African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1025 Prepare for a rainy day
Affected by the Russo-Japanese War, the construction of the fifth battleship originally planned for East Africa was temporarily suspended. The main purpose was to learn from the experience and lessons of the Russo-Japanese naval war so as to make the battleship reach a more perfect state.

Now we just have to wait for the Japanese Combined Fleet and the Russian Second Pacific Fleet to have a decisive battle in the Far East. According to the current progress of the Russian Navy, it may be the end of October this year at the earliest when they arrive in the Far East waters.

It is now the beginning of October 1904, and about 10% of the plan for East Africa has been completed. Therefore, according to the calculations of the East African Planning Commission, East Africa should be able to complete all the planned goals ahead of schedule within 1905.

As the plan progressed, starting in 1903, East Africa's industrial data once again increased significantly, with the output of important basic industrial products including steel, cement, textiles, electricity, oil, fertilizers, and pharmaceuticals further increasing significantly.

At the same time, a large number of emerging industrial towns have emerged in the western region, and the number of towns in the country has increased significantly. However, the specific urbanization rate cannot be estimated yet. While the scale of industry in East Africa is expanding rapidly, the population of East Africa is also growing further, and the urbanization rate will ultimately depend on the combined data of the two.

However, taking the central region as an example, many cities, including Rhine City, are expanding at an accelerated pace, which Ernst can see intuitively. As the industry expands and the population of East African cities grows, the corresponding urban buildings will naturally increase, including various factories and residential areas.

In the past few years, the city of Rhine has added as many as 110,000 new people, which has brought the city's population to over 290,000, rapidly developing into a large city.

As the capital of East Africa, Rhine City does not lack advantages in transportation and land resources. The main factor limiting population growth is the industrial layout. Although it is the capital, the East African government has not allowed Rhine City and other East African cities to grab too much industrial share. Many light and heavy industries are deployed in cities around Rhine City, such as New Frankfurt, Kabwe, etc.

Even so, the development of Rhine City is quite amazing in the world. You know, Rhine City is the youngest capital in the world.

The city has a permanent population of nearly 300,000, which is considered a large size in other countries in the world. The capital's first town has only had a population of tens of thousands after so many years of development, so you can imagine how much resources East Africa has invested in Rhine City.

Rhine City is just a microcosm of East African cities. During the planning period, the construction of towns in the western region was the highlight, while the scale of towns in other regions was further expanded. For example, traditional economic and industrial powerhouses such as Mombasa and Dar es Salaam all achieved rapid development during the planning period.

At the same time, trade volume between East Africa and other parts of the world also expanded further, especially the South American and Russian markets. During the Russo-Japanese War, relations between East Africa and Russia further deepened, and East African industrial products also had easier access to the Russian market.

Especially in the first half of this year, East Africa's trade with Russia has continued to grow with strong momentum. This is the benefit of siding with Russia, which is obviously something Japan cannot give to East Africa.

Although Japan is also an important emerging market, the Japanese market is almost dominated by the United Kingdom and the United States. For example, East Africa's exports of products and related equipment in the power industry, which has a relatively advantageous position, to Japan are not as good as those to the United States.

Moreover, Japan cannot produce any products that would appeal to East Africa and lead to a substantial increase in trade between the two countries. Japan's agricultural products are limited in variety and its resources are relatively scarce. Russia is different. Many of Russia's minerals are needed for East Africa's industrial development. At the same time, East Africa can also supply industrial products and raw materials such as cotton to Russia.

And there is obviously still a lot of room for development in trade between East Africa and Russia, especially next year. With East Africa's support for Russia in this round of war, East Russian relations will enter a new era in the next few years.

……

"Industrial output has increased, and market demand has further expanded. Although we can absorb the domestic industrial growth through the large domestic market, this method can easily lead to some conflicts."

"The international market is now recovering, and the Russo-Japanese War has created considerable demand, so we can benefit from it to some extent."

"At the same time, market competition is also increasingly fierce. The Russo-Japanese War is a good example of the further escalation of competition between countries. Many countries attach importance to the development of the Far East market and hope that the region will become the second India." "There is no doubt that the interest disputes in the Far East are relatively complicated. As a hot topic in the eyes of countries around the world, this has also led to increasingly fierce competition among local forces."

Most of the world's colonies have been divided up, so countries can only turn their attention to some weak countries or relatively independent and backward regions.

The Far Eastern Empire is such a "weak country". No matter who controls the Far Eastern market alone, there is no doubt that relying on the Far Eastern Empire's huge market and abundant resources, a behemoth more powerful than the British Empire will be created.

The British only had more than three million square kilometers of Indian territory to support their world hegemony, and in the eyes of the great powers, the Far Eastern Empire was undoubtedly a more tempting piece of fat than India.

This is also the reason why the great powers further strengthened their infiltration into the Far Eastern Empire in the early 20th century, leading to the emergence of a large number of warlord forces with capital from various countries in the Far Eastern Empire.

Although Ernst had no intention of taking ruthless action against his homeland in his previous life, he could not allow the interests of East Africa to be squeezed out by other powerful countries.

Therefore, this round of East African governments had some discussions on how to maintain East African interests in the Huaihai Economic Zone and the Zhuhai Economic Zone.

"We also have some long-term cooperative partners in the Far East Empire, including former Shanxi merchants and Huizhou merchants and some government officials. Now the domestic situation in the Far East Empire is becoming increasingly severe, especially under the instigation of the United Kingdom and the United States. Any political crisis may lead to a total loss."

"So we should support a group of partners to deal with crises that may explode at any time within the Far East Empire in the future and to ensure our country's legitimate interests in the Far East."

Like Germany, East Africa is not afraid of fair competition in the industrial field, but is afraid that its opponents will use politics, conspiracy and other means to engage in unfair competition.

The most typical examples are colonial powers such as Britain and France. It is not impossible for other countries to enter the British and French colonial markets, but they have to pay more costs.

Although East Africa is a colonial power on the surface, its colonies are not wealthy, have small populations, harsh environments, and are somewhat far away from the mainland of East Africa.

We are not worried about countries like Britain and France, but mainly about the United States and Japan. For example, if the Alaska region presents a higher value, there is no doubt that East Africa will be out of reach.

The same is true for the Far East market. No matter how strong East Africa is, it does not have the advantage of distance. Therefore, to ensure the security of the Far East market, the East African government must prepare for a rainy day.

Similarly, Ernst was not worried about Britain and France, but was still wary of the United States and Japan. Even if Britain and France could now gain an advantage in the Far East, when the European war broke out, it would be basically impossible for Britain and France to devote extra energy to other regions.

East Africa has the energy, but the Far Eastern Empire is too far away from East Africa. Just like other overseas colonies in East Africa, it is too close to the United States and Japan. Therefore, East Africa’s priority should be competition with the United States and Japan.

The same is true for the South American market. Now the South American market is mainly controlled by the United Kingdom. In the past, Britain was unable to take care of both due to World War I, and was thus taken advantage of by the Americans. East Africa obviously also needs to make relevant preparations, otherwise, when the time comes, I'm afraid I won't even be able to drink the soup.

(End of this chapter)