The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

Chapter 890 African Situation

The party group meeting, which lasted for a week, concluded successfully.

Liu Tao held a celebratory banquet in the cafeteria. People only gathered together like this during party group meetings.

Normally, everyone will arrive at the Party Committee meeting unless there are special circumstances that prevent them from attending.

At the gathering, Liu Tao first congratulated the three colleagues who were about to retire, and hoped that they could start to enjoy their retirement life and take a good walk to see the beautiful mountains and rivers of the motherland. As for the two colleagues who were transferred to other places, Liu Tao wished them a bright future and continued outstanding achievements in their new jobs.

It’s hard to say whether the colleagues who were transferred to other places will get together again in the future.

After all, everyone is busy at work.

The fact that they were able to retire safely or be transferred out of Panshan Group shows that they can withstand investigation. Moreover, as members of the Party Committee, their abilities are unquestionable. Mediocre people would leave Panshan Group's Party Committee like a stray dog ​​within three months.

Liu Tao cares more about these colleagues, as they are just colleagues.

Liu Tao congratulated his colleagues who were promoted to members of the Party Committee and encouraged them to continue their efforts, bear their mission in mind and stay true to their original aspirations.

That night, Liu Tao drank a lot and got drunk.

I don’t know how to get back.

By the time he regained consciousness, it was already the next day.

I drank the sobering soup and took a bath, and I felt better by noon.

I picked up a newspaper and started reading. It was the Renren Daily.

The new year, starting from New Year's Day, is destined to be an extraordinary year.

On New Year's Day, the World Trade Organization (WTO) was officially established, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and becoming the main body for formulating global trade rules.

The establishment of the World Trade Organization is a major global event that is destined to go down in world history.

What shocked the world further was the Great Hanshin Earthquake that just occurred in Japan. On January 1, a magnitude 17 earthquake occurred in the Hanshin region of Japan, killing more than 7.3 people, injuring more than 6000 people, and leaving tens of thousands homeless.

The enormous destructive power of the earthquake was vividly demonstrated.

In addition, the Algerian Islamic Armed Forces issued an ultimatum, demanding that the United States, Britain, Germany and other Western countries close their embassies in Algeria within four days. On the 13th, eight Algerian opposition parties and social organizations signed the "Basic Document for a Peaceful Political Settlement of Algeria" in Rome, but the Algerian government rejected this document yesterday.

Since 1965, when Algerian President Ahmed was overthrown by a coup led by Defense Minister Houari, military rule has continued. In 1990, in the first multi-party election, the Islamic fundamentalist party "Islamic Salvation Front" won, but the military refused to obey, which triggered a civil war that has lasted for more than four years.

The civil war has wiped out Algeria's previous efforts, not to mention economic development.

Without political and social stability, there is no premise for economic development.

"What a pity!" Liu Tao sighed secretly.

Algeria is a country in the Maghreb in northern Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Libya and Tunisia to the east, Niger to the southeast and Mali and Mauritania to the south respectively, and Morocco to the west. Algeria has a land area of ​​238.17 million square kilometers, ranking first among African countries, Mediterranean countries and Arab countries, and tenth in the world. Before the outbreak of the civil war in 1990, it had a population of 2550 million, most of whom were Arabs, followed by Berbers (about 20% of the total population).

Algeria actually became independent very late, declaring independence on July 1962, 7. It has a vast territory. Although most of the area is covered by deserts, forests and Stipa slender-stemmed vegetation, the cultivated land area has reached 3 million hectares. The fishery resources are rich, and the marine area available for fishing has reached 800 square kilometers, and the fish reserves have reached 9.5 tons. The reserves of oil and natural gas are rich, with proven reserves of 50 billion tons of oil, and it is Saharan light oil with high oil quality. In addition, two-thirds of Algeria's territory has not been fully explored or explored, and the proven recoverable reserves of natural gas are 13.4 trillion cubic meters. The main proven reserves are 2.37 billion tons of iron ore, lead and zinc ore reserves estimated at 40 million tons, 1.5 tons of uranium ore, 5 tons of gold, and 173.6 billion tons of phosphate.

Panshan Group has many industries in Algeria, and was naturally affected by the Algerian civil war.

The factors behind the Algerian civil war are very complex, both internal and external. The internal cause was that in the early 80s, Algeria's economy had problems such as structural imbalance, inefficiency, and poor management. In addition, under the influence of internal and external situations, Algeria began to implement political reforms centered on a multi-party system, and various ideologies and political parties emerged. Various political forces that were previously underground or operating abroad have successively become legal organizations and have entered the social and political arena in a dignified manner.

Then the Islamic Salvation Front quickly developed into an important political force that competed with the ruling party.

The external factors are naturally Europe, the United States, Libya, and polar bears, which are fanning the flames and engaging in various games.

This naturally includes driving the French out of Algeria.

Algeria was originally a French colony. Although Algeria gained independence after ten years of guerrilla warfare, the French still have great power and huge interests in Algeria.

Many people's impression of France is that it is a European country with a small land area, and then there are various breast milk methods.

In fact, this is not correct.

As the United States and the Soviet Union jointly dismembered the British and French colonies, various countries fought for national liberation movements and gained independence. Britain and France lost large colonies, but in fact France still owns many overseas territories and dependencies. France currently has 13 overseas territories, including five overseas departments, five overseas territories, and two local administrative regions with special status.

France still has overseas territories with a total area of ​​12.315 square kilometers. Although this is only 1939% of the colonies it owned in 1, it still covers the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans.

In countries such as Algeria, France still has many companies that hold a firm leadership position.

Panshan Group encountered various difficulties from French companies, and the two sides often fought behind the scenes.

Liu Tao was also unhappy with the French. Well, to be honest, Liu Tao was quite envious of them.

Look, the six Central African countries and the eight West African countries do not have their own currencies, but use a unified currency called the Central African/West African franc. The institutions responsible for issuing the Central African/West African franc are the Central Bank of Central African/West African Countries controlled by the French. The two currencies of Central African/West Africa are not pegged to the US dollar, but to the franc, and the exchange rate is fixed.

The United States relies on issuing the world-wide currency, the U.S. dollar, to fleece the whole world. The French cannot make such a big fuss, so they set up their own regional currency in 14 African countries. And it is not just a transaction or settlement currency, but a legal tender!

How ugly is the way French people eat?

Looking at the relevant regulations, in order to use the Central African/West African franc, these 14 countries must deposit 65% of the deposits they absorb as reserves into the French treasury every year. The Central African/West African franc and the French franc have a fixed exchange rate, that is, 1 French franc = 100 CFA francs, and the exchange rate adjustment must be agreed by France.

It is easy to imagine how huge the profits generated here are every year. How could Liu Tao not be jealous?

In recent years, all parties have been working secretly to drive out the French.

The effect is pretty good.

After all, political power comes from the barrel of a gun, and the thing the Panshan Group has the most is weapons and ammunition.

However, the chaos in Algeria disrupted the company's layout in Algeria. Some mines could not even operate normally and had to close and stop production.

Not only that, there are also signs of civil unrest in places like Niger.

There is a great possibility that the situation will get out of control.

Liu Tao did not like the situation getting out of control and leading to war, which often caused large numbers of casualties and desertions. What he preferred was to make changes subtly, drive out the French step by step, bit by bit, and take away the interests in the hands of the French.

Even if the French can share interests, they can coexist peacefully and achieve win-win cooperation.

But there are various forces intervening here, so the situation is hard to predict.

(End of this chapter)