African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 1089: Chapter 98: Nanyang Industrial Promotion Conference

In 1910, the wheat planting area in East Africa alone reached more than 20 million hectares, equivalent to over 300 million mu, with an average yield of around 65 kilograms per mu. The national wheat output was close to 30 million tons, which is equivalent to the total wheat production in Shandong Province of the Far East Empire in the previous era.

In the previous era, the wheat planting area in Shandong Province was over 60 million mu, only one-fifth of East Africa, but the total wheat output was about the same. In this comparison, the unit yield of East African wheat was significantly lower, but in the early 20th century, East African wheat’s unit yield exceeded the global average. Even based on previous living standards, East Africa’s wheat output was enough to support at least 50 million people.

However, this was not the peak of East Africa’s wheat production. During the peak wheat planting period in the early 1990s, East Africa’s wheat planting area was even higher than now, exceeding 40 million hectares, which is nearly double the current area.

In contrast, the planting area of rice and cash crops has continuously expanded. Due to the construction of water conservancy projects in East Africa, many regions nationwide have become suitable for rice cultivation, and the unit yield of rice is higher than that of wheat. Along with agricultural transformation, agriculture is moving towards higher profit directions, with cash crop planting areas reaching unprecedented levels, close to more than a billion mu.

Moreover, aside from the two main staple crops of rice and wheat, East Africa’s corn and potato, and millet yields are also substantial. From grain production alone, it’s evident that East Africa has long overcome the food crisis and achieved diversification in choice early on.

With abundant resources and rich supplies, the living quality of East African citizens is naturally not too poor. Even East African black slaves can be assured of having enough to eat, and the weight and height data of East African citizens naturally follows suit.

In conclusion, even if East Africa learns from the Soviet Union to neglect agriculture, it is unlikely to face the Soviet Union-level food issues. Moreover, the East African Government has always given significant attention to agriculture, so even amidst a continued slump in the international food market, East Africa’s food output has continued to increase.

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April 1910.

Far East Empire, Jinling.

As the Far East Empire becomes increasingly open, the tide of Western learning spreading east also grows increasingly stronger. Thus, the Far East Empire decided to organize an international exposition, named the Nanyang Industrial Promotion Conference.

The name alone indicates that this Far East Empire exposition is closely connected with Chinese in Nanyang, who have continuously demonstrated remarkable economic strength and strong identity recognition. This Nanyang Industrial Promotion Conference is organized by patriotic individuals and the government from Nanyang.

As early as the 1870s, the Far East Empire government attended the Philadelphia world’s fair in the United States. Therefore, the Far East Empire government is not unfamiliar with such international expositions, and hosting an international exhibition in their country became imperative to encourage domestic industrial development.

Under the stimulation of the two industrial revolutions, developing industries has become a consensus among most countries worldwide, and naturally, the Far East Empire is no exception. The Nanyang Industrial Promotion Conference is a good opportunity for ”enlightening the populace and promoting industry.”

East Africa also participated in this Nanyang Industrial Promotion Conference, after all, the Far East Empire has always been an important overseas market for East Africa, so East Africa naturally couldn’t let go of this opportunity.

Besides East Africa and the host Far East Empire, there are more than a dozen countries participating, including the UK, the US, France, Japan, as well as many countries or regions in the South Sea Region.

Nanyang Industrial Promotion Conference, East Africa Pavilion.

The main East African representative, Cohen, was instructing the delegation members: ”Our Rhein Empire has brought over 300 exhibits this time, covering electric equipment and products, mechanical products, chemical products, automobiles, and a small portion of East African specialty agricultural products.”

”This exhibition could be considered a direct assessment of the two five-year plans of the Empire. You should do your homework well and ensure that guests entering the East Africa Pavilion feel an exceptional experience and let our products spread throughout the Far East Empire.”

Although the East African government currently defines the country as a semi-industrial nation, this world’s second-largest semi-industrial nation, its overall industrial strength is actually only second to the United States and Germany.

Therefore, the industrial exhibits brought by East Africa this time are not only numerous but also of outstanding quality. Many industrial products innovated by East Africa are unique with no equivalent products in other countries.

Cohen continued: ”Previously, our market in the Far East Empire was mostly concentrated in the north, but this time the Far East Empire exhibition is held in the south. Jinling, this city, holds significant historical and political importance in the Far East Empire’s southern region.”

”Even compared to Shanghai, it’s not much inferior, and Jinling just happens to be at the intersection of competition with the UK and other countries. If a breakthrough can be made here, our products can further spread through this location, radiating southward, and Jinling lies on the Yangtze River, leveraging this major waterway, our products might even penetrate into the Sichuan and Chongqing areas of the Far East Empire.”

”Mentioning this, you should also understand the importance of Jinling in the Far East Empire, which gathers many of the Empire’s dignitaries.”

”Whether the market can be accessed or not, these dignitaries play a crucial role, so you must be courteous rather than let Far East Empire’s current poverty lead to excessive arrogance, or you’ll find me holding you accountable later.”

As Cohen spoke, members of the East African delegation grew wary. In fact, even without Cohen emphasizing, most delegation members already lacked such intent.

After all, the Far East Empire and East Africa have deep connections, as the primary source of immigrants to East Africa, many East Africans have certain ties to the Empire, and reflecting this in East Africa, most citizens hold at least favorable views of the Far East Empire.

”Rest assured, Director Cohen, we are aware of this, and considering the business nature of this exhibition, we won’t cause a disturbance,” Deputy Director Mocan commented.

At the international exhibition, many products are directly transacted, and businessmen from Europe and America carry large quantities of goods for direct sales at the event, East Africa is no exception. Moreover, merchants aren’t concerned about identity as much as who will provide benefit. If they can make substantial gains, even the British are willing to offer cordial service.

Cohen said: ”Very well, remember your guarantee, this Nanyang Industrial Promotion Conference is a crucial promotional opportunity for our industrial products, the government attaches great importance to it. If it gets ruined, not only you but I will also face consequences, so everyone must work together to complete this task successfully.”

Subsequently, under Cohen’s leadership, East African participants began arranging the East African Country Pavilion, including the display of exhibits and posting exhibit introductions, among other tasks.

The East African Country Pavilion is the largest this Nanyang Industrial Promotion Conference because among the foreign countries participating, East Africa values it most.

Likewise, the variety and quantity of East African exhibits are the highest, reaching 200,000 pieces. To know the total exhibition goods are just over a million pieces, it indicates the considerable investment by East African government.

The East African government is also not worried about unsold goods, and if sales are poor, they can be sent to the Huaihai Economic Zone for sale. Jinling is very close to Anhui, and Northern Anhui and Northern Su are within the Huaihai Economic Zone’s influence.

This point further demonstrates why East Africa values the Nanyang Industrial Promotion Conference so highly, the geographical proximity of Jinling to Huaihai Economic Zone suggests that if Jinling can serve as a springboard, it can to some extent expand the influence range of the Huaihai Economic Zone, which equals extending East Africa’s economic influence in the Far East Empire.

Furthermore, Jinling is not like Shanghai. Although more developed, Shanghai is a chaos of foreign influence from the UK, France, the US, while Jinling is relatively less affected, favoring East African competition with other countries.