African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 979: Opportunities in the West
There were many people who shared the same idea as Boers. Among them, French Ambassador Lawrence wrote in a report to the French government: "We must not let East Africa and Germany reach an agreement. We must do everything we can to prevent the East African government from standing on the side of the Germans, even if they remain neutral."

Zhang Heng, ambassador of the Far East Empire, also reported on the East African military parade. He said: "East Africa is a relatively friendly country among the great powers. It has strong military strength, a larger territory than the Empire, and a population that is not less than that of European countries. At this critical moment of the survival of the Empire, it is particularly important for our country to maintain friendly exchanges with East Africa."

After the Battle of the Yellow Sea, the Far Eastern Empire encountered more troubles. Although it was much better than the same period in history, it was still limited. Therefore, in the international community, the Far Eastern Empire did not have many friends who cared about drinking and eating. Everyone was a vampire who wanted to come up and take a sip. Under such circumstances, the Far Eastern Empire naturally became closer and closer in diplomatic relations with East Africa.

Of course, this is the case even though they are so close. East Africa is unlikely to help the Far Eastern Empire seek refuge. After all, if everyone falls, East Africa's face will only be a deterrent to some small countries. The Far Eastern Empire can solve this kind of small trouble on its own.

Ambassador Wilson of the United Kingdom did not pay much attention to the situation in East Africa. He said to his subordinates: "Britain's interests have always been in the ocean. No matter how strong the East African army is, as long as they do not expand their navy, there will be no threat. On the contrary, we will not allow any unusual changes in the East African navy."

According to Wilson, it is estimated that there will not be too many conflicts between Britain and East Africa in the next five years. After all, East Africa has no intention of expanding its navy in the past few years, nor does it plan to go out to sea to occupy more colonies. In this way, East Africa will basically not encounter any major events overseas.

Of course, what will happen in five years is not something East Africa has to consider. By then, Ernst will definitely strengthen its maritime power, and Britain may not have the energy to find trouble with East Africa.

……

After the founding ceremony, the Rhine Empire government continued to work with little impact. In the new century, the East African Government Planning Commission also began compiling its first formal national industrial plan.

Siwei Te: "In the past few years, we have conducted preliminary attempts. The five-year industrial plan is generally feasible. In the past five years, East Africa's industrial growth rate has been extremely high, and the industrial scale has more than doubled, especially in the southeastern coastal areas, which have been vigorously developed."

"A new hotspot for economic development in the south has been formed with Beira as its core. This area is close to industrially developed areas in the east and Bohemia (Zimbabwe), so the construction speed is the fastest."

"The construction of multiple railways has opened up the two meridians of Mozambique's development. It can be said that Mozambique is an extension of the eastern coastal economic belt and the two industrial provinces of Bohemia and Lorraine in the central region."

"In Mozambique, cities such as Beira, Tete, Pemba, Nacala, Colimane, Jinde, Maputo, Chokwe and Inhambane have all experienced rapid development, with leapfrog growth in population, infrastructure, industry and agriculture, filling the gap between the Port of New Hamburgo and Mtwara."

“And in the new five-year plan, which is also the first time that our Planning Commission has officially compiled a five-year plan, I decided to focus on the west coast with Angola as the core.”

“Although the west coast has developed well in the past, it has not received as much support as Mozambique. We have only optimized and partially expanded on the basis of integrating the assets left by the Portuguese. Angola’s locational advantages are obviously more important than those of Mozambique, so Angola’s development should be taken seriously and made one of the most economically developed regions in East Africa in the future.”

Siwei Te's words were obviously very bold. You have to know that in the past, due to long-term wars, Angola's industries left over from the colonial era were almost destroyed, making it one of the countries with the weakest industrial base in the world.

If it were not for the support of oil resources, Angola would probably have become one of the poorest countries in the past, and its economy would probably not be much better than that of Tanzania.

Therefore, the goal set by East Africa for Angola is obviously quite high. Of course, Angola is now in a much better situation than in the past, at least the foundation is much better. In the 19s, East Africa made large investments in the coastal areas of Angola, including energy, mining, agriculture, and fisheries.

The East African government's direct investment in the energy sector includes three refineries, two in Cabinda and one in Luanda. It is worth mentioning that the main raw materials for the oil industry in the two places currently come from the United States across the ocean.

Although Angola has rich oil resources, they have not yet been developed and explored. Therefore, in order to plan the local oil industry in advance, Ernst specifically positioned Cabinda and Luanda as the oil industry centers of East Africa.

The advantage of doing this is that when East Africa develops Angolan oil in the future, the local area already has a certain industrial foundation and has accumulated considerable experience, so there will be no need to rush. Secondly, the west coast of East Africa itself is forming a large market, and the demand for oil will sooner or later be aligned with that of the central and eastern regions, so there is no harm in making arrangements early.

In the field of minerals, Angola is also relatively rich in resources, especially the local diamond minerals, which are the main export minerals. East Africa has integrated the mines and workshops from the Portuguese colonial era, making the west coast the diamond processing and sales center of East Africa in the Atlantic region.

In addition, iron, copper, manganese, lead, tin, zinc, tungsten, gold and other resources are also distributed in Angola. However, because East Africa occupied Angola late, these resources still need to be surveyed and analyzed if they are to be developed.

In terms of agriculture, the main crops grown in Angola include sugarcane, cotton, peanuts, corn, cassava, rice, wheat, beans, etc. These crops are basically the continuation of Angolan agriculture under the Portuguese colonial system.

Relying on the local agricultural characteristics, East Africa has built a number of sugar mills, oil mills, textile mills, etc. on the west coast.

During the Portuguese colonial period, Angola was the closest source of raw materials to Portugal, and these agricultural products were basically transported to Portugal, processed, and sold after increasing the added value.

After East Africa's investment in the local area, these agricultural products have completed various processing procedures locally and become commodities directly, and finally sold to Western Europe, North America and South America through the Atlantic route.

The development of fishery resources ranks among the best in East Africa. Of course, affected by the Benguela cold current, the best fishing grounds are along the coast of the Southwest Province (Namibia), so Walvis Bay is likely to become one of the future fishery centers in East Africa, especially after the Walvis Bay railway is completed.

Therefore, the conditions in the Angola region in East Africa are not too bad. Although it was affected by the South African War in the early days, it has experienced ten years of stability and rapid development.

Of course, the focus of this development, in addition to Angola, also includes Southwest Province, Ubangi Province and East and West Azande Provinces (mainly including Angola, Namibia, Congo, Central Africa), that is, the entire western part of East Africa.

The Southwest Province does not require too much investment due to topographical and climatic factors, while the Ubangi Province is second only to the provinces in Angola. Although it is located inland, the Ubangi Province also borders the colonies of Belgium, France and Germany. This is its locational advantage.

However, the most important thing is the development of the Angola region. The East African government hopes that it can become an economically developed region that is competitive with the central and eastern regions in a relatively short period of time. After all, the capital of East Africa has been moved to Rhine City. If the west coast cannot develop, it will not be possible to form the core economic zone in East Africa that connects the two oceans as envisioned by Ernst.

(End of this chapter)