African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1524 Integrating Resources
High-speed trains can be pulled by steam locomotives, diesel locomotives, or electric locomotives. Britain and the United States are the two leading countries in the field of steam high-speed train research.

The Flying Scotsman currently operating in Britain can reach a top speed of 160 kilometers per hour, while the fastest steam train in the United States can reach 140 kilometers per hour. And this is not the limit for Britain. A few years later, the steam train developed by Britain even set a record of more than 200 kilometers per hour.

As for the United States, although there were also internal combustion locomotive research and development projects, they were not yet widely used. It wasn't until the 1940s that the United States began to phase out steam locomotives on a large scale and replace them with internal combustion locomotives.

Among the world's major industrial powers, East Africa may be the weakest in terms of foundation and strength in the research and development of steam locomotives. This is unavoidable, as East African industry was still learning from Europe and the United States at the end of the 19th century, and its independent research and development capabilities only improved at the beginning of this century.

However, by this time, the internal combustion engine had already taken over, and steam power could only still exert its great influence in the shipbuilding industry, but it also faced competition from the internal combustion engine.

However, this also put East Africa and Germany in the world's top tier in the fields of diesel locomotives and electric locomotives. Before 1910, Germany was firmly in first place. Starting in the 20s, East Africa's military industry and scientific research made full efforts to catch up with Germany.

Although Germany established its presence in East Africa early, its formidable industrial strength and abundant talent pool from the late 19th to the early 20th century cannot be ignored.

In 1903, Germany developed an electric locomotive with a speed of over 200 kilometers per hour. However, due to the limitations of the technology, it was not commercialized. This is a microcosm of the application of German technology. To this day, a large number of steam trains are still in operation in Germany.

Meanwhile, the proportion of steam locomotives in East Africa had dropped to an extremely low level during the same period. Diesel locomotives now occupy a major position in East African railways, while electric locomotives are developing rapidly and have already accounted for a high proportion in the East African railway system, threatening the status of diesel locomotives.

Minister of Railways Wells said, "Your Highness, in summary, the most fundamental way for the Imperial Railways to continue to develop is to differentiate itself from road transport, especially in the field of medium and long-distance passenger transport."

"The reason for the railway losses is mainly due to passenger transport. This is a global problem. In countries like the Far Eastern Empire and the Soviet Union, where road transportation was not yet developed, railway passenger transport was quite profitable."

"Of course, these countries with low levels of industrialization have relatively few railway lines and even fewer passenger lines, so people and businesses have limited choices."

“East Africa is different. Our total railway mileage exceeds 300,000 kilometers, forming a relatively dense and developed railway network. This has also led to the diversion of passenger traffic. Originally, passengers could only choose one route, and the coverage area is much larger.”

"Now, with the East African railway network fully integrated, passengers have more choices, and people in the same region can choose the most convenient station to board the train."

"However, this also leads to an increase in the operating costs of our railway system, but such basic public welfare projects obviously cannot be measured by economic benefits."

It's not just East Africa; railways in many European countries also consider this issue. For example, in Germany, German Railways subsidizes some non-profit lines to meet the travel needs of low-income groups.

This brings us to the term "car poverty," a phenomenon particularly prominent in major car-producing countries like the United States and East Africa.

After all, cars also require fuel and maintenance. If low-income groups buy vehicles, it will only increase their burden and reduce their spending on food, medical care, education and other areas.

The US government may disregard this issue, but East African governments clearly do not share this attitude, which is reflected in their emphasis on the development of public transportation.

In public transportation, railways undoubtedly fall into this category, especially for inter-regional travel. Therefore, in order to meet the needs of low-income groups, affordable public transportation services are essential.

Labor parties are rampant in countries around the world today, and if they do not pay attention to basic livelihood and social justice issues, they may trigger social unrest.

This is one of the reasons why many European countries attach importance to social and transportation equity. Of course, European countries may also consider it from an energy perspective, like Germany, which, due to its scarcity of oil resources, places even greater emphasis on the development of the railway sector.

After listening to Wells's explanation, Crown Prince Frederick remained silent for a moment before saying, "In that case, the reform of the railway system can be temporarily slowed down. The main tasks at present will be as you said, focusing on two aspects: first, optimizing the lines, and second, continuing to promote the electrification of the railway."

"Especially the railway network in the eastern and central regions of our country, your Ministry of Railways should conduct a detailed investigation and demonstration, eliminate some unreasonable lines and stations across the country, and improve the imperial railway network by taking into account suggestions and needs from all sectors of society."

"Currently, the Empire is undertaking a large-scale construction of waterways. You should also pay attention to this and communicate with the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Water Resources, the State Grid, and other relevant departments and units."

Water transport is also quite competitive with railways. If highways mainly take away railway passenger transport business, then water transport takes away freight transport business.

Freight transport, especially the transport of bulk commodities, is precisely the main source of revenue for railways, a fact that is true in all countries.

For example, after passenger rail service in the United States completely collapsed in the previous life, most lines focused on freight transport, since freight transport is different from passenger transport.

Railway passenger transport must take into account passengers' time requirements and cannot be as flexible as buses and cars, which leads to a serious problem of empty trains in railway passenger transport.

This is still under the condition that the economy, population and urban distribution in East Africa are relatively balanced. The problem in the United States is more prominent. Currently, the population of the United States is mainly concentrated in the East, while the Midwest is relatively weak. Since the last century, the United States has built a large number of railways in the Midwest, which is also an important reason for the losses of US rail passenger transport.

Friedrich continued, "In recent years, with the implementation of many large-scale water conservancy projects, the national power structure will also undergo significant changes, which are closely related to the electrification of the Imperial Railways."

"After all, railway electrification must take into account the issues of power resources and transmission. Looking at countries around the world, those with a high degree of railway electrification generally have strong hydropower resources, which account for a large proportion of their power generation structure."

“East Africa itself is a country with extremely abundant hydropower resources. During the electrification of railways in the central and western regions, the degree of electrification is higher than that in other parts of the country. Therefore, you should pay attention to this issue during the route optimization process.”

East Africa's central and western regions are extremely rich in hydropower resources, roughly corresponding to the former Congo, Angola, and Zambia. In particular, the Congo River basin, with its numerous tributaries, has been developed and utilized by East Africa, becoming a major hydropower energy base.

Hydropower resources in the central and western regions are only relatively representative of East Africa. Other regions also have considerable hydropower resources. For example, the current Zambezi River basin management and development will further enhance and regulate the national power generation pattern in East Africa.

Currently, hydropower accounts for more than 10% of the power generation structure in East Africa, which speaks volumes. Before the 1920s, hydropower accounted for less than 30% of East Africa's power generation. "In recent years, hydropower growth has been particularly rapid in the south and east. Once projects such as the Kabra Basa Hydropower Station are completed, they will completely change the regional distribution of the Empire's power industry."

"You can cooperate with the water conservancy and power sectors to accelerate the construction of electrified railways. During the Seventh Five-Year Plan period, the proportion of electrified railways nationwide should ideally reach 40%."

This proportion is already very high. Even in the 21st century of my previous life, there weren't many countries where electrified railways accounted for more than 40 percent of the total.

In the past, in Africa, except for South Africa where electrified railways accounted for more than 30%, no other African country had more than 10% electrified railways.

Of course, in the past, many African countries had little to no electrified railways, and even ordinary railways were not common in sub-Saharan Africa.

Outside of Africa, only the Far East and Europe have high levels of electrified railways. In the 21st century, Switzerland still has the highest level of electrification, reaching almost 100%, followed by Belgium, which exceeds 80%, and Japan and the Far Eastern Empire both exceeding 70%.

Conversely, North American railway development lagged behind Europe and the Far East. The electrified railways in the United States and Canada accounted for less than one percent of the total. This is similar to the fact that diesel locomotives accounted for a very low percentage of trains in the United States and Canada today, with steam locomotives dominating the market.

This is understandable, though. North America, especially the United States and Canada, has very flat terrain, which means that the two countries have limited hydropower potential. Furthermore, with the advent of highways and the subsequent development of the aviation industry, the two countries have no incentive to develop railway transportation.

Friedrich's grand vision was far from over. He continued, "By 1940, the electrification rate of our railways should exceed 50 percent, especially in the central economic zone, where railway electrification should be fully realized."

The Central Economic Zone does not refer to the central part of East Africa, but rather to the vast region in the middle of the country's north-south border, parallel to the equator. This region includes the former Tanzania, Mozambique, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Congo, Zambia, and Angola.

That is, the region between the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean, where East Africa has the most concentrated population, the most developed economy, and the most densely populated cities.

The central economic zone has the highest proportion of railway passenger and freight transport volume in East Africa's national railway network. After all, this region not only undertakes the main passenger and freight transport in East Africa, but is also an important hub for trade between the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean.

For example, goods from Brazil can first be shipped to ports in western East Africa, then transported by East African railway to ports in eastern East Africa, and finally shipped to the Indian Ocean or even the Pacific coast.

Although the cost of transporting bulk commodities is still lower than that of going directly around the Cape of Good Hope, it is of great significance to the local economy of East Africa.

Moreover, trade between East South American countries and Asia was not very active during this period, since both sides are agricultural countries and their economies are not very complementary. East Africa, on the other hand, is in the middle and has become the final trading location for the vast majority of trade.

Take the rubber industry as an example. Brazilian rubber is exported to East Africa, processed, and then exported to all parts of the world. The Far Eastern Empire does not grow rubber, but it does not need to trade with Brazil. After all, rubber in Southeast Asia is very cheap and close by, and East Africa itself has colonies in the South China Sea.

Similarly, the Far Eastern Empire's main export commodities, such as pig bristles, tung oil, and minerals, were hardly needed by South American countries and were mainly exported to industrialized countries in East Africa.

After all, South American countries mainly import manufactured goods rather than raw materials for industrial production, and their own industries are almost negligible.

In this way, Africa, located between Eurasia, Oceania and South America, has demonstrated its geographical advantage in world trade, and East Africa, as the leading industrial power in Africa, has also gained a dominant position in this actively cultivated trade system.

Friedrich stated, "East Africa is a key node in world trade, and developments in the transportation sector can continuously consolidate our advantages in world trade."

"Railways occupy an important position in the Empire's transportation sector. Therefore, improving railway transportation efficiency, reducing intermediate links, and compressing railway transportation costs require our joint efforts."

"Against the backdrop of the great development of imperial highway transportation, the railway sector cannot respond passively. In addition to improving its technical level and optimizing its internal systems, it must also strengthen cooperation with the highway and water transport sectors to achieve intermodal transport of highways, railways and waterways."

“In this process, various departments should consult on some routes to avoid the problem of duplication of construction. For example, in the Zambezi River basin, after the main channel of the Zambezi River is navigable, the bulk freight transport along the Zambezi River will inevitably choose water transport as the priority.”

"The railway and highway sectors should not over-build and invest in their respective areas, and should even abandon some of their investment and operations."

"Similarly, in some short- and medium-distance transportation, because of the emergence of highways, your railway department should show courage and take the initiative to give up the disadvantageous competition with highways."

"Of course, other transportation departments should do the same. In short, the direction of the Empire's transportation development is a diversified and balanced development model."

"Compared to competition, cooperation is the main direction for the future of transportation sectors in East Africa, thereby driving the empire to establish the world's most efficient transportation network and structure."

In short, Friedrich meant to reduce internal friction in East Africa's transportation system, and under unified national coordination, to ensure that various transportation modes find their most suitable positions and develop in a coordinated manner.

Before the 20s, although East African transportation also emphasized balance, the development of various transportation sectors focused more on quantity. Moreover, East African countries had a short history and lacked experience, which led to some chaos and waste in the field of transportation development.

East Africa's economy has long since moved beyond its extensive development model. In particular, in international competition, optimizing resource allocation is essential to maintaining East Africa's advantage in the world market.

Just like now, the US economy is in a mess. Even after the US economy is sorted out and restored, during this period, East Africa and the Soviet Union will have already made significant progress. East Africa is expanding its leading advantage, while the Soviet Union is catching up with the gap between itself and other industrialized countries.

In fact, whether East Africa, as the world's largest industrial country, is the world's leading industrial power is still controversial. After all, although East Africa's industrial scale ranks first in the world, there is still a certain gap between East Africa and European and American countries in terms of per capita output.

This can be reflected to some extent in terms of urbanization level. Therefore, East Africa should take advantage of this important historical opportunity presented by the economic crisis to integrate domestic resources, narrow the gap with other countries, and thus make East Africa the world's leading power.

(End of this chapter)