Chapter 1215 Coordinated Regional Development
In short, the shortcomings and shortcomings of these regions are too prominent, and the comprehensive conditions are far inferior to those of the Great Lakes Region.
So the Great Lakes region will be one of the key areas for development during the Fourth Five-Year Plan in East Africa. This has always been a pattern for East Africa’s economic development, from the eastern coast at the beginning to the westward movement’s impact on the central region. development, and finally to the development of the New West.
Now it is finally the turn of the Great Lakes region, which is also considered a veteran region in East Africa. After all, the history of the Great Lakes region being included in the territory of East Africa is relatively early.
After talking about the Great Lakes region, Ernst began to turn the topic to the south. The south can actually be understood as South Africa, but because of the existence of the British South African colony, it is more accurate to describe it as the southern region.
"In the past two decades or so, our country has tended to be conservative in its development of the southern region. After all, the south has a relatively short history of being integrated into our country and faced significant national defense pressure in the early days," Ernst said.
The southern region, especially the northeastern part of the South African Plateau, has only been fully integrated into East Africa for more than 20 years. After East Africa took over the South African Plateau, the British government that had just lost was not a good choice. The object of provocation.
So East Africa has not been vigorously developing the south. Britain, which originally lost the South African War, is not balanced. If East Africa develops the mineral resources of South Africa on a large scale, I am afraid that Britain may really jump in.
After all, the gold resources in the South African plateau alone are enough to make any country in this era jealous, and South Africa's other mineral resources are not inferior to any country in the world.
At that time, the East African government could not guarantee that the British government would not come back, and the south was close to the border. There was only a mere Orange River between the two countries. If there was another war, what would happen to East Africa at that time? Definitely not good news.
The actual situation is similar. The development of New Hamburg Port City and Maputo and other areas in recent years is enough to make the British jealous.
Although this is mainly the result of East Africa's own efforts, the British do not think so. East Africa's development of Africa can be said to have given European countries great stimulation and inspiration.
This also intensified the competition between European and American countries for West Africa in the early 20th century. However, this fierce process was eventually interrupted by World War I.
Ernst said: "Now that Britain is no longer a threat to us, the defense pressure in the southern region has been greatly reduced, so the development of industrial and agricultural resources in the southern region must be put back on the agenda, especially against black Provinces of Hingen, Orange and Baden The construction of the three inland provinces must be accelerated.”
It is not that East Africa has not developed the southern region, but in the past industrial investment was concentrated in the coastal areas, and the new Hamburg port city and Mappe were also developed. Toto City and Beira City are three of the largest cities in East Africa.
Although the economy of the Plains Province, which also belongs to the southern coast, does not look very good, it is much stronger than that of the southern interior. The Plains Province is positioned as an agricultural province in East Africa.
Even the economy of Xinxiang City, the capital of Pingyuan Province, is much higher than that of the three inland provincial capitals. You must know that at the end of the South African War, the predecessor of Xinxiang City, Shaokui, was just a colonial town. At that time, the Black The provincial capital of Hingen is indeed the capital of the former Transvaal Republic and developed under East African rule for several years, while the provincial capital of Orange is the capital of the former Orange Free State.
The basic conditions of these two areas, which were once the capitals of the Boers, are much better than those of Xinxiang City. But now, in just over twenty years, they have been left behind by Xinxiang City. It can be said that their fate is miserable. .
So Ernst said: "With Otto City (Pretoria), Bloemfontein City, Gaborone City, Kimberley City, Upington City, etc., we will build a number of emerging Industrial city, revitalize the southern inland economy. "
"Build a number of thermal power, hydropower energy bases, modern agricultural production bases, vigorously develop mineral resources, and build a number of energy, mineral and technology enterprises."
There is no doubt that the basic conditions in the northeastern part of the South African Plateau are excellent, especially the local energy and mineral resources, that is, the coal resources are very rich.
So developing local thermal power resources is an important purpose. After all, thermal power occupies an important position in East Africa's current energy resources. Hydropower resources in the south are also relatively abundant, but they are concentrated in the Drakensberg Mountains, that is, in the coastal areas. .
East Africa’s energy construction in the south places equal emphasis on thermal power and hydropower, which is completely different from the Great Lakes region. After all, the Great Lakes region has huge hydropower potential and is very short of coal resources. The situation is different in the south. Coal resources are abundant, and although hydropower potential is considerable, it cannot completely replace thermal power generation due to climate factors.
Especially in the inland areas, the climate is very dry, and the water volume of rivers is small and unstable, which leads to completely different energy development paths in the two regions.
In fact, East Africa is very insincere in the development of the southern region, especially the southern interior. Although Ernst said a lot, the benefits that can be brought to the local area are not many.
This is significantly different from the development of the Great Lakes Region. In the description of the Great Lakes Region, there is the concept of the Great Lakes Economic Zone, while Ernst only mentioned a few cities in the southern region.
This shows that East Africa’s economic and industrial investment in the southern inland region will be concentrated in a few points rather than in one area.
Of course, this is also related to the climatic conditions of the South African plateau. As mentioned before, the southern inland is short of water. This industrial development is obviously inseparable from the sufficient supply of water resources.
So even if Ernst goes all out to develop the southern interior, southern industries and cities will eventually be constrained by the important factor of insufficient water resources.
What's more, Ernst also attached great importance to agriculture in the southern region, and in his plan he focused on building the area into an important modern agricultural production base in East Africa.
Although there is a relative lack of water, it is undeniable that the agricultural conditions in South Africa in the previous life were very excellent among many African countries. In the previous life, the Republic of South Africa relied on local natural conditions to build some of the best farms and pastures in Africa. .
Agricultural development will occupy a large amount of water resources, and mining is also very water-intensive. This means that the development of inland cities in the south will put greater pressure on water resources, so it is better not to use industrial The scale is too large, which is a good thing for the local city and ecology.
Of course, in this way, East Africa’s plan for the southern interior is somewhat similar to the northeastern and northwest aggregation of the Far Eastern Empire in the previous generation in the 21st century.
Two tasks, one is farming, and the other is responsible for providing minerals and energy. Of course, the farming in East Africa is obviously very different. Ernst has mentioned it before, which is to build modern agricultural production. base, so local agricultural development is likely to be in line with South Africa in the previous generation, that is, comprehensive mechanization, intensification, farmization, etc.
However, the southern interior of East Africa has a smaller population than other parts of East Africa, is richer in mineral resources, and has a more concentrated population distribution.
This means that the living and income levels of the people in the southern interior of East Africa will not be too bad in the future, at least much more promising than the Great Lakes region as a whole.
What's more, southern East Africa also includes the eastern coastal areas. The economic and industrial strength of Beira, Maputo, New Hamburg Port and other regions are already at the upper reaches of East Africa. The stagnant Great Lakes region is much stronger.
Looking at the Great Lakes Region, there are only two large cities in the east, Mombasa and Nairobi, and only one outlet to the sea, Mombasa. It is also relatively far from the coastline, and its resources are not as rich as in the south.
So although the policy is more favorable to the Great Lakes region, Ernst is more optimistic about the economic and industrial development of the southern region.
When Ernst and the East African government did this, they naturally considered the overall economic development of East Africa. Taking advantage of the strong economic development in East Africa, they should pay more attention to the economically backward places in East Africa with poor basic conditions.
The north is undoubtedly the worst economically in East Africa, and it can be said to be completely backward. Whether in terms of population, cities, industry, or resources, it is far behind other regions in East Africa.
(End of this chapter)