Although it is said that the development of agriculture is the mainstay, some other industries can also be started, such as some handicrafts and relatively basic industries.

After all, East Africa has a growing population, and it is impossible to rely on imports for pots and pans, so the cost required is too terrifying.

Handicrafts are easy to understand, blacksmiths, tailors, carpenters...... These industries, which meet the daily needs of the people of East Africa, can be liberalized first.

The basic industry refers to those industries that are suitable for the current East African colonies and the threshold is not high, such as the cement needed by the East African colonies, it is not a way to always import them from Europe, in order to save costs, it is better to build factories in East Africa.

There are also processing industries that can increase the added value of agricultural products in East Africa, such as flour mills, oil mills, textile mills, etc.

And these factories can't bypass the steam engine, so it is also necessary to develop the local coal resources in East Africa, and the coal mines in Mbeya are developed to be transported to all parts of East Africa, and there are requirements for transportation......

In short, it is a more complicated process, which is not in a hurry, it is done one by one, if it is done, it will only be the icing on the cake for the current East Africa, and there is no loss if it is not done.

The military industry is an important industry to ensure the security of the East African colonies, and its status is second only to agriculture, and the machines decommissioned from the European arsenals are currently being armed in the East African colonies.

The supply of weapons and ammunition can be ensured in part, and in the future, after the development of the resources of the East African region, the ammunition of artillery can also be copied on this basis.

In a short period of time, the self-sufficiency of weapons and ammunition will be formed, of course, artillery ammunition is not in a hurry, because the Hexingen Arsenal in Trieste has not yet entered the production stage, and artillery production has not yet been put in place, so the East African colonies still need to wait for some time.

In addition to the work of immigration and industry, the task of expansion in 1868 could not be left behind, and now it is looking in two directions, one to the northwest and the other to the Omo River basin (where Kenya and Ethiopia meet).

Needless to say, the northwest has always been the place that Ernst wanted to take, and it was the most fertile region in all of East Africa.

And if the Omo River basin is not taken while the British and Ethiopia are at war, there may not be such a good opportunity in the future, anyway, the British attack on the Abyssinian Empire must be from the direction of the Red Sea.

The Omo River is located in the southwest of Ethiopia, and East Africa and the British fight each other, without interfering with each other.

As for the Abyssinian Empire, the energy must have been focused on the British, after all, the essence of Ethiopia was in the central and northern regions.

The southwest was all highlands and mountains, and there were many tribes, and the Abyssinian Empire had relatively weak control over the region.

As for why the Omo River basin has to be taken away, the answer is the water source, the whole of northern Kenya is relatively dry, and the Omo River basin is one of the few areas with abundant rainfall, and the Omo River is related to the safety of Lake Turkana.

As for the future troubles of the Abyssinian Empire in East Africa, there is no need to worry at all, the Abyssinian Empire's rule over the south is relatively weak, and the local area is dominated by the Oromo and the Luou tribes.

The Abyssinian Empire's control over the region was similar to the so-called vassal state in the East, so it was not a big deal not to threaten the core interests of the Abyssinian Empire.

If the Abyssinian Empire does not calm down, the weapons of the East African colonies will also calm it down, after all, the East African colonies do not fight away from home like Britain and Italy.

In addition to these two potentially rough areas, there is also northern Kenya to be developed, and although the indigenous population is relatively small (desert, grassland), it cannot be spared.

Northern Kenya is positioned as pasture for grazing, and it is certainly not possible to engage in local cropping.

Unless it is around rivers and lakes, and where there is a guaranteed water source, it is okay to grow some drought-tolerant crops such as millet (millet).

In northern Kenya, many of the seasonal rivers and saltwater lakes are scarce, and many of these waters are highly salinity and only suitable for livestock to drink.

Dry areas are also suitable for the development of some special crops, but the current level in East Africa is not up to it, and grazing is still simple and rude.

However, grazing should also be done with care, and the pasture should be planned in a reasonable range as much as possible to avoid permanent damage to the pasture.

In addition to these efforts, intelligence work to the west (Zambia, Zimbabwe) can also be carried out.

In 1868, the exploration of the areas of Zambia and Zimbabwe, especially the copper belt at the intersection of Zambia and Congo, was to be completed.

It is the world's largest sedimentary copper deposit, praised in the previous life - the Ganggang copper ore belt, its copper reserves reached 15% of the world, not only large quantity, but also relatively high quality.

Who could resist such a temptation, and if any of the great powers heard of such news, they would probably flock to it, let alone Ernst.

And this copper belt is located on the Katanga Plateau, not too far from East Africa, about 700 kilometers to the west through Mbeya.

In addition to copper, the Katanga Plateau is rich in other resources, including cobalt, tin, radium, uranium and diamonds......

In order to avoid collisions and conflicts with the Portuguese, East Africa could not explore the Zimbabwe region at first, while Zambia and the southern Congo could carry out reconnaissance activities first, and wait for East Africa to settle the territorial problems in the north before acting.

……

Ernst took a pen and scribbled freely on scratch paper, and soon it was full of pages.

These were the things that East Africa was to do in 1868, and Ernst compiled and copied them into a memorandum.

It has to be said that this is an ambitious plan, that is, there are few competitors in Africa today (basically none), so that Ernst picked up the cheap.

As for those natives, the East African colonies with thermal weapons are a dimensionality reduction blow to them.

It is not the indigenous tribes that can really cause great damage to the East African colonies, but the harsh environment of Africa.

In particular, the conditions of the primeval forests in the Zambia River basin can be imagined, and the northern part of Zambia is fine, mainly tropical savannah, so it is not difficult for the East African colonies to take the land between Zambia and the Katanga Plateau of the Congo and East Africa.

Lake Malawi, the Kingdom of Malawi on the southwest coast, is not in Ernst's consideration for the time being, and a buffer zone is needed between East Africa and Mozambique, while the Kingdom of Malawi has a strong autonomy and is almost unaffected by the influence of the Portuguese.

It can be very isolated from East Africa and the Portuguese, as for the east, East Africa and Mozambique have reached an agreement temporarily, and at the same time, there is a natural barrier on the Rufuma River, and there is only a small section directly bordering, so there is no need to worry too much.

(End of chapter)