In this era, steel production is one of the most important standards for measuring a country's industrial strength. East Africa's steel production has climbed to the top in the world, to some extent indicating that East Africa's industrial scale may even surpass that of the United States.
This is also understandable, as East Africa's population is larger than that of the United States, with significant domestic industrial demand, and in the early part of this century, East Africa's industry was in a phase of rapid expansion, whereas industrial development in Europe and America was erratic due to economic crises.
If it weren't for the outbreak of World War I interrupting the spread of a new economic crisis, the industrial sectors of various European countries might have further shrunk.
With the words of John Lier falling, some officials of the East African government also gained some understanding of the current export trade.
