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Royal Banana Monopoly

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Royal Banana Monopoly
RAMB
Native name
Italian: Regia Azienda Monopolio Banane
Founded2 December 1935
Defunct1946 (reestablished 1950)
Headquarters
Mogadiscio
,
Italian Somaliland
Area served
Italian Empire

The Royal Banana Monopoly (Italian: Regia Azienda Monopolio Banane, RAMB) was a state-owned enterprise founded in Mogadishu in 1935, to transport and market bananas harvested in Italian Somalia throughout the rest of the Italian Empire, directly under the control of the Colonial Ministry.[1] Even if the last transport of bananas to Italy happened in early 1940, it survived the first years of WW2 – and officially lasted until 1946.

History

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When the price of cotton plummeted after 1929, bananas became the most profitable crop in the empire. The RAMB had a small fleet of seven ships, including four newly commissioned banana boats which transported bananas quickly from the Horn of Africa to Europe. The RAMB worked directly with Italian banana producers in Giuba and Genale, who were represented by the Federation of Banana Growers of Somalia (FEBAS).[2]

In 1939, 450000 tn of bananas were transported to Italy by the four RAMB ships ("Ramb I, "Ramb II", "Ramb III","Ramb IV") and 3 other cargo ships (the "Capitan Cecchi", the "Capitan Bottego" and the "Duca degli Abruzzi").

Following Italy's entry into World War II, the banana boats were reclassified for naval use and saw service off the coast of Africa and in the Mediterranean. Of its seven ships, only Ramb III survived the war and was converted to a personal yacht for Josip Broz Tito, president of SFR Yugoslavia.

After Italy regained administrative control of Somalia in 1950, the government reactivated the Banana Monopoly as the Azienda Monopolio Banana (AMB) with the intent of revitalizing the heavily damaged agricultural industry.[3] The AMB continued to regulate the price and marketing of bananas in Somalia until its dissolution in 1964, four years after the country gained independence.[2]

Fleet

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Caption text
Image Name Commissioned GRT[4] Notes
Ramb I 6 December 1937 3,666 Sunk, 27 February 1941
Ramb II 6 September 1937 3,676 Sunk, 12 January 1945
Ramb III 1937 3,675 Refloated post-war and reclassified as Yugoslav training ship Galeb
Ramb IV 1937 3,667 Sunk, 10 May 1942
Duca degli Abruzzi 1933 2,314 Scuttled, May 8, 1942
Capitano Bottego 1933 2,316 Sunk, April 6, 1941
Capitano A. Cecchi 1934 2,320 Sunk, May 8, 1941

References

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  1. ^ Mohamed Haji Mukhtar (25 February 2003). Historical Dictionary of Somalia. Scarecrow Press. p. 48. ISBN 978-0-8108-6604-1.
  2. ^ a b Irving Kaplan (1969). Area Handbook for Somalia. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 279.
  3. ^ Raphael Chijioke Njoku (20 February 2013). The History of Somalia. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-0-313-37858-4.
  4. ^ Libro registro. Pellas. 1938. p. 1073.

Bibliography

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  • Guida dell'Africa Orientale, C.T.I., Milano 1938.
  • Calendario Atlante De Agostini, Novara 1960.
  • Banane Fasciste: breve storia della banana italica ai tempi dell'autarchia, Sergio Salvi, Affinità Elettive ed., Ancona 2018.
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