Chapter 1113 Big Loan
However, this does not overlap with Kewell’s business. After all, he is just the business manager of a small bank. He wants to intervene in the economy of Maputo City and needs a media.
So he asked Rogge: "Mr. Rogge, I wonder what the main content of your investment promotion this time is?"
Rogge said: “There are two directions. One is to hope that people will invest and build factories in our city of Maputo, and the other is to introduce funds for enterprise development.”
The second point Rogge said made Kewell's eyes light up. He said: "Look at our Rooney Bank. Although it is not a big bank, it still has strength."
"Hmm!" Rogge did not expect that Kwell would make suggestions at this time. Kwell was just a receptionist arranged by the Berlin city government. Originally Rogge planned to conduct business at the reception.
However, no matter how small a mosquito is, it is still meat, and Kweil, who was arranged by the Berlin city government, is probably not a small person.
Rogge thought carefully for a while and then said: "If you can participate in investment in our city, as long as it meets the regulations, we will definitely welcome it. However, I am afraid that there is no content in our delegation that is consistent with your bank investment."
The main reason is that Rooney Bank is not strong enough. The people who can come to represent Maputo City to participate in investment promotion this time are basically large-scale enterprises in East Africa.
Rogge's words made Kewell feel dark, but then he heard Rogge say: "However, you are not without opportunities. Our business delegation coming to Berlin is actually just the beginning."
“Now, under the guidance of policies, Maputo City definitely hopes to attract more foreign-invested enterprises. As for the banking industry in East Africa, it is also beginning to be liberalized. You may be able to carry out related business in Maputo City.”
“As far as I know, there are many entrepreneurs in China today. Many of them are ordinary people who lack funds. If you go to East Africa to start business, you will still have a bright future.”
"Of course, there are risks in this, but now is a trend. High risks also mean big opportunities. In other respects, you can also directly buy our East African national bonds, but there are too many people who want to eat this cake. The development of our municipal government You can also consider debts.”
Since the Third Five-Year Plan, the threshold for the introduction of foreign investment in East Africa has been significantly lowered. Today, East Africa is like a brave man, able to eat as much as he wants.
Before 1911, the total foreign debt of East Africa was less than 1.2 billion rhine guilders, almost more than 40 million pounds, and much of it was mainly accumulated from foreign trade.
This debt level can be said to be very low in the world. Among the world's major powers, the debt owed by the East African government is almost negligible compared with other countries.
In one year, 1911, East Africa's debt increased by 720 million rhine guilders, and this figure was still growing rapidly.
In addition to the large-scale borrowing by the East African government for development, local governments have also liberalized external borrowing conditions. Although there are many restrictions, the scale is considerable. After all, there are more than 40 provinces and hundreds of cities in East Africa.
Such a large number of provinces and cities cannot be taken care of by the East African government alone. Therefore, if they want to develop, borrowing money from abroad is one of the easier ways.
Maputo City is one of them. This year, the Maputo City Government alone sent five teams to Germany, the United Kingdom, France, the United States and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Kewell was also very tempted after hearing the two plans provided by Rogge. He said to Rogge: "Director Rogge, if our bank opens business in Maputo City, will there be any trouble?"
“East Africa is a very large market with a population of more than 100 million. Compared with Europe, economic activity is still relatively low, and many industries are blank.”
In the final analysis, the East African government hopes to use funds from other countries to develop its own light industry. East Africa does not lack talents, markets and technology, but what it lacks most is start-up capital. Most of the East African government's industrial investments are concentrated in infrastructure, heavy industry, and agriculture, and it is difficult to take into account light industry.
Rogge suggested to Kwell: "If possible, you can send someone to our city to investigate. There are many Germans and Portuguese people living in Maputo itself. This is my business card. If you go there in the future, Maputo City, you can contact me.”
Rogge handed Kewell a piece of paper with Rogge's office address and phone number on it. Nowadays, East African government agencies have basically universally accessed telephones, so contact is relatively convenient.
Kwill carefully accepted the business card. As the director of the Investment Promotion Office of Maputo City, Rogge’s identity is worthy of Kwill’s attention.
…
There are many cities in East Africa like Maputo that directly send "diplomatic" teams. In 1912, there were more than 1,200 government-organized business delegations in East Africa alone, covering almost all developed regions such as Europe and the United States.
The central government of East Africa has been borrowing heavily from foreign countries. National-level borrowings have always been high, often reaching hundreds of millions of rhine guilders. Although the currency value of the rhine guilder is relatively low among major countries in the world, at the beginning of the 20th century, most The national currency has a much higher gold content than the currencies of previous generations.
Rhine City.
Sweet reported to Ernst: "Today, our country's debt is as high as 2.2 billion Rhine guilders, and this does not include local debt. The national external debt is as high as more than 3 billion Rhine guilders."
"Such a high amount of debt is too much for us, much more than in the past. However, it has also activated the development of our country's local economy. Many cities are expanding industries, and the development of light industry is particularly rapid. The freight volume of our country's transportation industry The total volume has increased significantly.”
More than three billion rhine guilders, which is actually more than three hundred million pounds, is absolutely an astronomical amount. At the same time, the United States owed Britain almost that much. Of course, in addition to owing money to Britain, the United States also owed France and Germany. Other countries have a lot of debt, which may add up to more than a billion pounds.
So the national debt in East Africa looks staggering, but East Africa is still able to manage it and even borrow more. East Africa is also capable of taking on the next step.
Ernst said in this regard: "Although these debts are large, they are still within our acceptable range. The most important thing now is to convert these funds into real industries."
“Moreover, in my opinion, we can borrow at least another three billion in debt, and the government will focus its borrowing targets on loans from the United Kingdom, France, and Germany.”
Ernst’s words made everyone else in the East African government feel frightened. Nowadays, the debt of the East African government is already an astronomical figure in everyone’s eyes. If it is doubled again according to Ernst’s words, no one knows how to repay it in the future.
In fact, what Ernst said is quite conservative. In Ernst's view, no matter how much it borrows now, as long as the European War breaks out, East Africa will be able to pay off its debts, and maybe it will be able to grow again after the war. Make a fortune.
However, for the sake of safety, Ernst did not dare to bet too big. If the European War did not break out, or if the scale of the war was not as large as in previous generations, or it did not last as long, it would most likely backfire on the East African economy.
Therefore, the "Big Borrowing" plan formulated by Ernst has actually become very conservative. Now Ernst only prays that the European War can develop as it did in history. For East Africa, this is East Africa's economic realization of Europe. An important opportunity to overtake.
Just like the United States in its previous life, it owed a huge debt to Europe before the war. After the First World War, Europe owed a huge debt to the United States.
So this round of large-scale borrowing in East Africa is actually Ernst’s plan for the war in advance. Now East Africa has only one purpose, which is to expand its industrial production capacity and then compete with the United States for the market during World War I.
(End of this chapter)