The Royal Niger Company was a mercantile company chartered by the British government in the nineteenth century. It was formed in 1879 as the "United African Company " and renamed to "National African Company" in 1881 and to "Royal Niger Company" in 1886. In 1929 the company became part of the United Africa Company, which came under the control of Unilever in the 1930s and continued to exist as a subsidiary of Unilever until 1987, when it was absorbed into the parent company.