CASE OF NIGERIA.

Taranaki Daily News, 29 December 1916, Page 5

CASE OF NIGERIA.

CI'.RMAN GRIP ON AFRICAN TRADE, ' } London, Oct. 20. Tiie announcement of an auction said "jl in London at the end of this month J of a very large number of Genpan prtM :\J pi-rtics in Nigeria, furnishes a disagree* ''j able revelation of German traders? -J "peaceful penetration" into one of tka i'| youngest of Britain's West African pofrf m sessions. We knew, of course, that in ;P Nigeria, as in every other place where J' (rude was to be done, the German wa* a 1 competitor to be reckoned with, but it is > doubtful whether even those who had '« intimate business relationships with ■'! West Africa were aware of the full ex u j'! tent of tiie German hold on Nigerian tri;de. The properties to be offered for 1 siile include extensive warehouses, fac« ti l ies, and wharves, many of which are' situated on the rivers and railways'feu} . in the interior. It was a case, indeed, of "German! eurywhoro," and it is estimated that the Hun handled fully 2o per cent of f' •the total trade of the Protectorate. > In addition to the land properties there •' were no fewer than fifty-one German' steamers with a total tonnage of 133,000 t(.ns engaged in the trado, which has sshown great development since the open> ' ing up of the northern districts. Tli« total value of Nigerian trade in 1&00 was £4,000,000. By 1913 the volume J

had increased to £14,500,000, of whitl the German share was £4,000,000. 11l that year the value of the exports of ■? I native products was £0,800,000, and nearly half this total passed through fler man hands. If w# take the figures of a single port like Lagos a still mora remarkable situation is disclosed, Lagos exported ,C 2,300,000 worth of hatvve product in 1913, and the German share of the exports was valued at £1,500,000. In the seven months before war broke out, lf>,ooo tons of ground nuts were exported from the northern provinces, and liO per cent, went Ho Germany, The German shave of the palm produce trada was also very large. Britain opened up n nil developed the northern provinces, but our merchants did not makfe any particular .effort to take advantage of the new opening. The Germans, how* ; ever, lost no time in' getting to work, and their enterprise was rewarded by the acquisition of a large proportion o( the trade to be done in the new areas.Now the German is being eliminated, pud the British merchant has."the chance o!' a lifetime", to collar practically the whole trade of Nigeria. Will lie take iU The result of the coming auctions

will p;ive ii fairly good indication whether British firms are prepared to find the capital necessary if they are tc effectively replace the eliminated Ger. mans. ~ * MERELY TYPICAL. , . On this point The Times remarks:— 1 "Nigeria needs new British firms to replace the extinguished German business houses, and the coming auction is meant to attract fresh British capital and enei'ffy. . . . Nigeria is typical. _ All ever the British Empire German influence is gradually eliminated, but the measures taken will not bear full fruit unless capitalists and merchants in tata ■ country seize and develop the new op-' pcrtunities thus presented. It is not enough to eliminate tho German. Ho must, be promptly replaced, even in the li idst of war. The process of competition in neutral markets after the wer will he long and :iitlicult, but under our own flag the problem should be com* pnratively easy of solution." »