African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1216 Enterprises Going Abroad
If the Great Lakes region and Kenya are counted in the east, the only habitable place in northern East Africa is the Ethiopian Plateau. The disadvantages are also obvious: transportation is inconvenient and it is far away from the coast.

This is indeed the case. Among the major regions in northern East Africa, they are ranked from large to small in terms of economic and population data, namely the Ethiopian Plateau, the eastern coast (Somalia), the Azande Plateau, the Nile Basin, and the western coast (Gabon and Cameroon).

Although the terrain of the Ethiopian Plateau is not ideal, its economic development is not bad thanks to the large market of the Abyssinian Empire.

Somalia has a harsh climate, but its per capita income level is the highest in the north, and sea transportation conditions are relatively convenient. The climate in the Azande Plateau is relatively suitable, and its development is average. The climate in the Nile Basin is humid and hot, with many swamps and deserts. On the contrary, the northernmost city of Gezira has developed relatively well. Once the oil resources here are developed, the economic level will definitely rise to a higher level.

As for Gabon and Cameroon, it is simply because they have been included in East Africa for too short a time that it will be difficult for them to achieve results in at least the next decade.

Therefore, if East Africa wants to drive the economic development of the north, it can only find a strategic fulcrum, and the Great Lakes region is the best choice. This is similar to the Far East Empire in the previous life wanting to develop the western economy, using Xi'an and Chengdu as anchor points respectively. After all, the climatic conditions in the southwestern plateau and the northwestern basin are too poor.

"In order to achieve coordinated national economic development, we also need to pick out key areas. After all, some regions are difficult to stimulate even if they go against the laws of nature. So we need to develop the Great Lakes region and the South first, then we can further consider other parts of the country and reasonably allocate industries and population to ultimately achieve the best allocation of resources," Ernst concluded.

……

During the Fourth Five-Year Plan, East Africa's national economy was in a semi-free-range state, and it was impossible to set overly stringent industrial production targets as in the era of fully planned economy.

Take the steel industry for example. The output of East Africa's steel industry now needs to be connected to the market, and the market demand is not something that the East African government can completely control.

This led to the explosive growth of the East African steel industry during the Third Five-Year Plan. Yes, the steel production capacity during the Third Five-Year Plan was beyond the expectations of most people in the East African government.

Just think about it, East Africa's steel production capacity alone exceeds that of the United States in the same period of the previous life. In this time and space, the total steel production capacity of East Africa and the United States has reached an astonishing level.

This means that the world's steel production is nearly 1915 million tons more than in the past, while the United States' steel production in was only about million tons.

Of course, there is no need to panic. Most of the extra steel production capacity in East Africa will still be consumed by the domestic market. In the past, the African continent did not have a top consumer market like East Africa today.

Moreover, due to the low level of industrialization in East Africa today, there is still room for further growth in steel production capacity. After all, among the great powers, East Africa's urbanization rate is only higher than that of Spain, Japan, Russia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. There are four countries ahead of East Africa: France, Britain, Germany and the United States.

In other words, the level of industrialization in East Africa is right in the middle of the great powers. This is the situation of industrial development in East Africa from the perspective of the East African government.

Tete city.

Corey Sean, the head of TISCO, also known as Tete Steel Works, is discussing with his subordinates the new direction of the East African steel industry during the Fourth Five-Year Plan.

Corey Sean said: "Steel industry reforms have continued to advance this year. Today is different from the past. Market competition is increasingly fierce. Last year, a number of private steel companies emerged on the East Coast."

"According to the Planning Commission's targets, our state-owned steel enterprises must stabilize production at at least 37 million tons this year and, if possible, exceed 40 million tons in the next four to five years."

As the war in Europe progressed, the East African government did not dare to take too big a step. After all, war is full of surprises. If the war ended prematurely, it would be difficult for East Africa to turn around.

Chief Executive Officer Hanston said: "The international steel market is also looking for new breakthroughs. We cannot put all our eggs in one basket. The European war will eventually end. Our superiors also see this and are asking us to turn to Latin America, West Africa, the Far East and other regions."

"Steel exports cannot only be judged by finished steel products and raw materials. In fact, a considerable portion of domestic steel exports are currently exported in the form of downstream consumer goods, especially machinery and consumer goods." "One move affects the entire industry chain. Steel exports are a problem for the entire industry chain. In addition to the relatively stable upstream raw material industries such as coal and iron ore, we must also be prepared for market shocks at any time."

In the past, East Africa was a follower, so using administrative means to increase its steel production capacity to an astonishing level in a short period of time was beneficial to its economic development.

However, as East Africa has firmly established itself as the world's largest steel producer, the development of its steel companies needs to adapt. After all, as they have already become the world's number one, East Africa has already reached a limit in terms of quantity. Now the development of East African steel companies will naturally have to turn to breakthroughs in quality.

Especially under the new economic policy, East Africa's domestic economic system has undergone a major transformation, and state-owned enterprises are facing more and more challenges.

Corey Sean said: "Tete Province has abundant coal and steel resources, which will not have a big impact on our production in the short term."

"However, we still need to consider the layout of overseas raw material production areas. According to the reports of our personnel sent to East Kalimantan, a considerable number of coal mines have been discovered in East Kalimantan, and iron ore is also very rich in Australia and other regions."

"For steel companies, occupying more ore producing areas means we have more cards in our hands. We should take advantage of the abundant funds we have now to plan overseas raw material markets in advance, so that we can sit more firmly in the tide of history in the future."

In the international competition during the colonial era, the two key words, market and raw material origin, could not be avoided.

Currently, East African companies are actively gaining ground in these two areas. There is no doubt that it is much easier to control the production of raw materials than to seize overseas markets.

The market is linked to population. There is no doubt that the three regions with the highest population density today are the Far East, India and Europe, followed by the United States and East Africa.

Of course, the India here is a relatively large concept, including Pakistan, Bangladesh, and even parts of Afghanistan in the previous life, and it can also radiate to Persia, Myanmar and other regions.

India was completely under the influence of Britain, Europe was a place of fierce competition, and the situation in the Far Eastern Empire was not good either, with numerous forces within its borders.

In short, it is very difficult for East Africa to compete for overseas markets. Apart from these major markets, whether it is South America, the Middle East, or Oceania, the population is too small and the consumption capacity is not outstanding.

The advantage of these regions lies in their rich natural resources. As for the market, it can only be said that they have relatively high potential. Therefore, it is easiest to seize overseas raw material production areas in East Africa at the current stage.

Having an advantage in resources will further reduce the cost of industrial development, which is consistent with East Africa's status as a world maritime power.

Today, East Africa's sea power actually outweighs its land power. This can be seen from its numerous overseas colonies. Except for South America and Europe, East Africa's colonies are widely distributed in most regions of the world.

In fact, if East Africa had a colony in South America, it would truly form a weakened version of the British Empire.

Although East Africa also pays attention to the development of the army, the development space of the East African army is not much stronger than that of the United States. After all, to be realistic, no country can threaten the East African army on the African continent.

This can also be seen from the rapid expansion of the East African Navy in recent years. As the fourth largest naval power in the world, except for the United Kingdom, there is no obvious gap between the East African maritime power and Germany and the United States.

(End of this chapter)