African Entrepreneurship Records

Chapter 887 Eight Northern Cities

Ernst said a few words, and the people below will be busy breaking their legs. Although it is said that backward industries must be moved northward, the location of relocation must not be decided casually. Even backward industries are valuable resources for East Africa. After all, The current industrial scale in East Africa is not large and the demand is far from sufficient, so even the relocation of backward industries requires research and inspection.

Regarding this, Ernst said rather wickedly: "I think the location of Gezira City is very good. It is located in the Gezira Plain. It has a certain agricultural foundation. It is also close to the Nile River and there is no shortage of water resources. It can be focused on development. A group of chemical industries and other highly polluting industries will not affect our domestic environment and at the same time facilitate trade between us and Egypt.”

The Nile flows from south to north and is an international river, mainly involving three countries: East Africa, Egypt and the Abyssinian Empire.

  International rivers are generally prone to international disputes, with water source issues being the main issue. Most rivers in the upper Nile Basin (South Sudan) eventually converge into the Nile River.

The city of Gezira is the last section of the Nile River in East Africa. It would be very unethical to locate highly polluting industries here. East Africa, which is located in the upper reaches of the river, will inevitably pollute the water of the Nile River in Egypt.

The Nile River is the mother river of Egypt. Most of the drinking and irrigation water comes from the Nile River, so Ernst’s idea is very dangerous.

However, officials in East Africa quite agree with this point. After all, people in this era have no concept of environmental protection, and the development of industry will inevitably cause pollution. All industrial sewage in East Africa is discharged into rivers and seas.

 At present, the main industrial zones in East Africa are concentrated on the eastern coast, the coast of Lake Malawi, and the central region. Therefore, industrial wastewater in East Africa is mainly discharged in two directions, namely the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean.

The water from Lake Malawi flows into the Zambezi River through the Shire River, and the main rivers near the central industrial area are tributaries of the Zambezi River and the Congo River, so part of it flows into the Zambezi River, and part of it flows into the Congo River, and then The return journeys are to the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean respectively.

Of course, if East Africa deploys highly polluting industries in the city of Gezira, the impact will not be as bad as imagined. After all, the country that pollutes the Nile the most is actually Egypt itself.

Although Egypt is backward, its industrial level is second only to East Africa in the whole of Africa, and Egypt's industrial sewage is obviously discharged into the Nile River. In the past, the Nile River was one of the most polluted rivers in the world, competing with the Ganges River in India.

Although the population of the Ganges River Basin far exceeds that of the Nile River, the Ganges River has a large flow and a strong self-cleaning ability. The Nile River has less water, and there is only one river downstream. The natural pollution is more serious. In addition, Egypt is densely populated, and residents along the river have limited access to water. All come from the Nile River, but the corresponding domestic sewage and industrial sewage can only rely on the Nile River.

So even if East Africa does not pollute the Nile River, the Egyptians themselves will. In fact, this is the current situation. Egypt introduced a large number of textile companies during the Ali era. The pollution of the textile industry is very serious, and of course these industrial sewage is also the main source of the Nile River. source of pollution.

As for the Abyssinian Empire and East Africa upstream, the actual impact on the Nile River was very small. Of course, the Abyssinian Empire was a purely agricultural country and could not have much impact on the water quality of the Nile River.

Although there is a certain scale of industry in East Africa, except for some cities along the Great Lakes (Lake Victoria) region, most of the industrial deployment is in agricultural areas, and the impact on the Nile River is not significant.

Of course, whether Gezira City can carry out industrial development is inevitable. Gezira City is one of the important long-staple cotton producing areas in East Africa. Apart from other things, the textile industry must be arranged so that Nairobi City’s textile industry Some of them will definitely migrate to the city of Gezira.

As for the chemical industry, although Jezira has the advantage of being in the upper reaches of the river, the development of the chemical industry also requires a certain local industrial foundation, and there are many cities in East Africa that are interested in the chemical industry, because the chemical industry is also an emerging industry in East Africa. . Moreover, Gezira City is far away from the hinterland of East Africa. The railway from Juba City to Gezira City has not yet been opened, so the industrial development of Gezira City will take time.

“The city of Bangui must be developed as a priority. At the same time, Mogadishu and Kismayo on the coast of Somalia, Bangassou on the Azande Plateau, Dire Dawa, and Turkana Province are all priority options.”

Turkana Province is listed separately. As one of the earliest developed regions in East Africa, Turkana Province is currently the most important oil producing area in East Africa. It also has multiple trade ports connecting to the Abyssinian Empire, railways, and roads. It has already been opened, so it will be the focus of the industrial sector this time.

In addition to Turkana Province, Bangui has the most prominent position. Its downstream is Kinshasa and Cabinda, to the north is the royal territory of Sigmaringen and German Cameroon, and to the west is the Belgian Congo, so East Africa must develop vigorously. Bangui city.

In addition to economic considerations, it is also natural for national defense and security considerations. The population of the northwest region is relatively small, and it is not a key direction for the development of East Africa. However, with the activities of other colonists, East Africa must pay more attention to local security to prevent the territory from being invaded. erosion.

Most of the border between East Africa and Belgium is located on the right bank of the Ubangi River. The area is swampy, so it is actually difficult to distinguish the current border between the two countries. As for the other two colonies, Sigmaringen East Africa is not worried, and the German Although the relationship between Cameroon and Cameroon is considered friendly, they must be cautious.

In the end, the East African government identified several key cities for the transfer of backward industries, namely Dire Dawa Town, Jimma City, Gambella City (border of the Abyssinian Empire), Juba City, Gezira City, Ban Gasou City (Central Africa), Bria City (Central Africa), Bangui City.

These eight cities are basically spread across various provinces in northern East Africa. Most of them are located in the border areas, including Dire Dawa Town, Jimma City, Juba City and Gezira City. Bangui City is actually close to the border, but the urban area is far away from the border. In addition, there are regional transportation hubs, such as Bangui, Juba, and Bria.

As for the cities that were not selected, some of them are not due to poor conditions. Some cities in Mogadishu, Kismayo and Turkana Province actually have a certain industrial base, so they do not need these backward industries that are about to be eliminated.

Taking Mogadishu as an example, its key development industry is the food processing industry, and Mogadishu's food processing industry itself is at the top level in East Africa. At the same time, Mogadishu also has the textile industry, which is one of its pillar industries. Its textile industry has just been put into production in recent years, mainly as a result of the last "Eurasian Fruit Basket Plan" investment promotion in the two provinces of Somalia.

Moreover, with the cooperation between East and Germany, more German businessmen have chosen to invest and build factories in the coastal areas of East Africa. There are many opportunities, so this transfer of backward industries is not very popular among Mogadishu and others. middle.

  After all, the investment of Germany and Austria-Hungary must be based on emerging technologies on the market. If they accept the backward industries eliminated in the east, it will not be an opportunity for these cities, but a burden.

Therefore, these backward industries still have to be transferred to underdeveloped areas in East Africa. Of course, they cannot have any economic foundation. Otherwise, even if the backward industries are transferred to the local areas, they may not be able to operate. And the eight cities selected above are like this. level, perfectly meeting the needs of the East African government.

 (End of this chapter)