The "Eurasian Fruit Basket Project" in the two Somali provinces was the vanguard of East Africa's agricultural active access to the international market, and in 1882, the most dazzling industrial development in East Africa was the three inland provinces (Matabele, Hohenzollern, Swabian). ）

In 1882, East Africa produced 1.23 million tonnes of steel, of which more than 300,000 tonnes were produced in Matabele province, close to 400,000 tonnes, quickly equalling the eastern coastal cities, the Northern Industrial Zone, and the Lake Malawi Industrial Zone.

At present, the annual steel production in East Africa is close to the level of Germany when it was established ten years ago, but after the unification of the German country and the completion of the integration of the domestic market (for example, the new Alsace and Lorraine regions are important steel producing areas), steel production capacity ushered in explosive growth in a short period of time, and then shrank after the economic crisis in 1873, but the situation is much better than in the previous life, the main reason is that the construction of the East African railway at that time digested the excess capacity of the German region, so the current German steel production is more than twice that of East Africa.

At present, Britain's steel production is more than 7 million tons, more than six times that of East Africa, and the United States is more than three times that of East Africa, but East Africa is more than twice that of Austria-Hungary and much lower than France, but the gap is not large.

This is mainly due to the exploitation of iron ore resources in East Africa and the dividends obtained during the economic crisis, but it is worth mentioning that the steel production of Tsarist Russia is much lower than that of East Africa, and even less than that of Austria-Hungary.

It is certainly impossible to say that Tsarist Russia lacks mineral resources, and the population of Tsarist Russia is nearly twice that of East Africa, and the same is true of the land area.

The difference between East Africa and Tsarist Russia may lie in the fact that Tsarist Russia's industrial investment mainly relies on European and American capital, and the proportion of foreign capital even exceeds 70%.

East Africa, on the other hand, is dominated by German capital, dominated by the Heshingen consortium, and at the same time, a large number of state-owned enterprises have been built in East Africa, which has allowed the East African government to control a large amount of wealth and resources in East Africa.

The development of East Africa and the growth of the Hexingen Consortium are mutually reinforcing, and without the support of the Hexingen Foundation, East Africa would not have been able to develop so rapidly, and without the support of East Africa's national strength, the Hexingen Consortium would not have been able to become a top financial force.

Moreover, East Africa was a country of immigrants, and although it relied entirely on agricultural exploitation and plundering the wealth of the colonies in the early stage, Ernst had already begun to deploy East African industry, mining and other industries.

For example, during the economic crisis, the large number of European and American workers recruited in East Africa boosted the development of East African cities and industries, while Tsarist Russia at the same time was dragged down by the agricultural crisis that accompanied the economic crisis.

The use of foreign capital does not mean that development cannot be achieved, but the aristocrats and bureaucracy of Tsarist Russia and European capital are not under the control of Tsarist Russia itself.

With the virtues of the aristocrats and bureaucrats of Tsarist Russia, the efficiency of Tsarist Russia, and the state of transportation, Ernst himself did not dare to invest in industry on a large scale in Tsarist Russia.

On the contrary, the mining industry and agriculture were relatively stable, which also made the Russian industry actually subordinate to the European industrial system, becoming an important supplier and market for its raw materials.

Of course, this is also related to the weak technology of Tsarist Russia, which is also faced by East Africa, and the technical support provided for East Africa is the Heixingen Foundation, an important patent holder in the German region.

At the same time, East African industry focuses on the layout of key industries, especially the three major industries of electricity, iron and steel, and railways, as well as light industries such as textiles and other commercial fields, but the development is not as good as that of countries such as Tsarist Russia.

This allows the East African government to concentrate its efforts and reduce unnecessary losses, after all, it is impossible to chew too much, and in order to achieve rapid development, it must abandon some areas that East Africa is not good at.

For example, there is basically no financial industry in East Africa, and commerce is limited to a few cities in the coastal areas, and light industries such as textiles are largely dependent on the Far Eastern Empire and the German region, so far there is no second textile center in East Africa except for the city of Nairobi, and the city of Bulawayo is working in this direction, but it will take time.

At present, East Africa has the largest economic drive or the railway industry, and the railway has indirectly driven the development of the steel industry in East Africa.

In the East African steel industry, the Lake Malawi Industrial Zone still has the largest steel production capacity, with a steel production capacity of more than 600,000 tons, but the Lake Malawi Industrial Zone has a much earlier development history than Matabele Province.

The third steel production capacity is the Northern Industrial Belt, with Mombasa and Nairobi, with a steel production capacity of about 100,000 tons, of which Mombasa belongs to both the Northern Industrial Belt and the coastal cities, so the coal and iron resources of the Northern Industrial Belt are not only developed locally, but also some of them come from the Middle East and India.

Finally, in addition to the rich coal resources of the port of New Hamburg, a large part of the industrial minerals of other coastal cities also need to be imported.

Matabele province is rich in minerals, especially gold, diamonds, iron, coal, chromium, copper, etc., among which the provincial capitals Harare and Bulawayo, as well as the towns of Guirou, are mined for gold.

As the leader of the three central provinces, Matabele province also has considerable copper resources, and in the past the British "Rhodesia" was famous for copper production (including Heshingen Province and South Salzburg Province), so in Harare City, East Africa at the same time arranged the power industry, and here is a complete range of industries, in the next five years will surpass Mbeya City, become the first heavy industry city in East Africa.

"In 1882 thirteen new towns were added to the province of Matabele, which were distributed on both sides of the Central Railway, of which Guiru and Guanta were established as municipalities, and the northwestern town of Lupane, which was not along the railway, was also included in this upgrade."

Industry tends to make people concentrate, and in fact many agricultural towns in East Africa may not have a smaller population than these industrial towns, but it is clear that industrial towns are easier to upgrade.

Most of these industrial towns have been developed on the basis of transportation and mineral resources, which makes Matabele province the most urbanized region in East Africa.

In the case of Gulu and Guanda, which are cities along the Central Railway and important areas for mineral development, Kuikui, which has also been upgraded to an industrial town, will also be upgraded to a city next year.

Quequay is located in the very center of Harare and Bulawayo, as well as the Matabele section of the Eastern Railway, but it was developed late, so the current level is not as good as that of the city of Guilu.

However, Lupane, which is not located along the railway line, was upgraded to a city due to its location in the northwest of Matabele province, where there is a lack of cities, and the abundance of coal mines and other resources in the city of Lupane.

"As of October this year, there are 11 municipal-level administrative districts in Matabele province, of which nine are industrial cities, and only two municipal-level districts belong to the administrative plan, and the urban population accounts for more than 30 percent of the province's population, ranking first in the country, and the city of Bulawayo has great potential and is expected to be in the top 10 cities in East Africa in the next two or three years, and the city of Hallera will be in the top five."

East Africa's industrial investment in Matabele province is much larger than in other regions, many of these cities are not yet up to standard, but according to their potential, in terms of population and resources, Matabele province will become the most important industrial region in East Africa within a decade, leaving behind the rest of East Africa.

The only drawback of the province is the lack of access to the sea, which is now a Portuguese colony of Mozambique, and in the economic map of the province of Matabele, the port of Beira in Mozambique will be further developed by the construction of a direct railway to Harare.

(End of chapter)