Chapter 1216 Enterprises Going Abroad
If the Great Lakes region and Kenya are included in the east, the only livable place in northern East Africa is the Ethiopian plateau. The disadvantages are also obvious: transportation is inconvenient and it is far away from the coast.
In fact, this is also true. In the major regions in northern East Africa, in descending order according to economic and population ranking data, they are the Ethiopian Plateau, the eastern coast (Somalia region), the Azande Plateau, the Nile Basin, and the western coast. (Gabon and Cameroon).
Although the terrain of the Ethiopian plateau is not ideal, the economic development is not bad due to the large market of the Abyssinian Empire.
Somalia has a harsh climate, but the per capita income level is the highest in the north, and shipping conditions are relatively convenient. The climate of the Azande Plateau is relatively suitable, and development is moderate. The Nile Basin has a hot and humid climate, with numerous swamps and deserts. On the contrary, the development of the northernmost city of Gezira is relatively good. When the oil resources here are developed, the economic level will definitely reach a higher level.
As for Gabon and Cameroon, they have been included in East Africa for only a short period of time, and it will be difficult to achieve results in at least the past ten years.
Therefore, if East Africa wants to drive the economic development of the north, it can only find a strategic fulcrum, and the Great Lakes region is the best choice. This is similar to the previous Far Eastern Empire that wanted to develop the western economy and used Xi'an and Chengdu as anchor points respectively. After all, the southwest The climate conditions in the plateau and northwest basin are too poor.
"The coordinated development of the national economy also needs to pick out the key points. After all, some areas are difficult to be driven even if they go against the laws of nature. Therefore, we must first develop the Great Lakes region and the south before we can further consider other parts of the country and reasonably Allocate industries and populations to ultimately achieve the optimal ratio of resources,” Ernst concluded.
…
In the Fourth Five-Year Plan, East Africa is in a semi-freedom state for the national economy, and it is impossible to set overly stringent industrial production targets like in the era of fully planned economies.
Take the steel industry as an example. The output of the steel industry in East Africa now needs to be connected to the market. Market demand is not something that the East African government can completely control.
This led to the explosive growth of the East African steel industry during the Third Five-Year Plan. Yes, the steel production capacity during the Third Five-Year Plan exceeded the expectations of most people in the East African government.
If you think about it, you will know that the steel production capacity of East Africa alone exceeds that of the United States at the same time in the previous life. In this time and space, the combined steel production capacity of East Africa and the United States has reached an astonishing level.
This means that there are nearly 40 million tons more steel in the world than in the previous life, and the steel production of the United States in 1915 was only about 33 million tons.
Of course, there is no need to panic at this point. Most of the extra steel production capacity in East Africa will be consumed by the domestic market. In the previous life, the African continent did not have a top consumer market like East Africa today.
And because of the low level of industrialization in East Africa today, there is still room for further growth in steel production capacity. After all, among the great powers, the urbanization rate in East Africa is only higher than that of Spain, Japan, Russia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In front of East Africa are France, the United Kingdom, Germany and the United States are four countries.
In other words, the level of industrialization in East Africa is right in the middle of the great powers. This is the industrial development of East Africa from the perspective of the East African government.
Tete city.
Corey Sean, the head of Taiyuan Iron \u0026 Steel Co., Ltd., the Tete Steel Plant, is discussing with his subordinates the new trends in the East African steel industry during the Fourth Five-Year Plan period.
Corey Sean said: "The reform of the steel industry continues to advance this year. Today is different from the past. The market competition is becoming increasingly fierce. Last year, a number of private steel companies appeared on the east coast."
"According to the Planning Commission's indicators, the production of our state-owned steel enterprises must stabilize at at least 370,000 tons this year, and if possible, exceed 40 million tons during the fourth five-year period."
As the war in Europe progresses, the East African government does not dare to take too big steps. After all, the war is very unpredictable. If the war ends early, East Africa will not be able to turn around easily.
Chief Executive Hanston said: "Now the international steel market is also looking for new breakthroughs. Eggs cannot be put in one basket. The war in Europe will eventually end. So the superiors have also seen this and now require us to turn to Latin America and West Africa. , Far East and other regions.”
"Steel exports cannot only look at the export of finished steel products and raw materials. In fact, a considerable part of domestic steel exports are currently exported in the form of downstream consumer goods, especially machinery and consumer goods."
"One move affects the whole world. The export of steel overseas is a problem for the entire industrial chain. In addition to the relatively stable upstream raw material industries such as coal and iron ore, we must also be prepared for market impacts at any time."
In the past, East Africa was a catch-up, so using administrative means to increase the country's steel production capacity to an astonishing level in a short period of time was beneficial to the country's economic development.
However, as East Africa secures its position as the world's largest steel producer, the development of steel companies needs to be flexible. After all, it has already become the world's number one. East Africa has approached a limit in terms of quantity. Nowadays, the number of East African steel companies Development will naturally turn to qualitative breakthroughs.
Especially under the new economic policy, East Africa's domestic economic system has undergone major changes, and state-owned enterprises are facing more and more tests.
"The coal and steel resources in Tete Province are relatively abundant, and they will not have much impact on our production in the short term," said Corishaun.
"However, we still have to consider the layout of overseas raw material production areas. According to reports from our personnel sent to East Kalimantan, a considerable number of coal mines have been discovered in East Kalimantan, and regions such as Australia are also very rich in iron ore."
“For steel companies, if we occupy more ore producing areas, we will have more cards in our hands. We now have abundant funds and plan overseas raw material markets in advance, so that we can sit more securely in the wave of history in the future. "
In the international competition in the colonial era, the two key words of market and raw material origin cannot be avoided.
At present, East African companies are actively attacking in these two fields. There is no doubt that it is much easier to grasp the origin of raw materials than to seize overseas markets.
The market is linked to population. There is no doubt that the three regions with the highest population density today are the Far East, India and Europe, followed by the United States and East Africa.
Of course, India here is a relatively large concept, including Pakistan, Bangladesh, and even parts of Afghanistan in its previous life, and it can also radiate to areas such as Persia and Myanmar.
India is completely within the British sphere of influence, while Europe is vying for power. The situation in the Far Eastern Empire is not good either, with so many forces within its territory.
All in all, it is very difficult for East Africa to compete for overseas markets. Apart from these major markets, whether it is South America, the Middle East, or Oceania, the population is too small and the consumption power is not outstanding.
The advantage of these areas lies in their rich natural resources. As for the market, it can only be said that they have relatively high potential. Therefore, seizing overseas raw material origins is the easiest for East Africa at the current stage.
And having an advantage in resources can further reduce the cost of industrial development, which is consistent with East Africa's status as a major maritime country in the world.
Nowadays, East Africa actually has more sea power than land power. This can be seen from the numerous overseas colonies in East Africa. In addition to South America and Europe, East Africa's colonies are widely distributed in most regions of the world.
In fact, if East Africa had a colony in South America, East Africa would truly form a weakened version of the empire on which the sun never sets.
Although East Africa also pays attention to the development of the army, the development space of the East African Army is not much better than that of the United States. After all, to be honest, no country can threaten the East African Army on the African continent.
This can also be seen from the rapid expansion of the East African Navy in recent years. As the fourth largest naval force in the world, in fact, except for the United Kingdom, there is no obvious gap between East African maritime power and Germany and the United States.