Final answer:
Godfrey Huggins and Roy Welensky promoted federation primarily for economic development, aiming to unify resources and enhance regional economic strength.
Step-by-step explanation:
Godfrey Huggins and Roy Welensky campaigned for the federation as a means to achieve economic development. This pursuit was rooted in the broader context where nations sought various paths to strengthen their economies, whether through the development of centralized navies for trade expansion, as was the case with the United States in the 1890s, or through regional unifications designed to present a united front against economic dependence, as seen in the Germanic Confederation and later European integration efforts post-World War II.
The emphasis was on fostering economic growth through increased market access and leveraging regional strengths, which in the case of the proposed federation, could mean a combination of resources from different territories leading to greater economic dynamism and potentially more significant geopolitical influence.