Chapter 901 East African Canal Project
Of course, the construction of the "three ministries" is actually related to the overall development of the international economy. This requires us to go back to the economic crisis of 1873. From the perspective of East Africa, it seems that the impact of the economic crisis has ended long ago or has not occurred. It can even be said that the positive significance for East Africa outweighs the negative significance.
In fact, the negative impact of the economic crisis of 1873 has continued to this day (historical 1873-1896). Although it ended in 1879, the world economy and trade subsequently fell into a state of depression. The specific manifestation was that free trade was replaced by trade protectionism. Europe and the United States have not yet completely recovered from the impact.
A typical example is Russia. After the end of the economic crisis, Russia's economy continued to be sluggish. After all, Russia's economic system is the worst among European and American countries. Therefore, even after the economic crisis is over, Russia's economic growth is seriously insufficient due to insufficient investor confidence.
Other countries were relatively better off, especially Germany and the United States, whose economies had recovered through various economic means. As for Britain and France, they took the colonial route and transferred the crisis to the colonial regions, which was also one of the causes of the South African War.
Unfortunately, even through war, Britain failed to open up the East African market. As a result, Britain could only increase its exploitation of colonies such as India.
However, as time goes by, this most influential economic crisis in the 19th century will eventually end. Now it is 1895, and the impact of the economic crisis in 1873 will end next year.
What followed was the "great prosperity" of the world economy that lasted for more than 30 years. Although a "world war" broke out in Europe in the middle, it made the United States and other countries outside the region make a lot of money.
This is also a huge opportunity for East Africa. Of course, the prerequisite is that it can get out of the next economic crisis in advance. However, it is too early for East Africa at present. It is still unknown whether and when a war can break out.
What East Africa needs to do is to strengthen itself in the next thirty years, taking advantage of the good international market conditions and the strong demand for the war economy caused by the European war.
If East Africa wants to get a bigger piece of the pie, it must improve its local productivity. Therefore, East Africa must complete the construction of a national market before 1900, boost the level of industrial and agricultural development in East Africa, and compete with other countries in the following period.
…
After "encouraging" the transportation and railway departments, the Minister of Water Resources went straight to Ernst's office.
Minister of Water Resources Yarsd placed a thick stack of documents on Ernst's desk. It was a huge canal construction plan. The words "East African Grand Canal Plan" were written on the cover of the document. The "madness" of this plan could be seen from the name alone.
“We plan to connect the inland waterways of the four major river basins: the Malagarasi River (the largest river in Plateau Province), the Zambezi River, the Congo River, and the Kwanza River (in Angola).”
"Well, it's a bold idea!" Ernst could only say this. After all, no one had done this in the previous life. But think about it, given the fragmented national structure of Africa in the previous life, and the fact that each country was involved in countless warlords and tribal forces, even if the productivity level in Africa was not backward, it would be impossible to accomplish such a large project that required overall planning.
"But what about the feasibility of this plan? I need a satisfactory answer." Ernst asked.
Yarsde pushed up the legs of his glasses and said calmly, "Actually, our Ministry of Water Resources should have a plan for this plan. During the first national water conservancy construction plan, we had a similar idea, but now we have added Angola to the plan."
"During the first national water conservancy construction, we have carried out a relatively thorough and systematic transformation of the central and eastern rivers. In this process, the Ministry of Water Resources and experts obtained complete and detailed data on East African rivers."
“So after thorough summarization, calculation, planning, and research, we came up with the East African Canal project.”
"The key to this plan is that water flows to lower places on the Katanga Plateau than on the Biye Plateau. So according to the topography, if East Africa wants to connect the four major river basins together, it must rely on the topography."
"This can be seen from the source of East African rivers. Many tributaries of the Congo River and the Zambezi River originate from the East African Plateau, the Katanga Plateau and the Bie Plateau. Therefore, the Katanga Plateau and the Bie Plateau, located in the center of the four major river basins, are the key to achieving mutual navigation between the four major river basins in the middle region of East Africa."
Yarsd said a lot, but it is not very complicated. To put it simply, the plateau terrain of East Africa can be regarded as the plains of the Far East Empire. The several large plateaus in the middle of the country are actually connected, and East Africa uses the river branches in these connected areas to connect several large rivers.
It is like the Grand Canal of the Far Eastern Empire, which passes through the North China Plain and the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River Plain, interspersed with some small terrains.
The several plateaus mentioned by Yarsd can be regarded as Jiangsu Province. The northern part of Jiangsu Province is the North China Plain, and the southern part belongs to the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River Plain. There is actually no clear boundary between the two.
Of course, the East African Canal sounds very similar to the Far East Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, but the two are actually completely different.
After all, the Grand Canal has a distinct single waterway that stretches for thousands of kilometers, while East Africa obviously does not have such geographical conditions.
Yarsd also explained this: "The East African Canal is not a single river, but through dozens of large and small canals, connecting the tributaries of these rivers, it indirectly forms an inland shipping network covering the entire middle land of East Africa."
It can be said that the main rivers in East Africa flow in their own directions. The Zambezi River flows eastward into the Indian Ocean, the Congo River flows westward into the Atlantic Ocean, and the Nile River flows northward into the Mediterranean Sea. The overall river network is scattered.
Therefore, it is impossible to connect the main trunks of these rivers, but in addition to the main trunks, these rivers have thousands of tributaries.
The Grand Canal of East Africa makes use of these tributaries to connect the inland areas of East Africa to the rivers and seas, thereby reducing inland transportation costs.
"According to our calculations, the actual length of the East African Canal may be around 1,700 to 2,300 kilometers, and the exact length will depend on the plan adopted."
"Because the East African Grand Canal project is actually composed of dozens of small canal plans, some trade-offs will inevitably be made among these small canal plans, resulting in changes in the data."
The East African Canal Project is actually more accurately called the East African Canal Network Project. East African water conservancy experts have also developed many alternative plans. Which plan will be finally adopted will also depend on the specific construction situation.
This bold idea of the water conservancy department made Ernst feel enlightened, and he realized that there were still capable people under his command.
The problem of inland waterway navigation in East Africa has always been a concern, but the East African Canal project cleverly uses river tributaries as support points. Since the main roads cannot be connected, the tributaries are connected together. This is actually a roundabout tactic.
Although the tributaries are in the river channel and the water volume is slightly less than that of the main stream, it is a blessing for East Africa to be able to achieve the interconnection of the inland water transport network.
If you can't use a large ship, a small boat is also acceptable. After all, even a small boat costs much less than roads and railways. If you don't consider time cost and some specific factors, water transportation must be the preferred option.
"Very good, there are no flaws in this plan as a whole, but you also need to conduct more field investigations and summarize any possible problems before July this year. Then you should report to me." Ernst said to Yarsde.
Although he fully agreed with the plan, Ernst still chose to be cautious. After all, the plan involved hundreds of large tributaries, which would have a huge impact on the ecological problems in the central area of East Africa.
Of course, ecological issues were not actually Ernst’s main concern, and according to this logic, no other country should have built a canal.
The 19th century to the 20th century was actually a peak period for canal construction in various countries, especially by the great powers such as Britain, the United States, Germany, and France. However, the canals they built in the past did not cause much impact on the ecology.
Of course, Ernst can only say sorry for some species that may disappear due to the construction of the canal. After all, the East African government is completely "people-oriented", and economic development is the bottom line.
(End of this chapter)
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