Chapter 1028 Economic Situation in 1904
The planned economy is like a level-breaking game. If you clear the level, it will naturally make people feel happy. Similarly, too radical plans will drag East Africa into a place of no return, just like now, rushing Germany overtaking the United States is somewhat unrealistic for the situation in East Africa, but in an established country like the United Kingdom, it is no longer a fantasy for East Africa to work hard to catch up with the United Kingdom in the industrial field.
As a world hegemon, Britain is theoretically stronger than the United States and Germany. In the economic field, Britain is indeed ahead of Germany, but the financial industry accounts for a large share, but in terms of industry, Britain It is no longer a rival to the United States and Germany, so from an industrial perspective, it is not difficult for East Africa to surpass the British mainland.
"As of 1904, my country's annual cement output has exceeded three million tons, nearly double that before the First Five-Year Plan. It has had a huge impact on my country's construction, transportation, water conservancy and other aspects."
The doubling of cement production is also a major highlight during the First Five-Year Plan in East Africa. Don’t underestimate East Africa’s cement production capacity of three million tons. In the previous life, when India became independent, the national annual cement production was just over two million tons. , that was all in the late 1940s.
This can also reflect the crazy infrastructure construction in East Africa in the early 20th century. Although the scale of infrastructure construction in East Africa in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s was not small, most projects could not use it, or cement production could not keep up. Engineering requirements.
So the previous infrastructure in East Africa reflected such a result in various fields. There were a large number of rammed earth, stone or wooden buildings in towns and villages, and the roads were mainly gravel roads, which was reflected in water conservancy construction. That is, cement materials are rarely used in the repair of natural rivers.
The accelerated development of the cement industry in East Africa also began in the 1990s, and the strong demand for cities, transportation, and water conservancy during the First Five-Year Plan further catalyzed the development of the cement industry in East Africa.
Similarly, the growth rate of basic building materials such as sand, gravel, and wood is also extremely alarming. However, it is difficult to manually count these materials. However, what is visible to the naked eye is the increase in sand and gravel mining factories in East Africa and the rapid shrinking of forest areas. .
Of course, the shrinking of forest area is also related to the development of cities and agriculture in East Africa. Urban construction requires a large amount of land, and agricultural reclamation takes up a larger share. Compared with the wood needed for production in East Africa, the destructive power of the first two bigger.
Of course, Ernst had no reaction to the sharp decline in forest coverage in East Africa. This was the inevitable result of sacrifices in early development. Moreover, due to the short history of development in East Africa, the consequences of environmental degradation were far from being manifested on a large scale. , wait until there are signs.
According to Ernst’s idea, at least in the first two five-year plans, East Africa did not need to think too much about the environment, and the East African government has already done a lot of work within its capacity in the field of environmental protection. Being at the forefront of other countries in the world, the impact of industrial production in East Africa on the environment is controllable in a short period of time.
“In the past, my country’s cement production gave priority to supplying important transportation, urban and defense industry needs. Now cement production can spill over to other fields, and there is huge room for improvement. According to the First Five-Year Plan, it ended in 1905 At present, my country’s annual cement production should reach more than 3.5 million tons.”
“The rapid growth of basic building materials production such as steel and cement also means that. As my country's infrastructure construction enters a new stage, many infrastructure projects in the past may face renewal problems due to material advancements, such as roads, canals, river berms, urban housing renewal, etc. "
In this regard. , Ernst could only express his condolences to the black slaves in East Africa. With the development of the times, the infrastructure construction work in East Africa not only did not stop due to the completion of various large-scale projects, but intensified.
Up to now, East Africa still controls a large number of free laborers, with the overall number still exceeding at least 10 million. In addition to the black slaves in the west, East Africa has also obtained some labor from Madagascar and South Africa.
The issue of black slave labor was also one of the important reasons why East Africa was unwilling to open up its borders. At that time, the slave system was still the mainstream country in the world, especially among the big countries, and only East Africa was the only one.
Although colonial countries such as Britain and France have a large number of de facto slaves in their colonies, at least they will not continue this backward system like East Africa.
In this situation, if East Africa does not learn from North Korea’s previous closed door, it is really possible that it will be sprayed to death by the international community. Moreover, East Africa’s political and economic system is also very different from today’s international mainstream, that is, East Africa does not engage in cultural and political activities with the outside world. Export, otherwise it would have been united and suppressed by other major powers in the world. After all, the game system is different. From the perspective of European and American countries, everyone is not from the same place. Fortunately, East Africa is relatively remote in geographical location. It is separated from Europe by the Mediterranean Sea and the Sahara Desert. East Africa also honestly does not cause trouble in its own three-thirds of an acre. Otherwise, It is really possible that other countries will cause trouble in East Africa.
This is not an original sin based on ideology, but an original sin based on the rules of the game. Although East Africa does not belong to a country with an advanced system, the East African model can easily arouse hatred.
For example, after the changes in the French political system, it is easy for people in neighboring countries to follow suit. Traditional interest groups in other countries are naturally extremely disgusted with Napoleon.
If East Africa were a European country, Ernst would never take this non-mainstream characteristic path. After all, Ernst never believed that East Africa could resist beating like the Soviet Union, unless the monarchy of East Africa was It might be possible to cancel it, but the Rhine royal family would definitely not do that.
While Ernst was thinking, the Ministry of Industry also conducted an overall analysis report on other industry data. In 1904, all walks of life in East Africa showed a vibrant scene.
In the field of heavy industry, compared with other countries, East Africa has almost made up for most of its shortcomings. Both the output and quality of heavy industry products have reached the level of world powers.
The advantages of emerging industries such as electric power, petroleum and automobiles have been further consolidated, and the development of the chemical industry has also made great progress, realizing the creation of many key chemical industries from scratch.
The heavy industry industrial system has basically been improved, but there is a certain gap between the per capita share and other industrial countries. To put it simply, East Africa can produce most of the heavy industry products on its own, but there is still room for improvement in overall output. .
In the field of light industry, East Africa's development is still satisfactory. However, the development of textile and medical industries is more prominent. However, the overall light industry is far behind other countries. At the same time, handicraft products still account for a large proportion of the light industry.
In terms of agriculture, in the past few years, the agricultural growth rate in East Africa has been the same as in previous years. However, the degree of mechanization has been further improved, and the use of pesticides and fertilizers has also been greatly improved. This has further increased the grain yield per mu in East Africa. .
In 1904, East Africa's agricultural exports further hit a new high, with cash crop exports taking an absolute advantage, with significant improvements in tea, rubber, spices, fruits and vegetables, etc.
On the contrary, the proportion of East Africa's grain exports has further declined. Not only that, East Africa also imported some high-quality grain and meat products from other countries.
This is not to say that East Africa’s grain production has declined. East Africa’s grain production has actually been increasing from the colonial era to the present. Apart from anything else, it is impossible for East Africa to grow in grain production just to cope with the pressure of population growth. There has been some laxity in the planting industry.
The main reason for the decline in the proportion of grain exports is the increase in the proportion of cash crop exports. On the premise of maintaining the country's food security, the East African government began to focus on the development of cash crop planting in the agricultural field.
Furthermore, international grain prices have basically remained at a low level since the 1970s, and the quality of East African wheat cannot be compared with that of major grain growing countries such as Russia, the United States, and Argentina, which have geographical advantages.
In addition, during the First Five-Year Plan period, the proportion of rice cultivation in East Africa among the two main food crops in the country increased significantly. Improved water conservancy facilities have enabled more areas in East Africa to meet the conditions for rice cultivation. In addition, compared with wheat, rice cultivation It is more productive, so the ration structure of East Africa is quietly changing.
(End of this chapter)