African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 1229: Chapter 238: Overseas Expansion of Enterprises

If the Great Lakes Region and Kenya are considered part of the east, then the only habitable place in the north of East Africa would be the Ethiopian Highlands, with the obvious drawback being its inconvenient transportation and distance from the coast.

In fact, this is indeed the case. Among several major regions in the north of East Africa, ranked by economy and population size in descending order, are the Ethiopian Highlands, the eastern coast (Somali region), Azande Plateau, Nile River basin, and the western coast (Gabon and Cameroon).

Although the terrain of the Ethiopian Highlands is not ideal, backed by the Abyssinia Empire as a large market, its economic development is not considered poor.

Somalia has a harsh climate, but the highest per capita income in the north, relatively convenient conditions for sea transport; Azande Plateau has a relatively moderate climate, with steady development; Nile River basin is hot and humid, with numerous swamps and deserts, yet the northernmost Jezira City has developed relatively well. Once the oil resources here are exploited, the economic level will surely rise further.

As for Gabon and Cameroon, they have been part of East Africa for too short a time, at least in the next decade, it will be difficult to make achievements.

Thus, if East Africa wants to drive the northern economic development, it can only find a strategic foothold, and the Great Lakes Region is the best choice, similar to the previous life’s Far East Empire that aimed to develop the western economy, using Xi’an and Chengdu regions as anchor points, given the harsh climatic conditions of the Southwest Plateau and Northwest basin.

”National economic coordinated development also needs to highlight the focus among them. After all, some regions, even if against natural law, are difficult to drive forward. So, by first developing the Great Lakes Region and the south, we can then further consider other areas nationwide, reasonably distribute industries and population, and ultimately achieve the best resource allocation.” Ernst concluded.

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In the Four-Five plan, East Africa’s national economy is in a semi-free-range state, unable to set overly strict industrial production indicators as in a completely planned economic era.

Take the steel industry, for example. East Africa’s steel industry output now needs to connect to the market, where demand cannot be completely controlled by the East African Government.

This is why East Africa’s steel industry experienced explosive growth during the Three-Five plan period. Yes, the steel capacity during the Three-Five plan period exceeded most of East African government’s expectations.

Thinking about it, East Africa’s steel capacity alone surpasses the United States in the same period in the previous life. In the present timeline, the combined steel capacity of East Africa and the United States reaches an astounding level.

This means that global steel has increased by nearly forty million tonnes compared to the previous life, while the United States’ steel output in 1915 was only about thirty-three million tonnes.

Of course, there’s no need to panic. The excess steel capacity in East Africa is primarily consumed by the domestic market. In the previous life, the African Continent never had a top consumer market like present-day East Africa.

Moreover, due to East Africa’s currently low industrial level, there’s still room for further increase in steel capacity. After all, among the Great Powers, East Africa’s urbanization rate is only higher than Spain, Japan, Russia, and Austria-Hungary, with France, the United Kingdom, Germany, and the United States ahead.

That is to say, East Africa’s industrial level is perfectly in the middle among the Great Powers, from the perspective of East African government on industrial development.

Tete City.

Kerishawn, the head of Tai Gang, which is the Tete steel plant, is discussing with subordinates the new direction of East Africa’s steel industry during the Four-Five plan period.

Kerishawn said: ”The steel industry reform will also continue to advance this year. It’s different now than before; market competition is increasingly fierce. Last year on the East Coast, a batch of private steel enterprises already emerged.”

”According to the Planning Commission’s indicators, this year our state-owned steel enterprises’ production must stabilize at at least thirty-seven million tonnes, and if possible, exceed forty million tonnes during the Four-Five period.”

As Europe’s war progresses, the East African government also dares not take too large a step, given the high unpredictability of war. If the war ends early, East Africa would struggle to reverse course.

Administrative Manager Handson said: ”Currently, the international steel market is also seeking new breakthroughs. One cannot put all eggs in one basket; Europe’s war will end someday, so our superiors see this, now asking us to pivot towards Latin America, West Africa, Far East, and other regions.”

”Steel exports aren’t just about the export of products and raw materials. In fact, a considerable portion of domestic steel exports is in the form of downstream consumer goods, especially machinery and consumer products.”

”Pull one thread and the whole fabric moves. Steel export is an issue of the entire industry chain. Apart from raw materials like coal and iron ore being relatively stable upstream, we must always be prepared for market impact.”

Previously, East Africa was a chaser, utilizing administrative means to quickly raise domestic steel capacity to a staggering level, benefiting national economic development.

But as East Africa secures its position as the world’s largest steel producer, the development of steel enterprises now needs to adapt, as they have already reached world number one. In terms of quantity, East Africa is approaching its limit. Now the development of East African steel enterprises naturally turns towards breakthroughs in quality.

Especially under the new economic policy, East Africa’s domestic economic system is undergoing major shifts, presenting more challenges for state-owned enterprises.

Kerishawn said: ”Coal and steel resources in the Tete province are relatively abundant, so there will be little impact on our production in the short term.”

”However, we still need to consider the layout of overseas raw material production areas. According to reports from personnel sent to East Kalimantan, a considerable number of coal mines have been discovered there, while in regions like Australia, iron ore is also very plentiful.”

”For steel enterprises, occupying more ore-producing areas means more cards in our hands. Taking advantage of our current financial abundance, laying out overseas raw material markets in advance ensures we can stand more stably amidst the waves of history.”

In the international competition of the colonial era, market and raw material production areas are two unavoidable keywords.

Currently, East African enterprises are actively advancing in these two fields, with no doubt that controlling raw material production areas is much easier than seizing overseas markets.

The market is linked with population, and undoubtedly, the three regions with the highest population density are Far East, India, and Europe, followed by the United States and East Africa.

Of course, here India is a broader concept, including erstwhile Pakistan, Bangladesh, and even parts of Afghanistan, with its influence extending to Persia and Myanmar.

India entirely falls within the United Kingdom’s sphere of influence, Europe sees many vying powers, and the situation in Far East Empire isn’t good either, with internal factions numerous.

In summary, East Africa’s contest for overseas markets is highly challenging. Aside from these major markets, locations like South America, the Middle East, or Oceania have too few populations and don’t boast significant consumption ability.

The advantage of these regions lies in abundant natural resources, and while the market can be said to have potential, presently, capturing overseas raw material production areas is most feasible for East Africa.

Occupying a resource advantage allows further compression of industrial development costs, aligning with East Africa’s status as a world maritime power.

Nowadays, East Africa’s maritime power exceeds territorial power, evident from East Africa’s numerous overseas colonies, apart from South America and Europe, the colonies are widely spread across most regions of the world.

In fact, if East Africa held colonies in South America, it would truly form a weakened version of the empire on which the sun never sets.

While East Africa certainly prioritizes army development, the development space for the East African Army is not much stronger than that of the United States. Realistically speaking, no country can threaten the East African Army on the African Continent.

This point is also evident from the rapid expansion of East African Navy in recent years. As the world’s fourth-largest naval force, apart from the United Kingdom, East Africa’s maritime power shows no significant gap compared to Germany and the United States.