In fact, the reason for not developing southward for the time being is that the southern bay is an important waterway. Mombasa Island divides Mombasa Bay into two parts. The southern harbor is wider and the water is deeper. If a bridge is built, the shipping conditions of Mombasa Port will be greatly weakened. However, there are no such concerns in the north and west.
The same is true for the development path of Mombasa in the previous life. Bridges were built to connect Mombasa Island with the northern and western land. Previously, there was already a railway bridge connecting Mombasa Island in the west. Now the Eastern Province government plans to further expand the economic ties between Mombasa Island and the mainland.
To complete Grand Mombasa Plan, it is not easy for the current Eastern Province. To achieve Grand Mombasa Plan, at least 1.5 million people are needed, and the current population of Mombasa is less than 700,000.
In the past, the population growth rate of large cities in East Africa was not fast. The most typical ones are Dar es Salaam city and Mombasa city. According to the economic size and population size of East Africa, if it were a free market country, the population of these two places would have exceeded one million many years ago.
Here we can use United States as a reference. In the middle of the 19th century, the population of New York had exceeded one million, and at that time the entire United States population was only about 20 million. Now the population of East Africa, including black people, is more than 90 million. There is actually no city with a population of more than one million. In this way, we can more clearly understand the development path of East African cities.
Therefore, for Mombasa, urban development is restricted by population. This is a big problem, but it is not without opportunities. That is, one of the goals of East Africa First Five-Year Plan itself is to improve the level of urbanization.
Therefore, Andre said, "An important factor that promotes urban population agglomeration is industry. Only if the industry meets the standards can it provide more jobs and absorb more people."
"A large Mombasa city needs at least a million people to achieve our goal, so we first set the Mombasa city population target at one million. Breaking through one million is a great victory for us, so that even if we face the Dar es Salaam city city circle, Mombasa city will not be widened by a big gap."
"An important direction in absorbing the population is to transform the agricultural population into an industrial population. If we want farmers to move into cities without delaying our province's agricultural production tasks, the most important thing is to improve rural productivity."
"So while Provincial Government supports Grand Mombasa Plan, it will carry out relevant reforms in the agricultural field of our province, including further adjusting the agricultural production structure, improving agricultural mechanization, and focusing on improving the productivity of chemical fertilizers and pesticides."
"The adjustment of the agricultural production structure means to transform the province's agricultural production tasks with Mombasa city as the center, connect with food and processing enterprises in Mombasa city and other provincial cities, and at the same time increase the proportion of animal husbandry and cash crops in agriculture."
"That is to say, with Mombasa as the core, other cities will cooperate to form an integrated agricultural product processing and export port, gathering the strength of the whole province to vigorously develop the agricultural product processing industry, improve agricultural income and production efficiency, on the one hand, provide abundant agricultural products for Mombasa city urban residents, on the other hand, actively strengthen the export of agricultural products, and increase the added value of agricultural products."
"Agricultural mechanization is a term that everyone is probably familiar with. It means increasing the use of tractors, agricultural vehicles, water pumps and other machinery in the agricultural field."
"In these areas, Mombasa will also further develop related industries and strive to ensure that Mombasa's industries can feed back the province's agriculture."
"The production of chemical fertilizers and pesticides is an important guarantee for stably increasing the output and quality of agricultural products in a short period of time. In addition to serving the province's agriculture, it can also be exported or transported to other regions in East Africa. The above three key points are the priority issues to be solved in agricultural reform."
As agricultural productivity increases, correspondingly, the demand for agricultural production population decreases, so the population will naturally transition to cities.
Of course, if the urban industrial layout is not in place, in this case, the original agricultural population may become unemployed, and the Eastern Province government's economic development plan may be self-defeating. Therefore, ensuring the expansion of industrial scale is the primary issue that Mombasa city must solve first.
During the First Five-Year Plan period, the policy support Mombasa received was not abundant, because the current focus of East Africa is on building the western region, so it is not easy for Mombasa city to further enrich urban industries.
In this case, we must find more external support. The first thing is to seek help from Provincial Government. At present, Provincial Government naturally supports the development of Mombasa city, because Mombasa city is also the provincial capital of Eastern Province.
However, with Mombasa city accounting for about 70% of the province's economic volume, the province's strength is obviously not sufficient, so foreign aid is still needed.
Therefore, Mayor Lorraine said, "At present, even if Mombasa city focuses on the development of the entire province, it will be difficult. In this case, we must attract more allies. In this regard, I have two ideas."
"That is to rely on the two main arteries of Northern Railway and coastal railways to cooperate with other provinces, especially Northern Railway Economic Belt provinces."
"The provinces along the Northern Railway Economic Belt have close relations with the Eastern Province and have a high degree of industrial collaboration. Therefore, integrating resources along the Northern Railway Economic Belt is to strengthen the advantages of our province."
"Mombasa city is the leading part of Northern Railway Economic Belt. Most of the import and export work can only be completed by relying on Mombasa Port, so the provinces along Northern Railway Economic Belt are also the most dependent on us."
"In this case, we can completely lead the economic construction of the entire Northern Railway Economic Belt and cooperate with various provinces to achieve collaborative development of personnel, logistics, resources, minerals, and industry."
In this regard, Northern Railway Economic Belt has a rich population, resources and market, which are all needed by Mombasa to further develop.
Although northern East Africa is a relatively depopulated area, this is not the case along Northern Railway Economic Belt. From Mombasa to Great Lakes Region, this area belongs to East African economy The eastern region has always been the most densely populated area, especially Great Lakes Region, which has developed agricultural activities, a large agricultural population, and a high natural growth rate. In the past, it has been an important population reservoir in East Africa, transporting a large number of people to various parts of East Africa.
Therefore, the key to Mombasa city's population exceeding one million lies in Great Lakes Region. Likewise, Northern Railway Economic Belt can provide Mombasa city with a large amount of resources. Although the resources in northern East Africa are relatively scarce compared to other regions, if they are used to support the development of a city, it is completely sufficient. And in Lorraine, there is no city in the entire northern East Africa that can take on this important task, other than Mombasa city.
For example, the rich nepheline resources in the Mount Kenya area are an important source of raw materials for the development of the aluminum industry in Mombasa city. Nepheline is a substitute for bauxite and an indispensable raw material for the ceramics and glass industries.
This kind of mineral is generally distributed in areas with more active geological activities. Mount Kenya in East African Rift Valley is an important producing area of this kind of mineral.
Similarly, the northern region is currently the most important oil-producing area in East Africa, especially the two major production areas of the Lake Turkana and Lake Albert basins, which can support the development of Mombasa city through railway advantages.
In terms of other resources, Mombasa city is also easy to import due to its superior geographical location, such as coal and iron ore for industrial development. Most of them come from imports, including the Middle East, India and East Africa's own New Hamburg City.
Mombasa's geographical location advantage is also its real core advantage. It is an important port for exchanges in East Africa, Eurasia and other regions. Although Mogadishu Port is closer, Mogadishu's economic size It is not as good as Mombasa, not to mention that Mombasa relies on Northern Railway, and its economic hinterland can reach as far as the Azande Plateau and Congo rainforest regions.
Therefore, Mombasa's planning must always rely on its port location advantages, which is also an important basis for the Eastern Province and Mombasa city governments to formulate policies.