African Entrepreneurship Records

Chapter 985 The First Road and Bridge

If economic and social factors are not taken into account, then the size of East Africa and Tsarist Russia and the corresponding steel output should not be as big as that of the United States and Germany. East Africa is excusable. After all, its development history is short, and its high-speed rail output can now reach the world level. Fourth place is already a very good result.

Tsarist Russia has no shortage of resources. In particular, its initial industrialization resources are richer than those of East Africa. East Africa has overtaken Tsarist Russia. The difference between the two is that East Africa can integrate East Africa's minerals, energy, and land resources through national power.

Of course, there are also conditions created by the opportunities of the times. Since the 1880s, East Africa has become one of the world's largest infrastructure countries. In the 1990s, it surpassed the United States and became the world's largest infrastructure country. In terms of roads, Water conservancy networks, urban construction, railways and other fields are entering a period of explosive growth. What supports East Africa's large-scale infrastructure is the fact that East Africa's population has taken shape and its population structure has matured.

 Infrastructure construction has driven continued strong demand for steel, cement, timber, etc. This is one of the important internal reasons for the sudden rise of the East African steel industry.

Without the maturity of the demographic structure and breakthroughs in scale, East Africa will not be able to catch up with those established powers. Of course, the black labor force is also one of the important factors that cannot be ignored. The contribution of black people to East African infrastructure even exceeds that built by Emperor Yang of Sui Dynasty. Civil servants serving under the Grand Canal.

The steel production target set by East Africa under the First Five-Year Plan is actually not too radical. At least under Ernst’s emphasis, the idea that man can conquer nature will not work in East Africa. The current steel production expansion plan in East Africa is completely based on Within East Africa’s capabilities.

 After ending the discussion on the steel industry, the East African government began to discuss the transportation industry. If it was in the 19th century, the focus of the East African government's discussion in the transportation field must have been the railway level.

 However, as the national railway network in East Africa was basically formed in the 1890s, and with the development of the automobile industry, the attention of the East African government on railways has declined to a certain extent.

However, the decline in attention does not affect the fact that railway is still the leader in the field of transportation construction in East Africa.

Minister of Railways Andre said: "During the planned economy at the end of the 19th century, the goals set by our Ministry of Railways and the Planning Commission were in conflict, but the final data did not reach the optimistic data of our internal department, so combined with the previous Experience, under the guidance of the Planning Commission, the threshold for railway construction tasks in East Africa during the First Five-Year Plan period is 50,000 kilometers.”

"That is to say, during the First Five-Year Plan, we will complete a new railway plan of at least 50,000 kilometers, further improve the national railway network, and strive to build the world's third largest railway network after Europe and North America by 1905. The mileage is close to or exceeds 150,000 kilometers.”

“Except for the construction of a small number of main line railways, the focus will be on the construction of intercity railway transportation, especially the construction of internal railways in the urban agglomeration of Dar es Salaam and various industrial zones.”

“At the same time, the construction of railways in the west was our key work direction between 1901 and 1905. Although the main railways in the west have been relatively complete, the density of the railway network is far from that in the central and eastern regions.”

“Under the guidance of the Planning Commission, our Ministry of Railways and Ministry of Transport intend to build a three-dimensional land bridge with railways, highways and water transportation networks between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. This is our mid-term planning scenario to realize personnel, logistics, and transportation between the east and west coasts of East Africa. Unhindered flow of industry.”

  A land bridge is generally a land passage connecting two oceans. It usually uses railways as its backbone. In fact, after the construction of the Central Railway was completed, it has become a land bridge connecting the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean.

This is the earliest continental bridge in the world, that is, the North American Continental Bridge built by the United States. Before the opening of the Panama Canal, the North American Continental Bridge played a significant role in improving the U.S. economy. In fact, due to the relatively narrow north-south distribution of East Africa's territory, there are currently two land bridges built in East Africa, namely the Central Railway and the Walvis Bay-Inhambane Railway. The East-West Line of the Central Railway is also known as It is the first continental bridge in East Africa, and the Walvis Bay-Inhambane railway is known as the second continental bridge in East Africa. It is an important railway trunk line in East Africa connecting the two oceans.

In fact, the Northern Railway also has the potential to form a land bridge in the future, but it only needs to connect with the colonies of Belgium or France and Germany in the west. According to the situation in East Africa, currently neither Belgium, France, nor Germany have built even one in their colonies bordering East Africa. The idea of ​​an inch of railroad.

 Mainly it is a colony of the three countries close to East Africa. The climate is too complex. It is the core area of ​​the African tropical rainforest climate, with dense wetlands and rainforests, and sparsely populated areas.

The well-developed local river network is also an important reason why the three countries do not plan to build subway railways near their East African colonies. After all, relying on ships can basically penetrate into the hinterland of each country's colonies, and there is no need to build additional railways.

Furthermore, except for Belgium, which is more interested in Congo, France does not pay much attention to Gabon, or Germany does not pay much attention to Cameroon. The two colonies are already weak in development, have a small population, and have low output. If they build a railway, I am afraid that they will not pay much attention to it. The cost will not be recouped for decades to come.

After all, when building railways in colonies, steel and other raw materials can only be purchased from the mainland or East Africa. The cost of railway construction will directly double. If railways are really built in colonies, it will be a big mistake.

If it is a colony like India, building some railways can recover costs and make profits quickly. However, the colonies of Belgium, Germany and France in the Congo rainforest basin have a total population of less than two million, and the Chinese immigrants introduced by Belgium are also Just a few hundred thousand, the population of the German and French colonies could not be too large.

Of course, they may also have considerations for maintaining the security of their own colonies. After all, East Africa has such a giant next to it. If the railway is really connected, wouldn't it be convenient for East Africa to directly invade and occupy the colonies of the three countries?

Not to mention them, even this local snake in East Africa will try to avoid the Congolese rainforest when building domestic railways. At present, in addition to the Hesse, Cabinda and Kinshasa railways, the only rainforest railway project confirmed for construction is the Bangui railway.

The Bangui Railway is one of the key projects in the development of the new western part of East Africa and is an extension of the Atlantic Coast Railway.

Minister Liu Yidwell of the Ministry of Transport followed Andre's words and said: "For the construction of the first continental bridge in East Africa, our Ministry of Transport focuses on the construction of roads and waterways. The East African Grand Canal plan is currently being carried out in an orderly manner and is expected to be completed in 1905 The entire line should be completed before the year, so it can also be used as one of the project priorities of the First Five-Year Plan. At the same time, we plan to build several small-scale canals with the water conservancy department in the west during the First Five-Year Plan.”

“Road construction is currently a new focus in my country’s transportation construction field. With the increase in motor vehicles across the country, the requirements for roads are getting higher and higher, and our domestic roads in East Africa still have many gravel roads and even mud roads. "

“So in the construction of the first major road and bridge, we plan to complete the renovation of 30% of the first-class highways in the central and eastern regions during the First Five-Year Plan period, while focusing on the construction of western highways, and all of them will be constructed in accordance with hardened highway standards. Asphalt roads account for at least 20 percent.”

  If the three-dimensional transportation network of the First Continental Bridge is built, the connection between the east and west of East Africa will inevitably become more compact before the end of 1905, which will also promote the development of the Rhine City, the capital of the East African country in the center, and the entire central region.

 (End of this chapter)