Chapter 1194 Iron Ore Business Opportunities
The southern port area of Dar es Salaam.
This is the essence of Dar es Salaam's industry. A large number of chimneys towering into the sky emit columns of vigorous smoke into the sky, rendering the entire sky a thick ink. Under the smoke, trucks of goods in the factory area come in and out from here, and the unloading workers are busy.
Under these factories, the developed pipe network system discharges the factory sewage into the Indian Ocean continuously, while the port area looks relatively clean and tidy.
"Mr. Pasteur, East Africa's industry is really shocking. Although I often travel to Dar es Salaam, every time I come here, I will feel amazed by the development of Dar es Salaam." Australian businessman Howard said.
Because it is a British colony, Australia did not send official personnel to participate in the East African World Expo. The exhibitors in East Africa this time are mainly Australian business organizations, and Howard is the president of the Western Australia and East Africa Business Association.
Western Australia is a first-level administrative region of Australia, occupying about one-third of the entire Australia. It is also the most active region for Australia's trade with East Africa.
Pasteur smiled and said: "Thank you for your praise, President Howard, but this is also one of the main reasons why Dar es Salaam can seize the opportunity. I believe Australia has also made a lot of money in this round of war."
There is almost no doubt about this. As a British colony, although Australia has sent troops and provided various support, in the final analysis, it is the huge benefits that Britain can bring to Australia.
And there is no doubt that this is also affected by the reality of East Africa. For East Africa, a suddenly rising Indian Ocean superpower, Australia urgently needs the British Royal Navy to ensure its security status.
There is no doubt that the rise of East Africa is considered a huge threat by the Australian government, and Japan played this role in the previous life.
In this regard, Ernst can only say that the Australian government is really good at judging people. In fact, Ernst has always wanted to get involved in Australia, but he has never found an opportunity.
However, the geopolitical pressure from East Africa on Australia is still clearly visible. Needless to say, the Indian Ocean region, in the South Pacific and near the equator, many East African colonies have in fact formed a situation of overwhelming pressure on Australia.
Australia is a loyal dog of the British, so the Australian government's inner resistance and distrust of East Africa are reasonable.
Of course, Australia really dare not directly reject East Africa, especially since Britain declared war on the Allies in 1914, the Australian government has significantly relaxed a series of restrictions on East Africa.
In the final analysis, it was during this period that Britain could not get out, and Australia thought it had no umbrella, so it did not dare to make trouble with East Africa.
During the South African War, Australia did not follow Britain's weirdness towards East Africa, and even sent troops, but there were only a dozen people, so it did not attract attention.
In short, before the reconciliation between East and Britain, Australia's attitude towards East Africa was like a mad dog, which was in line with Ernst's understanding of the Anglo-Saxons in his previous life, and he liked to not interfere with people.
However, as a dog, it still knows the current situation. Now Australia does not have the arrogance it once had.
In the past, Australia followed Britain and hit the German colonies in the Pacific hard, but now these German colonies have become strategic strongholds for East Africa to deter Australia.
In order to further disgust the current Australian government, East Africa deliberately strengthened the economic strength of Western Australia. After all, Australia's economic and political entities are in the east of Australia.
And Western Australia is the source of the most important separatist forces in Australia in the past, so the economic trade between East Africa and Western Australia is very frequent, and the Western Australia and East Africa Business Association was born.
"President Howard, the current European war is a rare opportunity for most countries and regions outside the region. After all, Europe's industry and economy were too strong, which made it difficult for other parts of the world to develop, and the European war gave other regions a chance to breathe." Pasteur said.
Howard laughed and said, "Mr. Pasteur is right. This year, Australia's wool exports to Europe have reached a new high. This was unbelievable before."
Howard's business has been going smoothly in recent years, so his mentality is very good. In the early stage, he had the blessing of the East African market. Now, with the help of the European war, the entire Western Australian economy has entered a state of vigor and vitality.
Pasteur asked, "I don't know, Mr. Howard, what are the exhibits you brought this time?"
Howard said, "Mainly some Australian agricultural and mineral products, such as wool, wool fabrics, artworks, iron ore, wheat, etc."
Pasteur: "Your country's wool fabrics are still very popular in East Africa, but in our environment, the demand for textiles is relatively not too high, but if it can be used for some other purposes, it is still very popular."
East Africa has a climate that does not change drastically throughout the year, and the demand for clothing is definitely not as good as in areas with distinct four seasons, which to a certain extent limits the development of the textile industry in East Africa.
So Pasteur also persuaded Howard out of this consideration.
Howard said: "Of course, our cashmere yarn and clothing are mainly supplied to Europe and the United States. We naturally have a special positioning for the East African market. The wool products exhibited this time are mainly various handicrafts."
East Africa certainly does not need wool, but East Africa's own wool is enough to be self-sufficient. Most parts of East Africa are suitable for the development of animal husbandry, especially the southern provinces are the base of East Africa's wool industry.
Since Howard has his own ideas, Pasteur will naturally not say much on this issue, but he just got a more interesting information from Howard.
"Mr. Howard, you just said that there is iron ore in the products brought to the exhibition this time, right?" Pasteur asked.
Howard nodded and said, "Indeed, the iron ore was discovered by a hired worker on my ranch. Later, I asked someone to conduct a simple survey there and preliminarily determined that there was a large iron ore mine."
"So I brought some samples this time to see if anyone is willing to cooperate in developing the iron ore. The main reason is that my ranch is a bit far from the coast and lacks workers, so it is difficult to develop."
Mining has many requirements. The first thing to solve is the transportation problem. After all, if the minerals cannot be transported out, there is basically no hope. Just like Bolivia in the past, the iron ore resources are extremely rich, but the transportation conditions are too poor and the location of the mining area is not good, so it can only sigh at the "gold mountain".
And Australia in this era is a typical sparsely populated area, and mining to make money requires a lot of workers, and the early development of the mining industry in East Africa was filled with the lives of black slaves.
But the number of indigenous people in Australia was not large to begin with, and they have basically been exploited by the current Australians. And the Australians certainly cannot do such a dangerous business by themselves. After all, there are too many opportunities in Australia now, and it is enough to get rich by just engaging in breeding and planting.
Of course, it is not that they are really not tempted by the local mineral resources, but they are reluctant, or unable to make initial investments. Mineral development obviously needs to solve the infrastructure problem first, and this expense is not small. After all, the problems of railways and ports must be solved.
So the development of the mining industry at this time is high-risk and high-investment, and some gains do not outweigh the losses. Anyway, the land is in their own hands, and it doesn’t matter when it is developed. It is impossible to run away if there are real mines.
And Pasteur was more interested in the news Howard said. After all, East Africa is an industrial power. Although East Africa is rich in various resources, the consumption is large, and many resources are not evenly distributed.