Chapter 645 Industrial Development in Matabele Province
The "Eurasian Fruit Basket Plan" of the two Somali provinces was the vanguard of East African agriculture's active access to the international market. In 1882, the most dazzling industrial development in East Africa was in the three inland provinces (Matabele Province, Hohenzollern Province, and Swabia Province).
In 1882, East Africa's total steel production was 1.23 million tons, of which Matabele Province produced more than 300,000 tons, close to 400,000 tons, quickly catching up with the eastern coastal cities, the northern industrial zones, and the Lake Malawi industrial zones.
Currently, East Africa's annual steel production is close to the level when Germany was founded ten years ago. However, after the unification of Germany and the integration of the domestic market (for example, the newly added Alsace and Lorraine regions are important steel producing areas), steel production capacity experienced explosive growth in a short period of time, and then shrank after the economic crisis of 1873. However, the situation is much better than in the past. The main reason is that the construction of East African railways at that time absorbed the excess production capacity in the German region. Therefore, Germany's current steel production is more than twice that of East Africa.
The current steel production in the UK is more than 7 million tons, more than six times that of East Africa, while that of the United States is more than three times that of East Africa. However, East Africa is more than twice that of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and much lower than that of France, but the gap is not large.
This is mainly due to the development and utilization of East Africa's iron ore resources and the dividends obtained during the economic crisis. However, it is worth mentioning that Tsarist Russia's steel production was far lower than that of East Africa, and even lower than that of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
It is certainly impossible to say that Tsarist Russia lacked mineral resources. Its population was nearly twice that of East Africa, as was its land area.
The difference between East Africa and Tsarist Russia may be that Tsarist Russia's industrial investment mainly relied on European and American capital, with foreign capital accounting for more than 70%.
East Africa is dominated by German capital, mainly the Hechingen Group. At the same time, a large number of state-owned enterprises have been built in East Africa, which enables the East African government to control a large amount of wealth and resources in East Africa.
The development of East Africa and the growth of the Hei Xingen Group are complementary to each other. Without the support of the Hei Xingen Group, East Africa would not have developed so rapidly. Without the support of East African national strength, the Hei Xingen Group would not have been able to become a top financial force.
Moreover, East Africa is an immigrant country. Although it relied entirely on agricultural development and the plunder of the wealth of indigenous peoples in the colonies in the early days, Ernst had already begun to deploy East Africa's industry, mining and other industries in the later days.
For example, during the economic crisis, the large number of European and American workers recruited in East Africa boosted the development of cities and industries in East Africa, while Tsarist Russia at the same time was dragged down by the agricultural crisis that accompanied the economic crisis.
It is not that development cannot be achieved by utilizing foreign capital, but the Tsarist Russia’s aristocratic bureaucracy and European capital were not controllable by the Tsarist Russia itself.
Given the moral character of the Tsarist nobles and bureaucrats, the efficiency of Tsarist Russia's work, and the transportation conditions, Ernst himself did not dare to invest large-scale in industry in Tsarist Russia.
On the contrary, mining and agriculture were relatively stable, which made the Tsarist Russian industry actually dependent on the European industrial system and became an important supplier and market of raw materials.
Of course, this is also related to the weak technology of Tsarist Russia. East Africa also faces this problem, and the one providing technical support to East Africa is the Hechingen Group, an important patent holder in the German region.
At the same time, East African industry focused on the layout of key industries, especially the three major industries of electricity, steel, and railways. Light industries such as the textile industry and commercial fields were not as developed as those of countries such as Tsarist Russia.
This allows the East African government to concentrate its efforts and reduce unnecessary losses. After all, one cannot bite off more than one bites off. In order to achieve rapid development, some areas in which East Africa is not good at must be abandoned.
For example, there is basically no financial industry in East Africa, and commerce is limited to a few cities in the coastal areas. Light industries such as the textile industry are largely dependent on the Far East Empire and the German region. Therefore, except for Nairobi, East Africa has not formed a second textile industry center so far. Bulawayo is working in this direction, but it will take time.
The railway industry is currently the biggest driver of East Africa's economy, and the railways have indirectly driven the development of East Africa's steel industry. As for the electric power industry, East Africa has invested heavily, but was unable to recover the costs in the early stages.
In the East African steel industry, the Lake Malawi Industrial Zone still ranks first in steel production capacity, with a steel production capacity of more than 600,000 tons, but the development history of the Lake Malawi Industrial Zone is much earlier than that of Matabele Province.
The third largest steel production capacity is in the Northern Industrial Belt, with Mombasa and Nairobi, with a steel production capacity of about 100,000 tons. Mombasa belongs to both the Northern Industrial Belt and a coastal city, so in addition to local development, part of the coal and iron resources in the Northern Industrial Belt come from the Middle East and India.
Finally, there are the coastal city industries, mainly Dar es Salaam and New Hamburg Port. Except for the rich coal resources in New Hamburg Port, a large part of the industrial minerals in other coastal cities also need to be imported.
Matabele Province is rich in mineral resources, especially gold, diamonds, iron, coal, chromium, copper, etc. Gold mines are mined in the provincial capital Harare and Bulawayo, as well as in towns such as Gweru.
As the eldest of the three central provinces, Matabele Province also has considerable copper resources. In the past, Britain's "Rhodesia" was famous for its copper production (including the Hechingen Province and the South Salzburg Province), so the power industry was also arranged in Harare City, East Africa, and the industrial categories here are complete. In the next five years, it will surpass Mbeya City and become the top heavy industrial city in East Africa.
"In 1882, a total of 13 new towns were built in Matabele Province, distributed on both sides of the Central Railway. Among them, Gweru and Gwanda were established as cities. The northwestern town of Lupane, which is not along the railway, was also included in this upgrade."
Industry tends to lead to population concentration. In fact, the population of many agricultural towns in East Africa may not be smaller than those of industrial towns, but it is obvious that industrial towns are easier to upgrade.
Most of these industrial towns have developed based on transportation and mineral resources, which makes Matabele Province the fastest urbanizing region in East Africa.
Take Gweiru and Gwanda as examples. They are not only cities along the central railway, but also important mineral development areas. Kuikui, which was also upgraded to an industrial town, will be upgraded to a city next year if nothing unexpected happens.
Kwekwe is located in the center of Harare and Bulawayo, and is also the center of the Matabele section of the Middle East Railway. However, it was developed late, so its current level is not as good as that of Gweru.
Lupane, which is not along the railway line, was upgraded to a city because of its location in the northwest of Matabele Province, where there are no cities and rich resources such as coal mines.
"As of October this year, there are 11 city-level administrative regions in Matabele Province, of which nine are industrial cities. Only two city-level regions are subject to administrative planning. The urban population accounts for more than 30% of the province's population, ranking first in the country. Bulawayo City has great potential and is expected to enter the top ten cities in East Africa in the next two to three years, and Harera City will enter the top five."
East Africa's industrial investment in Matabele Province is far greater than in other regions. Many of these cities have not yet reached the standard in terms of scale, but based on their potential, divided by population and resources, within ten years Matabele Province's industrial data will surpass other regions in East Africa and become the most important industrial region in East Africa.
The only shortcoming of Matabele Province is the lack of access to the sea, which is the current Portuguese colony of Mozambique. In the economic map of Matabele Province, the port of Beira in Mozambique will build a railway directly to Harare in the future to promote the further development of Matabele Province.
(End of this chapter)
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