Chapter 925 Shipbuilding Industry
The shipbuilding industry in East Africa started in the 1970s, and its development scale is still good today. Of course, East Africa is more scientific, and the proportion of the military shipbuilding industry in this field is obviously too large.
More than 60% of the civilian ships in East Africa are imported, including the United Kingdom, Germany, France, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and even the Netherlands and Italy.
An important reason why the proportion of imports was so huge was the inherent deficiencies in the development of East Africa's shipbuilding industry at that time. At that time, the main ports in East Africa were concentrated on the coasts of Tanzania and Kenya, and Mozambique and Angola had not yet been included in the territory of East Africa.
Under this situation, the number of ports in East Africa was quite scarce. In addition, the East African highway and railway construction progress was very backward at that time, and inland resources were difficult to develop and utilize, so many raw materials relied on imports.
Therefore, the shipbuilding industry in East Africa at that time was really "building is worse than buying", and in the absence of good seaports, East Africa was naturally unable to build more shipbuilding companies. At that time, the most developed shipbuilding manufacturing center in East Africa was the city of Bagamoyo. The port area can only fulfill the needs of the navy first. Under this general trend, the military shipbuilding industry in East Africa has developed rapidly, while the development of the civilian shipbuilding industry has lagged behind.
At the same time, this also caused the civilian shipbuilding industry in East Africa to be forced to move to Zanzibar and Pemba. These two islands were very important to East Africa. In addition to serving as maritime barriers, they also had a relatively large number of ports. , coupled with the fact that the East African shipbuilding industry relied on imported raw materials at that time, the shipbuilding industries in the two places developed rapidly.
Of course, in the 1990s, the situation also changed. First, Angola and Mozambique were merged, and East Africa gained a large number of excellent seaports or undeveloped bays.
Secondly, the basic transportation conditions in East Africa have developed to a certain extent, especially railway construction, which has basically achieved coverage of the East African coast.
The development of inland industry has further provided conditions for the East African shipbuilding industry. Among other things, the rise of inland shipbuilding industry in the Great Lakes and Lake Malawi industrial zones is almost the same as the rise of regional cities. occurred simultaneously.
The number of ports has increased, inland resources have been developed, the industrial base has been relatively complete, and coastal and inland transportation is no longer a problem. Under this situation, the basic conditions for the localization of the East African shipbuilding industry can be met.
So Ernst said: "Emerging cities such as Luanda, Benguela, Cabinda, Beira, Maputo, etc. have the conditions to develop the shipbuilding industry. Their regional conditions are excellent and realized through road and railway systems. Allocating resources across the country, vigorously developing our country's shipbuilding industry, and increasing the localization share of our country's civilian shipbuilding industry to at least 50% are the key to the development of our country's shipbuilding industry. Preliminary goal. "
"The total tonnage of my country's civilian ships should at least exceed one million tons before 1900, so that it can barely compete with the world's maritime powers."
At present, East Africa. The total tonnage of civilian ships is around seven to one hundred thousand tons, while that of Germany is close to two million tons, and above Germany there are the United States, France, and the United Kingdom.
The current tonnage of civilian ships in East Africa has just exceeded the level at the beginning of German unification. In 1871, the total tonnage of German merchant ships was about 640,000 tons.
In terms of quantity alone, East Africa lags behind Germany for nearly two decades, not to mention other countries with more developed maritime transportation industries.
Of course, the development of the American shipbuilding industry is relatively unique. During the last prosperous period of the Age of Sail, that is, in the 1840s and 1950s, the American shipbuilding industry ranked first in the world, far surpassing its original sovereign country, the United Kingdom. However, after Although the U.S. shipbuilding industry is also making progress, the speed is obviously lagging behind that of European countries.
This is the impact of new technologies on the American shipbuilding industry. Previously, the United States, as a New World, had massive forestry resources, which was undoubtedly a very significant advantage in the era of sailing.
However, with the application of steel in shipbuilding manufacturing, the American shipbuilding industry was quickly defeated by the European shipbuilding industry and fell into a state of malaise. In fact, the current situation of the US shipbuilding industry is similar to that of East Africa, mainly relying on imports from Europe. Of course, this is an obvious situation.
In fact, the reasons why East Africa relies on imports are very different from the United States. One of the important reasons is that the shipbuilding industry in East Africa started too young.
The founding time of East Africa was basically the time when steel ships were emerging, and they did not even catch up with the final glory of the age of sails. This resulted in the East African Navy having to hold the Sultanate of Zanzibar’s name when it was first established. Antique warships are mended and reused.
Subsequently, in the seventies, East Africa introduced a large number of personnel, technology and equipment from Europe, and the modern shipbuilding industry in East Africa began to take off.
So even if East Africa fights for its life, it is impossible to reach the same level as European countries in a short time. What’s more, at that time, East Africa’s investment was mainly in the development of the inland. Except for the military shipbuilding industry, the civilian shipbuilding industry was basically It does not receive much attention. Of course, for an emerging country in East Africa, the development of the civil shipbuilding industry in East Africa has achieved outstanding results when viewed from a global perspective.
But this achievement is based on the huge volume gradually accumulated in East Africa. This is true for all walks of life in East Africa. With the territory of East Africa exceeding 10 million square kilometers and the population exceeding 70 million, a large number of cities With the rise of rural areas and rural areas, government tax revenue has skyrocketed. With the support of these factors, even industries that East Africa did not pay attention to at the beginning have developed by leaps and bounds.
The most typical one is the textile industry. The textile industry in East Africa is completely supported by the vast population market. The textile industry has not been the focus of industrial investment in East Africa before. The same is true for the civilian shipbuilding industry. With East African immigrants, the trade scale is positive. Related.
So the East African shipbuilding industry started late and developed rapidly. However, there is still a long way to go to surpass the European average, but the overall trend has been on the rise.
The U.S. shipbuilding industry is undoubtedly in decline compared to the past 40 or 50 years. This is easy to understand. How glorious the United States was in the age of sail, which also means that its shipbuilding industry is in decline. The new era is more difficult to transform.
Furthermore, the shipbuilding industry is a high-input industry with slow returns. This is not cost-effective for American businessmen. It is better to invest in industries with quick returns and low investment. After all, the U.S. government’s intervention in the market is weak. Of course, It’s not like the U.S. government has no role at all.
In fact, with the rise of domestic free trade in the United States, the United States has further increased its emphasis on the navy. In the future, the U.S. military shipbuilding industry will enter a stage of rapid development, which is almost consistent with the current expansion of the U.S. Navy. of.
After all, in 1890, the United States had already surpassed the United Kingdom in terms of total industrial output. Therefore, changes in the situation prompted the United States to exert its efforts in the navy. After all, at this time, the United States had formed a product advantage over other countries, and it needed naval power to Ensure the country's interests in the commodity market.
At the same time, the monopoly of traditional colonial powers such as Britain and France must be broken through military competition. Although the United States does not have the courage, it is always preparing.
Of course, these are not important to Ernst. For Ernst, the shipbuilding industry in East Africa must not follow the path of the United States. It is understandable to attach importance to the military shipbuilding industry, but the civilian shipbuilding industry is equally important. Without the support of the civilian shipbuilding industry, the military shipbuilding industry cannot go far. After all, it is difficult for the military shipbuilding industry to directly generate economic value.
As for the long-term investment in supporting the East African shipbuilding industry, naturally we cannot rely on private capital. Only the continuous support of the East African government can the steady flow of water flow.
(End of this chapter)