Laboratory for the Economics of Africa's Past · Department of Economics · Stellenbosch University
Recovering the past to root the future.
We build large historical datasets from African archives and use them to explain the continent's long-run economic development.
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.
Established in 2015 in the Department of Economics, Stellenbosch University. A Type-1 research centre since 2023.
Creativity, courage, credibility, collaboration, compassion.
News
From the lab
Warren Whatley to deliver the eleventh LEAP Lecture
On 9 November, Warren Whatley of the University of Michigan delivers the eleventh LEAP Lecture: Domar in Africa.
Johan Fourie
LEAP co-hosts a workshop on culture and economic policy
On 9 November, researchers meet at STIAS to ask how culture shapes the effects of policy, and how policy reshapes culture. Sara Lowes gives the keynote.
Johan Fourie
Two postdoctoral fellows join LEAP
Noah MacDonald and Etienne Le Rossignol take up LEAP postdoctoral fellowships in Stellenbosch this month.
Johan Fourie
Papers
Latest publications
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2026
Running towards: Labour market incentives for runaway slaves in the British Cape Colony, 1830–1838Read
Asia-Pacific Economic History Review
- 2026 Read
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2026
Colonial Elites in the Eighteenth-Century Cape ColonyRead
Revista de Historia Industrial – Industrial History Review
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2026
From Renaissance to Relevance: Towards an Applied African Economic HistoryRead
Economic History of Developing Regions
Latest working papers
All working papersData
Open data, ready to use
Every dataset LEAP releases lives in a public repository under a CC BY 4.0 licence, with a codebook, machine-readable variable definitions and an R loader.
“No man can know where he is going unless he knows exactly where he has been and exactly how he arrived at his present place.”
E7841, Convicts picking grapes, Groot Constantia. Western Cape Archives and Records Service
A research centre in the Department of Economics, Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, Stellenbosch University.