Matabele Province Industrial Development

The "Eurasian Fruit Basket Plan" in Somalia's two provinces stood at the forefront of East African agriculture's active integration into the international market. Yet in 1882, the most dazzling industrial development in East Africa was found in the three inland provinces: Matabele Province, Hohenzollern Province, and Swabia Province.

In 1882, East Africa's total steel output stood at 1.23 million tons, of which Matabele Province alone accounted for more than 300,000 tons, nearing 400,000 tons. It rapidly caught up with the eastern coastal cities, the Northern Industrial Zone, and the Lake Malawi Industrial Zone.

East Africa's current annual steel output had already approached Germany's level from a decade earlier, when it was first founded. However, after Germany achieved national unification and completed the integration of its domestic market—such as the newly acquired Alsace and Lorraine regions, which were important steel-producing areas—its steel capacity underwent explosive growth in a short period. It later contracted after the economic crisis of 1873, but its situation remained far better than in the previous life. The main reason was that East African railway construction had absorbed the excess capacity of the German territories. Thus, Germany's current steel output was more than twice that of East Africa.

Britain's current steel output exceeded seven million tons, more than six times East Africa's, while that of the United States was more than three times East Africa's. Yet East Africa's output was also more than double that of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It lagged far behind France, but the gap was not great.

This was mainly thanks to the development and utilization of East Africa's iron ore resources, as well as the dividends gained during the economic crisis. Worth mentioning, however, was that Tsarist Russia's steel output was far lower than East Africa's, and even below that of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.