African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1452 Chemical Industry
The Soviet Union's industry is currently at a level where even copying and plagiarism are difficult. Ultimately, this is the result of a lack of talent. Even if there are ready-made machines, there are no skilled workers to operate them, and the ready-made technology cannot be understood and applied.

Of course, the Soviet Union’s industrial foundation is much better than that of most countries in the world. As for the gaps and shortcomings, they can only be solved step by step, and this process is destined to be slow.

Even before the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Soviet Union's huge industrial system still had many unresolved problems, especially in the field of light industry, which was completely lagging behind the Western world.

As for now, not only is the Soviet Union's light industry not impressive, its heavy industry is also very backward. No wonder Joseph did not have the confidence to confront the imperialist countries to the end.

……

1927 3 Month 2 Day.

Rhine Empire, Bella City.

Beira is one of the most important chemical industry centers in East Africa. In recent years, Beira has become one of the new centers of the world's chemical industry, attracting a large number of high-quality companies.

As a port city on the east coast of East Africa, Beira is close to the production areas of raw materials and can effectively utilize the oil resources of East Africa's South Sea colonies. In the future, when the oil and gas resources in the North Gulf (Persian Gulf) are developed, they can also be conveniently transported here by sea.

At the same time, Beira is not far from East Africa's three major coal producing areas, Tete Province, Bohemia Province and Hansa Province, which means that Beira City can obtain a relatively cheap supply of basic raw materials.

In terms of the market, Beira City is backed by the central industrial zone of East Africa, namely the Central Province, Bohemia Province, Lorraine Province, Tete Province and other important industrial provinces in East Africa, which also facilitates the development of foreign exports.

The combination of resources, markets, transportation, policies, talent and other factors made Beira the undisputed first chemical industry city in East Africa in the early 20th century.

Therefore, when investigating the development of the chemical industry in East Africa, the city of Beira cannot be avoided. In early 1927, Crown Prince Friedrich personally visited the city of Beira.

Officials from Rhodesia Province and Beira City personally went to the Beira Railway Station to welcome the arrival of the Crown Prince's special train.

At seven o'clock in the morning, the special train slowly pulled into Beira Station. Nowadays, most of the trains in East Africa have been replaced with diesel locomotives, and the same is true for the imperial royal train. As for the original steam train, it was sent to the East African National Transport Museum for the people of the empire to visit.

In addition, the electrification transformation of some railways in East Africa has been completed, and electric locomotives also account for a certain proportion in East Africa, but this type of electrified railway can only be seen in specific areas.

It is clear that the royal train will not be pulled by electric locomotives at present, whether from the perspective of safety, reliability, or traffic accessibility.

Soon Friedrich appeared at the door of the carriage in a suit and tie. Unlike many royal families in Europe, the royal family of the Rhine Empire prefers casual clothing and pays attention to comfort.

For European monarchs, nobles or leaders, military uniforms were the trend during this period, especially for major European countries such as Germany, France, Austria-Hungary and the Soviet Union, for example, German Emperor Wilhelm II and Soviet leader Joseph.

If we don't consider factors such as material, workmanship, brand, personal temperament, etc., Friedrich's outfit would seem a bit ordinary when walking on the streets of the empire.

"Welcome His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to our province for inspection!" Pierre, a senior official of the Rhodesian province, stepped forward eagerly and said.

Beira is the capital of Rhodesia Province, so the people who came to welcome Frederick included both senior officials from the province and officials from Beira City.

Friedrich greeted Pierre and other officials in a formal manner, and then began to look around.

“Bella Station looks a bit crowded and small.”

Pierre explained: "Your Highness, when Bella Station was built, Bella City was just an unknown small town, and it was not considered to be so large today."

Beira is one of the top ten cities in East Africa. Its population has exceeded one million in recent years. When the Beira Railway Station was built, the local population was only a few hundred thousand. Although the designers at that time planned a city with a population of 500,000 to cope with the future development of Beira, the operation of the Beira Railway Station is now a bit struggling.

Friedrich said: "Beira has become one of the most important port cities on the east coast of East Africa, and can even radiate to inland areas such as Rhine City. The Beira Railway Station should also be expanded. Your freight station should not be like the passenger station!"

The passenger station is smaller, so passengers can choose to travel by road. If rail freight is also overloaded, it may affect the economic development of Beira City and even drag down the development of the regional economy.

For example, in the Bohemian Province, a heavy industrial base in East Africa, Beira City is its most important access to the sea. If the railway freight capacity is insufficient, it will greatly hinder the development of Bohemian Province's foreign trade.

Regarding this point, Pierre said confidently: "The railway freight capacity of Beira City can definitely meet the needs of regional development. When Beira City was first built, one of its important purposes was to serve the inland economy, so the design redundancy of the railway facilities is sufficient."

"As for passenger transport, Beira City does have shortcomings now. After all, no one could have imagined that Beira City would develop so fast, and the industries in Beira City at the time did not take into account that the flow of people would reach such a scale."

The city of Beira started out as an industry, but now it has obviously become an open city like Dar es Salaam and Mombasa. The flow of people from home and abroad is increasing every year, and Beira itself is an important transportation hub in East Africa, so there are many people transferring.

For these reasons, the Beira Railway Station is now operating beyond its design limits.

Pierre went on to say: "However, we are already preparing to build a new station to meet the travel needs of local citizens as well as domestic and foreign passengers. Now the site selection for Beira East Station has been completed and we are preparing to enter the construction phase."

Friedrich was quite satisfied with this explanation. In fact, the railway was obviously not under the management of the local government, but Pierre was able to clearly understand this information, which also reflected his usual work attitude.

After all, just imagine, how can we expect an official who doesn’t even understand the basic situation in the area under his jurisdiction to manage his area well!
Friedrich said: "Transportation is one of the important foundations of economic development. The earliest markets were also located in areas with convenient transportation. Therefore, the transportation planning in the region should be based on the premise of coordinating with the overall national transportation planning, and should be adapted to local conditions as much as possible to improve transportation accessibility and efficiency." "Especially Beira, which is an important hub for water-rail transport in the country, and is also a large industrial and populous city, so the demand and standards for transportation are also higher."

"For Beira City, the imperial government hopes that it can become one of the five open centers on the east coast in the future. Your Beira City happens to be between Mombasa, Dar es Salaam, Maputo, and New Hamburg Port, and is an important link on the eastern coast of East Africa."

In fact, there are many port cities on the east coast of East Africa, but the development of other port cities has been left behind by these five cities.

For example, the city of Hinde at the mouth of the Zambezi River is an estuary of a large river, but unfortunately the Zambezi River's own disadvantages have limited impact on the city. The port of Inhambane in the south lacks an economic hinterland. Ports such as Quelimane and Nacala in the north are developing rapidly, but their overall conditions are still a little worse than Beira. Mtwara and Lindi are not on the main line of East Africa's economic development.

"Okay, the main purpose of my visit this time is to inspect the industries in your city. You will be accompanied by staff from the Bella Municipal Government. Your main task is still work." Friedrich said.

Therefore, Pierre and other provincial officials had to leave, and Friedrich was then accompanied by the mayor of Bella, Kjaer, to visit the city's industrial area.

The industrial zone, or industrial area, of Beira City is built on the estuary of the Pongwe River. Numerous factories form a large area standing on the banks of the Pongwe River.

The towering chimneys emit thick smoke into the sky, forming a dark depression visible to the naked eye above the city. This is also the location of the largest oil refinery in East Africa.

Beira Mayor Kjaer told Friedrich: "Every day, tankers transport crude oil resources from Southeast Asia and other regions to the Port of Beira. Our local oil and chemical companies refine the crude oil or further process it into plastics, ethylene, propylene and other products, and then send it to the inland Bohemian Industrial Zone or other parts of the country by rail and road."

"At present, some of our city's chemical industries have reached the world's advanced level, but there is still a certain gap with Germany."

There is no doubt that Germany's chemical industry is still the best in the world. Before and after World War I, German chemistry can be said to have made another leap forward, leaving behind countries such as East Africa and the United States.

The reason for this result actually lies in the different national conditions. The conditions for the development of chemical industry in East Africa and the United States are undoubtedly better than those in Germany, especially in terms of obtaining raw materials.

But this will make it more likely for related companies in East Africa and the United States to become complacent.

Germany's resources are relatively scarce compared to other world powers. During World War I, due to the blockade, German companies had to rely on scientific research and technological innovation to make up for the material shortages in Germany at the time. For example, in the fields of synthetic ammonia, coal chemical industry, synthetic rubber, artificial nitrates, artificial fibers and so on, Germany is in a leading position.

Moreover, Germany already has a first-mover advantage in some areas of the chemical industry. For example, in the last century, German companies monopolized about 80% of the global market for synthetic dyes.

It cannot be said that East Africa and the United States are completely useless. In the petrochemical industry and its derivative industries, both countries have done well.

Kjaer told Friedrich: "Germany's chemical industry was already very developed at the end of the last century, while our chemical industry in East Africa only started in the early 20th century, so there is a big gap between the two countries."

"At the same time, Germany has a huge advantage in talent training in related fields. This gap requires domestic universities and enterprises to catch up together before we can catch up with or even surpass Germany."

"Many of our Beira companies have technologies from Germany. At the same time, many German chemical industry giants have built factories in Beira, such as the German dye giant IG Farben and Haber-Bosch, which has synthetic ammonia technology."

At the beginning of the 20th century, Germany, relying on its strong accumulation and technological advantages, used patent authorization and technical cooperation to influence the chemical development in East Africa, the United States, Japan and other countries. Germany's investment in Beira was mostly carried out in the form of technical cooperation.

The East African market is undoubtedly extremely attractive to German companies. For example, the textile industry in Bulawayo, an important customer of Beira, buys dyes from Beira to process its products, and Germany's IG Farben can get a share of the pie.

Friedrich asked, “What about our own business?”

Kjaer said: "There is a big gap between our chemical companies and those in Germany, but in certain areas, we also have our own unique skills, especially in petrochemicals, plastics, chemical fibers and other areas."

"Moreover, the imperial chemical industry has entered a relatively rapid development stage in recent years. As time goes by, it will definitely surpass countries like Germany."

"Imperial started relatively late in the chemical industry, but has invested heavily in recent years, and more and more universities, research institutes, laboratories and companies have joined in. For example, this year the Mbeya Polytechnic University developed a new type of artificial fiber."

“Enterprises in our city have already engaged with the Mbeya Polytechnic and are expected to enter the market, which will further enhance the country’s progress in the chemical industry.”

"There have been more and more such cases in recent years. At the same time, we have mastered the technology we once obtained from Germany and other countries and trained a large number of scientific researchers and skilled workers."

"In the coming period, the chemical industry in the empire will usher in a period of technological explosion, which will greatly promote the development of the empire's chemical industry and better promote the progress of national industrialization."

As a basic industry, the importance of the chemical industry is self-evident. The development of steel metallurgy, textiles, shipbuilding, equipment manufacturing, automobiles, etc. are all inseparable from the chemical industry. It is also related to the development of military and agricultural fields, such as explosives and pesticides and fertilizers.

This is also one of the important reasons why Friedrich personally went to Beira to inspect the development of the empire's chemical industry. The layout of the chemical industry in East Africa is not just that. It is a complex industrial system involving many towns across the country, forming a huge scale and network. It's just that in this system, the chemical industry in Beira is more representative.

But this does not mean that the chemical industry in other cities is weak. For example, the previously mentioned city of Mbeya has greater advantages in the field of technology research and development. In addition, the East African capital of Rhine, Dar es Salaam, Cabinda, Mombasa, Luanda, etc., all major cities in East Africa have related industrial layouts.

Even many medium-sized cities have their own strengths in the chemical industry, such as coal chemical industry in Tete and Nova Hamburgo, special coatings research and development in Bagamoyo, etc.

Kjaer said: "Given our resource and scale advantages in East Africa, as long as we can maintain the current development progress, it is only a matter of time before we surpass Germany. After all, Germany's energy, funds and personnel are limited, while the Empire can cover more fields and industries. In the future, the United States may continue to be the Empire's main rival. For example, now we are competing fiercely with the United States in the field of petrochemicals."

(End of this chapter)