Chapter 321 Kitui Coal Mine
Nairobi city.
After several months of moving around, the machines shipped from the Venice area were finally reassembled. As the boilers were ignited, the roar of the machines rang out in Nairobi.
The Austrian business delegation that came to East Africa also stopped in Mombasa, as they were not interested in developing the inland areas for the time being. However, there were a few adventurous businessmen who were willing to go to Nairobi and Kisumu, which are further inland in East Africa, to complete the next inspection mission.
So they chose to leave the expedition team, and after discussing with the East African government, they were accompanied by officials from Nairobi and Kisumu to complete the expedition mission.
Austrian businessman Ramoscatto is very interested in Nairobi, a textile city that is being planned and built in East Africa.
Nairobi Mayor Vallejo said: "Mr. Ramoscatto, you see, what we said was true! Nairobi can develop in a very short time. Now Nairobi has completed the initial industrialization. This is the textile industrial park built by Hexingen Daily Necessities Company. More than 5,000 people have started to work in the textile industry. When more machines and equipment arrive, Nairobi's textile industry will be further improved, and the number of textile workers will also increase further."
At present, the textile sector has not yet become independent from the Heixingen Daily Necessities Company, so the investment will be completed by the Heixingen Daily Necessities Company.
Ramoscatto: "Well! You East Africans are indeed very efficient, but I want to know how you ensure the energy supply for the industrial development of this city."
This is particularly important for Ramoscatto. East Africa is certainly capable of developing the textile industry, but he needs to investigate the costs carefully. Ramoscatto does not know much about East Africa, so he needs to obtain effective information from the East African government.
Vallejo: "You don't have to worry about this. Currently, Nairobi's energy supply mainly relies on the coal resources in Mbeya. The transportation cost is indeed relatively high. However, according to the central government, we have recently discovered a coal mine near Kitui Town between Nairobi East and Mombasa. The preliminary exploration reserves are in the millions of tons, which is enough to guarantee the energy needs of Nairobi and Mombasa."
There are definitely more coal mines near Kitui. Currently, geological surveyors employed by East Africa have discovered reserves of more than 40 million tons, but the Kitui area still has considerable potential. It is predicted that its coal reserves will exceed 100 million tons. Not only coal resources, but as East Africa increases its investment in the northern industrial belt and the Lake Malawi Industrial Zone, more and more resources are being discovered. Just in the southeast of Kenya, the East African government has discovered iron ore south of Kitui and is still estimating its reserves.
Kitui is located exactly between Mombasa and Nairobi, closer to Nairobi, and will give priority to supplying the Nairobi area. As for Mombasa, some of its coal resources will be imported from the British Indian colonies and the Middle East by sea.
Ramoscato: "Then why didn't we see the town of Kitui on the road when we came here?"
Ramoscatto took a horse carriage from Mombasa all the way to Nairobi and did not find any towns in between.
Valejo: "The coal mine in Kitui was discovered not long ago, so Kitui is not a big town. It still maintains the original village size. It was upgraded to a township a month ago because of the discovery of coal resources. In addition, the road you took is in the south of Kitui, which is still some distance away from Kitui. That's why you didn't see it."
La Moscato: "Well, can I go and take a look?"
Ramoscatto had to go to Kitui town to confirm it with his own eyes. It would be clear at a glance whether there was coal or not by visiting the local area and seeing if there were any mines.
Valejo: "Of course, but it takes three days to travel from Nairobi to Kitui, which is about 100 kilometers away. The conditions there are also relatively poor at the moment, so you'd better think it over carefully first."
Ramoscatto: "It doesn't matter. For me, it's better to confirm anything about myself personally, otherwise I won't be able to sleep at night."
Since Ramoscato said so, Valejo stopped persuading him. He was just worried that Ramoscato could not adapt to the environment of Kitui Town. Although it was upgraded from a village to a town, Kitui was a temporary village before. Kitui is a place with relatively scarce water, so there were only a dozen pastoralist families at the beginning. East Africa developed it very late and the local conditions were very poor.
Valejo: "Okay, but we'll have to wait until you've inspected Nairobi. We'll then send someone to take you to Kitui to see what's going on."
Next, Vallejo took Ramoscatto to continue wandering around the city of Nairobi. The city of Nairobi is not big and is mainly divided into three parts: a west city area, an east city area, and a textile park.
The first two are residential areas. The East City District is where the earliest Nairobi immigrants lived, while the West City District is where new immigrants live.
The population structure of Dongcheng District is relatively balanced, while Xicheng District reveals a strong Italian lifestyle. It is obvious that the residents of Water City have not yet adapted to this kind of life on the inland plateau of East Africa.
Venice is quite humid, while Nairobi is dry. Because the atmosphere is relatively thin, the sunshine is also brighter.
Ramoscatto was obviously more surprised by the West City District than the East City District. As a native Austrian, it was not the first time for him to see so many Italians. He had been to Trieste, where there were many Italian residents living together with Germans, but not so many Orientals. The West City District combined the three characteristics of Germany, Italy and the East.
Ramoscatto asked curiously, "How many Germans are there in the West City District?"
Vallejo: "We Germans number about 7,000, Italians more than 40,000, and Orientals more than 30,000."
This data is definitely problematic, because all ethnic groups within the Austro-Hungarian Empire who immigrated to East Africa would be counted as Germans, so Ramoscatto believed that the actual number of Germans should be around two thousand, but Vallejo would not reveal it to him.
Ramoscatto, who was kept in the dark, then asked: "Most of the German residents should be from Austria!"
Vallejo: “Well, mainly from Austria-Hungary, and a fair number from the Saarland and Lorraine regions of Germany.”
Ramoscatto: "You have done a good job in immigration. When I visited rural areas in Austria and Hungary, I saw many East African organizations recruiting immigrants. So how many immigrants have you recruited in Austria-Hungary over the years?"
Vallejo shook his head and said, "I don't know. I'm just a small mayor and I don't know the overall data of the kingdom. But according to the situation in Nairobi, I would say that the number of immigrants from the Austro-Hungarian Empire is conservatively over 500,000, and that doesn't include German immigrants."
As Vallejo said, he was not aware of the kingdom's overall immigration data, so the estimated number of immigrants from the Austro-Hungarian Empire was too conservative. As the East African Kingdom's second largest source of immigrants after the Far East, the number of immigrants from the Austro-Hungarian Empire had long exceeded one million. At the same time, the number of German immigrants from the Austro-Hungarian Empire was second only to the southern German countries.
(End of this chapter)
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