history, to also include social, demographic, financial and family history.

LEAP has identified five traits that characterise our work:

Creativity
Courage
Credibility
Collaboration
Compassion

With these exciting developments going on, the future of quantitative African economic and social history research looks extremely promising.

THE LEAP TIMES

Issue 10, October 2022

Issue 9, May 2022

Issue 8, Nov 2021

Issue 7, May 2021

Issue 6, Nov 2020

Issue 5, May 2020

Issue 4, October 2019

Issue 3, May 2019

Issue 2, October 2018

Issue 1, May 2018

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LECTURES

Since 2016, LEAP hosts an annual lecture series. Our first LEAP Lecture was presented by Marianne Wanamaker of the University of Tennessee. Our second LEAP Lecture was presented by Emmanuel Akyeampong of Harvard University. Watch their lectures below.

OUR TEAM

Faculty and Students

Dieter von Fintel

Faculty (Economics)

Johan Fourie

Faculty (Economics)

Calumet Links

Faculty (Economics)

Anton Ehlers

Faculty (History)

Edward Kerby

Researcher

Esté Kotzé

Postdoc (Economics)

Kate Ekama

Postdoc (Economics)

Leoné Walters

Postdoc (Economics)

Jonathan Schoots

Postdoc (Economics)

Karen Jennings

Postdoc (History)

Nobungcwele Mbem

PhD student (History)

Karl Bergemann

PhD student (History)

Munashe Chideya

PhD student (History)

Lauren Stevens

PhD student (Economics)

Timothy Ngalande

PhD student (Economics)

Lisa Martin

PhD student (Economics)

Kereeditse Tsokodibane

Graduate student (History)

Christiaan Burger

Graduate student (History)

Benjamin Crous

Graduate student (History)

Kara Ranwell

Graduate student (Economics)

Tessa Hubble

Graduate student (Economics)

Jan-Hendrik Pretorius

Graduate student (Economics)

Extraordinary professors and Research affiliates

Jan Luiten van Zanden

Extraordinary professor

Price Fishback

Extraordinary Professor

Marianne Wanamaker

Research affiliate

Martine Mariotti

Research affiliate

Erik Green

Research affiliate

Leigh Gardner

Research affiliate

Johannes Norling

Research affiliate

Abel Gwaindepi

Research affiliate

Former students and visitors

Nonso Obikili

Visitors & Friends

Laura Helfer

Visitors & Friends

Pablo Cebrian

Visitors & Friends

Igor Martins

Visitors & Friends

Mattia Bertazzini

Visitors & Friends

Stefania Galli

Visitors & Friends

Angus Dalrymple-Smith

Visitors & Friends

David Bijsterbosch

Visitors & Friends

Felix Meier zu Selhausen

Visitors & Friends

Joachim Wehner

Visitors & Friends

Francisco Marco

Former postdoc (History)

Young-ook Jang

Former Postdoc (Economics)

Kara Dimitruk

Former Postdoc (Economics)

Elie Murard

Former Postdoc (Economics)

Lloyd Melosi Maphosa

Former PhD (History)

Jeanne Cilliers

Former PhD (Economics)

Farai Nyika

Former PhD (Economics)

Christie Swanepoel

Former PhD (Economics)

Roy Havemann

Former PhD (Economics)

Heinrich Nel

Former PhD (Economics)

Omphile Ramela

Former Masters (Economics)

Cailin McRae

Former Masters (History)

Thoko Gausi

Former Masters (Economics)

Laura Richardson

Former Masters (History)

Beaurel Visser

Former Masters (History)

Leila Bloch

Former Masters (History)

Jason Lord

Former Masters (History)

Bokang Mpeta

Former Masters (Economics)

Betty Chiwayu

Former Masters (Economics)

Brittany Chalmers

Former Masters (History)

Paige Smith

Former Masters (History)

Jonathan Jayes

Former Masters (Economics)

Deporah Kapenda

Former Masters (Economics)

Katherine Steinke

Former Masters (History)

Zander Prinsloo

Former Masters (Economics)

Kudzai Chidamwoyo

Graduate student (History)

Anelisa Majokweni

Graduate student (History)

Lusungu Mkandawire

Graduate student (Economics)

Kelsey Lemon

Graduate student (History)

Amy Rommelspacher

PhD student (History)

Tiaan de Swardt

Graduate student (Economics)

Lauren Coetzee

Graduate student (History)

PROJECTS

PAPERS & BOOKS

TEACHING

The programmes we offer.

ECONOMIC HISTORY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

An undergraduate course in Economic History and Economic Development is taught annually in the Department of Economics.

INSTITUTIONAL ECONOMICS

A graduate course in Institutional Economics is taught biannually in the Department of Economics.

ECONOMIC HISTORY

A graduate course in Economic History is taught annually in the Department of Economics. Download the Work Programme below (PDF).

BUSINESS HISTORY

A graduate course in Business History is taught annually in the Department of History.

NETWORKS

We value our partnerships with these societies and institutions.

SAMPIE TERREBLANCHE RESEARCH REPOSITORY

The first professor to be appointed in economic history at Stellenbosch was professor Sampie Terreblanche. Prof Sampie, as he was affectionately known, produced several books and monographs on economic history and the history of economic thought, with a particular focus on South Africa.

His full research repository is now available on a dedicated website.

Agency is a complex phenomenon. It has many dimensions: it concerns political participation, but also the degree to which people can decide about their marriage. It is related to economic decision making, to free access to markets and how much coercion there is in the organization of the labour supply, but also to the development of a civil society.

And ‘freedom’ as such is perhaps not a very meaningful thing in a complex, highly literate world; one has to possess the right skills – the human capital – to really participate in markets, political events and the civil society. Human capital is therefore a crucial link in the process: it is an essential precondition for real participation and autonomy.

Jan Luiten van Zanden, In Good Company (EHDR 2012, p. 5)

CONTACT LEAP

Get in touch if you have any questions or need more information.

POSTAL ADDRESS

LEAP, Department of Economics
Private Bag X1
Matieland 7602

PHYSICAL ADDRESS

LEAP, Department of Economics
Schumann building, Bosman Street
Stellenbosch 7600
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