African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 615: Chapter 293: Husband and Wife Dialogue

In my previous life, the rubber plantation industry was always in a lukewarm state, partly due to various limiting factors. Simply put, this economic crop is rather finicky, difficult to manage, and subject to geographical restrictions, making it a high-risk venture.

However, the market demand was significant, consistently in a state of undersupply. In Ernst’s view, even if the planting scale were expanded tenfold, the market could absorb it. Its superior performance allows it to replace many materials.

Karina found Ernst’s thinking quite divergent and interesting. She said, ”Even the tire business, I think, could become very large. After all, these hollow inflatable tires can be used on many vehicles. Even if carriages were all replaced with hollow inflatable tires, it would be astronomical.”

Ernst squeezed Karina’s small hand and said, ”Naturally, the main wheels used in future vehicles will largely be replaced by hollow inflatable tires due to their ease of replacement and maintenance, improvement in vehicle stability, and enhancement of vehicle comfort... the advantages are numerous. With so many carriages in Europe, the economic value represented by this market alone is astronomical. Although carriages will eventually be replaced by automobiles, this might take at least another thirty years.”

Ernst’s timeline was extremely conservative. Even in the 21st century, animal-drawn vehicles will not be completely replaced. The number of cars owned in many countries is quite low, and in some African countries and regions, even an eighteenth-hand car can be used as a taxi.

Of course, Ernst was mostly referring to rural areas, as during his time in Africa, cars were still quite prevalent in African cities.

But that’s only on the surface because many people who work in Africa are primarily in cities, and the urbanization rate in Africa is very low, with the vast majority of the population living in rural areas, including many tribes in the primitive social state.

However, many people in the Far East have deep-rooted stereotypes about Africa. By using GDP as the sole standard, many African countries are actually doing better than Southeast Asia. South America is in some ways comparable to Africa, but when placed together, South America often seems wealthier than Africa. This might be because of Brazil’s enormous size, whereas Nigeria, with a larger economic size in Africa, is much smaller than Brazil in land area, but with a similar population, both a bit over 200 million.

Karina was happy to hear Ernst agree with her, so she continued to ask, ”So, when do you think cars will replace carriages and become commonplace on the streets?”

Ernst thought for a moment. East Africa was hard to predict because his own predictions might come off as arrogant. However, he could use his prior life as a reference.

”Europe and America are likely to adopt cars faster. I think by the 1920s, many major cities should have cars, especially in the major powers,” Ernst replied.

However, Karina wasn’t entirely satisfied with this answer, as she is now the Crown Princess of East Africa, so she wanted to hear Ernst’s predictions for East Africa.

”Darling, what about our East Africa?”

Seeing Karina’s interest, Ernst had no choice but to say, ”An industry can mature in about three or four decades. Right now, East Africa also seems to have seized the opportunity, getting ahead in the automotive industry’s wave, so our automotive industry in the future in East Africa should develop quite well, even surpassing some European countries.”

”And what is the specific time?”

Ernst raised his eyebrows and said helplessly, ”If I knew the exact timing, I wouldn’t be human. However, given our unique economic circumstances in East Africa, the early development speed of the automotive industry should be rapid.”

East Africa has many economic constraints and lacks flexibility, making it unsuitable for diversified development. However, it has access to numerous resources and strong coordination abilities, making it well-suited for mass production. After all, 19th-century people’s aesthetic standards weren’t too particular. Industrial products focused more on quality, offering East Africa a relatively favorable market environment.

And for enterprises in East Africa, many products won’t engage in corner-cutting. This is a characteristic of the public economy. Of course, the world isn’t purely black and white; within black, there is white, and within white, there is black. So corner-cutting behavior undoubtedly exists, but they are mostly caused by employees’ negligence in operations.

”I plan to first construct several factories along the coast, specifically for the automobile manufacturing industry. Preparations for factories in parts of Europe are already set. Many parts suppliers have been secured, so East Africa is still a step behind German regions. However, this is unavoidable as our industrial base is much weaker than Germany’s, so we can only proceed step by step.”

Karina said, ”Then why not build a factory in Mbeya city? I’ve heard you say that Mbeya city’s industrial foundation is the best in all of East Africa, right?”

Even though Karina is the Crown Princess, she is very familiar with the national conditions of East Africa. Unlike Europe, there aren’t many nobles and relatives in East Africa, and there are few banquets and social engagements. So sometimes, Karina helps Ernst handle some documents.

”You’re not wrong, but the automotive industry is quite broad, and many of our parts need to be imported from Europe. So having factories along the coast has geographical advantages. As for Mbeya, it can join in but primarily focus on supplying certain parts, such as tires, which is Mbeya city’s advantage.

As for the inland automotive industry’s development, we must wait until East Africa has its own independent design and research capabilities before making decisions. Right now, we have to accept the technological overflow from German regions to have a stake in the automotive industry. Freeing East Africa’s automotive industry from dependence on German enterprises and achieving independent development is exceedingly difficult and requires navigating many detours.”

Without professional talent, there is no innovation or research and development ability. Even if the East African automotive industry is completely copied from German regions, it can only temporarily alleviate problems, causing significant waste. So, it’s better to be near the coast, facilitating technical exchanges and cooperative development between East Africa and German regions. When the time is ripe, then develop the inland automotive manufacturing industry.

”Moreover, I have other thoughts. You’ve only seen the car as one sample, but I’m actually more focused on tractors and trucks, these two new vehicle types. Their impact on East Africa’s industrial and agricultural production is no less than that of railways. Cars are somewhat flashy and impractical for now.”

Karina knew about tractors. Steam-powered tractors were considered a relatively popular novelty in Europe, but just remained popular because no better substitutes had emerged. As for trucks, Karina had no concept, so she asked, ”What are trucks?”

”You can think of them as an enlarged version of a car or picture them as horse-drawn wagons or ox carts with a bed. Luxury horse-drawn wagons for carrying people have cabins, while animal-drawn carts for hauling goods aren’t as fancy. Trucks serve a similar function, except their power source is similar to cars, and they can haul goods upon refueling, possessing a large carrying capacity. While they cannot match railways, they are more flexible, don’t require tracks, and can run on flat ground, offering strong military functionality for troop or weapon transport and military supplies. In short, they are very important.”

Karina had a rough idea but wasn’t clear on their exact functionality until the finished products emerged in the future. Unlike tractors, steam tractors closely resembled the later model in appearance, offering a direct reference.