African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1099 Steel
Although civilian shipbuilding and military shipbuilding are closely related, there are still great differences between the two. For example, in the past, the development of the shipbuilding industry in the United States was relatively distorted.

Aside from the sailing age, the U.S. civilian shipbuilding industry has always lagged behind Europe, but its military shipbuilding industry was exceptionally strong. This situation continued until the 21st century, until the revival of the Far Eastern Empire. In the early 1920s of the 21st century, the Far Eastern Empire had shown an unstoppable development trend in both military and civilian shipbuilding industries. It was unlike the United States, where only the military shipbuilding industry was very developed but the civilian shipbuilding industry was a mess.

As a result, in the later period, large-scale shipbuilding in the United States almost entirely relied on military orders to survive, and the original technological advantages of the US military shipbuilding industry were difficult to maintain due to monopoly and other reasons. Ultimately, the military shipbuilding industry should develop in coordination with the civilian shipbuilding industry.

At the current stage, except for Britain and Japan, most of the world's naval powers are facing similar problems, especially the United States and Germany.

As for the development of Japan's shipbuilding industry, it was completely supported by low labor costs and a militaristic development model. To put it bluntly, the quality of life of Japanese shipworkers was even worse than that of East African slaves. Of course, the development of Japan's shipbuilding industry also had a serious problem, that is, resource limitations.

Ernst: "The development prospects of the civil shipbuilding industry are very broad. my country still has many shortcomings in the field of civil shipbuilding. For example, with the development of the oil industry and the automobile industry, my country's demand for oil has increased rapidly, and overseas imported oil is an important supplement to my country's oil demand. The transportation of strategic materials such as oil depends largely on sea transportation, so the research and development of related transport ships is a necessary need for my country."

Currently, East Africa consumes a huge amount of oil, and orders from important oil producing areas such as the United States and Russia are increasing rapidly every year. It has become the world's largest oil consumer.

Of course, for the sake of energy security, East Africa's own oil extraction has already occupied a dominant position. Relying on the production of the Great Lakes region and Lake Turkana oil producing areas, it can basically meet the country's needs. In addition, East Africa's oil exploration work on the west coast is also progressing very smoothly.

However, if we want to resolve East Africa’s energy security concerns, the most important thing is to quickly resolve the war in the Beibu Gulf Territory (UAE). Complete control of the Beibu Gulf Territory can greatly alleviate East Africa’s future energy production pressure.

From the relationship between the development of the oil industry and the shipbuilding industry, we can also see the great role that emerging industries play in promoting the development of East Africa. New technologies and new industries can also open up new markets.

Krishn, director of the Shipbuilding Industry Bureau, said: "my country's support policies for the civilian shipbuilding industry have been greatly promoted, and shipyards are also increasing their application of new technologies and new materials, which has created huge demand for my country's industrial development and driven the development of heavy machinery equipment manufacturing, steel industry, communication technology and many other fields."

"Since the Third Five-Year Plan, my country's shipbuilding industry has undergone a new round of technological innovation. Each shipyard has actively promoted technological research and development, and has made great breakthroughs in the fields of steam turbines, steam engines, internal combustion engines and other ship propulsion. At the same time, large docks and slipways have been actively built to accumulate advantages in building large ships."

In the early 20th century, the main power source for ships was still steam engines, and the people who had the final say in this regard were naturally the British with their rich technical accumulation. This was also the shortcoming of the shipbuilding industry in other countries in the world.

The East African Shipbuilding Industry Bureau hoped to catch up with Britain through the application of ultimate steam turbine and internal combustion engine technology in the field of ship power.

As for other aspects, East Africa actually has certain advantages in the shipbuilding industry, such as materials, communications, etc.

In terms of materials, the shipbuilding industry is closely related to steel production. Material changes are an important factor influencing the development of maritime power in countries around the world. For example, the United States once surpassed Britain and became the number one shipbuilding country in the sailing age, relying on the rich forest resources of the American continent.

With the application of steel in the shipbuilding industry, Britain quickly regained the world's number one throne, which to a certain extent extended the life of Britain's world hegemony.

Up to now, the shipbuilding industry is almost linked to the steel industry. The shipbuilding industry is a major consumer of steel, so the development of the steel industry has a huge impact on the shipbuilding industry. The lower the production cost of the steel industry, the lower the production cost of the shipbuilding industry. During the Second Five-Year Plan, East Africa's steel production exceeded 1915 million tons, which was equivalent to Germany. During the Third Five-Year Plan, East Africa's steel industry production plan was to reach at least million tons before .

This goal was not difficult to achieve for the East African governments which already had relatively rich experience. According to optimistic estimates, East Africa's steel production would reach at least 1915 million tons in .

The background of the rapid increase in steel production is the rapid development of East Africa's industry. The emerging industries cultivated in East Africa in the last century have begun to take off. In addition, during the First Five-Year Plan and the Second Five-Year Plan, the scale of East Africa's industry has developed by leaps and bounds, and East Africa's demand for steel is becoming increasingly strong.

Putting aside the factor of industrial development, East Africa's population is still in a stage of rapid growth, and population growth itself can bring about a large consumer market.

Moreover, during the Third Five-Year Plan period, large-scale engineering construction in East Africa remained at a high level. Large-scale projects such as the East African National Canal Project, as well as urban development and construction, railways, roads and other transportation construction have greatly promoted the steel industry.

During the Third Five-Year Plan, the goal of East Africa's steel production was to completely surpass Germany and become the world's second largest steel producer after the United States. This was in line with East Africa's current population, industrial scale, and economic situation.

At the same time, East Africa has made more outstanding progress in the production of special steels. The military manufacturing industry, automobile industry, shipbuilding industry, etc. have put forward higher requirements for raw materials such as steel.

In fact, the East African steel industry has now reached the ranks of the world's top powers in terms of both scale and quality, serving as an important indicator of industrial development in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Steel production can largely reflect a country's industrial level. In terms of steel production, East Africa has reached the standards of an industrial power both in terms of total volume and per capita.

The overall reference objects for East African industry are mainly the United States and Germany. Among them, the United States is the most referenceable to East Africa, including steel production, railways, shipbuilding and many other fields. The East African government will use the US industrial production data as an important indicator.

Of course, East Africa's industrial weakness, that is, the gap between it and other industrial countries in terms of light industry, is still significant, which is mainly reflected in its disadvantage in international market competition. This is also the main reason why the Third Five-Year Plan particularly emphasizes the development of light industry.

If East Africa makes up for its shortcomings in light industry, its industry can be said to be complete, and the gap with industrial countries such as the United States will be reflected in the financial and service sectors.

Returning to the topic of shipbuilding, Ernst said: "The development of the shipbuilding industry requires rich technical accumulation and a long investment cycle. At this stage, all countries are focusing on the development of the navy. my country's civilian shipbuilding industry has certain advantages. We must take advantage of this window period to achieve leapfrog development of the civilian shipbuilding industry and actively cooperate with many emerging industries in China to achieve breakthroughs in safety, practicality, comfort, etc."

"As for the navy, the military shipbuilding industry should focus on the research and development of emerging ship technologies, including breakthroughs in aircraft carrier and submarine technologies, and further pursue quality development."

In fact, the current naval arms race among countries is seriously exceeding the standard. This can be seen from the Washington Naval Treaty after the end of World War I. In fact, the navies of various countries are largely developed passively. East Africa has temporarily escaped from the naval arms race and should devote more energy to economic development.

(End of this chapter)