In early 1961, the IFO-Institut fUr Wirtschaftsforschung (Institute for Economic Research) established an "African Studies Centre" to conduct research into the economic and political problems of developing countries, with special reference to African nations south of the Sahara. Its activities are not confined to the field of economics. The emphasis is on inter-disci- plinary cooperation and synthesis. Within the framework of the East Afri- can Research Programme, which is supported by the Fritz Thyssen Foun- dation, agricultural, sociological and legal studies have appeared or are in progress. In the field of economics, problems of economic planning are among the subjects receiving particular attention. Two issues of "Afrika- Studien" deal with institutions and instruments of planning: N. AHMAD/ E. BECHER: Entwiddungsbanken und -gesellschaften in Tropisch Afrika (Development Banks and Companies in Tropical Africa), Afrika-Studien No. 1, and: R. GUSTEN/H. HELMSCHROTT: Volkswirtschaftliche Gesamtrech- nungen in Tropisch Afrika (National Accounts in Tropical Africa), Afrika- Studien No. 3. It is hoped that a comprehensive review of methods and results of economic planning in East Africa will be forthcoming in this series in the course of 1967. The present study was made subsequent to investigations conducted by a research team under my guidance in 1961/62; the author of this study, ROLF GUSTEN, was a member of this team.