African Entrepreneurship Records

Chapter 623 Mogadishu Port Reconstruction

 As the "Eurasian Fruit Basket Plan" begins to be implemented, the cities of Mogadishu in the Northern Province and Kismayo in Juba Province are the first to take action.

 Mogadishu Port is the most important port in the Northern Province, and Kismayo City is the outlet of the Juba River. It has more advantages than Mogadishu in river-sea transport.

In the previous life, Kismayo’s main exported goods were bananas, along with livestock, leather, canned food, etc. It had modern slaughterhouses, large meat and fish canneries, and small industries such as tanning.

In terms of banana exports, the same is true for the city of Kismayo under East African rule. Compared with Kismayo, Mogadishu also has a more prosperous cotton industry. The banks of the Shabelle River are also important high-quality long-staple cotton producing areas in East Africa. .

 The long-staple cotton production areas in East Africa are mainly divided into three major areas, namely the Shabelle River Basin in the Northern Province, the Juba River Basin in Juba Province, and finally the lower White Nile production area in the Nile River Province.

In this case, cotton is processed in the three places, and then the semi-finished products are transported to Nairobi, Mombasa, Dar es Salaam and other textile industry centers for further processing to meet the local demand in East Africa.

Or it can be directly used as raw materials and exported through ports. The market demand for long-staple cotton is very strong, so there is no need to worry about the market. These cottons are basically sold to Europe, especially Central and Eastern Europe, which provides a relatively developed textile industry. Germany and Austria have injected new blood to further enhance the competitiveness of their products.

 Bananas and cotton are industries promoted by the East African government. However, the well-known livestock industry in Somalia has shrunk, and other specialty industries have also developed, among which the leather industry is very popular.

 This is related to the national conditions of East Africa. In addition to rich animal resources, East Africa should be regarded as the country with the largest number of crocodiles in the world, almost all over the country's rivers and lakes.

The same is true for the Shabelle River and Juba River. In the south of Mogadishu City, which is the lower reaches of the Shabelle River, there are wetland systems such as lakes and swamps. There are many crocodiles. The number of crocodiles in the entire Shabelle River Basin is probably greater than the population of the entire Northern Province. This provides sufficient raw materials for the leather industry in Mogadishu.

In previous lives, crocodile intestines were a precious dish used by Somalis to entertain guests. The Crocodile Crocodile Show is one of the most attractive activities for tourists in Mogadishu. At the same time, Mogadishu enjoys the reputation of "Crocodile Kingdom".

However, as mentioned before, crocodiles are basically distributed throughout East Africa, so Somalia's crocodile leather industry is not very prominent in East Africa. For example, the Limpopo River in southern East Africa is also known as the "Crocodile River".

However, the Somali region has a geographical advantage and the distance advantage from the main waterway between Asia and Europe has made it an important export market for crocodile leather. Not only East Africa exports it, but also businessmen from Europe and Asia come here specifically to purchase it.

The Port of Mogadishu and the Port of Kismayo under East Africa have both undergone renovations, and the hardware has been upgraded. However, the relative commercial trade is indeed not as good as before. This is related to East Africa's isolation policy.

 Mogadishu, an important regional trade center, was forced to interrupt due to the conquest of the Sultanate of Gradi in East Africa, which also meant that the original economic foundation of the Somali region no longer existed.

 The decline of coastal cities in Somalia such as Mogadishu in recent years has also accelerated the development of coastal cities in southern East Africa such as Mombasa and Dar es Salaam.

Now that the cities of Mombasa and Dar es Salaam have developed, port cities such as Mogadishu can also receive more support from the East African government. In August, the East African government mobilized the first construction team of more than 200 people from the south, most of whom were port design and construction personnel serving the East African government.

They began to survey and plan the ports of Mogadishu and Kismayo, making initial preparations for the transformation and upgrading of the port capabilities of Mogadishu and Kismayo.

“The Port of Mogadishu is still at the same level as the old port of the original Grady Sultanate. Although it has been restored and maintained, there has been no essential change. It is a change of water without changing medicine. It can only be said to restore the basics of the port when it was built. function, but there is no substantial improvement.

With the development of the Shabelle River Basin and the future increase in population, the export trade of the Northern Province will further expand. Therefore, the expansion of Mogadishu Port requires large-scale demolition and reconstruction of the old port area and re-planning of functional zoning. "The chief designer of the Mogadishu Port Renovation Project, Austrian engineer Rohr Windi, told Mogadishu city government officials after surveying the Mogadishu Port.

“Designer Luo Erwendi, if the port facilities are demolished on a large scale, it may affect Mogadishu’s foreign trade, so can we avoid this problem?”

Roelwindi said: “If this is the case, we can only open a new port in the south of Mogadishu, so that the port expansion can be completed on time without delaying short-term business activities, but this will change the situation of Mogadishu city. Urban layout, because a new port area is opened, there will be more supporting infrastructure, and the industry will also change with the change of the port. In the future, Mogadishu's industry and population will converge to the south."

“Does the opening of a new port also mean that we have to rebuild a city?”

"That's not the case. If you don't mind the trouble, you can build a road from the city to Xingang District to solve this problem. And as far as I know, you have the purpose of building river-sea combined transportation this time, which is very important for planning China Unicom. The link between the Shabelle River and the port of Mogadishu has great advantages.”

After all, Mogadishu is different from Kismayo. Kismayo is located directly at the mouth of the Juba River. This saves a lot of trouble in connecting the Port of Kismayo to the Juba River. However, the disadvantage is that the dredging work at the port will be in the future. More frequently than Mogadishu.

Although Mogadishu is a seaport and is very close to the Shabelle River, it is still some distance away from the Shabelle River and requires a road to ensure the connection. As for the lower reaches of the Shabelle River, it is still a long distance after it actually passes through the city of Mogadishu, and It is an important irrigated agricultural area in Northern Province and Juba Province.

"Of course, you don't have to worry too much. You can keep the old port and open up a new port at the same time. This is the experience of Dar es Salaam. Now the development of the old and new port areas in Dar es Salaam is quite good. It can even be said that Dar es Salaam has completely surpassed Mombasa for this reason, so this option is a good thing for you, Mogadishu."

“Will the cost exceed the budget?”

"There is no need to worry about this. According to the previous design, a new breakwater was built on the basis of the old port. Now it is just moved south. The cost of the port will not be much higher, but it may be cheaper. But as mentioned before, you need to re-build supporting infrastructure to ensure that Mogadishu’s business will not be affected in the short term, and the bulk of the expenditure can be shared evenly with subsequent projects.”

Rohrwindi’s words reassured the Mogadishu city government a lot. In fact, the main reason is that the current Mogadishu Port stall is small and the newly built space is large, which provides Rohrwindi with sufficient operating space.

"Then I'm sorry to trouble you, Mr. Roelwindi. There are still two months until the rainy season, so I hope you and your team can speed up the progress. We will try to start construction next month, otherwise there will be some trouble after the rainy season comes, especially It is a busy farming period, and the manpower in Mogadishu City is not very sufficient."

 (End of this chapter)