Chapter 867 Promotion

Nowadays, graduates of chemistry are in great demand in the German talent market, so it is not an isolated case that East African students like Xia Lilian are snatched away by German companies, but a common phenomenon.

The German chemical industry actually did not start very early, with most of the industry starting after the 1960s and 1970s. The rise of the German chemical industry is only in recent years, and the entry of German higher education into the chemical industry is only a common phenomenon after the 1970s.

Therefore, Germany's education in the field of chemistry actually lags behind the development of the chemical industry, resulting in a situation of "supply exceeding demand" in the talent market.

At this time, German chemical companies set their sights on the large group of East African students. Currently, the largest number of students studying in Germany are from East Africans, especially after the 1980s. The number of students from East Africa going to Germany each year has remained above 4,000.

In comparison, during the same period, the number of Japanese students studying in Europe and the United States was only more than 1,000, and it was not until 1890 that the number just exceeded 2,000.

And this is only the number of East African students studying in Germany. Together with the East African students in Austria-Hungary, Sweden, France, the Netherlands and other countries, the number of East African students exceeded 10,000 in 1892 alone, while the number of local East African college students in the same period was only more than 7,000.

This means that most of East Africa's higher education is achieved with the help of foreign higher education. There is no other way around it. East African higher education talents who can serve as faculty and staff are top elites in any country without exception in this era.

During the same period, the number of university students in Germany exceeded 30,000, not including some technical colleges. Of course, a large proportion of German higher education (including technical colleges) are East African students, accounting for an astonishing 4.5 percent.

Therefore, East Africa’s investment in education is extremely exaggerated. However, high investment means high returns. Without talent training, it is impossible for East Africa to quickly pursue international standards or even reach leading levels in emerging industries and some traditional industries.

Moreover, East African students mainly study in science and engineering fields, which makes German companies more eager to poach East African students. Every year, nearly 20% of these students stay in Germany.

You should know that these 20% of international students who are favored by German companies are obviously not mediocre people, but those who have demonstrated real talents and knowledge during their school years.

This means that East African students have boosted Germany's industrial development, so the German government is very welcoming to the East African student group. In addition to generating income for higher education institutions and local areas, it can also be put to good use. Why not do it? Xia Lilian is an East African youth who stayed in Germany in this context.

"Germany is really cheap!" Bolilan sighed after learning about Xialilian's experience. East Africa's investment in international students is not just money, but also time and energy costs. Not to mention the cost of ten years of compulsory education alone is quite staggering.

However, there is no way around it. Germany and Europe are far more developed than East Africa, and East Africa cannot force these talents to return home by tough measures. It is better to sell them one. At least Germany's openness to East Africa in many educational fields has been significantly improved.

It also improved the reputation of East Africa in Germany. The international students from East Africa in Germany are generally of high quality, and since they are half-ethnic and half-origin, they are naturally very popular. This represents the characteristics of Germany's high education level and strong cultural appeal.

But overall, East Africa is not at a loss. At least 80% of international students will still choose to return to their home country for development. East Africa adopts the strategy of "casting a wide net", and there will always be talented people to promote the great development of various industries in East Africa.

Take the chemical industry for example. The proportion of returned talents in this industry is only about 40%, but it has also laid the foundation for the great development of the chemical industry in various industrial zones in East Africa.

Yes, there is a chemical industry in East Africa’s industrial areas and coastal cities, but due to its short history of development, it is not yet competitive with European and American countries of the past few decades.

This is also an important reason for East Africa and Germany to cooperate in the field of chemical industry. Britain and France are still strong in the field of chemistry. The United States is also extremely powerful. Like Germany, it is a rising star. The United States also has DuPont, a long-established giant in the chemical industry.

Germany started the latest among the four, but it has already shown a trend of surpassing Britain, France and Germany. The reason for Germany's success is inseparable from its talent training mechanism.

The reason why East Africa is currently lagging behind in the two heavy industrial fields of chemical industry and materials is actually mainly a matter of time. East Africa's chemical industry only started to take off in the late 1970s, which was nearly 20 years later than Germany.

Previously, East Africa's investment was mainly concentrated in the fields of steel, railways, electricity, etc., and the investment in the chemical industry was not high. The chemical industry is a very money-burning industry.

For example, a new dye that Bafus is developing has directly burned more than a thousand marks, and the development is still ongoing. However, the current market value of Bafus is less than 20 million marks.

Therefore, if East Africa wants to develop in the chemical industry, in addition to talent training, it must continue to invest huge amounts of money, and the results may not be seen in a short period of time. Just like research and development in the machine tool field, there is no shortcut and it can only continue to invest time and money to achieve qualitative improvement.

Afterwards, Bolilan began to introduce the location of Bella City to the members of the inspection team. Everyone spoke German, so there was no language barrier.

“Don’t think that Beira is not as good as Mombasa and Dar es Salaam now, but in the past three years, our government’s investment in Beira has ranked first, exceeding other cities in the country.”

"It only takes another two months for the Harare-Beira railway to be fully completed. I think Mr. Xia Lilian should know something about Harare. Harare is the second largest industrial city in East Africa after Mbeya. At the same time, Matabele Province, where Harare is located, is the most important industrial city in East Africa, equivalent to the Ruhr area in Germany. It is the first industrial powerhouse in East Africa, bringing together all industries such as steel, metal smelting, railway equipment manufacturing, mechanical processing, chemicals, and materials."

“While our city of Beira may seem to have nothing to do with Matabele Province, it is actually the most convenient seaport for Matabele Province in the future. After the railway is opened, it will only take one day to travel from Beira to Harare.”

"You can see with your own eyes the speed of Beira's development. Three years ago, this was an uninhabited bay. Before that, it was ruled by the Portuguese, who did not develop it at all. Therefore, BASF's branch factory can only achieve the greatest benefits if it is built in our city."

"Of course, I know that Nairobi is the largest textile city in East Africa. Your company's main business is closely related to the textile industry, so Mombasa has a strong attraction. However, the second largest textile city in East Africa is in Bulawayo in Matabele Province. It is also a huge market that cannot be ignored. Moreover, the scale of Bulawayo's textile industry is still expanding rapidly. I am afraid that it will be comparable to Nairobi in the next few years."

"By then, our Beira city will be the main export channel for Bulawayo textiles. With the central government's attention, Beira city will also give birth to a number of textile companies. In this regard, our Beira city is far more advantageous than Dar es Salaam and Mombasa, because the new textile industry is more likely to cooperate with your company. After all, cities such as Dar es Salaam and Mombasa developed earlier and have a certain path dependence, so they may not completely adopt your company's products."

"And you have many competitors. Many German and Austrian companies have set their sights on big cities like Dar es Salaam and Mombasa, such as your German competitor Bayer."

"So you chose to build a factory in Beira. I can give you the greatest convenience, such as factory building construction. Cities like Dar es Salaam and Mombasa certainly cannot give you the best location. After all, they have been developed for decades and have a large territory. If you enter now, at most you can be placed in a relatively marginal area..."

In order to promote the city of Beira, Bolilan constantly drags down other cities, but he has no guilt about this. After all, other cities must have adopted similar methods when introducing their own cities, especially Mombasa and Dar es Salaam, the two "twin stars" of East Africa, which almost do not take any other city in East Africa seriously except each other.

(End of this chapter)