This book, originally published in 1954, examines the key features of the economies of colonial Nigeria and the Gold Coast.

List of tables; List of charts; Preface; Introduction. Scope and method of the study; Part I. General Aspects of the West African Economies and of the Role of Trade: 1. Underlying forces and influences; 2. The multiplicity of traders and the productivity of trade; 3. The growth of restrictive tendencies; Part II. The Import Trade: 4. Outline of the composition of imports and of their method of distribution; 5. Shares of racial groups and of firms in the import trade; 6. Some topics in the recent history of the import trade; Part III. Monopolistic and Competitive Influences in West African External Trade: 7. Criteria, characteristics and bases of monopoly; 8. The advantages of capital and size; 9. Concentration, marketing arrangements and competition (i); 10. Concentration, marketing arrangements and competition (ii); 11. Official policies and attitudes and economic concentration; 12. Effects of the immigration policy on monopoly and competition; 13. Further influences of official policy on the trading situation; 14. The supply of ancillary services; Part IV. The Export Trade: 15. Outline of the growth, composition and recent history of the export trade; 16. The buying organizations and methods of the merchants and of other intermediaries in the export trade; 17. The shares of firms in the trade in export produce; 18. Aspects of competition in produce buying; 19. Wartime arrangements in the West African export trade and their results; Part V. The Statutory Marketing Boards and their Policies: 20. The genesis of the marketing boards; 21. The scope and powers of the marketing boards; 22. The price policies of the marketing boards (i); 23. The price policies of the marketing boards (ii); 24. The arguments in support of the price policies of the marketing boards; Part VI. The Economics of Marketing Reform: 25. The economics of marketing reform: measures and proposals (i); 26. The economics of marketing reform: measures and proposals (ii); Part VII. Internal Trade: 27. Principal features of internal trade; Appendix 1. Statistics of statutory marketing of West African exports; Appendix 2. The terms of trade of producers of export crops; Appendix 3. The responsiveness of supply to the prices received by producers; Appendix 4. The effects of statutory marketing on the processors of export products; Appendix 5. A note on conditional sales; Appendix 6. The stockfish agreement; Index.