African Entrepreneurship Records

Chapter 866 BASF inspection team

While Ernst was enjoying his travels on his expedition, new development opportunities also opened up in the city of Beira on the Indian Ocean.

Beira City is different from Maputo. It is a new city developed and constructed in East Africa. However, its development speed has surpassed all cities in East Africa in 1892, including Maputo, the former capital of Mozambique. The main reason for this situation is that The policies of East African countries are tilted towards the city of Beira.

In the past, African industry was concentrated in northeastern South Africa, the former Transvaal Republic, including Johannesburg (the largest city in South Africa, undeveloped in East Africa), Pretoria (today's Otto City in East Africa) and other important industrial and mining cities in South Africa. .

With Johannesburg as the center, there are more than 60 gold mines within 240 kilometers nearby. It is located in the world's largest mining area and the center of South Africa's economic hub. Johannesburg and many surrounding industrial and mining cities account for about half of South Africa's total industrial output value. .

East Africa's industries were concentrated in Zimbabwe in the previous life, not in South Africa. This caused Beira's port location conditions to be taken seriously, including railways, ports, highways and other supporting facilities. The population, capital, technology and industry also Concentrate on this area.

 August 17, 1893.

Beira Municipal Government welcomed a group of important guests from Germany at the dock, including an inspection delegation from BASF, one of the German chemical industry giants.

BASF is headquartered in Ludwigshafen, opposite Mannheim in the Principality of Baden. It emerged in the 19th century due to the development of the chemical industry. Ludwigshafen and Mannheim on the opposite coast form a joint port. BASF was founded in 1865. Real name: Baden Aniline and Soda Factory.

Many chemical factories in Germany were established in the 1960s and 1970s. They were initially concentrated in the textile industry. At that time, the mainstream products in the dye industry were still natural dyes. However, because they were mainly derived from plants, they had complex ingredients, product concentration, and unstable hues.

Therefore, it is difficult to achieve standardized production in modern industry and meet the growing demand of the textile industry. BASF chose to enter the field of synthetic dyes and use coal tar, a by-product of gas, to make synthetic dyes.

It can be seen that the chemical industry was hugely profitable at this time. Of course, BASF, which started with dyes, was at the forefront of the times. The great development of the textile industry has studied people's higher demand for textiles, and "textiles" as "clothing" in basic necessities, food, housing and transportation, are absolutely necessities.

Since the 1970s, BASF has entered a period of expansion, annexing two extremely important dye sales companies in Germany. At the same time, BASF began to establish production facilities and sales offices abroad, including offices in the United States, France and Tsarist Russia.

At the beginning of its establishment, BASF only had more than 30 employees, but now it is a large German chemical company with thousands of employees. Regardless of the small number of employees, in fact, wages in the chemical industry are much higher than those in other industries. Even new graduates entering the company. The average salary of employees is 25 times that of other industries.

In the 1980s, the application of new technologies made BASF the largest sulfuric acid manufacturer in the world at that time.

In 1869, BASF successfully synthesized the first natural dye: alizarin, which became the company’s first global success story. Subsequently, new dyes such as eosin, orthored and sophora yellow also came out one after another.

 Hence, it is self-evident that East Africa or Ernst attaches great importance to the chemical industry. This visit to Beira City is one of the important contents of the cooperation between East Africa and Germany.

Of course, where BASF and other German chemical companies will eventually invest and build factories depends on the methods of various cities in East Africa. Yes, before coming to Beira, BASF had already conducted inspections in cities such as Mombasa and Tanga. During its visit to Beira, At the same time, BASF also visited the New Hamburg Port City and Luanda on the west coast.

Therefore, the Beira Municipal Government has no idea whether this investment promotion can be successful. Compared with Beira City, Mombasa, Tanga and New Hamburg Port, the basic conditions are obviously better. Only Luanda on the west coast is currently the same as Beira. The city is at the same level. "Gentlemen, welcome to Beira City for inspection. I am the mayor of Beira City, and my name is Curry Belilan. We have prepared food and accommodation for you in advance. You will definitely be happy when you come to Beira City. We are guaranteed to feel at home,” Beira Mayor Beira said enthusiastically.

After the typhoon two years ago, the development speed of Beira City was not affected at all. Instead, it reached a higher level in 1892. The city expanded rapidly with the increase in population and labor, the port was basically formed, and the railway was about to be completed. Today It can be said that the city of Beira is ready for everything, all it needs is the east wind, and this east wind is industry.

Burleland doesn't know much about the chemical industry, but if it is highly valued by the central government of East Africa, it must be something out of the ordinary. Therefore, even if he is embarrassed, Burleland must find ways to keep the BASF branch in Bayland. Pull the market.

Members of the BASF delegation were not surprised by the enthusiasm of local officials because they had received such courtesy in other East African cities before.

A rather young member of the inspection team said: "Hello, Mayor Burleyland, don't be so enthusiastic. We are mainly focusing on the inspection mission this time. As a company, we at BASF still prefer that the local area is suitable for our establishment of branches." factory standards.”

Berleland looked at the young man in front of him and said: "I don't know what your name is? Are you the leader of this inspection team?"

 The reason why Belilan paid attention to this young man, apart from his standing in the first place, was mainly because of his appearance and characteristics that made Beliland feel a little strange. If he thought about it carefully, wasn't this a characteristic of East Africans of mixed race!

He has a German-like appearance, but he has thick black hair. His face and skin color also have German-Chinese characteristics.

"Of course, my name is Charlie Ann, and I am the leader of this inspection team. However, my level as the leader of the inspection team is not too high. It is because I am originally from East Africa, so the company considered sending me to I will inspect the situation locally, so I will be more strict in the next inspection.”

Chalir Anda generously stated the reason why he became the leader of the inspection team, but the last sentence also showed that he would not relax the inspection standards because of his East African nationality, but would become more stringent.

However, now Bolilan was very interested in Xialilian's experience and also wanted to have a good relationship with the BASF representative, so the two started talking.

Subsequently, under the insinuations of Belilan, Shalilian’s experience gradually became clear. The reason why Shalilian, an East African, was able to become an employee of BASF was mainly because he benefited from the education system in East Africa.

 East Africa sends a large number of international students to study in Europe every year. However, the freedom of these international students is not strictly restricted by the East African government. The main constraints imposed by the East African government on them are "tuition fees" and their families.

The tuition fees are easy to understand. All the international students in East Africa study abroad at public expense. In the 19th century, the tuition fees for college students were very high. Even if they were virtuous, the governments of Austria and other countries would still do it for the sake of the East African government. Family is a natural bond. In fact, It is not a means of the East African government. In addition to orphans, the parents of international students' families must live in East Africa.

After completing their study abroad, some students can choose to return to their country in order to "repay the loan", in which case the study loan will be canceled directly. International students who do not choose to return to their country can choose to work in Europe and then return the "loan". In this way, most international students will choose Return to China for development, while a small number of those with connections may stay in the more prosperous Germany.

And Charlierian has connections. His father is a German immigrant and his mother is Chinese. However, his grandfather and other relatives still stay in Germany, so when he returns to Germany, he follows his father's instructions and "acknowledges his ancestors." In addition, when he was studying in Germany, he majored in chemistry and had excellent grades, so he was favored by BASF and directly offered a high annual salary. This allowed Xialilian to repay the loan in just one year after graduation and stay in the company. In Germany.

 (End of this chapter)