Chapter 509 Getting Started
As soon as Britain taught East Africa a lesson, Germany came to find them. However, the Germans obviously would not be unhappy with the British. At this time, the relationship between the two families was still maintaining well on the surface.
"Your Majesty Constantine, do you need help from Germany? We have heard about the British sanctions on East Africa, which is not very friendly to the development of your country." Ambassador Klein asked.
"Thank you for your concern. We will not be polite if necessary." Constantine rejected Germany's kindness.
In fact, there is really nothing to seek in East Africa now. If it were more than ten years ago, East Africa would definitely not be like this. Times have changed now.
This made Klein feel even more regretful. If Germany could help East Africa in the early stages of its establishment, it might bring a strong ally to Germany in the future. Of course, Germany prefers a puppet regime, and East Africa obviously has its own interests and does not want to be a follower of other countries.
Now East Africa is off to a pretty good start. After more than ten years, it has once again appeared in the international community and is no longer the weak East Africa it once was.
……
Southern urban area of Dar es Salaam.
“Woo…”
As the railway entered the station, loading and unloading workers began to unload the resources transported from the inland into the carriages, then piled them on the bullock carts, and then headed towards the industrial park.
Most of these materials are directly exported in the Xingang industrial zone, or processed and re-exported, or East Africa itself digests them.
So in the southern urban area of Dar es Salaam, there are many large chimneys. The billowing black smoke pollutes the African sky, blocking the clouds and blocking the sun. Industrial sewage flows into the sea along the pipes. The seawater is spicy to the eyes and noxious, and the entire southern urban area of Dar es Salaam is like cyberpunk in previous cultural works, full of violent aesthetics.
It looks spectacular, but it is too harmful to the environment. Fortunately, there is no industry in the first town. Otherwise, with this level of pollution, Ernst would definitely have to move.
Stephen, the director of the Second Cable Factory in Dar es Salaam, felt very happy when he saw the carts of copper ore being pulled into the warehouse. This meant that the Second Factory could also start production.
"Since the end of the East-Portuguese War, the Central Railway has resumed operation. Now copper ore can be continuously transported from the interior to Dar es Salaam. This year, we can finally further expand scale production."
"Previously affected by Due to the impact of the war, raw materials were given priority to the first factory, and now our second factory can finally benefit from the railway.”
During the East-Portugal War, the Central Railway was requisitioned by the military, so it had a negative impact on production in East Africa. There will be a certain impact, with copper mines, rubber and tobacco being the most affected.
Copper ore and rubber are both important raw materials for cable production, so the Central Railway first supports the military, which will definitely restrict the development of the power industry. However, the Central Railway has relatively high specifications and can meet both military and economic needs. In terms of operation, the carriage is a little tight.
Now that the war is over, shipping capacity has been restored, copper and rubber are abundant, and the expansion of the second phase of the Dar es Salaam cable factory has also begun,
Adhering to the principle that eggs cannot be put in one basket, two new cable factories have been added in Mbeya and Lubumbashi. One of the cable factories is controlled by the East African National Electricity Company, and three are controlled by the Hechingen Electricity Company. East Africa's power manufacturing sector has quietly taken off, with these four cable factories located along the Central Railway.
“Our current market supply is mainly from the Far East and domestic parts. As for foreign markets, product quality is not enough to support exports, and the yield rate is worse than that in the German region.” In fact, the cable production capacity in East Africa, It’s not even enough for yourself, but it’s better to give priority to customer needs than to use it yourself.
So the quality of East African cables is a little worse, but they can still be sold at a higher price, especially in less economically developed areas. They don’t need high-end products and their priority is price.
The mid-to-high-end power manufacturing industry is mainly distributed in the United States and Germany.
Although Ernst owned the Hechingen Electric Power Company and had many factories and R&D departments in Germany and Austria, it was impossible to move directly to East Africa.
So we should first put industries with low technical content or that are not suitable for Germany and Austria in East Africa, such as cable production. After all, East Africa has more advantages in raw material production.
The main materials of cables are nothing more than copper and aluminum. The price of aluminum is still not low now, so cheap copper ore has become the first choice.
Of course, Ernst knows that electrolytic aluminum can reduce the production cost of aluminum on a large scale, but the electricity price is not cheap now.
Electricity is no joke as a high-end technology industry. Unlike in the past life, power plants were rare items. The first power plant in the previous life was built in 1882, so there is no way there is a surplus of electricity now. It can even be said that There is an extreme shortage. As the saying goes, rare things are valuable. When there is a shortage of electricity, the price of electricity will naturally be expensive.
Therefore, electric power investment is definitely a high-input and high-risk industry now. This may be the reason why countries such as Britain and France have been surpassed in the electric power field.
Just like the early days of tram promotion in previous generations, it was also extremely difficult. No one could predict how fast technology would develop. In particular, many entrepreneurs, who specialize in business, may not have any foresight in the scientific outlook on development.
Of course, once someone makes a breakthrough, the capital is the most bloody, and they will quickly occupy the new market. This is how the Hechingen Electric Power Company developed.
“In order to support the development of enterprises, the government plans to expand investment in the power industry in East Africa, including communications, lighting, etc., and plans to connect telegraphs between various cities and some important towns, including Mombasa and Daré. Salaam, lighting system renovation in three cities in Nairobi. ”
“This is our initiative to cultivate the domestic electricity market. The consumer demand in East Africa is actually not strong and has been in a state of deflation for a long time. However, this is not possible in the early stage. There will be huge problems. In just over ten years since East Africa was a colony, even if the market was liberalized, it would not be able to create a larger consumer market than other countries in the world, so all this must be promoted by the government. "
The richest family in East Africa is the Hechingen royal family, followed by the East African government. As for the gap between the rich and the poor of others, the gap between the rich and the poor is really not big, so the development of the power industry must rely on the joint efforts of the Hechingen consortium and the East African government.
For example, the problem of electricity demand is that ordinary people in East Africa cannot afford it, and they have no desire to consume in this regard. They go to bed early and get up early to live a healthy life. In the final analysis, they do not have rich forms of entertainment.
“Government agencies, factories, and post offices are the largest consumers of electricity in East Africa. We must first provide them with universal access to electricity, and then cities, especially Soga and First Town, must be the first to electrify.”
Sogana is a science and technology city in East Africa, so there is no problem in giving priority to good things. It also reflects the importance that the Hechingen royal family attaches to scientific talents. As for the first town, it is a political need, and other cities have to Look at the economic strength.
According to economic strength, there are four cities: Dar es Salaam, Mbeya, Nairobi and Mombasa. Of course, some strategic locations can also be deployed in advance, mainly in the field of communications, to facilitate East Africa to monitor the surrounding environment, especially to guard against Portugal and the United Kingdom, such as the city of New Hamburg in the southernmost part of East Africa.
(End of this chapter)