British East 79 Badt Africa ] MINERALS, ETC.; COMMERCE (C) COMMERCE a less (1) DOMESTIC Principal Branches of Trade - In Mombasa and Nairobi there are shops and stores under European management; these deal in groceries, confectionery, wine and spirits , clothing and tailoring, boots and shoes, safari outfits, arms and ammunition, motors, cycles, agricultural machinery, farm requisites, and building materials. In the same towns and in all centreswhere they are allowed to set up business Indian shopkeepers conduct bazaar operations on ambitious scale . They are the usual intermediaries between the natives and the big firms, and not only sell imported goods such as cotton piece -goods, brass and copper wire, beads, provisions, soap, sugar, and tobacco, but also purchase for export the native pro ducts of cotton , hides and skins, grain and oil seeds.

Near the coast a portion of the trade passes through the hands of Arabs, and in the northern districts Somalis and Swahilis trade in sheep and cattle.

Towns, Markets, Fairs. - The larger towns, Nairobi , Mombasa, and Kampala,are the more important centres of domestic trade, but a considerable business is con ducted in the native produce market at Kisumuand in a number of markets and bazaars elsewhere. Trading posts are established here and there throughout the country, and under safeguards Government allows traders to set up stores atselected sites, even in native It ishoped that the more backward tribes, such as the Masai, may thus have opportunities of economic and commercial development, and may in time take the same active part in the barter of com modities as is now taken by the enterprising Kavirondo and Baganda.

Organizations to promote Trade and Commerce. The Chambers of Commerce of Mombasa and Nairobi and the Uganda Chamber of Commerce at Kampala represent the leading business activities of the Protec torates , discuss the commercial problems , and take reserves.