Chapter 521 Application
Bulawayo City, once the capital of the Matabele Kingdom, is now the second largest city in Matabele Province in East Africa and is developing very rapidly.
The basic conditions here are relatively good, and the Central Railway passing through here has created good transportation conditions for the development here.
In its previous life, Bulawayo was famous for its industry and was the largest manufacturing center in Zimbabwe. Including steelmaking, machinery manufacturing, food, textiles, fertilizers, daily chemicals and other industrial sectors, this configuration can show Bulawayo's economic status in Zimbabwe. After all, industry is quite rare for African countries.
The most important factors for Casting Bulawayo to become Zimbabwe's industrial status are its historical heritage, transportation advantages, and rich mineral resources.
After East Africa occupied Bulawayo, it inherited most of Bulawayo's assets. However, the main assets left by the Ndebele people were houses, which solved the housing needs of East Africa's early population resettlement. As for the Ndebele's The national treasury has long been handed over to the East African treasury, mainly gold and other precious metals and gemstones, but there are also other things, but East Africa does not like them.
The whole world has the same preference for gold, and so do the Ndebele people. The treasury of the Matabele Kingdom is also the largest harvest since East Africa colonized Africa. After all, the Matabele Kingdom is large in scope and has accumulated There is also a lot of wealth.
Many indigenous countries were eliminated in East Africa in the past, but most of them did not accumulate as much wealth as Zimbabwe, which has a long history. Others migrated across the country, taking away the wealth accumulated over generations, such as the Msiri regime. , and countries in the former Great Lakes (Lake Victoria) region.
The history of Zimbabwe is divided into generations, but this does not affect the Ndebele people who later conquered the area to inherit the heritage of the Shona ancestors from the Shona people. After all, the forces that can build the Great Zimbabwe site are among them. In the era we live in, we must be like a regional hegemon.
As for whether the Great Zimbabwe site was built by the Shona people, Ernst believes that the Shona people must have participated. Just like Egypt, although it has been conquered many times, the race is still the same race. A culture will change, unless it involves massacres or vacating the cage for birds, as in the United States and East Africa.
“Bulawayo is rich in coal resources, and compared with Mbeya, the biggest advantage here is that the terrain is flat and open, but the rainfall is a bit worse, but this also provides conditions for cotton planting, so we in Bulawayo In addition to being suitable for the development of the steel industry, it is also suitable for the textile industry like Nairobi."
"Mayor Luo An, do you mean you envy Nairobi?"
"Haha, this is also true. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about, Nairobi City is a Weaving City', we started late in Bulawayo, but we also want to work hard to make progress!"
"We still need to investigate this before drawing a conclusion. After all, we can't be here just because of your one-sided words. Building a textile enterprise, after all The development of Bulawayo is not slow. The steel industry is a hot commodity, but many cities can’t get it.”
The steel industry in Bulawayo is mainly steelmaking, which is inseparable. Matabele Province is rich in coal and iron ore resources.
The reason why Bulawayo focuses on the steelmaking industry is mainly to pave the way for the stainless steel industry. After all, East Africa is the country with the largest chromite reserves in the world. Matabele Province’s chromite reserves are second only to Hechingen Province. If Taking these two provinces separately, they are ranked first and second in the world respectively.
The main product of chromite is chromium, which is one of the main raw materials of stainless steel. There are also many others in East Africa such as manganese ore and nickel ore. Of course, the stainless steel industry has not yet been developed in East Africa. In the previous life, the British metallurgist Henry Brearley invented stainless steel in 1912, so there is no stainless steel now. As for Ernst, of course he knew about stainless steel. Stainless steel originated from Brearley's discovery. Ferrochromium alloy (stainless steel), Ernst knew the answer directly, but in order to interfere with history as little as possible, Ernst did not plan to make stainless steel available in advance and would only experiment at the Bulawayo Metal Research Institute.
East Africa has almost 90% of the world's chromite reserves, so in the future East Africa will not worry about other countries surpassing East Africa in this regard, just like the tungsten mines of the Far East Empire, the future of stainless steel The market will not escape East Africa, so Ernst is in no rush to develop it.
“This year the Ministry of Agriculture has conducted experimental demonstrations in our city of Bulawayo. Three cotton experimental fields have been opened in Bulawayo District, and all have achieved good results. We are just waiting for the cotton samples to be tested after the harvest. After analysis, let’s not talk about the final result, but this land is definitely suitable for cotton cultivation, and the cotton field is growing very well.”
"Is that so? That means the Ministry of Agriculture should make arrangements for Bulawayo, and Mayor Luoan doesn't need to ask us for help, right?"
"This is different, the Ministry of Agriculture has nothing to do with it. Regarding factory construction, they just think that the environment near Bulawayo is suitable for cotton cultivation, but they cannot ensure that the cotton textile factory will be settled in Bulawayo, so this matter still needs to be discussed with you. Can the industrial sector ask for help? Moreover, the textile industry is a big industry, and Nairobi will definitely not be able to support it. We in Bulawayo intend to help them share some of it.”
The size of the textile industry is naturally quite huge. Yes, Britain's textile industry is a pillar industry, and East Africa's population has grown rapidly in recent years, so Nairobi's output really cannot keep up.
So Mayor Luo An continued: "You see, our city of Bulawayo is suitable for growing cotton. It has a good industrial foundation and the same traffic conditions. However, the industry in East Africa is still concentrated in the eastern region. The mainland, especially the south, will definitely be developed on a large scale in the future. The population growth will be unstoppable and demand will definitely increase greatly, so there are definitely many benefits to building a textile factory in Bulawayo."
"This. It’s not something we can decide, but we will submit your suggestions to the higher authorities. But I want to remind you first that if you want to build a textile factory, you must first solve the problems of raw materials and personnel. I am not familiar with personnel. If you are too worried, the higher-level departments will definitely consider transferring personnel from Nairobi to provide support. The issue of raw materials is more difficult. You need to discuss it with the Ministry of Agriculture to quickly expand the cotton planting area.”
"What you said is true. Our municipal government will give priority to this aspect. If the quality of cotton in the experimental field this year passes the standard, we will apply for large-scale planting in the west of Bulawayo next year and strive to solve the cotton production problem in a short time."
"Haha, aren't you afraid that when the time comes, you will blindly expand the planting area, and the factory will not be able to approve it, causing serious waste?"
"Then you underestimate me, I am We had inquired with the East African Import and Export Trading Company in advance. Even if Bulawayo did not build a factory, they would still be able to increase cotton production. On the one hand, there is huge domestic demand. This year, East Africa also imported several batches of cotton from the Far East. On the other hand, The demand from abroad is also high. For example, Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire have a small land area and a large population, so the market is relatively large.”
“It seems that Mayor Luo An has done enough. If you are ready, then I won’t persuade you anymore. According to what you said, the probability of success is very high. It is estimated that your position in the market will be able to move up by then."
"Haha, I'd like to lend you auspicious words. If it comes true, I'll be your host and treat you to dinner."
(End of this chapter)