The Company of the Upper Ubangi Sultanates () was a concessionary company in the colony of

Ubangi-Shari Ubangi-Shari () was a French colonial empire, French colony in central Africa, a part of French Equatorial Africa. It was named after the Ubangi River, Ubangi and Chari River, Chari rivers of the Central African Republic, rivers along which it w ...

(now the

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to Central African Republic–Chad border, the north, Sudan to Central African Republic–Sudan border, the northeast, South Sudan to Central ...

) between 1899 and 1927. It was founded by ten European shareholders and received from the French government a 140,000 km² territory to administer and exploit.Richard Bradshaw and Juan Fandos-Rius, ''Historical Dictionary of the Central African Republic'' (Scarecrow Press, 2016), p. 176. Ernest Bouchard, one of the original shareholders, took possession of the territory from the colonial official, Henri Bobichon, on 22 August 1900 at

Bangassou Bangassou is a city in the southeastern of Central African Republic, lying on the north bank of the Mbomou River. It has a population of 24,447 (2003 census) and is the capital of the Mbomou prefecture. It is known for its wildlife, market, and ...

. The company engaged in the

rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Types of polyisoprene ...

and

ivory Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and Tooth, teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mamm ...

trades, exacting labour from the natives. Rubber production took off immediately and grew rapidly. In 1901 it was 28,306

ton Ton is any of several units of measure of mass, volume or force. It has a long history and has acquired several meanings and uses. As a unit of mass, ''ton'' can mean: * the '' long ton'', which is * the ''tonne'', also called the ''metric ...

s, by 1905 it had grown almost tenfold and in 1914 it was 426,239 tons. Ivory production was at 34,785 tons in 1901, but it remained relatively steady over the same interval. In 1927, the company was dissolved. It was replaced by the New Company of the Upper Ubangi Sultanates (''Société nouvelle des Sultanats du Haut-Oubangui''), which had established a trading office at

Bangui Bangui (; or Bangî in Sango language, Sango, formerly written Bangi in English) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities in the Central African Republic, largest city of the Central African Republic. It was established as a Fren ...

by 1935. Less profitable than its predecessor, its agent on the ground left Bangui in 1940 and its property came under the control of the Society of Colonial Enterprises (''Société d'entreprises coloniales'') for the duration of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

(1939–45). In 1947, the failed ''Société nouvelle'' was dissolved.

References

Ubangi-Shari Companies established in 1899 Companies disestablished in 1927 1899 establishments in the French colonial empire 1927 disestablishments in the French colonial empire {{Africa-company-stub