African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1038 Resource City Issues
Subsequent discussions on the Second Five-Year Plan focused on the light industry sector. East African light industry had grown by only 30 percent during the First Five-Year Plan, while heavy industry had grown by 83 percent compared to before the First Five-Year Plan. East African agriculture had increased by 26 percent compared to before the First Five-Year Plan, and light industry was almost equal to agriculture.

East Africa's light industry has always been a weak point in the industry. After the First Five-Year Plan, the gap has widened further. Therefore, vigorously supporting the development of light industry is an inevitable trend for the East African government during the Second Five-Year Plan.

Light and heavy industries are interconnected. If the industrial imbalance is very serious, it will eventually lead to the industrial system being unable to support itself. Especially at the social level, light industry is closer to people's lives and is one of the important cornerstones of national stability.

"During the Second Five-Year Plan, light industrial production must step up resource integration. When the Second Five-Year Plan is completed, the output value of light industry must be at least 1905% higher than that of . We must continue to make efforts in the textile industry, stationery, daily necessities, ceramics and other fields to significantly improve the living standards of our people."

The overall goal of light industry development set by the East African government is not high. Even if East Africa increases its support for light industry during the Second Five-Year Plan, it cannot change the fact that heavy industry accounts for the majority during the Second Five-Year Plan.

Take the steel industry for example. During the Second Five-Year Plan, the goal of East Africa's steel industry is to double its output. The goals for other heavy industrial sectors in East Africa will not be much lower. Moreover, in emerging industrial sectors such as basic electricity, production capacity must continue to be expanded to consolidate East Africa's dominant position.

At the same time, the defense industry will be the focus of development during the Second Five-Year Plan, and the defense industry naturally tends to be heavy industry, so the dominant position of East African heavy industry in the economy of East African countries will continue.

……

Time quietly came to 1906, and East Africa's industrial plan officially entered the "Second Five-Year Plan" era.

According to the Second Five-Year Plan, East Africa will build more than 1,200 large-scale modern light industrial enterprises during the period. Corresponding to the number of cities in East Africa, on average, each city will have at least two large-scale light industrial enterprises. In this way, the Second Five-Year Plan, which involves the development of light industry, is not too difficult for the central and local governments of East Africa.

In the light industry development projects, Bohemia Province, as the largest heavy industrial base in East Africa, has reaped rich rewards.

Harare City.

Mayor Antared is reporting on the city’s 2nd Five Year Plan urban development priorities and various departments.

“According to the instructions of His Majesty the Emperor and the central government, our city is a key demonstration city for the transformation of traditional industrial areas during the Second Five-Year Plan,” Antaraid said.

"As one of the most important heavy industrial bases in our country, the Bohemian Province undertakes nearly 20 percent of the country's industrial production activities."

"But most of the cities in our province started out as industrial and mining cities, and the industries are relatively single, especially light industrial production, which is far behind coastal cities and some light industrial cities."

"Although the development of heavy industry plays a great role in promoting the economy, we must realize that the stock of minerals is limited, and with economic development and technological progress, the domestic demand for mineral resources is growing rapidly every year. Take the steel industry as an example. After the completion of the First Five-Year Plan, my country's steel production almost doubled. After the completion of the Second Five-Year Plan, it will double again. According to this trend, it is not impossible for the national steel production to reach more than 100 million tons in the future."

"Although our province is rich in coal and iron ore resources, some towns that rely on small-scale mining have shown a trend of accelerating resource depletion. If the resources of these towns are exhausted, will they be abandoned directly?"

"Therefore, taking the path of sustainable development is one of the important goals of our province in the future, especially promoting the diversification of the industrial structure and enhancing the economic development potential of cities in the province, rather than relying solely on resources and living off the land. This is a situation that our province should try to avoid."

The concept of resource depletion is still premature for most resource-based cities in East Africa, but it does not mean that this situation does not exist, especially for some small and medium-sized towns in East Africa that relied on small mines in the early years. Take the Ruhr area, a traditional industrial base in Germany in the past, as an example. The problem of resource depletion in the Ruhr area appeared around the 20s.

It is already the beginning of the twentieth century, which means that if East Africa's industrialization progresses smoothly, many regions in East Africa may face resource depletion problems by the middle of this century, which is about 40 to 50 years. Therefore, doing a good job of urban transformation in advance will definitely bring more benefits than disadvantages.

These cities may face resource depletion in the future. As an important link in East Africa's current industrial production, their advantages are not only reflected in the field of mineral resources.

Take the construction of railways and highways for example. The construction of railways and highways will inevitably shift towards towns with concentrated population and industry. This makes the transportation infrastructure of East African industrial towns not bad. Moreover, as the railways and highways are finalized, this first-mover advantage will not be easy to change.

At the same time, in areas such as infrastructure, education, and medical resources, these cities that rose up early by relying on resources currently have huge advantages over other regions in East Africa. Therefore, taking advantage of the current prosperity of mining and vigorously developing other industries is crucial to the future sustainable development of East Africa.

As the largest mining province in East Africa, most of the cities in Bohemia, led by Harare, rely on mining and related heavy industrial sectors that develop based on resource advantages.

Antalede said: "As the most industrially and economically developed city in the province, our city should set an example for other cities in the province. In addition to continuing to improve the development of heavy industries such as the steel industry, electric power industry, and heavy machinery and equipment manufacturing industry, we should actively promote the development of light industrial sectors such as the cotton textile industry, food processing industry, and home appliance manufacturing industry in our city, and actively explore the diversification of urban industries."

The Bohemian Province is most of the northern and eastern parts of Zimbabwe in the past, and Harare is located in the northeastern part of Zimbabwe in the past.

Northeastern Zimbabwe is not only rich in mineral resources, but also has the best agricultural conditions and environment in Zimbabwe.

Therefore, the Bohemian Province, which is centered on the most essential areas of Zimbabwe in the past, is not only a strong industrial province in East Africa, but also a strong agricultural province.

The conditions for growing crops such as tobacco, cotton, corn and wheat are very favorable, which makes the cotton textile industry and agricultural product processing industry in the province of Bohemia relatively developed.

However, the Bohemian Province, with Harare as its core, has not fully utilized its agricultural advantages. After all, in the past decade or so, the most important thing for the central region where the Bohemian Province is located has been to rapidly increase industrial production capacity. The Bohemian Province is currently the main production area of ​​various industrial minerals in East Africa. Therefore, the Bohemian towns headed by Harare have focused mainly on the development of heavy industry centered on the mining industry.

This means that although Bohemia's light industry and agriculture have developed well, their heavy industry is relatively poor. Therefore, it is imperative to adjust the industrial structure of the province of Bohemia, which is also of great reference significance for the future development of East Africa.

"Relying on our city's existing heavy industry advantages and agricultural advantages, boosting the development of light industry is an important goal of cultivating the core of our city's new economic growth, including vigorously promoting the development of the textile and food processing industries, while promoting electrification and creating an emerging home appliance production industrial cluster."

Electrification was an industrialization and modernization direction highlighted during East Africa's Second Five-Year Plan, and the city of Harare naturally had to respond to the call of the central government.

The electric power industry belongs to heavy industry and tends to be an energy industry, but the final consumer end of the electric power industry, namely various electric equipment or household appliances, is also an important part of the electrification process that cannot be ignored.

The home appliance manufacturing industry undoubtedly belongs to the category of light industry. The home appliance manufacturing industry in East Africa has a long history of development (compared with other countries), so the product range is relatively rich.

(End of this chapter)