Chapter 588 Harare Tobacco Factory
Crown Prince Ernst is busy wrapping up government work at the end of the year, and as His Majesty the King of East Africa, Constantine recently went out to inspect work after playing with his grandson, or It’s okay to say that you can relax.
As I get older, I prefer to go out for a walk. As for dealing with troublesome things like government affairs, it is better for my son to do it. Of course, what provides Constantine with the conditions to go out is the improvement of transportation conditions in East Africa. In the past Constantine could only travel within the Central Province, but now he could travel further afield.
For example, this time, he took a special train and followed the East African Central Railway directly to Harare, an upstart city in East Africa.
As the capital of Matabele Province, Harare is located near 18 degrees south latitude. Most cities in East Africa are in the southern hemisphere.
It is summer in the southern hemisphere, but the temperature in Harare is only 23 degrees, and the weather is cloudy, similar to the first town, so there is no need to worry about weather and temperature changes.
So East Africa is a very suitable place for retirement. There is no scorching heat in summer, no severe cold in winter, and it is like spring all year round. Of course, the premise is that the infrastructure conditions are perfect, otherwise it will be very difficult for elderly people like Constantine. inconvenient.
In its previous life, Harare was a well-known summer resort in the world. Many East African cities have this title.
“At present, our city of Harare has become the largest domestic tobacco distribution market in East Africa. Tobacco factories are one of the pillar industries of Harare. The daily tobacco transaction volume is more than one thousand tons. It is the only one in the country. The two open ports of Mombasa and Dar es Salaam can be compared with Harare.
However, Mombasa and Dar es Salaam focus on the international market, while we in Harare. Harare City not only represents the domestic tobacco consumption level, but also represents the international popularity of East African tobacco. This year, we have opened more than 10,000 acres of new tobacco fields in Harare City, but the supply is still in short supply. "Harare Tobacco. The director of the factory enthusiastically introduced the prospects of Harare's tobacco industry to Constantine.
“Harare’s tobacco has gained a bit of a reputation now, especially in the German region. I heard that Matabele tobacco has taken a high-end route from the beginning. Now many cigarettes in the German region have to add horseradish. Tabele tobacco leaves are used to enhance aromatic substances and increase flavor and taste,” Constantine said insightfully.
The representative of Matabele tobacco leaves is "gold leaf". From the beginning, it was targeted at the German market as high-end cigarettes, and then transferred from Germany to Eastern Europe, or from East Africa to the Far East.
Germany's route to Eastern Europe is based on the Western European industrial powers' admiration for these semi-industrial or agricultural countries. In addition, East African tobacco products are of excellent quality, so they are very popular.
The reason for exporting to the Far East is that it has the largest independent market in the world besides the United Kingdom and the United States. The United Kingdom led a large family of colonies to boycott East African goods, while the United States itself is a big tobacco country, and many Caribbean countries in the south The country and Latin America are also rich in tobacco.
So the market in East Africa has always been divided into five major parts: Germany, Eastern Europe, the Arab region, the Far East and others.
The trade volume between the Far East and East Africa is pretty good, but tobacco is not in this category because the Far East itself also has areas suitable for tobacco cultivation, and the Huaihai Commercial Zone is in this category.
The biggest contributors to East Africa's economy are actually Eastern Europe and Arab countries. For these countries, East Africa's products are very competitive.
First of all, Eastern European countries have high latitudes and lack tropical cash crops. East Africa is the closest tropical cash crop producing area to Eastern Europe. A large part of East Africa's fruits, vegetables and cash crops are digested by Eastern European countries headed by Tsarist Russia.
Although Germany is a big seller of agricultural products in East Africa, its exports to East Africa are also large, especially industrial products and equipment.
As for Tsarist Russia, which has the highest degree of industrialization in Eastern Europe, its industrial products are actually only slightly better than those of East Africa. However, their geographical location has a huge demand for tropical cash crops, so East Africa’s exports to Tsarist Russia are much larger. on import volume.
Take bananas for example. Somalia is the closest banana producing area to Eastern European countries, so importing from East Africa is almost the only option. Although Somalia has an arid climate, its area is large enough, and it is irrigated by the Juba and Shabelle rivers. Its banana production is very impressive, and it can supply a large amount of it to the European market. It already has the strength to compete with the Caribbean island countries.
As for the Arab countries, in addition to being close to them, East Africa enjoys "equal" treatment from East Africa. Just like Latin American countries now feel that the United States is very " "Justice, freedom, democracy" is the same. Now the United States is a "good guy" fighting for freedom in the Americas and fighting against the great evils such as Britain and France. The same is true in the eyes of Arab countries in East Africa. This is really ironic.
Furthermore, the environment in Arab countries is already relatively harsh, with almost everything lacking, and now oil has not been discovered, so cheap East African products are warmly welcomed in the Arab region.
So in addition to being markets for agricultural products in East Africa, Arab countries and the Far Eastern Empire are also important markets for industrial products in East Africa.
The same is true when it comes to tobacco. East Africa is the closest tobacco producing area to them. Large quantity, high quality and low price are the characteristics of East African tobacco.
And the tobacco exported from East Africa, packaged by the Hessingen Tobacco Company, looks very classy and has the unique elegance of industrialization, so it is very popular.
This era is different from later generations. Everyone is particularly obsessed with industrial products. Being able to use industrial products is a symbol of high-quality life, including food.
The director of the Harare Tobacco Factory responded to Constantine: "Your Majesty, our Harare tobacco has been cultivated for several years. Not only has the quality been guaranteed, but it is also improving. Research new varieties to further increase tobacco production while ensuring tobacco quality."
"Your factory seems to be quite large. This is my first time contacting a tobacco factory," Constantine said.
The director of the Harare Tobacco Factory said with great pride: "Your Majesty the King, our factory is completely designed by the architects and tobacco process designers hired by the Hechingen Tobacco Company from Europe, so the factory looks very elegant. The working environment is also very comfortable. Every machine or room is scientifically and rationally laid out to achieve the optimal solution, so workers can Reaching the highest efficiency in an orderly manner has greatly increased the output of our Harare tobacco factory."
As he spoke, he came to the track and said: "Our raw materials are stacked by workers and then run through the machine. Entering the next process, the entire factory is clean and tidy. Everyone performs their duties and works according to the process. In this atmosphere, eight hundred The fact that many people are orderly and not chaotic is inseparable from the fact that our factory followed expert arrangements from the beginning.”
“Of course, we will also encounter some practical problems, such as our factory at the beginning. The design is still a bit conservative, which makes it a bit tense now, so new equipment is being added, which will open up a new workshop. It turns out that The pattern will be disrupted, and European technology is iterating very quickly. I don’t know how many years it will take for our equipment to fall behind again.”
This worry is somewhat unnecessary, because the tobacco industry has its roots. Tobacco companies are inherently monopoly groups, controlling most of the tobacco rights in Germany, East Africa, and Eastern Europe, as well as upstream technology.
Even if tobacco production equipment is updated and iterated in the future, it will not affect Hechingen Tobacco Company. He can maintain his oligarchic status in the industry and maintain technological advantages through various means.
As the boss, Ernst will definitely not let the Hechingen Tobacco Company technically choke East Africa.
It sounds strange, but there is indeed room for maneuver, because the Harare City Tobacco Factory is a state-owned enterprise, while the Black Hingen Tobacco Company is a private enterprise. The Harare City Tobacco Factory is responsible for the production end, while the Black Tobacco Company is a private enterprise. Xinggen Tobacco Company is responsible for R&D and sales.
So the two have a cooperative relationship, but the initiative is in the hands of the Heisingen Tobacco Company, and the Harare Tobacco Factory is only responsible for the production side of the processing field, such as tobacco cultivation, agriculture Department jurisdiction.
(End of this chapter)