Chapter 659: Trade with Afghanistan
Jimma, Turkana Province.
The main purpose of East Africa's occupation of the southern part of the Ethiopian Plateau was to ensure the safety of the water source of the Omo River upstream of Lake Turkana.
With the occupation of East Africa here, the water source security problems of not only the Omo River, but also the Shabelle River, Juba River and other rivers have been solved. It has become a "small water tower" in northeastern East Africa.
Today, trade with the Abyssinian Empire has made Turkana Province the most important land trade port in East Africa, and the Abyssinian Empire is also the largest land trading country in East Africa.
The main reason is that the Abyssinian Empire is large in size. Among the countries and regions bordering East Africa, the Abyssinian Empire and Egypt have the largest populations.
Unfortunately, Egypt’s core area is too far away from East Africa, Sudan in the middle is too poor, and Egypt is now a semi-colony of Britain. East Africa can only watch this market.
"This pile of wood carvings can only be exchanged for three Rhine shields, because the wood carving market is not booming right now, especially wood carvings like yours. Although they have their own cultural characteristics, they are worthless in other countries."
"Mr. Hans, these wood carvings were carefully made by the most famous art master in Negmette City. He spent several days to make them. Look at the patterns and the texture of the wood. Not to mention the craftsmanship, the value of the wood alone is not cheap."
It has to be said that East Africa has inherited a characteristic of Germany, that is, there are too many people named Hans. If you shout this name on the street, probably six or seven people will turn around. However, immigrants from the Far Eastern Empire have greatly enriched the diversity of East African names and surnames.
"So how much do you want?"
"At least twenty Rhine shields!"
"Too much. Your goods are not worth that much money. As I said before, your culture is different from that of Europe and even Arab countries. So if you just promote your own traditions, it is very likely that they will not be welcomed by the market. I told you before that it is better to make them according to the samples we provide, so that you can open up the market."
The wood carving samples provided by Hans were naturally customized for Europe, and were mainly based on religious and cultural factors. After all, Europeans paid tithes and indulgences willingly, so it was not excessive to buy some cultural products to support "God".
Of course, the more important thing is that Abyssinians are good carpenters. Many religious figures can be portrayed vividly. This should be the talent of Africans.
Hans continued to lower the price, "Look at the pattern. Such good wood is wasted. It can even be said that this is high-quality wood, and its value is more than three Rhine Shields. With the craftsmanship, it should be worth at least five Rhine Shields. It is because you guys acted on your own that three Rhine Shields is considered a high price now."
Kale was obviously convinced by Hans' words, but did the value of these wood carvings really depreciate because of his own proposition?
"Then Mr. Hans, how about we take this batch of wood carvings back and redo them? If we make them a little smaller, it should be able to salvage some of their value." Kale asked tentatively.
How could it be possible? The meat was already at his mouth, so Hans naturally didn't want to spit it out. As for the previous devaluation of these wood carvings, it was a business! Everyone knows that it is a process of mutual discounting.
But what Hans said was true. Wood carvings like those from the Abyssinian Empire would be difficult to sell if they were not modified according to European aesthetics. But being difficult to sell does not mean there is no market, especially for artists who are very interested in this kind of wood carvings with primitive and wild beauty.
European artists are all wealthy and generous, but the artist group is a minority after all. Mass products are also a priority in East Africa, which is why Hans asked Party B to produce products in accordance with European religious and cultural elements.
So Hans said, "Forget about taking it back and revising it. After all, it takes a lot of time to go back and forth, and it will affect our next transaction. I'll take a loss this time and buy it for four Rhine Shields."
East Africa's purchase of large quantities of handicrafts from the Abyssinian Empire was actually a helpless move, because the Abyssinian Empire itself did not have any outstanding mineral resources. Agriculture was the pillar industry of the Abyssinian Empire, and East Africa was also a major agricultural country. Therefore, for trade between the two countries, East Africa had to think of more ways to make the Abyssinian Empire able to afford it.
Take wood carving as an example. East Africa was able to produce it in the past, but the craftsmanship of the local indigenous peoples could obviously not compare with that of an ancient civilization like the Abyssinian Empire.
Moreover, the labor cost of the Abyssinian Empire was much lower than that of East Africa. The population of East Africa was too small compared to its territory, while the situation of the Abyssinian Empire was the opposite. In the past few years, the land area of the Abyssinian Empire had been shrinking, the arable land had decreased, but the population had increased instead of decreased, so the labor cost further decreased.
Therefore, East Africa outsourced production of handicrafts such as wood carvings and carpets to the Abyssinian Empire. Of course, this was limited to handicrafts.
East Africa values industry rather than handicrafts. After all, when it comes to handicrafts, no country in the world can rival the Far Eastern Empire. Many handicraft products in East Africa are purchased directly from the Far Eastern Empire.
The handicrafts purchased from the Far Eastern Empire were mainly used for domestic consumption, while the handicrafts of the Abyssinian Empire were mainly used for resale to other countries and regions. In fact, they were the goods of second-hand dealers in East Africa.
In fact, the Turkana Province can also rely on the Abyssinian Empire to develop its own industry, which is quite rare in the inland of East Africa.
The solution is also very simple. The population of Turkana Province is not large in East Africa, and its resources are not particularly rich, especially basic industrial raw materials such as coal and iron.
Turkana Province is very large and certainly has no shortage of these minerals, but it lacks the population to mine these minerals. Therefore, one of the initiatives for Turkana Province to develop industry is to use its trade advantages with the Abyssinian Empire to turn the Abyssinian Empire into a supplier and market for raw materials for Turkana Province.
Apart from anything else, all the iron ore and coal in Jimma, a border city in Turkana Province, are imported from the Abyssinian Empire.
At the same time, Jimma City is an important gold trading market. Since the Abyssinian Empire has relatively rich gold reserves and a relatively mature industry, Jimma City exchanges the Abyssinian Empire's gold and other wealth through various industrial commodities.
Of course, the most famous trade between the two countries is the arms trade. The Abyssinian Empire has to pay a sum of money every year to purchase arms from East Africa. This is a long-term business because none of the three countries around the Abyssinian Empire, East Africa, Italy, and Britain (Egypt), are easy to mess with.
Being located between these three countries, the Abyssinian Empire was naturally very anxious, so the arms trade from East Africa to Abyssinia ensured that its country would not collapse.
For East Africa, a complete Abyssinian Empire is beneficial to East Africa, because the situation here is complicated. If the Abyssinian Empire falls apart, it will become a mess no matter which country is supporting each force.
As a whole, the Abyssinian Empire's strength has long been weakened by East Africa, and its future potential has also greatly declined. After all, without a territory as large as in the past, the population of Abyssinia will always be maintained at tens of millions in the future.
The most important thing is that the import and export trade of the Abyssinian Empire is basically monopolized by East Africa, which is the first actual supplier of raw materials and a completely open market in East Africa. Therefore, East Africa naturally has to ensure the stability of the current Abyssinian Empire regime.
(End of this chapter)
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