Chapter 930 Hanseatic Province
The financial difficulties in East Africa are essentially due to the fact that there were too many projects and projects in East Africa throughout the 1990s, and money had to be invested in all aspects. Under such circumstances, the East African government must optimize finances Investment to achieve comprehensive development in various fields.
Although military spending has been reduced, this is compared to other fields. According to the development process of East Africa's economy, military spending is actually still growing, but at a slower pace, but it is the same as other countries. In contrast, East African military construction has actually made great progress.
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Maputo City.
After the administrative division adjustment, the city of Maputo was merged into the Hanseatic Province, but the capital of the Hanseatic Province was still the city of New Hamburg.
However, Maputo City is one of the excellent seaports in East Africa, and the Hanseatic Province has high hopes for Maputo. In October 1897, the Hanseatic Provincial Government decided to make Maputo the province's capital. One of the external economic windows.
Although the conditions of the New Hamburg Port City are not bad and the resource endowment is excellent, the New Hamburg Port City is not completely without shortcomings. As one of the naval bases, the New Hamburg Port City has higher confidentiality than ordinary coastal cities. , coupled with the small area of the port area, land resources are quite tight when the military and civilians share it.
The city of Maputo has no such concerns. Maputo also has the condition of an excellent port. To the north is Pingyuan Province, which is a new province. Its economic conditions are not as good as those of Hanseatic Province. After all, Hanseatic Province has the New Hamburg Port City, a large city with the highest economic level in East Africa.
During the Portuguese colonial period, Maputo was also the economic and political center of the entire Mozambique, while Xinxiang City, the capital of Plains Province, was originally just the town of Saukwe under Maputo City during the Portuguese period. The gap is significant. Even if Xinxiang City now counterattacks and becomes the provincial capital, as an inland area, the transportation infrastructure has not yet been formed, so it is difficult to compete with Maputo.
“According to superior documents, although our city of Maputo is not the provincial capital, due to its favorable geographical location and the excellent economic foundation in Mozambique, Maputo was assigned to a university, the Maputo Agricultural College. According to Document instructions, comprehensive utilization of horses The agricultural infrastructure of Puto City creates a strong regional agricultural city. ”
Maputo is also part of the southern plains of Mozambique. At the same time, because it is backed by the Drakensberg Mountains, it has abundant precipitation and many rivers. The basic agricultural conditions in the region are very good.
Although other areas in Hanseatic Province also have plains, their area is not as vast as that around Maputo City. In line with the development trend of agricultural mechanization, Maputo's advantages are even more obvious.
“Our city has a large area of plains, numerous rivers and lakes, and vast waters. There are mountains and terraces in the west, and it faces the sea in the east. Therefore, the comprehensive conditions for agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, and fishery have obvious advantages. This is why the Hanseatic Agricultural College put One of the great reasons to be in Maputo ”
< br>"At the same time, according to the instructions of the provincial government, in addition to the establishment of a provincial key university, eighteen industrial projects will be invested in our city in 1898, covering the two major fields of agriculture and industry, including Maputo City Wool Weaving Factory , wood processing plants, real estate..."
Real estate appeared unexpectedly on the project list, but Mayor Hans Layton soon gave an explanation.
“According to the opinions of the provincial government, our city, as an important commercial and trade port in the southern hemisphere, vigorously develops the service industry, relieves the reception pressure on the provincial capital New Hamburg Port, and builds a number of restaurants, hotels, pubs, and ships surrounding the service industry. Repair shops and other service-oriented real estate mainly provide services for ships and passengers docked in Hanseatic Province.”
In fact, this is the same route as Dar es Salaam and Mombasa. However, compared to the two cities, Maputo’s location is too remote.
Before the opening of the Suez Canal, Maputo may have been a must-pass for many ships, but after the opening of the Suez Canal, the closer East African cities are to the north in commercial trade, the easier it is to succeed. This is also the case with Mombasa. The main reason for being able to compete with the city of Dar es Salaam despite the weak overall conditions. Of course, Maputo City’s approach is not wrong. After all, East African coastal trade is a big piece of cake that cannot be swallowed by these two cities alone. This is the case with the development of the new Hamburg Port City.
Of course, the early development of the new Hamburg Port City actually focused more on industry rather than commercial trade. Its commercial and trade activities were mainly carried out with the Portuguese and British colonies. But now the two Portuguese colonies have been merged into East Africa, which makes A leg of the foreign trade of the new port city of Hamburg was broken.
However, with the most developed industry in southern Africa, New Hamburg Port City can still stand out among the others, and domestic trade accounts for a large part of New Hamburg Port City's trade.
For example, most of the mineral resources in the southern region are exported from the New Hamburg Port City to Dar es Salaam, Mombasa and other resource-poor areas, especially coal and iron ore, which account for the majority.
At the same time, the industrial products of the New Hamburg Port City are also exported to the inland, including the provinces of Hechingen, Orange and Baden. At the same time, relying on its seaport conditions, it can also export a certain amount of life to Southwest Africa. necessity.
As the southernmost seaport city in East Africa, New Hamburg Port City has actually developed out of sync with Mombasa and Dar es Salaam in the north. What threatens the status of New Hamburg Port City is actually the original Mozambique's coastal cities include the rapidly developing city of Beira.
Take the two advantageous resources of iron ore and coal exported by the New Hamburg Port City as an example. After the opening of the Beira Railway, the central Bohemian Province (formerly Matabele Province) can also transfer coal in the province through Beira. and the transportation of iron ore to coastal cities.
In this case, the Hanseatic Province urgently needs new cities to ensure its economic status in southern East Africa, so creating a twin city pattern of Maputo and New Hamburg Port has become the goal of the Hanseatic Province. Important goals.
There is a railway connection between the New Hamburg Port City and Maputo, and communication is also convenient, so the linked development can further consolidate the economic status of the Hanseatic Province.
Of course, the goal of Hanseatic Province is actually to prevent Zambezi Province from being overtaken by Beira as the provincial capital. As for the plain provinces between the two, they have been positioned as agricultural provinces and have been restricted in development. In a short time It’s hard to do anything internally.
Of course, it is quite difficult for Hanseatic Province to compete with Beira City. Behind Beira City is the largest heavy industry base in East Africa. Although Matabele Province has been split, Bulawayo City It was incorporated into Lorraine Province, but the cities in Bohemia Province, headed by Harare, far surpassed New Hamburg Port City in terms of comprehensive economic strength.
Hanslayton said: "Although Maputo left a certain industrial and agricultural foundation during the Portuguese colonial period, it has fallen far behind compared with East African cities. Therefore, if our city wants to become an important city in southern East Africa, it must Reintegrate the city’s resources, and at the same time bring out the influence left by the original Portuguese, transform and upgrade the port area’s resources, and provide more convenient and high-quality services for domestic and foreign ships. ”
Portugal. During the Portuguese rule, Maputo had basically zero industry, with only a few small-scale factories, which were the most primary industries such as tobacco and wood processing. The biggest asset left by the Portuguese was actually a bunch of handicraft workshops. The workshop was mainly to meet the needs of the city of Maputo at that time. It was self-sufficient, but it was unable to expand. In addition, after Maputo fell into the hands of East Africa, a large number of local people returned to the Portuguese mainland, and the already prosperous handicraft industry also shrank.
These are what Hans Layton wants to reuse. Currently, Maputo City does not have many policy resources. After all, so many cities in East Africa are competing, and there is more than enough money for them. Even if they can get Resources are also limited.
So according to Hans Layton’s idea, the original handicraft industry in Maputo City was reintegrated. Although it is not as efficient as large-scale factories, it is enough to support the early development of Maputo, and the handicraft industry Many of them are temporarily unable to achieve industrial production, so Hans Layton believes that there is relatively large room for maneuver.
(End of this chapter)