African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 1051: Chapter 60: The Problem of Resource-Based Cities

Subsequent discussions on the Second Five-Year Plan primarily focused on the light industry sector. During the First Five-Year Plan, East African light industry only grew by thirty percent, while heavy industry grew by eighty-three percent compared to before the First Five-Year Plan. East African agriculture increased by twenty-six percent compared to before the First Five-Year Plan, with light industry almost equal to agriculture.

In the field of light industry, East Africa was already a weak point in its industrial sector. After the First Five-Year Plan, the gap further widened, so the strong support for the development of light industry is an inevitable trend for the East African Government during the Second Five-Year Plan.

Light and heavy industry are inherently interconnected. If the industrial imbalance becomes severe, it will eventually lead to an unsustainable industrial system, especially at the social level, as light industry is more closely related to people’s lives and is one of the important foundations for national stability.

”During the Second Five-Year Plan, light industry production must accelerate resource integration. By the end of the Second Five-Year Plan, the output value of light industry should be at least fifty percent higher than in 1905. In the fields of textiles, stationery, daily necessities, ceramics, and so on, we must continue to exert efforts and significantly improve the living standards of our people.”

The overall goal for light industry development set by the East African Government is not high. Even if East Africa increases support for light industry during the Second Five-Year Plan, it cannot change the fact that heavy industry remains predominant during this period.

Take the steel industry, for example: the target for the East African steel industry during the Second Five-Year Plan is to double its output. The targets for other heavy industry sectors in East Africa will not be much lower. Additionally, in emerging industrial fields such as basic electricity, capacity expansion is naturally necessary to consolidate East Africa’s advantageous position.

Simultaneously, during the Second Five-Year Plan, national defense industry development will be a focus, and defense industry naturally leans towards heavy industry. Thus, the dominant position of East African heavy industry in the national economy of East African Countries will continue to be maintained.

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The year 1906 arrived quietly, and East Africa’s industrial plan officially entered the ”Second Five-Year” era.

According to the Second Five-Year Plan, East Africa will build more than 1,200 modern large-scale light industry enterprises during this period. Corresponding to the number of cities in East Africa, each city will, on average, construct at least two large light industry enterprises. From this perspective, the development of light industry in the Second Five-Year Plan is not too difficult for both the Central and local governments of East Africa.

In the light industry development projects, the province of Bohemia, as East Africa’s largest heavy industry base, has reaped significant benefits.

City of Harare.

Mayor Antalid is reporting on the key points of urban development in the Second Five-Year Plan and various departments.

Antalid said, ”According to the instructions of His Majesty the Emperor and the Central Government, during the Second Five-Year Plan, our city is a key demonstration city for the transformation of traditional industrial areas.”

”As one of our country’s most important heavy industry bases, Bohemia Province undertakes nearly twenty percent of the national industrial production activities.”

”However, the cities within our province mostly started with industrial and mining industries, with relatively single industries, especially in light industry production, where there is a significant gap compared to coastal and some light industry cities.”

”Although the development of heavy industry contributes greatly to economic improvement, we must recognize that the stock of minerals is limited. Moreover, with economic development and technological progress, domestic demand for mineral resources is rapidly increasing every year. Take the steel industry, for example: after the completion of the First Five-Year Plan, our country’s steel output nearly doubled. By the end of the Second Five-Year Plan, it will double again. At this rate, achieving a national steel output of over one hundred million tons in the future is not impossible.”

”Although our province has abundant coal and iron ore resources, some towns relying on small-scale minerals are already showing signs of accelerated resource depletion. If the resources in these towns are exhausted, should we just abandon them?”

”Therefore, pursuing a path of sustainable development is one of our province’s important future goals, especially to promote industrial diversification and enhance the economic development potential of cities within the province, rather than relying solely on resources, which is a scenario we must try to avoid.”

The concept of resource depletion is still premature for the vast majority of resource-based cities in East Africa, but this does not mean that this situation does not exist, especially in some small and medium-sized towns in East Africa that were established in the early years relying on small mines.

Take the Ruhr District in traditional German industrial areas from previous life as an example. The issue of resource depletion began to surface around the 1950s.

And now, it’s the early twentieth century, which means that if East African industrialization progresses smoothly, then many regions in East Africa could also face resource depletion by the middle of this century—in forty or fifty years. Therefore, undertaking urban transformation work in advance is undoubtedly a matter of more advantages than disadvantages.

These cities that may potentially face resource depletion in the future play an important role in the current East African industrial production. Their advantages are not only reflected in the mineral resource field.

Take railway and highway construction as examples: railway and highway projects will inevitably shift towards towns with concentrated populations and industries, meaning that transportation infrastructure in East African industrial towns is generally not poor. Moreover, with rail and road connections forming, this early advantage is not easily changed.

At the same time, in infrastructure and resources such as education and healthcare, these cities that initially rose due to resources currently have significant advantages over other areas in East Africa. Therefore, with the current thriving mining, developing other industries vigorously is crucial for East Africa’s future sustainable development.

As the largest province for mining in East Africa, most cities within Bohemia Province, led by Harare, rely on mining and related heavy industry departments that have developed due to resource advantages.

Antalid said, ”As the most industrially and economically developed city within the province, our city must set an example for other cities in the province. In addition to continuing to enhance the development of the steel industry, power industry, and heavy machinery and equipment manufacturing industries, we must actively promote the development of cotton textile industry, food processing industry, and home appliance manufacturing in our city, actively exploring industrial diversification.”

Bohemia Province is essentially the northern and eastern parts of Zimbabwe in the previous life, and Harare is located in the northeastern part of the previous Zimbabwe.

Northeast Zimbabwe not only has rich mineral resources but is also the region with the best agricultural conditions and environment in Zimbabwe.

Therefore, with Bohemia Province as the core of the most elite area of Zimbabwe in the previous life, it is not only East Africa’s industrial powerhouse but also an agricultural powerhouse.

The conditions for growing crops such as tobacco, cotton, corn, and wheat are excellent, making Bohemia Province’s cotton textile and agricultural products processing industries quite developed.

However, the Bohemia Province, with Harare as its core, has not fully utilized its agricultural advantages. After all, in the past decade or so, the central region of Bohemia Province prioritized the rapid enhancement of industrial capacity, and Bohemia Province was the primary production area for various industrial minerals in contemporary East Africa. Thus, towns like Harare in Bohemia primarily focused on heavy industry development centered around mining.

This led to significant development in Bohemia’s light industry and agriculture, but compared to heavy industry, they were relatively lacking. Therefore, adjusting the industrial structure of Bohemia Province is urgent and also the most meaningful for the future development of East Africa.

”Leveraging our city’s existing advantages in heavy industry and agriculture to boost light industry development is essential for nurturing our city’s new economic growth. This includes vigorously promoting the development of the textile and food processing industries, while also promoting electrification to create an emerging home appliance production industry cluster.”

Electrification was explicitly mentioned as an industrialization and modernization direction during the East African Second Five-Year Plan, and Harare City naturally needs to respond to the Central Government’s call.

The power industry belongs to heavy industry and leans towards the energy industry, but the final consumption end of the power industry, namely various electric equipment or home appliance products, is also not to be overlooked in the process of electrification.

And, without question, household appliance manufacturing belongs to the category of light industry. The history of the East African home appliance manufacturing industry is relatively long (compared to other countries), so products are already quite diverse.