African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 196 Railway
"Why, you also want to get involved in this industry?" Prince Karl Anton asked.

"That's not true. I mainly want to test the waters in the colony." Ernst said directly without hiding anything.

"I'm afraid this matter is difficult to handle!" Prince Karl Anton said without hesitation, "Although I am optimistic about your talent in business, this matter may be difficult for you to make a profit!"

According to Prince Karl Anton's idea, if the colony is used to lose money, why should it come here?
"Uncle Carl, when I say test the waters, I mean that it will only be built for a short distance, and I don't mean to spread it on a large scale in East Africa." Ernst said.

"That's not right! If you are just building for fun, you don't need to ask me at all! You can go directly to a German railway company, and they should be able to start work directly! And I believe that in your capacity, no one would dare Fuck you." Prince Karl Anton said.

In the view of Prince Karl Anton, Ernst is now a great nobleman and big capitalist in the German region, and this set of configurations simply created an invincible golden body.

And Ernst also said that he wanted to test the waters. No blind Deutsche Bahn company would offend a future prince and business tycoon for such a small profit.

"Uncle Carl is actually like this. As for me, I am also greedy for the railway market, but I also know that railways are different from those things I used to do.

Railway technology is now very mature, and the threshold is very high. The most important thing is that there are many railway companies in the German region, and it must be thankless to directly enter now.

But I am also optimistic about the future development of railways. If there is no opportunity now, it does not mean that there will be no opportunity in the future. The problem is that there will be opportunities in the future, and we must be able to grasp them, so I want to make a plan in advance. said Ernst.

"I probably understand what you mean! You really want to start this business now, but you are not optimistic about the market prospects in the near future, so you don't want to enter the market on a large scale, but want to start with a smaller scale and accumulate experience to prepare for the future. Is that what you mean?" asked Prince Karl Anton.

"Uncle Carl, this is exactly what I want to express, and I have another purpose. You know, I don't have any big business in East Africa. In fact, I just organize immigrants to farm there, so the commodity transportation in East Africa is mainly grain. , Timber and other bulk commodities.

These goods are stupid and clumsy, but if they can't be shipped to Europe, it will be a real loss-making business. I made the colony count on this little food and products to bring back some blood.

But the traffic conditions in East Africa are the biggest obstacle to transporting these things. Take the rivers in East Africa as an example, there is no coherent one, and it flows directly from the plateau to the coast, and the navigable conditions are only [-] kilometers.

Water transport was impassable, so I thought of the railway, but the cost of the railway is too high, and I have to experiment in East Africa before I can make up my mind to promote it. said Ernst.

After hearing this, Prince Karl Anton thought for a while and asked, "I have a question. You see, the main industry in East Africa is agriculture, right! The scale is large, and agriculture is indeed very profitable, but you transport grain from East Africa to Europe , the cost of shipping is not small, and facing the competition of food production from Germany, Hungary, France, and Tsarist Russia, can it really make money?

And I heard from your father that you have to pay the cost separately, bringing in immigrants from outside without using the local aborigines, which is another expense, so where is the profit point of the colony in East Africa? "

In fact, Prince Karl Anton knew that overseas colonies were very profitable. Otherwise, the British could still become the overlord of the sea with that island?

As an out-and-out old German Junker, Prince Karl Anton really doesn't know much about the management of overseas colonies.

After all, Austria has experience in the entire German region, but later, the result is obvious, and Austria's attempts have failed.

In the past few decades, the European continent has not been peaceful. First, Napoleon stirred up the situation, followed by the Crimean War, and then Prussia fought two more battles with Denmark, and finally fought another battle with the Austrian Empire.

Everyone's minds are focused on the continent, and so is the old statesman Prince Karl Anton. However, Prince Constantine of Hechingen recently went to East Africa to make Prince Karl Anton very interested in the colony of East Africa.

It's a pity that Constantine has already gone to East Africa, so Prince Karl Anton simply asked Ernst.

"Uncle Carl, the East African colony is a long-term business. At present, there is no good or bad. After all, the East African colony is just a scrap that the big powers didn't like. There is no particularly outstanding advantage. It is basically a pure investment in the early stage, and ordinary people can't play it at all.

So when I was running the East African colony, I never thought that he could make a profit, but tried to make him lose as little as possible.

Although food is not profitable, it is large in quantity. This is also the advantage of not many colonies in East Africa, and the land area is large enough.

Although the price cannot be sold, the production cost in East Africa is also low. The land is ready-made, but it needs to be developed. We are only responsible for the boat fare, food and clothing for the immigrants, and there is plenty of cheap labor.

It is really unrealistic for East African colonies to make money now, but it is possible in the future, but overseas risks are also high, so they offset each other.

However, setting up a factory in Europe right now is definitely a profitable business with high profits. said Ernst.

In fact, the East African colony can already guarantee a balance of payments and a slight surplus. After all, East Africa mainly relies on cash crops to make money, and the market in East Africa is not only Europe, but also North Africa and the Middle East.

It's not that Ernst is hiding his secrets. The risk of developing a colony in this era is indeed very high. Ernst also took advantage of the loopholes and picked a good time and a good place.

"That's it! It seems that it's really not easy to develop overseas, and I'm just curious, so I asked." Prince Karl Anton said.

"Uncle Carl, there are actually good places overseas, but those places have already been scrapped by those ocean countries," Ernst said.

"Okay, let's not talk about this! Let's continue talking about the railway! What are your plans, just say it directly, and don't make those twists and turns with me." Prince Karl Anton said.

"Uncle Carl, since this is the case, let me just say it directly. I actually want to directly acquire a railway company. The scale does not need to be too large, but I must have construction experience. But after all, I am not in that circle. Let me find out about the situation." Ernst said.

The railways in the German region are developing rapidly, and there are many large and small companies.

Although Ernst is also a capitalist, he can operate in different fields. If he enters rashly, the other party may not dare to deceive himself. The railway is one of the pillar industries in Germany. The energy of those people is not much weaker than that of Ernst, and the relationship with the government is even stronger. close.

Naturally, the fewer competitors in business, the better. A businessman like Ernst with strong financial resources will definitely attract attention when he enters the railway field.

And Ernst does not intend to make trouble with these people. To be honest, the fundamental reason why he wants to squeeze into this industry is to accumulate relevant technology and experience for East Africa.

Moreover, the situation of the railway market is very good now, but it will not be like this in the future. When the entire market is in distress, it will be the right time for Ernst to enter in a large scale.

(End of this chapter)