| Show N africa offers chance for development of brisk trade to V U S commercial interests morocco algeria and tunisia where american Americ GIs began their victory march in 1942 43 are expected for several reasons to loom larger in american postwar post war foreign trade I 1 before the present war french north african trade was part and parcel of french economy and the mother country cornered the lions share says the national geographic society recent studies of french industrial du prod production action in the light of pitr war damage however indicate that the bulk of north african needs for the remainder of 1945 1946 and probably 1947 will have to come from the united states in the next six months north africa bled by two yea years rs of axis exploitation will require imports exclusive of wheat shipments estimated at more than the Magh reb as th the e arabs call french north africa normally enjoys a substantial wheat surplus but drouth has brodu produced ced four successive crop failures ai arrangements range ments are in progress when whereby reby the U S farmer will provide north africa with 2 tons of wheat during the next next 12 months the french plan of to pay cash for the wheat out their limited foreign exchange reserves a sacrifice which emphasizes pha sizes the importance they attach albach well restive lands to keeping these fed french north africa has been called sa a museum 0 of f minerals a fact of importance to the united states because this region contains many subsoil deposits lacking or near exhaustion in this country the yields one third of the worlds supply of phosphate there are also important deposits of copper lead zinc manganese antimony mercury iron molybdenum denum and coal vast areas of north africa especially morocco have not yet been carefully prospected and expectations are that new deposits of some or all of these metals will add to the museums store french north africa covers an area of over a million square miles roughly twice the area of alaska with a population now estimated at people mostly arabs native berbers and jews with a small minority of europeans geographically the region is akin to the mediterranean lands of southern europe the three countries are much alike in physical features and the north south boundaries are man made lines unmarked by natural barriers all ar are e bounded on the south by the wastes of the sahara and on the north by the mediterranean sea geography has marked north africa into three east west zones along the coast where american in marines abines arines fought the barbary pirates years y ears ago stretches the tell a belt of fertile slopes and occasional alluvial plains where citrus fruit grapes olives and cereals grow in |
