Compared with Zimbabwe, in fact, the Katanga Plateau (Zambia, southern Congo) is the heart of East Africa, but the mineral resources are relatively biased, the copper reserves are at the top level in the world, and other mineral resources are too small compared with copper mines.

Even so, Katanga's coal and iron resources are still much stronger than those in eastern East Africa, but they are concentrated in the area where they meet Zimbabwe. From this distribution, it can be seen that most of the coal and iron ore resources of the East African Kingdom are naturally enriched in the South African region.

Just like the British said in the First World War, the German colonies were rotten land, and the overall development level of East Africa in later generations also lagged behind North Africa, West Africa and South Africa, that is, it was stronger than Central Africa.

"At the same time as the construction of the Central Railway, we also need to develop the Katanga region to achieve economic integration with the eastern region before the Matabele Plateau (Zimbabwe) and narrow the gap between the two regions," Ernst said. ”

"Among them, the copper ore resources in Katanga are the focus of our development, and we must form the core competitiveness of relying on the development of copper mines."

"I think everyone is familiar with the importance of copper, which is currently the second largest consumer metal in the world after steel, and it is also our advantage resource in East Africa."

"The development and utilization of copper mines are indispensable to the support of railways, and our demand for copper mines is huge, so the construction of the central railway is of great significance for the development of copper mines in Katanga."

Historically, from the 17th century to the 19th century, Europe was the world's main supplier of copper ore, but the demand for copper in Europe was not large, but this situation changed at the end of the 19th century.

That is, copper is one of the main industrial materials as a common conductor of electric current, and the demand for copper in the world has increased greatly, which is closely related to the invention and use of electricity in the second industrial revolution and the rapid development of the electrical industry. The world's copper supply status has shifted from Europe to the United States, which just shows that as a major country in the second industrial revolution, the rapid development of the copper smelting industry and electrical appliance manufacturing industry in the United States has been higher than that of Europe as a whole.

But this changed with the advent of Ernst, as the rapid development of the Heichengen Power Company accelerated the European attention to the great economic value of copper mines.

At present, the price of copper mines in Europe has risen, which is too unfriendly for Hexingen Power Company, so it is time to develop the copper mines and power industry in East Africa.

Moreover, in the field of electricity, the world's new industrial track, the conditions in East Africa are not bad, which is the confidence of the copper mines in Katanga to Ernst.

Not to mention the others, that is, the production of photoelectric wires and cables, there is a huge market, especially now that countries are vigorously developing and promoting submarine cables, telegraphs, telephones, electric lamps and other scientific and technological products. Copper and rubber are needed for the production of wires and cables, and this is not naturally prepared for East Africa!

Of course, this was a conference on railway construction, so it was not necessary for Ernst to talk about the prospects for the power industry with the people at the conference.

However, Ernst already intends to develop the power industry in Dar es Salaam and Mombasa, because of the existence of the Heixingen Power Company, there is no shortage of personnel, technology and capital, and there is a shortage of mines, which must be realized by rail.

The main reason why the power industry is located in the coastal area is that the power industry is a high-tech industry and is highly dependent on technology, talent and market.

There is no shortage of technology in East Africa, but talent needs to be brought in from Europe and the United States, and the cities of Dar es Salaam and Mombasa are two of the most attractive cities in East Africa in this regard.

The market is divided into the domestic market and foreign markets, the current domestic market in East Africa is narrow, and mainly distributed in the east, so the East African power industry relies on the European market, in this regard, Heixingen Power Company originally had European sales channels, and what East Africa needs to do is to export East African power products to Europe by sea.

This is also the reason why ERNST is currently positioning the power industry in the eastern coastal region of East Africa, where the greatest advantage lies in shipping and the best agricultural conditions in Africa, but in the era of industrialization, the advantages of agricultural conditions may not be translated into competitive advantages, as in the relationship between Austria and Hungary.

However, Ernst does not think that the conditions in East Africa are poor, all it needs is a good overall environment, according to the experience of his previous country, the region with low mineral resources can still achieve rapid development through the international division of labor and cooperation, and the convenience of shipping is the basis of this condition.

For example, the distribution of resources in the Far East, coal and iron ore, as well as oil and gas and other energy resources are mostly concentrated in the north (including the northeast and northwest), and the south (including the southwest) has a strong advantage in transportation conditions, which is built on the developed maritime and inland waterway shipping.

A golden waterway can cover the entire Yangtze River basin (except Tibet), and the economic synergy capacity far exceeds that of other regions.

Of course, the north is also coastal, but there are only a few excellent ports in the north, and they are still facing the problem of freezing and not navigable in winter, and the hinterland economy is narrow (or not smooth, the radiation range is too small), and if the port conditions in the far northeast are placed in other countries, it is also top-notch.

For example, in East Africa, if East Africa had the conditions of the Far Northeast, Ernst would wake up smiling in his dreams. The seaport conditions in East Africa are actually very poor in the world, but they are certainly better than those in Central Africa, South Africa, and West Africa.

North Africa is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea, and East Africa is dependent on the Indian Ocean, and the Indian Ocean shipping lanes are undoubtedly the most important in the world economy, even in the twenty-first century.

The advantage of the central and western regions of Africa is the Atlantic, but the Atlantic Ocean can actually be divided into two parts, Africa is mainly connected to the South Atlantic, and the South Atlantic is opposite South America, which can only be said to be difficult brothers, and it is best not to have too many illusions economically, unless there is a person who can develop to open up the shipping of the South Atlantic, but from the perspective of previous history, the two have been lower than whom.

In this way, the trade between the two in the previous life was not frequent, but formed a shipping trade centered on Europe and the Far East, and both continents were at the bottom of the international division of labor, and the output products were highly competitive.

The problem facing East Africa is that there is a certain deviation from the main international shipping lane, which is also the problem faced by the Far East in the previous life, from this point of view, India is in the center of the position, the conditions are the most advantageous, if India rises, then it can rely on the Indian Ocean and the Arab region before the Age of Discovery to complete the monopoly of trade between the East and the West.

How serious is this problem! It can be assumed that if the Far East and India were to be reversed, the world hegemon would immediately change from the United States to the Far East.

Controlling the center of world shipping, no sanctions can pose a threat to the Far East, and it is raw materials and markets that hold the neck of the development of the Far East, and the foundation of international raw materials and markets is shipping.

As for the rest of the Indian Ocean coast, India does not have this condition, the natural conditions of the Arab countries are too poor to engage in industry, Southeast Asia is too fragmented, and the location of East Africa is somewhat biased, and Australia can directly ignore it.

Therefore, in Ernst's industrial blueprint, the eastern part of East Africa is the vanguard of the development of an export-oriented economy, and the industry that can realize this vanguard is the power industry. Industry aside, East Africa's foreign trade is largely dependent on agriculture, especially the export of tropical cash crops.

(End of chapter)