Chapter 756 Textile Industry Crisis
With the threat of war, East Africa’s foreign trade has been extremely seriously affected, especially various bulk goods imported from East Africa, including cotton, coal, iron ore and other important industries. raw material.
Coupled with the stimulation of domestic demand during the war, this caused an imbalance between supply and demand in East Africa.
Under this situation, the East African government had to take corresponding measures in order to ensure domestic strategic security issues.
Part of the textile industry in East Africa is not established in the country, but in the Far East. Although a complete textile industry system has been established, the overall scale cannot meet local needs.
There are many reasons for this, including the late start of cotton cultivation in East Africa, the relative shortage of labor, the small planting area, and the relatively low state investment in heavy industry.
Von der Leyen: "Our country has been affected by the war this year. Imported textiles are subject to freight, risks and other issues, and prices remain high. Under such circumstances, cultivating and strengthening the local textile industry is an indispensable means. "
"Customs data shows that this year our total import of textiles has dropped by about 18%, but the import price has only dropped by 3%. The main reason for this problem is the war. The British blockade of our country has greatly affected our shipping industry, and hiring ships from other countries to transport goods faces problems such as price increases.”
“The textile industry is one of the most important industries in the world. It is also a pillar industry in our country. However, compared with other countries in the world, especially European and American countries, the East African textile industry is generally small in scale, low in efficiency, high in production costs, and cannot fully meet domestic demand. Therefore, strengthening the textile industry Construction should be put on the government's work agenda. "
The development of the East African textile industry depends entirely on a closed market. If there is no advantage in international competition, countries such as the United Kingdom (India), the United States and several major powers are competing. The textile sector is much stronger than in East Africa, even in Japan.
Although East Africa follows a similar route to Germany, with heavy industry as the core and priority given to the development of steel, railways, etc., there is an important difference here, which is that Germany had a good textile industry foundation before reunification.
At that time, East Africa may not even have a textile industry. Over the years, four major cotton-producing areas have been opened up one after another, namely the Somali production area, the White Nile production area, the northwest East African Plateau production area, and the Mata production area. Western region of Belay province.
Don't look at the lofty name. In fact, except for the northwest production area on the East African Plateau, the output of several other production areas is pitiful. In particular, only one city of Gezira in the White Nile production area produces cotton.
As for the future potential of the production areas in Matabele Province, it is indeed not small, but it is still in the development stage. As for the output of the Somali production areas, it is also very limited, because the cash crops grown in the Somali production areas are too abundant and limited. With population and energy, cotton cultivation is only a part of Somali production area.
Of course, the greatest value of the Somali production area lies in the cultivation of long-staple cotton, which is an important pillar of the high-end cotton industry in East Africa. This is only comparable to the White Nile production area.
The main crops in the White Nile producing area are only wheat and cotton, so the long-staple cotton production can be compared with the two river basins in Somalia.
However, it is undeniable that both have great potential for growth, and there is still a large amount of land that has not been effectively utilized and developed.
The main constraints in the White Nile and Somali production areas are population and water conservancy construction, both of which are indispensable. For example, many crops grown in the Somali production areas are concentrated along the Shabelle and Juba rivers. If construction can be More canals and water diversion facilities can expand to both sides of the river. This is actually the development path of Egypt's planting industry along the Nile River.
It’s just that the conditions of the Nile River in Egypt are better than those in East Africa. Under the natural laws of regular flooding, the available land can be effectively expanded. Only the Shabelle River in East Africa has similar functions.
However, the Shabelle River has its own drawbacks, that is, flooding can not only change farming conditions, but is also more likely to cause flood disasters, so the Shabelle River must be effectively managed.
Now East Africa does not have the energy to do this in the Northern Province. The main reason is population constraints. After all, Egypt is densely populated along the Nile River, while the population in the two river basins of Somalia is less than one-twentieth of Egypt. Egypt is not as small as in the previous life. It also includes most of Sudan, with a population of more than 10 million. The population of Egypt's core territory should be about 10 million, and Sudan should also have a population of two to three million.
East Africa is short of people, mainly due to the lack of labor force, so it does not have a cost advantage in developing the textile industry.
However, under the current war situation, the textile industry in East Africa is threatened by war. This means that East Africa cannot ignore the development of the textile industry. At least it should be able to meet its own needs.
The bulk of the textile industry is the cotton textile industry. The other types of textile industries in East Africa are actually incomparable with foreign countries, including the wool textile industry, silk textile industry, etc.
The only thing that can take action is the hemp textile industry. The hemp textile industry in East Africa is distributed across the country, mainly in the eastern region. Because it started earliest and the government strongly supports it, it develops best.
However, the contribution of linen textiles in the field of civilian life is definitely not as good as that of the cotton textile industry, especially in the field of clothing.
At present, the major textile companies in East Africa focus on frontline services, which has caused the domestic textile industry to be affected.
Ernst said: "The big countries in the world basically have advanced textile industries. Naturally, we in East Africa cannot be ranked second. The development of a textile industry that matches the national strength of East Africa should also be put on the list. Schedule. "
"During the first industrial revolution, many representative inventions were closely related to the textile industry, such as water-powered textile machines, mule machines, steam engines, etc. It can be said that the textile industry created Britain's hegemony. .”
“The huge market needed to develop the textile industry is one of the driving forces for Britain’s continuous expansion and development of colonies.”
“In order to ensure the healthy development of our country’s textile industry, we cannot blindly expand production, but should be technology-oriented. , and continue to catch up with the international advanced level.”
“Of course, our huge land advantage should also be fully utilized. East Africa’s unique climate conditions are lacking in many countries, and cotton production has increased. Gao should also give priority to solving the problem of raw materials. ”
“So the cotton industry in East Africa should be diversified in the future and form several core areas, especially the construction of a new major production area on both sides of Lake Malawi. ”
Ernst focused on Lake Malawi, because it was an important area for cotton cultivation in Africa in the past. Mozambique, Zambia, Malawi, and Tanzania all had cotton cultivation in this area. .
For example, Malawi's important sources of income are cotton and tobacco, while Zambia's main cotton growing areas are also concentrated in the Eastern Province near Lake Malawi.
Tanzania and Mozambique are not the only choices. Many places in the East African plateau are suitable for cotton cultivation, so there is basically no problem in the whole of Tanzania. In the past, cotton cultivation in Mozambique was concentrated in the Zambezi River Valley.
Of course, the choice of new cotton planting base also depends on Ernst’s industrial layout considerations. Compared with Matabele Province and Swabia Province, Hohenzollern Province is one of the three provinces in central East Africa. Development is relatively slow, mainly because the resource conditions are relatively weaker than the two.
Therefore, to develop the economy of the Hohenzollern Province, we should focus on a model that combines light and heavy industries. This can better complement the economic shortcomings of central East Africa, and at the same time make rational use of East Africa's land resources.
(End of this chapter)