Chapter 887 Eight Northern Cities

Ernst said a few words, and the people below were busy. Although it was said that backward industries should be relocated to the north, the relocation location could not be decided casually. Even backward industries were valuable resources for East Africa. After all, the current industrial scale in East Africa was not large, and the demand was far from sufficient, so even the relocation of backward industries required research and investigation.

Ernst said rather unethically: "The location of Gezira City is very good in my opinion. It is located in the Gezira Plain and has a certain agricultural foundation. At the same time, it is close to the Nile River and has no shortage of water resources. We can focus on developing a number of highly polluting industries such as the chemical industry, which will not affect our domestic environment and facilitate trade between us and Egypt."

The Nile River flows from south to north and is an international river, mainly involving East Africa, Egypt and the Abyssinian Empire.

International rivers are generally prone to international disputes, mainly water source issues. Most rivers in the upper Nile Basin (South Sudan) eventually converge into the Nile River.

The city of Gezira is the last section of the Nile River in East Africa. If highly polluting industries are set up here, it is indeed very unethical. East Africa, located in the upper reaches of the river, will inevitably pollute the water of the Nile River in Egypt.

As the mother river of Egypt, most of the drinking and irrigation water comes from the Nile River, so Ernst's idea is very dangerous.

However, officials in East Africa quite agree with this point. After all, people in this era have no concept of environmental protection, and the development of industry will inevitably cause pollution. All industrial wastewater in East Africa is discharged into rivers and the sea.

At present, the main industrial areas in East Africa are concentrated in the eastern coast, the shores of Lake Malawi, and the central region, so the industrial wastewater in East Africa is also mainly discharged in two directions, namely the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean.

The water of Lake Malawi flows into the Zambezi River through the Shire River, and the main rivers near the central industrial zone are tributaries of the Zambezi River and the Congo River, so part of it flows into the Zambezi River, part of it flows into the Congo River, and then the return route is the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean respectively.

Of course, if East Africa deploys highly polluting industries in Gezira, the impact is not as bad as imagined. After all, the country that pollutes the Nile the most is Egypt itself.

Although Egypt is backward, its industrial level is second only to East Africa in Africa, and Egypt's industrial wastewater is obviously discharged into the Nile. In the past, the Nile was one of the most polluted rivers in the world that could compete with the Ganges in India.

Although the population in the Ganges River Basin far exceeds that of the Nile, the Ganges has a large flow and strong self-cleaning ability. The water volume of the Nile is relatively small, and there is only one river channel in the lower reaches, so the natural pollution is more serious. In addition, Egypt has a dense population, and the water used by residents along the coast also comes from the Nile, but the corresponding domestic sewage and industrial sewage can only rely on the Nile.

So even if East Africa does not pollute the Nile, the Egyptians will pollute it themselves. In fact, this is the current situation. Egypt introduced a large number of textile companies in the Ali era. The pollution of the textile industry is very serious, and these industrial sewage is of course the main source of pollution in the Nile.

As for the Abyssinian Empire and East Africa in the upper reaches, their impact on the Nile River is actually very small. Of course, the Abyssinian Empire is a purely agricultural country and it is impossible for it to have much impact on the water quality of the Nile River.

Although East Africa has a certain scale of industry, except for some cities along the Great Lakes (Lake Victoria) region, most of the industrial deployment is in agricultural areas, and the impact on the Nile River is not great.

Of course, whether the city of Gezira can carry out industrial development is inevitable. Gezira City is one of the important long-staple cotton producing areas in East Africa. Apart from other things, the textile industry must be arranged, so that part of the textile industry in Nairobi must be moved to Gezira City.

As for the chemical industry, although Gezira occupies the advantage of the upper reaches of the river, the development of the chemical industry also requires a certain industrial foundation in the local area, and there are many cities in East Africa that are interested in the chemical industry, because the chemical industry is also an emerging industry in East Africa.

Moreover, Gezira City is far away from the hinterland of East Africa. At present, the railway from Juba to Gezira City has not yet been opened, so the industrial development of Gezira City still needs time.

"Bangui City must be developed as a priority. At the same time, Mogadishu, Kismayo on the Somali coast, Bangassou on the Azande Plateau, Dire Dawa, and Turkana Province are all priority options."

Turkana Province was listed separately. As one of the earliest developed regions in East Africa, Turkana Province is currently the most important oil producing area in East Africa. At the same time, there are multiple trade ports connecting to the Abyssinian Empire. Railways and roads have also been opened long ago, so it will be the focus of the industrial sector this time.

In addition to Turkana Province, Bangui has the most prominent position. Its downstream is Kinshasa and Cabinda, to the north is the Sigmaringen Royal Territory and German Cameroon, and to the west is Belgian Congo, so East Africa must vigorously develop Bangui City.

In addition to economic considerations, it is naturally also for national defense and security considerations. The population in the northwest is relatively small, and it is not the focus of East Africa's development. However, with the activities of other colonists, East Africa will inevitably pay more attention to local security to prevent the erosion of the country.

Most of the border between East Africa and Belgium is located on the right bank of the Ubangi River. There are many swamps in the area, so it is actually difficult to distinguish the border between the two countries. As for the other two colonies, Sigmaringen East Africa is not worried. Although the relationship with German Cameroon is friendly, it must be guarded.

In the end, the East African government identified several key cities for the transfer of backward industries, namely Dire Dawa Town, Jimma City, Gambella City (Abyssinian Empire Border), Juba City, Jezira City, Bangassou City (Central Africa), Bria City (Central Africa), and Bangui City.

These eight cities are basically spread across various provinces in northern East Africa. Most of them are located in the border area, including Dire Dawa Town, Jimma City, Juba City and Jezira City. Bangui City is actually next to the border, but the urban area is far from the border. In addition, they are regional transportation hubs, such as Bangui City, Juba City, and Bria City.

As for the cities that were not selected, some of them are not in poor conditions. Some cities like Mogadishu, Kismayo and Turkana Province actually have a certain industrial base, so they do not need these backward industries that are about to be eliminated.

Take Mogadishu as an example. Its key development industry is the food processing industry, and Mogadishu's food processing industry itself is at the top level in East Africa. At the same time, Mogadishu also has the textile industry as one of its pillar industries. Its textile industry has just been put into production in recent years, mainly as a result of the last "Eurasian Fruit Basket Plan" investment promotion in the two provinces of Somalia.

Moreover, with the cooperation between East and Germany (Germany), more German businessmen have chosen to invest and build factories in the coastal areas of East Africa, and there are many opportunities in themselves, so this backward industrial transfer itself is not very favored by Mogadishu and others.

After all, the investment of Germany and Austria-Hungary is definitely based on emerging technologies on the market. If they accept the backward industries eliminated in the middle and eastern regions, it will be a burden rather than an opportunity for these cities.

Therefore, these backward industries still need to be transferred to the underdeveloped areas of East Africa. Of course, they cannot be completely without any economic foundation. Otherwise, even if the backward industries are transferred to the local areas, they may not be able to operate. The eight cities selected above are of this level, which perfectly meets the needs of the East African government.