Chapter 645 Industrial Development in Matabele Province
The "Eurasian Fruit Basket Plan" in the two provinces of Somalia is the vanguard of East African agriculture's active access to the international market. In 1882, the most dazzling industrial development in East Africa They are the three inland provinces (Matabele, Hohenzollern, and Swabia.)
In 1882, the overall steel production in East Africa was 1.23 million tons, of which Matabele The province alone has more than 300,000 tons, close to 400,000 tons, quickly catching up with the eastern coastal cities, the northern industrial zone, and the Lake Malawi Industrial Zone.
The current annual steel production in East Africa is close to the level when Germany was founded ten years ago. However, after the German national unification, the domestic market was integrated (for example, the newly added Alsace and Lorraine regions are important steel production District), steel production capacity experienced explosive growth in a short period of time, and then shrank after the economic crisis in 1873, but the situation was much better than in the previous life. The main reason was that the construction of the East African railway at that time absorbed the excess production capacity in the German region, so the current German steel The output is more than twice that of East Africa.
The current steel production in the United Kingdom is more than 7 million tons, which is more than six times that of East Africa. The United States is more than three times that of East Africa, but East Africa is more than twice that of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and lower than France. A lot, but not a huge difference.
This is mainly due to the development and utilization of iron ore resources in East Africa and the dividends obtained during the economic crisis. However, it is worth mentioning that Tsarist Russia’s steel production is far lower than that of East Africa, and even lower than that of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
It is certainly impossible to say that Tsarist Russia lacks mineral resources, and the population of Tsarist Russia is nearly twice that of East Africa, and the same is true for its land area.
The difference between East Africa and Tsarist Russia may be that Tsarist Russia’s industrial investment mainly relies on European and American capital, and the proportion of foreign capital even exceeds 70%.
East Africa is dominated by German capital, mainly the Hechingen Consortium. At the same time, a large number of state-owned enterprises have been built in East Africa, which allows the East African government to control a large amount of wealth and resources in East Africa.
The development of East Africa and the growth of the Hechingen Consortium are complementary to each other. Without the support of the Hechingen Consortium, East Africa cannot develop as fast as it is. And without the support of the national strength of East Africa, the Hechingen Consortium cannot become the top level. financial power.
Moreover, East Africa is a country of immigrants. Although in the early stage, it relied entirely on agricultural development and the plunder of colonial indigenous wealth, in the later period, Ernst had begun to deploy industry, mining and other industries in East Africa.
For example, during the economic crisis, a large number of European and American workers were recruited from East Africa to boost the urban and industrial development of East Africa. At the same time, Tsarist Russia was dragged down by the agricultural crisis associated with the economic crisis.
The use of foreign capital does not mean that it cannot develop, but Tsarist Russia’s aristocratic bureaucracy and European capital are not controllable by Tsarist Russia itself.
Based on the virtues of Tsarist Russia’s aristocrats and bureaucrats, the efficiency of Tsarist Russia’s work, and the traffic conditions, Ernst himself did not dare to invest in large-scale industry in Tsarist Russia.
On the contrary, mining and agriculture are relatively stable, which makes Tsarist Russian industry actually subordinate to the European industrial system and becomes its important raw material supplier and market.
Of course, this is also related to the weak technology of Tsarist Russia. East Africa also faces this problem, and the one that provides technical support to East Africa is the Hechingen Consortium, an important patent owner in the German region.
At the same time, the East African industry focuses on the layout of key industries, especially the three major industries of electricity, steel, and railways, as well as light industries such as the textile industry, and commercial fields. On the contrary, their development is not as good as that of countries such as Tsarist Russia.
This allows the East African government to concentrate on reducing unnecessary losses. After all, it must bite off more than it can chew. In order to develop rapidly, it must give up some areas in which East Africa is not good at.
For example, there is basically no financial industry in East Africa, and commerce is limited to a few cities in the coastal areas. Light industries such as the textile industry rely heavily on the Far Eastern Empire and the German region. Therefore, except for Nairobi, so far, East Africa has not formed a second textile industry center. Bulawayo City is working in this direction, but it still takes time. The biggest economic driver in East Africa is the railway industry, which in turn indirectly drives the development of the steel industry in East Africa. As for the power industry, East Africa has invested heavily in it, but it cannot recoup its initial costs.
In the East African steel industry, the steel production capacity of the Lake Malawi Industrial Zone remains the first, with a steel production capacity of more than 600,000 tons. However, the development history of the Lake Malawi Industrial Zone is much earlier than that of Matabele Province.
The third largest steel production capacity is the Northern Industrial Belt, with Mombasa and Nairobi having a steel production capacity of about 100,000 tons. Mombasa belongs to both the Northern Industrial Belt and the coastal city, so the Northern Industrial Belt In addition to locally developed coal and iron resources, some also come from the Middle East and India.
Finally, there is the coastal urban industry dominated by Dar es Salaam and New Hamburg Port City. In addition to the rich coal resources in New Hamburg Port City, a large part of the industrial minerals in other coastal cities also need to be imported.
Matabele Province is rich in minerals, especially gold, diamonds, iron, coal, chromium, copper, etc. Among them, the provincial capitals Harare and Bulawayo, as well as towns such as Gweru are There is gold mining.
As the eldest of the three central provinces, Matabele Province also has considerable copper resources. In its previous life, the British "Rhodesia" was famous for its copper production (including Hechingen Province and South Africa). Ulzburg Province), so the electric power industry is also deployed in Harare City in East Africa, and there are complete industrial categories here. In the next five years, it will surpass Mbeya City and become the first heavy industrial city in East Africa.
“In 1882, a total of thirteen new towns were added to Matabele Province, which were distributed on both sides of the central railway. Among them, Gweru and Gwanda were established as cities. The northwestern town of Lupane, which is not along the railway, was also included in this upgrade. Within. ”
Industry can easily lead to population agglomeration. In fact, many agricultural towns in East Africa may not have a smaller population than these industrial towns, but it is obviously easier for industrial towns to be upgraded.
Most of these industrial towns are developed based on transportation and mineral resources, which makes Matabele Province currently the fastest urbanizing region in East Africa.
Take Gweru and Gwanda as examples. They are both cities along the Central Railway and important mineral development areas. Kuikui, which has also been upgraded to an industrial town, will also be upgraded to a municipality next year if nothing else. .
Kwekwe is located in the very center of Harare and Bulawayo, and is also the very center of the Matabele section of the China-Eastern Railway. However, it was developed late, so it is currently not as good as Gweru City.
As for Lupane, which is not along the railway line, it was upgraded to a city considering its location in the northwest region of Matabele Province, where there is a lack of cities, and Lupane is rich in coal mines and other resources.
“As of October this year, there are a total of eleven municipal-level administrative regions in Matabele Province, of which nine are industrial cities. Only two municipal-level regions are under administrative management planning. The urban population accounts for The ratio has reached more than 30% of the province's population, ranking first in the country. Bulawayo City has huge potential and is expected to become one of the eastern cities in the next two to three years. Among the non-cities in the top ten, Harela City will be among the top five. ”
East Africa’s industrial investment in Matabele Province is much greater than that in other regions. Many of these cities have not yet reached the standard, but according to their potential, Dividing population and resources, within ten years Matabele Province's industrial data will leave behind other regions in East Africa and become the most important industrial region in East Africa.
The only shortcoming of Matabele Province is the lack of an outlet to the sea, which is the current Portuguese colony of Mozambique. In the economic map of Matabele Province, a direct line will be built from Beira Port in Mozambique to Kazakhstan in the future. The railway in Lare has promoted the further development of Matabele Province.
(End of this chapter)