Mike Faber papers

Includes correspondence, papers relating to Northern Rhodesia / Zambia, 1880-1972, especially regarding mining royalties; photographs of Africa, Papua New Guinea, c1960s-1970s; articles, papers, drafts, c1959-c1987; Zambian government publications including Bank of Zambia reports, Housing Board reports, Budget address, mining statistics, c1969-c1972; Zambia and the EEC - Commonwealth Secretariat report, 1972; University of Zambia economic discussion papers, c1969-1973; consultancy files regarding Ashanti goldfields, Volta Aluminum company, St Kitts sugar estates, Swaziland diamond and coal mining, diamond mining in Angola, 1970s-1990s.

In original files by subject.

Open for research although at least 24 hours’ notice is required. Access to some files might be restricted under the Freedom of Information Act. See archivist for details.

Michael Faber, who was educated at Eton and Oxford, worked as a claims adjuster in Japan and Korea before becoming a foreign correspondent (1954-1960). He and his family returned to Northern Rhodesia in 1964 where Faber worked as a senior economist and under-secretary in the Ministry of Finance. Faber's research on the original mining treaties enabled the Zambian government to negotiate much more favourable terms with the British South Africa Company. Faber was the director of the Commonwealth Secretariat's technical assistance group (1972-1975, 1978-1982). By this time his expertise in negotiations was widely renowned and he assisted newly independent countries with talks over minerals and debt. In 1982 he was appointed as the director of the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex.