African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 960 Opening up new markets
The geographical location of these five countries can be described as "excellent". The Southern Hemisphere is already relatively remote, and it is in America, which makes it even farther away from the Eurasian continent. Although the main part of East Africa is located in the Southern Hemisphere, East Africa is closely connected with the Eurasian continent due to the Indian Ocean, and it is relatively convenient to travel to Europe and Asia.

But these countries are different, and this is true. After all, they avoided both world wars. Even Africa, the most backward place in the world in the past, was one of the battlefields of World War I and World War II. The Japanese also coveted Oceania. South America's peaceful state also shows its disadvantageous position in global trade.

Of course, this disadvantage is actually an advantage for East Africa. The routes between Africa and South America are also the most convenient, so South American countries occupy an important position in the economy of the west coast of East Africa.

"Koried, what good things did you bring this time? Do you have tea and coffee?"

The quality of tea and coffee in East Africa is excellent, so for Luo Lie, domestic products are better for both beverages, especially exported coffee and tea.

Coride shook his head and said, "Our ship brought industrial products this time. After all, South America also produces coffee. Although the taste may be a little worse, I still have some stock. I will ask someone to send some over later. As for tea, I personally don't drink it, but other people on the ship may like it. However, I brought you some mosquito coils this time, after all, there are a lot of mosquitoes in Paraguay."

"That's great. There are more mosquitoes here than in East Africa. Although mosquito repellent products like mosquito coils can be bought locally, they are much more expensive than in our country. Many mosquito repellent products here are exported by us." Raleigh complained.

……

Rhine City.

John Lear, the secretary of state for commerce, was reporting to Ernst on relations with various countries in the Middle East, Africa, and South America over the past few years.

"We have officially established diplomatic relations with Brazil since 1891, but Argentina, Peru and Uruguay did not establish diplomatic relations with us until 1892. The reason why these countries did not accept our olive branch at the first time was mainly because their economies relied on the support of British capital."

"Especially Argentina. Currently, Argentina's economy mainly cooperates with the British. Britain imports wool, beef and other agricultural products from Argentina. Then, Argentina entrusts the construction of its railways, ports and other infrastructure to the British. The two countries have achieved complementary interests."

"So after the South African War, Argentina was relatively restrained in establishing diplomatic relations with East Africa at the time. As for Peru and Uruguay, they probably also had this consideration."

"However, since we established diplomatic relations with Argentina and other South American countries, economic cooperation between the two sides has developed rapidly, especially Argentina's demand for East African industrial products is relatively strong."

East Africa cannot help but look at 19th century Argentina in a different light. This country with a population of only four million ranks among the top ten economies in the world, so one can imagine how wealthy Argentina is today.

The key here is naturally the United Kingdom. Currently, Argentina's wool exports rank first in the world, and the destination is naturally the United Kingdom. Although other industries are also developing, the position of the textile industry remains unshakable. In the 19th century, the textile industry was still the world's largest industry. As the country with the most developed textile industry, the United Kingdom has an extremely strong demand for wool.

The income from wool alone is enough to make the Argentines rich. After all, the market demand in Britain and its colonies is quite large. It is enough for Argentina to just act as a shepherd for Britain. On this basis, Argentina's beef and mutton exports are also very considerable.

In comparison, Brazil is not good enough in this era. In the competition with Argentina, Brazil is now completely at a disadvantage.

Geographically, Argentina has a suitable climate, is more likely to absorb European immigrants, has vast plains, and has a dense river network, making it easier to develop than Brazil. Although Brazil's territory is much larger than Argentina, due to transportation constraints, Brazil's inland has not been effectively developed, and the Amazon rainforest is in the north, so the economic population is concentrated in the southeast coastal area.

However, the existence of the Brazilian Shield has resulted in many steep cliffs along the Brazilian coast. When transportation problems are difficult to solve, it is difficult for ports to drive inland development and form an economic core. In contrast, Argentina's coastline is not inferior to Brazil, and its terrain is flat, with numerous rivers, and it is easy for the inland and coastal areas to interact. Therefore, Argentina was easier to develop than Brazil in the early days.

In other aspects, Brazil's original suzerain was Portugal, while Argentina's suzerain was Spain. Spain's control over Argentina was weak, which also led to Argentina's independence earlier than Brazil and a shorter period of exploitation by the suzerain.

There is also the political ecology, which has a very important impact on the two countries. During the South African War, a revolution also broke out in Brazil. After Brazil abolished slavery in 1888, the Republicans were deeply inspired and overthrew the Brazilian royal family in 1889.

The political turmoil in Brazil also affected East Africa, further promoting the end of the slave trade in East Africa. For some time before that, Brazil had been the largest destination for black people in East Africa.

When Brazil stopped raising slaves, the slave trade in East Africa naturally became more difficult to maintain, which was also an important reason why East Africa simply stopped the slave trade.

Of course, after abolishing the monarchy, Brazil did not achieve a leap in economic development as the Republicans had imagined. Instead, it became more politically turbulent, with the first president stepping down less than a year after taking office. Therefore, with Brazil's political situation unstable, its economy was naturally even worse.

Therefore, in East Africa's trade with South America, Argentina and Paraguay are ranked ahead of Brazil. Argentines are rich and have strong spending power, while Paraguay has the best relationship with East Africa. Before East Africa established diplomatic relations with other South American countries, East Africa's trade with South America was mainly transited by Paraguay. Through Paraguay, East African products can be indirectly sold to Brazil, Argentina and Bolivia.

Of course, as time goes by, East Africa's international status has become more stable, and it is naturally impossible for East Africa to rely solely on Paraguay as a handle. Therefore, since the 1990s, East Africa has begun to strengthen its relations with other South American countries.

Not only the five South American countries, but other South American countries also have exchanges with East Africa. However, due to geographical and economic reasons, other countries are not the focus of East Africa.

In fact, from all perspectives, trade and exchanges between East Africa and South American countries is a relatively slow process, far less than the trade and exchanges between East Africa and Eurasian countries.

However, under the international environment, East Africa has to take the initiative to win over these countries. After all, the global market is so big, and East Africa's industrial development can only continue to open up new markets. Although South American countries are deeply involved with the United Kingdom, at least they are relatively independent on the surface.

Therefore, although the exchanges with these countries are thankless, they are not completely ineffective. This is also the process of expanding East Africa's external economic influence. Without resorting to war, this process will only be very slow.

After all, war is the most effective means to open the other side's door. At the end of the 19th century, East Africa's strength was far from enough. In terms of naval strength alone, East Africa ranked behind Britain, the United States, Russia, Germany and France.

Therefore, the object of East Africa's study can only be the United States. As the world's largest industrial country, the United States does not have the right to speak in the world. Naturally, American products cannot be sold well all over the world and are always subject to the constraints of rule makers such as Britain and France.

(End of this chapter)