The Euro-African trading houses face the War of 1914-1918[Des maisons de négoce euro-africaines confrontées à la Guerre de 1914-1918]

Trade between France and its Sub-Saharan Africa was unoriginally hindered by the transport difficulties, the mobilisation of White or Black people, either employees or peasants, the disruption of production areas by the fluctuations of prices and uncertainties about the outlets. The market economy had to improvise reactions along terms of war, which explains the co-operation between trade houses in order to alleviate oscillations. Then a mixed economy took shape, which federated this consortium, the interest groups being institutionalised in Paris, the Minister for Food Provisioning, and the general government in Dakar. The intent was to reserve commodities to satisfy the French needs at the expense of exports towards the UK or neutral countries, and to regulate productions and prices. But these latter allowed thick profits, of which the fate after the war became at stake, fostering arguments about investments, starting industrial equipments, or the penetration of new territories by commercial action.