African Entrepreneurship Records

Chapter 621 Eurasian Fruit Basket Plan

As for the Orange Free State, East Africa has the strategic initiative, so it is not in a hurry. Moreover, now that East Africa has a larger base, there are more national affairs, so there is no need to be too concerned about the Orange Free State.

As for the strategic position of the Orange Free State, East Africa controls the Fal River and the Lesotho Mountains, so it has obvious advantages. Ernst does not pay much attention to the Orange Free State and maintains assistance to the Orange people. Just let them and the Transvaal continue to fight internally.

 …

 The first town.

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, this is the 'Eurasian Fruit Basket Plan' proposed by the governments of Northern Province and Juba Province. Last year, Northern Province and Juba Province's fruit and vegetable exports to Europe increased by 5.8% year-on-year, so the two provinces want to On this basis, we should vigorously develop the plantation industry as a key pillar industry in the two provinces."

“Well, although the climate and environment in Somalia are a little bad, it is a blessing in disguise, and it has actually led to the development of Somalia’s characteristic agriculture.”

Ernst naturally knew the advantages and disadvantages of the Somali region. In his previous life, there would probably be few regions in the world that were more chaotic than Somalia.

 Somalia under the rule of East Africa is completely different. In fact, for a long time in ancient times, the Somali region was a relatively prosperous region in Africa.

 The population capacity here is reasonable, neither too much nor too little. Commerce and handicrafts are particularly prosperous. It is also one of the regional centers of land and sea commerce.

“Your Highness, do you approve this plan?”

"Let me take a look first!" Ernst did not make a statement immediately but picked up the document and read it: vigorously develop the plantation economy, transform the waterways of the two rivers, develop the shipping industry, upgrade ports, river-sea combined transport, and expand Eurasia Market business.

“Interesting!” Ernst said, looking at the proposals from the two provincial governments: “It seems that the Northern and Juba provincial governments have done a lot of homework. Do you think we should agree to this project?”

"Of course, Your Highness, I think the feasibility of this plan is very high. The export trade of the two provinces has been very prosperous in recent years, second only to the Eastern Province and the Central Province among the coastal provinces. It has brought huge economic benefits to the kingdom, so Personally, I support this plan.”

Ernst affirmed: "You are right. There have been many big projects in East Africa in recent years, but not many of them are profitable. The investment is large, the cycle is long, and it is difficult to achieve results in the short term. The plans in Northern Province and Juba Province are completely on the contrary.

Let’s talk about the project volume first. Although it seems to be very large, it is actually just system optimization based on the original basis. For example, two aspects of transportation are inland waterway shipping and maritime transportation.

 Northern Province and Juba Province have two large natural rivers, the Shabelle River and the Juba River respectively. The ports are also ready-made and are nothing more than expansions on the original basis.

 Although the lower reaches of the Shabelle River and the Juba River flow through arid areas, the upper reaches are rich in water from the Ethiopian plateau, and the lower reaches are dominated by plain terrain and the river courses are very stable, making them suitable for the development of inland waterway shipping.

Furthermore, the melon and fruit industry is the dominant industry of the two provinces. In terms of transportation, it is the closest tropical agricultural production area to Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia, so the success of this river-sea transport is very high. "

 The Somali region is the place in East Africa closest to the main shipping route on the northern coast of the Indian Ocean. Taking advantage of this advantage, the Somali region's economy has continued to grow in recent years.

 That is to say, the coast of Somalia is dominated by a tropical desert climate. Otherwise, this is definitely one of the most developed areas in East Africa.

Of course, the most important product competitiveness is that tropical fruits and vegetables are regional industries, and Europe can only import many tropical products from other regions.

As for tropical fruits and vegetables, which are difficult to preserve and easily spoiled, European people want to consume them. Somalia is the best choice. This irreplaceability has made East African tropical agricultural products dominant in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. B. Unless East Africa commits suicide, this industry can always bring benefits to East Africa, and East Africa is not Somalia in its previous life, so there is no need to worry about this.

 …

Port of Mogadishu.

 Mogadishu, under the governance of East Africa, is the most important port and economic city in the Northern Province. At the same time, it was set as the new provincial capital of the Northern Province in the last administrative adjustment.

The plantation economy in Mogadishu has experienced great development in recent years, and new plantations have been opened along the Shabelle River.

At the same time, it promoted the development of shipping on the Shabelle River, especially various small boats. Thousands of sails competed on the Shabelle River, especially in the Mogadishu section. Various goods, mainly melons and fruits, were accumulated at the port, and then transferred to the seaport for transportation to Central and Eastern Europe and China. sub-region.

 In fact, the Arabian Peninsula is not far from Somalia, but the northern part of the Arabian Peninsula has a subtropical desert climate, and only the southern part has a tropical desert climate, which is the same as Somalia.

However, there are no large rivers such as the Shabelle River and the Juba River in the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula, so the conditions for agricultural development are far inferior to those in the Somali region of East Africa, and there will be no major development of Somalia's tropical agricultural industry.

East Africa has only transformed and upgraded the Port of Mogadishu once, so with the construction of other coastal ports in East Africa in recent years, the Port of Mogadishu has obviously lagged behind other ports.

This is not the key. With the opening of inland plantations, the export of goods in Somalia has increased significantly, which has caused the original Mogadishu Port to have insufficient carrying capacity.

 So this time the Northern Provincial Government put forward the renovation of Mogadishu Port as an important goal in the "Eurasian Fruit Basket Plan".

Mogadishu Port relies on the Shabelle River, and its economic hinterland is long and narrow, distributed in strips. The oasis plantation industry has developed prominently. This economic belt basically accounts for about 96% of the economic share of the Northern Province. Mogadishu alone is Shashi alone accounts for 35% of the economy in the northern province.

"The central government has agreed to the 'Eurasian Fruit Basket Plan' between us and Juba Province, so Mogadishu City, which is the center of this plan, will be a key demonstration area, and the expansion project of Mogadishu Port can also be put on the agenda. .”

"Senior official, the focus of Mogadishu Port expansion is still on the labor issue. Starting from the beginning, our Northern Province has sent away the last batch of black workers and became the first black-free province in East Africa. However, correspondingly, the labor gap is also As the economy grows, most people in the province also have jobs, especially in high-intensity agriculture such as plantations, so the province may only provide too much labor to upgrade the Mogadishu Port."

“Don’t worry about this. Since we have central support, we can just apply for a construction team from above. I heard that the construction of Mombasa Port and Dar es Salaam Port was completed by professional construction teams a few years ago.”

“Then if we upgrade the original port, will it delay ship docking and export trade?”

“This is also a problem, so we need to speed up the project progress or carry out the construction in sections to ensure the normal operation of the port as much as possible.”

"In this case, the number of workers required cannot be too small, so we need more manpower, and the same goes for tools. The most important thing is that the design work of Mogadishu Port should be carried out first. We need professional People will arrange construction according to the conditions in the sea near Mogadishu."

“In addition, we should also arrange the distribution of goods, order quantity, ship services and other tasks during the construction period in advance to avoid being crowded together and causing confusion.”

 (End of this chapter)