Chapter 907 Three Links Policy

That’s right, the economic size of the Far Eastern Empire, on a global scale, is only surpassed by Britain and the United States. It is big but not strong.

This can be seen from the military expenditure. The scale of the Far East Empire Navy is among the largest in the world, and this was achieved despite its weak industrial base.

Therefore, the population advantage is fully reflected in the Far Eastern Empire. Even if East Africa is powerful, it is impossible to have a population ratio of one to seven. In 1890, the population of the Far Eastern Empire was seven times that of East Africa, and the industrial level of East Africa was generally weak. Although it was stronger than the Far Eastern Empire, it was also limited. Therefore, the Far Eastern Empire was still stronger than East Africa in terms of economic size.

However, East Africa's population grew very quickly, and with the acceleration of industrial progress, the transition between the two sides took only a few years.

…

"By 1900, my country's major urban areas should have access to water, electricity and roads, and in the next fifty years, from 1900 to 1950, electricity should be available nationwide, including electricity, safe drinking water, roads and other infrastructure in rural and remote areas of East Africa."

Currently, there are more than two million households with electricity in East Africa, which seems like a lot, but in fact it is less than 5% of the country's population. This has made East Africa the world's largest power industry country. The United States' electricity scale only accounts for about 47% of East Africa, and Germany ranks third.

East Africa, the United States, and Germany are in the first echelon of the world's power industry, far ahead of other countries in the world, including Britain and France.

"As of May this year, more than 1,700 power plants of various types have been built across the country, generating 3.9 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, 79 percent of which is used for lighting. The electrolytic aluminum industry is a major consumer, and the number of workers in the power industry and related practitioners has exceeded 70,000."

The United States has about 30,000 people and Germany has more than 20,000 people. So judging from the number of people working in the power industry alone, East Africa is far ahead of other countries in the world, with the number of professional electricians exceeding 20,000.

The world's power industry has developed very rapidly, from scratch to full strength in the past three decades. As one of the countries that seized the opportunity, East Africa is undoubtedly the world's number one in this regard.

Special industries such as electricity, automobiles, and petroleum are also the few industries in East Africa that are at the forefront of the world. In comparison, East Africa is slightly behind in industries such as steel, railways, and textiles, but overall they are also among the best in the world, barely meeting East Africa's status as a great power. Chemical industry, equipment manufacturing, steam engines, etc. belong to relatively backward countries, but although East Africa is not strong in these industries, it does exist, so it is not completely strangled.

East Africa's investment in emerging industries has led to the fact that as a latecomer, East Africa is fundamentally different from followers such as Japan. Instead, like Germany and the United States, it has surpassed Britain and France in emerging industries.

Of course, Germany and the United States have a good foundation, so it is actually a bit bullying to be counted among the latecomers. Although Germany was divided before, the economies of the German countries were not too bad. As for the United States, it is even more excessive. If we only look at the economic scale, it is even "number one in the world."

"The electricity and internal combustion engine industries will continue to be the country's key investment areas in the future, especially the popularization of production areas. The popularization of electricity is the most likely livelihood project to benefit the people and improve the happiness of the country's citizens, so the popularization of electricity is very important."

This is easy to understand. It is certainly impossible to equip every household in East Africa with a car right now, but it is very easy to install electric lights in every household.

Of course, this easy is relative. For example, according to the electricity plan proposed in East Africa, it will not be until 1900 that electricity coverage of major towns in the country will be achieved.

Currently, the urban population in East Africa is about 10 million, but only about 2 million people have access to electricity. This is the result of more than 30 years of efforts by East African governments.

Of course, when the electricity penetration rate reaches 5%, the speed of electricity promotion will double, which is the case in the United States and other countries in the past.

That is why East Africa dares to make the bold statement that it will achieve universal electricity access in major towns across the country before 1900. As for why they are major towns, the reason is that new towns may emerge in East Africa at any time.

In particular, the development of the "three regions" and resource exploration will also give birth to new industrial towns. It is naturally impossible for the popularization of electricity in these new cities to be completely synchronized with other towns in East Africa.

Therefore, the “three links” policy is mainly aimed at major towns in central, eastern and other parts of East Africa, where electrification is the most difficult to achieve.

As for water supply and roads, it is much simpler. Road access has been completed in most areas. As for water supply, without sufficient water sources, it is impossible to develop into a town with a large population. East Africa only builds new water plants and lays water pipes on this basis.

"The three links policy is not entirely based on economic data. It is also an important livelihood project for our country. It is aimed at catching up with European and American countries quickly and narrowing the gap."

In fact, East Africa’s three links policy goes far beyond this. None of the European and American countries have achieved all three links, and even their power industry cannot compare with East Africa. Moreover, those who can use electricity in European society are generally not ordinary people.

After all, electricity is currently a scarce resource and costs money. Although there are different levels of electricity access in East Africa, it has benefited some ordinary people, especially in developed urban areas in East Africa. Many ordinary citizens can also enjoy the benefits of electricity. This is also the reason why East Africa can become the world's largest electricity producer.

With the implementation of the "Three Links Policy", the popularization of electricity in East Africa will be able to benefit more than 20% of the country's population in just a few years.

This is also the essential difference between East African state-owned power companies and European and American private power companies. East African power companies do not completely take profit as their primary goal and shoulder certain social responsibilities, while private power companies in Europe and the United States completely take profit as their primary goal.

Of course, not all companies in East Africa are like this. For example, the Hechingen Power Company is a Hechingen royal family enterprise, so there is no essential difference between it and European and American power companies.

However, as one of the world's power giants, the majority of the Hechingen Power Company's industries are still deployed outside East Africa, especially in Europe, and it only accounts for less than 20% of the domestic market.

However, a 20% share is not a small number. Except for the top powers, it can basically kill any country including Spain.

In the past life, Italy also had good development in the European power industry. However, in this time and space, due to the redistribution of Italy, the development of the power industry is not satisfactory. After all, the current development of the power industry mainly relies on monopoly organizations, especially in East Africa, the United States and Germany, and Italy obviously does not have such conditions, mainly in terms of market size.

After the initial completion of the Three Links policy, the gap between East Africa and other countries in the electricity sector will further widen, unless a "quick success" competitor like the Soviet Union emerges. However, East Africa is a country that accumulates and accelerates its success. Even if the Soviet Union exists now, it is not easy to surpass East Africa.

Even though the United States currently does not reach 50% of East Africa's level in the electricity sector, it can be seen that the power industry in East Africa is developing at a very fast pace. The most terrifying thing is that the population in East Africa is still growing rapidly, which means that the scale of the power industry in East Africa will only continue to accelerate in the future.

(End of this chapter)