Chapter 869 New Frankfurt City
As for why BASF did not directly choose Bulawayo or Nairobi to open branches directly, the reason is very simple. East Africa only opens coastal areas, and inland areas are not accessible.
Moreover, the industrial configuration in the inland areas is basically dominated by East African state-owned enterprises. In fact, various industrial sectors in the inland areas are complete, but their strength is poor. In order to prevent them from being directly impacted by foreign capital, effective barriers are still feasible measures. , and at the same time, it can directly compete with foreign-funded enterprises in coastal areas, so that it will not be trapped by the environment and not want to make progress.
Under the premise of having a moat, competition can be formed to maintain vitality. As long as it is done properly, the fundamentals of East African industry can be invincible.
This kind of operation method in East Africa was not prominent in the 19th century, because even the United States and the United States would protect their domestic industries from external impacts in the form of tariff barriers, especially the Juncker aristocracy in Germany. They even opposed Germany for the sake of economic interests. The easing of relations with Tsarist Russia caused Tsarist Russia to move closer to the Allies during World War I.
Of course, East Africa also has similar policies, but East Africa can bypass commercial grain agriculture and shift to tropical cash crop agriculture to avoid direct competition. In this field, only Brazil and the Caribbean countries can compete with East Africa.
As for India, although it is a tropical country, it has too many people and needs to ensure basic food and clothing. It is impossible to fully compete with East Africa. Moreover, India has only three million square kilometers of land. Even compared with Brazil, it is far behind. As a British colony, it has no autonomy and low productivity levels. The United Kingdom prioritizes India's low labor costs in various fields instead of improving India's agricultural technology level. The same is true for Brazil. The market in Brazil is basically controlled by foreign capital, and it is difficult to achieve anything for the time being.
Southeast Asia, where tropical cash crops were most prosperous in the past, has just started and cannot yet form strong competitiveness.
…
New Frankfort.
New Frankfurt City is also known as Kapirim Poshi in Zambia in its previous life. Since it was upgraded to a city, New Frankfurt City has developed rapidly, which is more consistent with its status as the largest railway hub in East Africa.
Ernst also went directly to New Frankfurt after inspecting the industrial development of Mbeya City.
The current temperature in New Frankfurt is only about 24 degrees, and Ernst felt very comfortable as soon as he stepped out of the carriage.
In fact, since entering the East African Plateau, Ernst has felt that the inland areas are more livable than the first towns. If it were not for the excessive allocation of railways, then this trip would be perfect.
"Since the upgrade of New Frankfurt City, the population has now increased to more than 80,000 people. The Central Railway, especially the North-South Line, has gathered the largest industrial city in East Africa in the north and south of New Frankfurt City, so New Frankfurt City has developed very rapidly, especially the equipment Manufacturing, transportation and food processing are the three pillar industries in the area.”
After hearing this, Ernst affirmed the work of the city of Frankfurt over the years. After all, the original Kapirimposhi was just a small town, and it was not easy to develop to the scale it is today.
Kapirimposhi was also Zambia's railway transportation hub in its previous life, but it was not very conspicuous among Zambian cities. Of course, this is due to the transportation construction situation in Zambia.
In the previous life, Kapirim Poshi was only the terminus of the Tanzania-Zambia Railway, while the Central Railway of East Africa spans two oceans from east to west, reaching directly from north to south to the edge of the Azande Plateau and the New Hamburg Port City on the southeast coast.
The driving role it plays is unparalleled, and there is a string of copper mining belt cities in the north, there are also two large cities in Lusaka and Kabwe in the south, and further south is directly Matabele Province.
Located in the middle of these cities, New Frankfurt City cannot develop slowly even if it wants to. In the future, when the development of Angola is completed, the regional conditions of New Frankfurt City will become even more prominent.
Ernst then visited the local urban construction situation under the leadership of the New Frankfurt City Government. The urban development of New Frankfurt City relied on both sides of the railway. After the train entered New Frankfurt City, Ernst had a clear understanding of the local infrastructure construction. A certain understanding, but these are superficial scenes.
Ernst first visited the local factory construction situation. Benefiting from the railway hub, although New Frankfurt is not a resource-based city, there is no shortage of various raw materials. The manufacturing industry is relatively developed. After rough processing, the copper mines in the north become Semi-finished products such as copper ingots are further processed in New Frankfurt, as are resources such as iron ore.
"The next step for our city is to strive for the establishment of the electric power industry in New Frankfurt. Previously, the most developed electric power industry was Mbeya City, Swabia and Hohenzollern Provinces. The resources of the two provinces were exported to Mbeya City. "
Mbeya is simply mentioned because Mbeya has a high level of power technology. In East Africa, it is basically only Dar es Salaam and Mombasa. Most other cities are in the second tier, including Lusa in the south. Kazakhstan, Harare and Lubumbashi in the north, among others.
Regarding the idea of a new Frankfurt city, Ernst naturally supports: "The electric power industry is a strategic industry in East Africa. Not only can it develop electric power, I think you can also develop the automobile industry, and you can divide labor and cooperate with surrounding cities. The entire automobile industry The chain is a large project, and each component can be produced in advantageous areas, and New Frankfurt is a transportation hub, where components can be concentrated for assembly and processing, and then transported across the country via railways.”
"Of course, whether it is the automobile industry or the electric power industry, focusing on research and development issues is the key. You cannot just rely on reference. For example, the appearance, interior, configuration, etc. of the car must be carefully designed to continuously improve comfort and practicality."
"At the same time, we must pay attention to production safety, especially in the context of the current vigorous popularization of electricity in East Africa. If electricity is used improperly, it is very dangerous, so you must popularize the safety knowledge of electricity use to prevent accidents."
After the popularization of the electric power industry, industrial and residential electricity consumption in East Africa has increased significantly, and the popularization of power safety knowledge is also particularly important, especially after the high-voltage transmission system is put into use.
However, this is a very long process. After all, it is the 21st century, and many people still ignore this issue. In the 19th century, it was even more difficult to popularize power safety knowledge.
East Africa is pretty good, with a high penetration rate of compulsory education and a high level of education among the people, so it has some advantages in this area. The acceptance level of the German people is also not low. As for other countries, it seems to be a big problem for the time being.
Of course, although there are more and more electric power facilities now, they are far from reaching the national standard. Many cities do not even have electricity. However, this does not affect East Africa's efforts to popularize electricity safety knowledge among the people across the country.
After all, according to the current power development situation in East Africa, I am afraid that even remote rural areas will be able to connect to the power grid in 30 years. Now, cities in central and eastern China have begun to use electricity on a large scale, and some rural areas in the east have also begun to install electric lights and other power products. .