Chapter 622 Somalia Fisheries Prospects
"In addition to tropical fruit and vegetable cultivation, the Northern Province and Juba Province have a coastline of more than 1,300 kilometers, but the development of our fishery resources accounts for less than one percent of the economy. This is a huge waste. The development of fishery resources should be put on the agenda." Rohlmann Karin, a senior official in the Northern Province, told the mayor of Mogadishu.
In fact, developing fishery resources in the Somali waters has always been something that Rohlmann Kälin has been thinking about. Rohlmann Kälin himself is from Monfalcone, a small coastal town in Austria, so he has a strong sense of belonging to the ocean.
Mogadishu Mayor Kranes also agrees with this point. Mogadishu is originally a comprehensive port in East Africa, and fishing is one of the important economic sources of Mogadishu. However, in recent years, more resources of Mogadishu Port have been used on foreign trade ships.
"Mr. Official, the development of fishery resources requires necessary facilities such as fishing vessels, and in this regard, we in Mogadishu are obviously lacking, especially in terms of resources. We may not be naturally suitable for industrial development," said Kranis.
Mogadishu's water source mainly depends on the Shabelle River, but most of the water from the Shabelle River is used for agricultural irrigation. Ernst did not intend to develop industry in the Somalia region from the beginning. Moreover, given the status of the Northern Province as a frontier province, it is even less likely that East Africa will build important industries here, unless it is agricultural product processing industry directly extended from agriculture.
In addition to insufficient water resources, other resources are also relatively scarce in Somalia. For example, the forest coverage rate is only about 15%, and is mainly distributed in the mountainous part of Ethiopia bordering Turkana Province, which is a relatively low level in East Africa.
It is now the end of the 19th century. In the first half of the 19th century, the world's ships were mainly driven by natural wind and manpower, and shipbuilding materials were mainly wood.
Even now, wooden shipbuilding still firmly occupies the dominant position in the shipbuilding industry. A large amount of steel is more used in warships or strong shipping companies, while wooden shipbuilding is more concentrated on small and medium-sized ships. Somalia's forestry resources are obviously unable to support the development of traditional wooden shipbuilding industry.
As for the emerging shipbuilding industry, Somalia faces a shortage of resources such as coal and iron. This is not to say that Somalia lacks minerals, but that it is not worth it for the East African government to develop it at this stage.
Many areas of Somalia are deserts, and mining development is bound to face environmental problems. This is not because of the concern about environmental damage, but because of the need to solve problems such as water shortages. The distribution of minerals will not be the same as the population in Somalia, but will be concentrated along the banks of the two rivers (the Shabelle River and the Juba River).
Of course, the coastal areas of Somalia can also learn from the experience of Dar es Salaam and Mombasa and import iron ore or coal from the Middle East or India to develop industry, but this goes back to the problem of previous policies restricting industrial development in Somalia.
Therefore, if Somalia wants to solve the problem of industrial development, it can only focus on agriculture and develop agricultural product processing and food industries.
Agriculture also has great development value. For example, Argentina, which currently has a very prosperous economy, relies on agriculture and animal husbandry. With the support of British capital, Argentina's railways and industries have developed rapidly, and these are all centered around agriculture and animal husbandry and serve them.
In the late 19th century, with the surge in demand for wool in the international market and the development of refrigeration technology, Argentina's wool, beef, wheat and other agricultural products were exported to Europe and the United States. The export volume continued to rise, and Argentina became one of the world's major exporters of agricultural products.
In its past, Argentina relied on its strong agriculture. By the beginning of the 20th century, Argentina had become the world's seventh largest economy and the fifth largest exporter, and its wealth even surpassed that of the United States.
Argentina, under the influence of East Africa, naturally could not develop to the scale of its previous life. In terms of population alone, Argentina was the second largest immigration destination in Europe after the United States during this period of its previous life. However, after the establishment of East Africa, Argentina could only rank third. From 1865 to 1880, the immigrant population was only close to 500,000, and most of them were from countries such as Italy.
As for German immigrants, more than 60% of them were basically taken up by East Africa during this period. This was mainly because East Africa was unable to absorb most of the immigrant population in the early days. The economic crisis in 1873 was a turning point. East Africa officially replaced the United States as the world's largest immigration destination, with German and Chinese immigrants contributing more than 60%.
In other words, Argentina and the United States have lost at least millions of immigrants to East Africa. Especially the United States, at least more than two million potential German immigrants have been absorbed by East Africa.
However, this does not affect the overall economic development of Argentina. The foundation of Argentina's economic development is still its unique geographical conditions. It is a natural agricultural and pastoral power. Its railway development is not much worse than that of East Africa. At least in terms of density, it is ahead of East Africa.
The conditions in the Somali region are naturally impossible to compare with those in Argentina, but the irreplaceable locational advantage is unmatched by Argentina. In the whole of East Africa, it belongs to the first echelon, that is, it is close to the main sea routes of the two major world markets in Europe and Asia. Whether there is the Suez Canal or not, the Somali region cannot be avoided.
"Juba Province and the Northern Province have long coastlines and world-class high-quality natural fisheries. Although they cannot be compared with the world's top fisheries, apart from those fisheries, Somalia's coastal areas are firmly in the second tier. The coast is rich in various fish, and tuna, mackerel, anchovies, sardines, sharks and other resources are particularly abundant. These are God's gifts to us in East Africa. Therefore, the development of fishery resources in the Northern Province should be put on the agenda as soon as possible. Mogadishu, as the provincial capital and the largest port city in the Northern Province, should work harder to enrich local industries as much as possible." said Roalman Karin.
Kranes: "We in Mogadishu are doing our best, but there are too many restrictions, especially the tasks to be completed around the 'Eurasian Fruit Basket Project', and the funding and other aspects cannot be effectively guaranteed."
Roalman Karin: “You don’t have to worry too much about this. The provincial government is applying to the central government for a new round of investment promotion in Mogadishu. We will focus on negotiating with the Austrian government and organize Austrian businessmen to visit Mogadishu.
However, the central government is still discussing that the focus of this "Eurasian Fruit Basket Plan" is the construction of related infrastructure. I think the improvement of infrastructure level should be attractive to the Austrian business community, so you should first complete the infrastructure issues in an orderly manner.
As the saying goes, opportunities come to those who are prepared. Only when our Northern Province improves its hardware and services, others will see our potential and invest with confidence.
Therefore, in addition to improving infrastructure construction, the Mogadishu government must prioritize the creation of a harmonious business environment and build confidence for future investors coming to Mogadishu."
Unable to get money from the central government, the northern provincial government can only try to attract foreign investment. In this regard, the northern industrial zone of East Africa and the three established open ports along the coast have provided examples.
Austrian businessmen are particularly keen to invest in the three coastal cities of Dar es Salaam, Mombasa and the new port of Hamburg, while Mogadishu was only granted open status last year.
The rich fishery resources in Somalia's waters are an important bait for Mogadishu to attract foreign investment. This also involves the issue of commercial channels, which the Northern Provincial Government naturally cannot solve. This has to be accomplished by Austrian capital, who will expand the relevant markets. The Northern Province's own market is small and cannot solve this problem. As for the domestic market, this involves transportation issues.
Somalia's transportation mainly relies on two rivers and sea transportation, so it is distributed horizontally and is not directly connected to the vast inland areas of East Africa, so it cannot compete with Mombasa, Dar es Salaam, and the New Hamburg Port.
(End of this chapter)
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