African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 435: Chapter 112 Railways and Copper Mines

Compared to Zimbabwe, the Katanga Plateau (Zambia and southern Congo) is actually the heartland of East African territory, but the mineral resources are somewhat specialized—copper reserves are among the world’s top levels, while other mineral resources pale in comparison.

Even so, coal and iron resources in the Katanga region are still significantly stronger than those in eastern East Africa, although they are also concentrated in the area that converges with Zimbabwe. This distribution shows that most of East African kingdom’s coal and iron resources naturally cluster in the Southern Africa region.

As the British said in the First World War in previous generations, the Germans’ colonies were just wastelands, and in later generations, East Africa’s overall development level lagged behind North Africa, West Africa, and South Africa—only somewhat stronger than Central Africa.

So Ernst said: ”While constructing the Central Railway, we must also simultaneously develop the Katanga region, completing economic integration with the eastern region ahead of the Matebel Plateau (Zimbabwe), to narrow the gap between the two areas.”

”Among them, the copper resources of the Katanga region are our focus for development, forming the core competitiveness reliant on copper development.”

”The importance of copper is familiar to everyone. It is currently the second-largest consumption metal in the world next to steel, and is our advantage resource in East Africa.”

”Copper mining and utilization cannot be separated from railway support. Our demand for copper is enormous, so the construction of the Central Railway is of great importance to the copper mining development in the Katanga region.”

Historically, from the 17th to 19th century, Europe was the main supplier of the world’s copper mines, although Europe’s demand for copper was actually not large, but this situation changed at the end of the 19th century.

Copper, as one of the main industrial materials commonly used as a conductor, saw a significant increase in world demand, closely tied to the invention and use of electricity during the Second Industrial Revolution and the rapid development of the electrical industry. The world’s copper supply position shifted from Europe to the United States, which exactly demonstrated that the level of development of copper smelting and electrical manufacturing industries in the United States had overall surpassed Europe, as the main countries during the Second Industrial Revolution.

However, this situation changed with the emergence of Ernst, as the rapid development of Heixinggen Power Company accelerated Europeans’ emphasis on the immense economic value of copper mines.

Currently, copper prices in Europe have risen, which is not friendly to Heixinggen Power Company, so now is the time to develop East African copper mines and the electricity industry.

Moreover, in the electricity field, this new track of world industry does not fall short in East Africa, and all of this is due to the copper mines in the Katanga region, giving Ernst confidence.

Without mentioning other aspects, just the production of electrical wires and cables alone presents a huge market, especially now when various nations are vigorously developing and promoting technological products like submarine cables, telegraphs, telephones, lights, etc. Producing wires and cables requires copper and rubber, isn’t this naturally prepared for East Africa!

Of course, this is a railway construction meeting, so Ernst does not need to elaborate about the prospects of the electricity industry to the personnel at the meeting.

However, Ernst already plans to initially develop the electricity industry in Dar es Salaam and Mombasa, because with the presence of Heixinggen Power Company, there is currently no shortage of personnel, technology, and funds—only mines are lacking, which all needs to be realized by the railway.

And the reason the electricity industry is chosen along the coast is mainly because it is categorized as a high-tech industry, heavily dependent on technology, talent, and market.

East Africa is not lacking in technology, but talent needs to be brought in from Europe and America, and Dar es Salaam and Mombasa are the two cities most attractive in this regard in East Africa.

Markets are divided into domestic and foreign markets, and currently, the domestic market in East Africa is narrow, mainly distributed in the east, so the East African electricity industry depends primarily on the European market; Heixinggen Power Company already has European sales channels, and what East African natives need to do is to export East African electric products to Europe via maritime transport.

This is also why Ernst is currently laying out the electricity industry in the coastal areas of eastern East Africa. The biggest advantage of eastern East Africa lies in maritime transport, and the richest agricultural conditions in all of Africa, but in the era of industrialization, the favorable conditions in agriculture may not translate into competitive advantages, just like the relationship between Austria and Hungary.

However, Ernst does not think the conditions in East Africa are poor; it only needs a good overall environment. Based on his experience from his previous generation’s country, regions not rich in mineral resources can still achieve rapid development through international division of labor and cooperation, and the convenience of maritime transport is the foundation of this condition.

For example, the resource distribution in the Far East, with most coal, iron mines, oil, and natural gas concentrated in the north (including northeast and northwest), while the south (including southwest) has extremely strong transportation advantages. This transportation advantage is based on developed maritime transport and inland river navigation.

A golden waterway can cover the entire Yangtze River basin (excluding Tibet), with economic collaboration ability far exceeding other regions.

The north is also coastal, but there are only a few top-tier ports in the north, also facing the winter freezing issue that hampers navigation, plus the economic hinterland is narrow (or to say, not smooth, with too small a radiation range); if the port conditions in the far northeast are placed in other countries, they would be considered top-notch.

For instance, if East Africa had those northeastern port conditions, Ernst would wake up with a smile from dreaming. East African harbor conditions in the world range are actually quite poor, but definitely better than Central Africa, South Africa, and West Africa.

North Africa surrounds the Mediterranean and Red Sea; East Africa relies on the Indian Ocean, and in the world economy, the Indian Ocean route is undoubtedly the most important, even in the twenty-first century.

Africa’s advantage in the central-west area is the Atlantic Ocean, but the Atlantic can actually be divided into north and south parts, with Africa mainly connected to the South Atlantic, and the opposite side of the South Atlantic is South America, which can only be described as sharing similar woes; economically, it’s best not to have too much illusion unless one can develop and thus open up the meridians of South Atlantic shipping, but judging from previous generations’ history, both have been competing to see who has a lower limit.

Therefore, in previous generations, trade among the two was not frequent, forming a shipping trade centered on Europe and the Far East, with both continents at the very lower tier of international division of labor, with highly competitive export products; it’s fortunate if it’s top strategic resources like oil, otherwise mostly lesser important minerals and agricultural products dominate.

The problem East Africa faces is a certain deviation from the main international route, which is also the problem faced by the Far East in previous generations. From this angle, India is instead in the center position, with the most advantageous conditions; if India rises, it can emulate the pre-Age of Exploration Arab regions to monopolize East-West trade.

How serious is this problem? Let’s assume, if the Far East and India swapped positions, then the world overlord would immediately shift from America to the Far East.

Once the center of world shipping is controlled, no sanctions would pose a threat to the Far East; the bottleneck in Far East development lies in raw materials and markets, and the foundation of international raw materials and markets is maritime transport.

As for other regions along the Indian Ocean coast, none have the conditions like India; Arabian countries have too poor natural conditions, unsuitable for industrial ventures; Southeast Asia is too scattered; East Africa’s position is somewhat off; Australia can be directly ignored.

Thus, in Ernst’s industrial blueprint, eastern East Africa serves as the forefront for developing an outward economy, and currently, the industry enabling this forefront is the electric power industry. Absent of industrial concerns, East Africa’s foreign trade mainly relies on agriculture, especially tropical economic crop exports.