ABSTRACT
There is a high degree of concentration in West Africa in banking and shipping, two ancillary services essential to trade. In this situation competition among suppliers is apt to be weak or absent, and the prices of the services likely to be high. The high degree of concentration may also affect the degree of competition among users of the services. 1 This possible influence is of greater interest than the effects of concentration on the price of the services. African traders frequently allege that their trade in competition with expatriate traders is greatly prejudiced, because the latter are in close contact with the banks and to a lesser extent with the shipping companies. In substance the allegation is either that Africans are denied access to these ancillary services, or that they are available on terms which compare unfavourably with those on which they are available to expatriate firms.
