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The Evolution in the Structures of Agricultural Products Sales in Black Africa. Commercial trade beginning with the middle of the 19th century was based on the dual function of the purchase of African products and raw materials and the distribution of European goods. It was, from the large European import-export firms to the African traders, organized tightly according to a rigid hierarchy where credit was practiced at all levels. In spite of some abuses of varied origins, this supple and competitive system was well adapted to the African reality. Shortly before the Second World War, numerous administrative regulations were imposed upon it. With Indépendance, the system almost completely disappeared to the benefit of Government-owned bodies whose objective was to «moralize» transactions and, with the aid of cooperatives, improve the revenue of the peasant. However, the rigidity of the structures, the desorder in the manner affairs were managed and the amount of deadweight involved, severely handicapped the efficacy of these new trade channels which, without producing any significant benefit for agriculture, inflicted heavy costs on the national economies because of their perpertual deficits.

Experiences in rural development in Tropical Africa. Difficulties and Failures. The development of the countrysides is a high-priority objective in a Tropical Africa that has remained essentially rural in spite of rapid — but recent — progress of urbanization. Nevertheless, the operations undertaken for this purpose have produced but inadequate if not actually mediocre results. Among them, three are analyzed here. The Niger Office, a very ambitious undertaking, has had to confront a multitude of difficulties, both human and technical, which have led it to change its policies several times already. Its present situation, though better than in the past, is, however, unsatisfactory, at least as regards authorized investments, which are considerable. In lower Ivory Coast, the SODEPALM has, in some fifteen years, created a gigantic Elaeis palm grove that is divided between the Governement and private owners, notably peasants. As regards the national economy, the venture is an undeniable success ; but a detailed analysis conducted on the spot shows that, at least for the time being, the income derived from the palm grove does not always replace advantageously that which the farmer obtained formerly from several dif¬ ferent activities. A social mutation would perhaps be necessary, but would it have only advantages ? Finally, in Benin, the start-up of a palm grove cooperative between 1961 and 1966 seems indeed to have been undertaken on very unsound bases, both as regards personnel as well as technically. The peasants concerned have found that their living habits were very perturbed and also that their economic situation deteriorated markedly. From these three examples, we draw the conclusion that rural development is not simply a technological problem, and that it cannot succeed without a preliminary and minute knowledge not only of the physical setting but, no doubt of more importance, of the human setting, its social and mental structures, and its possibilities of changing and of growth.

Twenty Years of Petroleum Exploitation in Nigeria. Nigeria, where the first petroleum was extracted in 1957, produced more than 104 000 000 tons of crude oil in 1977. The oil was extracted in the Niger delta and in the off shore region of this delta. The largest amounts were obtained in the eastern part of the region, while the off shore wells produced about a third of the total sum. On account of the weakness of domestic demand, about 90 % of the petroleum is exported, the majority to countries of the North Atlantic zone. A few specialized ports handle this traffic. If the light oils of Nigeria are all the more appreciated because refining them produces little pollution, they are nevertheless fairly expensive : the conditions of extraction are delicate. Concerned about having adequate supplies of this mineral wealth in the future, Nigeria has undertaken a policy of progressively nationalizing its petroleum industry and anticipates much from the sale of natural gas, the reserves of wich are high.

Aspects of Recent Growth in the Togo Economy. The Togo Republic, rich since a decade in very large phosphate deposits, has not, however, neglected the other sectors of its economy. It has in particular started up regional improvement companies (SORAD), then sector units whose function it is to resume and accelerate agricultural production, both that intended for domestic consumption as well as for export. The study of two examples, that of the SORAD of the coastal region, then that of the SRCC (Company for the Renovation of Coffee and Cocoa Production) illustrates this more precisely. In addition, the Togo government has launched a program of industrialization and, of more importance perhaps, intends giving the country the equipment and facilities needed in order to develop other economic activities.

Current Labor Problems in Gabon ; Conditions for a Controlled Immigration Program. — Gabon is an Equatorial African country that is seriously under popuilated, underdeveloped and poorly serviced. In a striking contrast, the potential or already exploited ressources of this nation make of it one of the leaders of the continent ; the low density of its population enables it to occupy the second place in Africa as regards G.N.P. per inhabitant. Apart from the utilization of the output of its wealth, which can be more or less appropriately channeled towards its development (especially since 1973 when enthousiasm over petroleum exploitation gave free rein to the most extravagant projects) the labor problem has taken on the proportions of a veritable crisis, both as respects quantity as well as quality. As far as quantity is concerned : the problem is to be able to count immediately upon a labor force that is both abundant and qualified for the prompt construction of ambitious projects in accordance with the size of the country and its new power : Trans-Gabon railway, dams, roads, factories, the remodelling and reconstruction of Libreville before the date of the O.U.A. congress (July 1977). As far as quality is involved : Gabon has a pitifully small force of skilled people. The educational infrastructure and the professional formation programs are incapable of forming, for many years yet, an elite for an industrial type of economy which must now, if economic paralysis is to be avoided, call upon foreigners, Europeans and Africans, even for the most elementary types of specialization. Since the future of Gabon is oriented towards the industrial development of markets, won't its under-population, the instability of its popula¬ tion groups and their weak natural increase oblige the authorities to rethink the immigration problem by structuring it in a manner to resolve the problems of settlement (increase of domestic markets), technology (selection of imported labor), foodstuff production (a selective call to an African peasantry, its implantation and its progressive integration), of servicing the cities ? We have here a delicate political matter the resolution of which is vital for the future of the nation.