African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 1052: Chapter 61: Harare Industrial and Agricultural Development Plan

In the 21st century of the previous life, many household appliance products could already be seen in East Africa or around the world, such as electric lights, telephones, refrigerators, washing machines, etc. Undoubtedly, as the world’s leading power nation, East Africa is also ahead of other countries in the field of household appliance manufacturing.

However, like the basic power industry, East Africa has not yet achieved national electricity distribution, and the distribution and promotion of household appliances will progress even slower than that of electricity. After all, regions that do not yet have electricity cannot use so-called household appliance products.

The cities with the most developed household appliance manufacturing industries in East Africa are currently Mbea City, New Frankfurt City, Lusaka City, Jisan City, Mombasa City, Nairobi City, Mwanza City, and Dar es Salaam City, with Harare City following them.

These cities are not as reliant on resources as Harare because the city of Bohemia Province, led by Harare, is very rich in mineral resources. This has also led to Bohemia Province towns relying more heavily on resources for development compared to the aforementioned East African cities. The comprehensive industrial situation in Harare City is slightly better, but the problems in other towns within the province are more pronounced.

Undoubtedly, electrification will have a major substitute effect on current steam power and is an important direction for industrial upgrading.

So Antalid said, ”On one hand, we must continue to promote the growth of power generation in our city and, on the other hand, we must vigorously develop the household appliance manufacturing and power equipment manufacturing industries to accelerate our city’s entry into the electrification era.”

”According to the requirements of the Second-Five-Year Plan, our city must actively cooperate with the Central Government’s policies to implement thirteen new key industrial construction projects in our city, such as a household appliance factory in (Bohemia) Province, a refrigeration plant in Harare City, a cotton textile factory in (Bohemia) Province, a medical device manufacturing plant in Harare City, etc., and put them into production.”

”In addition, to support the expansion project of the special steel plant in Harare City, we will also set up a provincial steel materials research institute in our city, making it the third professional steel materials research institute in the country.”

As the current largest steel-producing province in East Africa, the steel industry in Bohemia Province accounts for a significant proportion, ranking first in scale nationwide. However, in the field of special steel research and development, Harare City lags behind Mbea City and New Hamburg Port City.

The lag behind Mbea City is somewhat understandable, as Mbea City has a longer history than Harare City, having been a major regional capital in East Africa as early as the colonial period. However, being surpassed by the emerging New Hamburg Port City indeed leaves Harare City somewhat lacking in prestige.

Of course, this also indirectly indicates the strength of New Hamburg Port City in the steel industry. Currently, New Hamburg Port City ranks second in steel output among cities nationwide, second only to Tete City.

During the First-Five-Year Plan period, Tete City’s steel industry achieved rapid growth, transitioning from obscurity before the First-Five-Year Plan to becoming the Steel Capital of East Africa. The first and second steel plants of Tete Province are located in the provincial capital, Tete City, and they are the largest and most technologically advanced steel enterprises in East Africa, ranking second and fourth nationwide, respectively.

In terms of provincial scope, Bohemia Province is the largest steel-producing province in East Africa. However, Bohemia Province’s steel enterprises are relatively dispersed, and the technology has not been entirely upgraded and replaced.

Of course, due to its early development, the steel industry in Harare City has its strengths, such as special steel manufacturing. Although it lags behind Mbea City and New Hamburg Port, it still ranks ahead of other East African cities. Coupled with the relatively superior educational resources in Harare City, the third steel materials research institute can be established in Harare City.

”At the same time, the Ministry of Industry and the provincial government will further support the development of our province’s automobile manufacturing industry. As the only complete vehicle manufacturing center in the province, our city bears a heavy responsibility. In 1904, our country’s automobile production exceeded one million vehicles for the first time. During the Second-Five-Year Plan period, the automobile industry will undoubtedly continue to develop vigorously. Therefore, promoting the development of the Third Automobile is an important task for us during the Second-Five-Year Plan period.”

The so-called ”Third Automobile,” also known as the Rhein Empire Third Automobile Manufacturing Plant, the former East African Kingdom Third Automobile Manufacturing Plant, is headquartered in Harare City and is one of the seven major automobile manufacturing enterprises in East Africa.

In 1905, the Third Automobile produced a total of 150,000 vehicles, ranking fourth among East African automobile companies, driving the development of many industries within Bohemia Province.

Although the headquarters of Third Automobile is located in Harare City, its industrial chain spans the entire Bohemia Province and other provinces in East Africa. Harare City is mainly responsible for producing some important automotive parts and the final assembly stage.

For example, the ”Zebra” brand cars under Third Automobile use tires from Jisan City, the rubber industry center of East Africa. Car glass is sourced from Nairobi City, and engines are provided by New Frankfurt City. However, most parts are still produced in towns within Bohemia Province, with Harare City supplying approximately forty-seven percent of the components.

There are more than thirty factories serving Third Automobile in Harare City, which underscores the importance of the automotive industry to Harare City. Therefore, promoting the expansion of Third Automobile’s production capacity and providing related services is an important task that the Harare City government cannot ignore.

”In the agricultural sector, we continue to enhance the development of agricultural mechanization in our city, so we must increase the number of orders for the province’s first tractor manufacturing plant and simultaneously promote the development of our city’s chemical industry, especially the production of pesticides and fertilizers. Additionally, we actively promote the basic infrastructure construction of western suburban pastures and develop suburban agriculture and animal husbandry to ensure the supply of grain, meat, vegetables, and other agricultural products in the urban area during the Second-Five-Year Plan period, promoting new research in tobacco factories to make new contributions to our city’s exports.”

Tobacco is an important industry in Harare City, producing high-quality tobacco brands that are in demand throughout East Africa and even worldwide. Therefore, when promoting the development of the agriculture sector, Harare City inevitably cannot bypass the tobacco industry.

Of course, Harare City mainly focuses on deep processing of tobacco. Although the tobacco farming industry in Bohemia Province is relatively scattered, the harvested tobacco leaves are eventually gathered in Harare City for final production processing.

In 1905 alone, the tobacco planting area in Harare City accounted for twenty-five percent of the national total tobacco planting area, a notably high figure.

Because the climate in East Africa makes many areas suitable for tobacco cultivation, the Southwest region of Bohemia Province, like Lorraine Province and the Northwest Hohenzollern Administrative Province, and the North Central Province are major tobacco planting regions, and the scale of tobacco cultivation in the Northeast Tete Province is also considerable. Only the Eastern and Southeastern Mozambique regions have relatively smaller planting scales, and these are just the provinces surrounding Bohemia.

Therefore, the tobacco planting industry within East Africa is quite competitive. However, the quality of tobacco leaves from Bohemia Province is the best, so tobacco leaves and cigarettes from Bohemia Province are important agricultural and industrial export products for East Africa.

The main sales destinations are Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Tsarist Russia, among other Central and Eastern European markets, followed by the Middle East market, and finally to the Far East market.

”In the cotton textile industry, we need to further increase cotton planting within the province, and correspondingly, Harare City’s main task is to turn cotton from raw material into finished or semi-finished products.”

Bohemia Province is also actively developing the cotton textile industry. Previously, Matebel Province (Zimbabwe) was the second-largest cotton planting region in East Africa.

However, after the Southwest region led by Bulawayo was incorporated into Lorraine Province, the cotton textile industry of the original Matebel Province was split into two, with the area around Bulawayo accounting for about seventy percent of the original Matebel Province’s cotton planting.

Therefore, the government of Bohemia Province, considering itself as inheriting the core of Matebel Province, intends to expand the cotton planting area in the western region of Bohemia Province.

The climate in the western part of Bohemia Province is similar to that of eastern Lorraine Province. Both places are suitable for cotton planting and livestock farming in terms of rainfall and sunshine. In contrast, the eastern part of Bohemia Province mainly grows wheat and tobacco and other crops.

This is mainly considered from the perspective of precipitation. The eastern area, centered around Harare City, has a climate inclined towards the marine type, and it was the most humid region of former Zimbabwe. The deeper inland western area is therefore more continental, being relatively arid.