African Entrepreneurship Record-Chapter 634 - 312: Europe-Asia Fruit Basket Plan

For the Orange Free State, East Africa holds the strategic initiative, so there is no rush. Moreover, with East Africa’s expanding territory, national affairs have also increased, reducing the focus needed on the Orange Free State.

As for the strategic position of the Orange Free State, East Africa controls the Fall River and the Lesotho Highlands, thus having a clear advantage. Ernst indeed does not pay much attention to the Orange Free State, maintaining aid to the Orange people, allowing them to continue their internal conflicts with the Transvaal people.

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First Town.

"Your Highness, this is the ’Europe-Asia Fruit Basket Plan’ proposed by the governments of the Northern Province and Juba Province. Last year, the Northern Province and Juba Province saw a 5.8% increase in fruit and vegetable exports to Europe. Hence, these two provinces wish to vigorously develop the plantation industry on this basis as a key pillar industry."

"Hmm, although the Somali region has a somewhat harsh climate, as the saying goes, a blessing in disguise, it has instead achieved a distinctive agricultural development in Somali."

Ernst naturally understands the strengths and weaknesses of the Somali region. If it were in the previous world, it would probably be hard to find many regions more chaotic than Somali globally.

Under East African rule, Somali is entirely different. In fact, for a long time in ancient times, the Somali region was one of the more prosperous regions in Africa.

The population capacity here is reasonable, not too much nor too little. Commerce and handicrafts are especially prosperous, and it serves as one of the centers of sea-land commerce.

"Your Highness, should we approve this plan?"

"Let me take a look first!" Ernst did not immediately take a stand but picked up the document to review it: Vigorously develop the plantation economy, renovate the Two Rivers’ waterways, develop the shipping industry, upgrade ports, promote river-sea combined transport, and expand business in the Eurasian market.

"Interesting!" Ernst said, looking at the proposal from the two provincial governments: "It seems that the governments of the Northern Province and Juba Province have done plenty of homework. Do you think we should agree to this project?"

"Of course, Your Highness, I believe this plan’s feasibility is very high. In recent years, the foreign export trade of the two provinces has been very prosperous, second only to the Eastern Province and Central Province among coastal regions, bringing tremendous economic benefits to the kingdom. Therefore, personally, I support this plan."

Ernst affirmed: "That’s very true. There have been many large projects in East Africa these years, but not many profitable ones. The investment is large, the period is long, and short-term effects are hard to see. The plan of the Northern Province and Juba Province is precisely the opposite.

Speaking of the workload, although it seems large, it is actually all about systematic optimization on the existing basis. Take the two key points in transportation, inland shipping, and sea transportation for example.

The Northern Province and Juba Province each have two natural large rivers, the Shebelle River and the Juba River, and the ports are also ready-made, which only need expansion on the original basis.

Although the lower reaches of the Shebelle River and Juba River flow through arid areas, the upstream water from the Ethiopian Plateau is abundant. Additionally, the lower reaches mainly have a plain topography, with stable river channels suitable for the development of inland shipping.

Moreover, the fruit industry is advantageous in both provinces. In terms of transportation, it is the closest tropical agricultural area to Eastern Europe and Central Asia, so the success of this river-sea combined transport is highly likely."

The Somali region is the area in East Africa closest to the main shipping lane on the northern coast of the Indian Ocean. Taking advantage of this, the economy of the Somali region has been growing continuously in recent years.

Simply because the Somali coastal area is primarily a tropical desert climate, otherwise it would definitely be one of the most outstandingly developed regions in East Africa.

Of course, the most critical thing is product competitiveness. Tropical fruits and vegetables are regional industries; many tropical products can only be imported to Europe from other regions.

And for tropical fruits and vegetables that are difficult to preserve and prone to spoilage, Somali is the best choice for European consumers. This irreplaceability has established East African tropical agricultural products’ leading position in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, which is unshakable.

Unless East Africa self-destructs, this industry can continuously bring revenue to East Africa, and East Africa is not like the former Somali, so there is no need to worry about this.

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Mogadishu Port.

Under East African governance, Mogadishu is the most important port and economic city in the Northern Province. It was also designated as the new provincial capital of the Northern Province during the last administrative division adjustment.

In recent years, Mogadishu City’s plantation economy has witnessed great development, continuously opening up new plantations along the Shebelle River.

This has simultaneously driven the development of shipping on the Shebelle River, with a plethora of small boats vying on the river surface, especially in the Mogadishu section, where various goods, primarily fruits, pile up at the port before being shipped to Eastern Europe and Central Asia through seaports.

Actually, the Arabian Peninsula is not far from Somali, but the northern part of the Arabian Peninsula belongs to the subtropical desert climate, with only the southern part sharing the same tropical desert climate as the Somali region.

However, the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula lacks large rivers like the Shebelle River and Juba River, so agricultural development conditions are far inferior to those in East Africa’s Somali region, and the tropical agriculture industry in Somali cannot develop significantly.

East Africa has only modified and upgraded Mogadishu Port once, so with the construction of other coastal ports in East Africa over the years, Mogadishu Port is already significantly lagging behind other ports.

This is not the key; with the development of inland plantations, the export of goods from the Somali region has increased significantly, resulting in the original Mogadishu Port’s capacity being insufficient.

Thus, in this ’Europe-Asia Fruit Basket Plan,’ the Northern Province government has proposed making the renovation of Mogadishu Port one of its important goals.

Mogadishu Port, relying on the Shebelle River, has an economic hinterland that is narrow and long, distributed in a linear pattern, with oasis plantation industry development being prominent. This economic belt accounts for about 96% of the Northern Province’s economy, with just Mogadishu City alone accounting for a 35% share within the Northern Province.

"The central authority has already approved our and Juba Province’s ’Europe-Asia Fruit Basket Plan,’ so as the core demonstration area of this plan, Mogadishu City will be focused on. The expansion of the Mogadishu Port can also be put on the agenda."

"Governor, the main issue regarding the expansion of Mogadishu Port lies in labor. Previously, we sent away the last batch of Black workers, making Northern Province the first ’Black-free’ province in East Africa. Correspondingly, however, the labor gap has widened. Most local residents already have jobs, especially in high-intensity work such as plantations, so we’re afraid we can’t provide much labor within the province for the upgrade and renovation of the Mogadishu Port."

"There’s no need to worry about this. Since we have central support, we can apply above for a construction team. I heard that a professional construction team completed the Mombasa and Dar es Salaam Ports construction a few years ago."

"If we upgrade and renovate the original port, will it disrupt the docking of ships and export trade?"

"That is indeed an issue, so we need to accelerate the project pace, or conduct it in segments, to ensure the port’s normal operations as much as possible."

"Given this, the number of workers required should not be too small, so we need more manpower. The same holds for the necessary tools. The most important task is to first initiate the design work for the Mogadishu Port. We need professionals to plan construction based on the conditions of the sea areas near Mogadishu."

"In addition, we should also arrange in advance for freight distribution, order numbers, and ship services during construction to prevent everything from piling up at once, causing chaos."