From headloading to the iron horse: The unequal health consequences of railway construction and expansion in the Gold Coast, 1898–1929

This paper examines the health consequences of railway construction and expansion in the Gold Coast (present day Ghana) between 1898 and 1929. More specifically, it examines the differential effects of colonial railway development for the different socio-economic groups of the Gold Coast society. The case study utilizes sociological and historical perspectives to analyse primary historical data on the health of the three groups most affected by the Gold Coast railways: expatriate railway workers, African railway workers and African communities living both within and outside the immediate vicinity of the railways. The study unearths evidence of largely positive health consequences for expatriate workers and African elites, and considerable negative health consequences for the Africans employed as railway labourers, the newly created urban poor as well as those Africans living in the rural areas.