Ufok

House Systems and Trade Empires: How the “Efik House” (Ufok) Functioned as Both a Family Unit and a Corporate Trade Entity

The Efik of Old Calabar developed one of West Africa’s most sophisticated socio-economic institutions: the “House system,” known in Efik as Ufok. Far more than a domestic family unit, the Efik House evolved into a political, commercial, and judicial structure that shaped the region’s economy for centuries. During the height of Atlantic trade, particularly from…