Chapter 1048: Chapter 57: The Second Five-Year Plan

Of course, it is unlikely that interest in East Africa arises solely from both being monarchies; the two countries share many other similarities, such as centralization, state-owned enterprises, ethnic diversity, and more.

Globally, East Africa’s centralization is unrivaled; you can hardly find such a country type in Europe and America.

The numerous state-owned enterprises initiated by the Far East Empire during the Westernization Movement bear a strong resemblance to East African enterprises, offering a certain reference value for the Empire’s approach to its enterprise development.

Now, in a sense, the Westernization Movement has already failed, yet its proponents could wholly use East African enterprises as a case study. The enterprises founded during the Westernization Movement undoubtedly benefited the industrial sector of the Far East Empire, with its failure primarily being political.

Regarding ethnicity, East Africa, as a mixed-race country with a significant portion of Chinese immigrants, disproves to some extent the racial theories of the West.

Of course, Western countries and the Far East Empire approach issues differently; Western countries attribute East Africa’s development achievements to European immigrants, given that even the supreme ruler is European nobility. In contrast, the Far East Empire believes that Chinese immigrants have made significant contributions to East African development and played a crucial role in society, like Sivert, currently overseeing economic work in East Africa, who is of Chinese descent, illustrating that Chinese people are no less capable than the German descendants within the Far East Empire.

As for Ernst, this question naturally results in the conclusion that there is no inherent difference between races, at least currently lacking fundamental evidence to prove such differences, even believing that the native Africans serving, figuratively, like beasts of burden in East Africa, do not inherently possess issues of intelligence.

Under East African management, these natives can engage in diligent work, akin to oxen and horses, significantly contributing to East African social construction.

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Regardless of external perceptions of East Africa, the East African Government continues to organize national production and construction activities methodically. With the conclusion of the First Five-Year Plan, East Africa’s goals for the Second Five-Year Plan were officially unveiled in December 1905.

"Our steel industry’s goal during the Second Five-Year Plan is to reach at least ten million tons. During the recently concluded First Five-Year Plan, our steel production exceeded six million tons, an increase of nearly three million tons compared to before the plan. Thus, during the Second Five-Year Plan, our steel industry should increase by no less than this figure."

"According to the steel sector plan under the Second Five-Year Plan, large steel enterprises will be established in Cabinda and Kinshasa, utilizing local and Belgian Congo’s iron ore resources. Meanwhile, a new round of steel enterprise expansions will occur in Letania Province and Tete Province, aiming to further enhance coastal areas’ externally oriented steel production and construction activities."

The Congo Province, where Cabinda and Kinshasa are located, includes areas from the former Congo (Brazzaville), Congo (Gold), and parts of Angola, with Congo (Brazzaville) possessing rich iron ore resources.

The territories of the former Congo-Brazzaville were divided between East Africa and Belgium, and Belgium’s resource exploration work in the Belgian Congo was relatively thorough in Africa.

This is well solved, as the former Belgian Congo covered over two million square kilometers, while in this timeline, the Belgian Congo’s area significantly shrank, prompting the Belgian Government to maximize its utilization of these resources.

Although France and the United Kingdom possess many colonies in Africa, their efficiency in developing and utilizing these colonies might not surpass Belgium, given that England and France have too many colonies while Belgium can focus its energies on the Belgian Congo.

For an industrial power like Belgium, developing an area of just over twenty thousand square kilometers in the Belgian Congo is not difficult.

In the early 20th century, Belgium already had a population exceeding six million, with extremely developed industries, steel output surpassing 1.5 million tons, becoming the fifth largest exporter in Europe. Belgium’s Antwerp Port is one of the world’s top ten ports.

Thus, early 20th-century Belgium was an extremely developed nation, comparing its population size, approximately one-sixth of France’s, it certainly had the capability of developing a small-sized colony.

Currently, many critical mineral resources in the Belgian Congo have been identified by Belgium, with its tin, iron, and potash mines being particularly vital for East Africa.

In 1902, Belgium discovered a high-quality large iron ore in the southwest of the Belgian Congo, commencing preliminary mining and exporting it nearby to East Africa, followed by exports to Belgium or France.

This is also why the East African Government intends to invest in large steel enterprises in the Congo Province during the Second Five-Year Plan, leveraging local resources and the ample iron resources of the Belgian Congo to further drive the development of the steel industry.

Similarly, with the rise of the chemical industry in East Africa, future interests lie in the abundant potash resources of the Belgian Congo, making it a pursued goal.

Potash is a crucial component of fertilizers, significantly boosting agriculture, with its global distribution being exceptionally uneven.

The potash deposits in the Belgian Congo are among the world’s largest, with massive reserves, estimated to reach hundreds of billions of tons, once serving as a major supplier to the global potash market in the former world.

This potash deposit is primarily distributed along the West Coast of Africa, across the Belgian colony and East African territory, very likely being one of the largest potash resources in East Africa.

Therefore, aside from the Industrial Department, the Agricultural Department also places considerable emphasis on the potash resources of the Belgian Congo. As East African agricultural development transitions, the demand for fertilizers and pesticides continues to grow.

"During the First Five-Year Plan, we initially renovated some large steel production enterprises; however, a significant portion of local steel enterprises have yet to complete the technical and equipment updates. Upgrading these backward steel enterprises is a critical goal for the steel industry during the Second Five-Year Plan."

"At the same time, increasing exploration of coal and iron ore resources in the west and north is a major task during the Second Five-Year Plan."

East Africa’s main mineral deposits are located in the central south, while the west and east are also commendable; the north has always been a region relatively lacking in mineral resources, especially noticeable in the steel industry, highlighting the importance of surveying coal and iron ore resources in the north during the Second Five-Year Plan. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

The primary reason is that the northern economy has been too weak. Over the past decades, the rest of East Africa has undergone rapid development stages, while the northern economy and industrial development have been relatively slow, impacted significantly by resource constraints.

Therefore, during the Second Five-Year Plan, with the aim of narrowing inter-regional industrial development disparities, the East African Government will extend some consideration to the northern regions.

"During the Second Five-Year Plan, further increasing the import volume of foreign steel raw materials is one of the key features of steel industry development, including importing certain coal and iron ore from India, Belgium, South America, and other areas."

Purchasing raw materials for steel production from abroad will undoubtedly raise production costs at the current stage of industrialization. East Africa is engaging in this practice primarily to increase trade volumes with other regions.

With the completion of the First Five-Year Plan, East African industrial production has further improved, but the available capacity in foreign markets is limited. East Africa must pay a certain price to promote its industrial goods exports; after all, other countries will not allow East Africa to take all the profits. Therefore, from a "trade fairness" perspective, East Africa must also introduce some "equivalent" goods from related trade countries or regions.

Corresponding to the export of industrial products to backward regions and countries is the import of raw materials. This is reflected in East Africa’s steel industry by increasing the import of foreign coal and iron ore.