A wintery letter from Hamburg

Hamburg is unique, it’s a city state. Germany has a federal system with 16 states (The Länder) and Hamburg City is one of them. And a port city too. Though far from the Atlantic, Rier Elbe connects it to North Sea.

Europe is unique in having lots of navigable rivers. She had good transport network long before cars. Did that give her a head start among other regions? Elbe, Rhine and Danube are long and navigable rivers connecting many countries. What if Athi River, Nairobi River or Tana were navigable to the sea?  Add Rufiji or Kagera.

Hamburg is forever in renewal, I find more cranes on any subsequent visit. But the new buildings rhyme with the old, ensuring the city keeps its character. Living in the city is the new norm; to reduce carbon footprints. I will shout, how can Hilton and Intercon hotels in Nairobi be closed in a country with a housing shortage? Turn them into apartments. There are no architects in Kenya?

Enough lamentations. This time I was not enchanted by Hamburg canals that rival Venice or the old houses. I leapfrogged into modernity. We visited the Airbus plane assembly plant on the outskirts of Hamburg City. We were taken through the plant by a very humorous guide who joined the firm in 1987 and is now retired; 70,000 visit the plant each year, he told us. See diversification of tourism?

You drive through farmlands and car assembly plants before reaching the Airbus buildings that cover 350 hectares. No cameras or recording devices are allowed, the guide informed us. And the rider, “we must protect our intellectual property.”

The two and half hours visit left my head spinning. Airbus demonstrates how countries can cooperate for the benefit of their citizens. The top shareholders of the now listed company are governments of Spain, Germany and France. Originators were France, Germany, UK and Spain.

The key parts are made in Spain, UK, France and Germany. Engines are sourced separately depending on the customer preference. UK left the consortium, just as it left EU.  But Airbus wings and Rolls Royce engines used in Airbus planes are still made in UK.

This site assembles civilian aircraft, mostly A320 series. Airbus also has military, space and helicopters division elsewhere. The visit costs about 23 Euros (about Sh3150).
Beyond countries cooperating on mega projects, the logistic of bringing all the parts together by sea or air and then assembling the planes in massive hangers is just fascinating. Airbus boast of 150,000 employees from 150 nationalities. I did not meet a Kenyan but hope our labour export programme will send some youngsters to Hamburg. Think of the feeling if one worker shouted “Jambo, ni nesa, shimbonyi or chemgei”?

You can’t walk through the assembly plant. You take a bus! You could see the parts as they arrive -fuselage, wings, avionics, front section, and the tail. They are assembled into planes with customer colours using robots and highly skilled workforce. I did not see any plane with KQ colours. The tours ends with an open air museum showing the historical developments of aircrafts, from turboprop to fly by wire and the jet engine. Key lessons for us?

One, why not work together as countries and think economics! Any major East African project akin to Airbus? We love working on our own either as countries or even counties, losing on economies of scale and cross pollination of ideas.

Two, despite Airbus having government backing, private sector played a big role with ideas and conviction. It’s now listed, bringing in professional management. No wonder it’s giving Boeing a run for its money.

Three. Let’s believe in possibilities. Who thought Airbus would one day compete with Boeing. Remember Airbus was started in 1970 and Boeing 1916.  Airbus is already thinking of electric planes and using hydrogen as fuel. Can we learn to cooperate and do big things? We talk too much in Africa; action please. What if Europeans are still talking about Airbus?

Four, such anchor firms have a multiplier effect throughout the economies. Airbus has over 12,000 suppliers. Add the national pride and spillover to the next generation. How do Hamburg citizens feel saying, Airbus is assembled in our city? Tie that to jobs and aspiration of the students. Airbus has other assembly plants in Mobile, Alabama, Tianjin in China, and Toulouse in France. Why not in East Africa?

Five, Hamburg balances the past, present and the future. Our obsession with the present is the problem. Yet changing the way we think is the path to economic progress. Sharing money takes precedence to generating it. We even have a commission for sharing revenues, why not for generating? Why do we tear down old buildings?
Six, a typical Airbus plane goes for $125 million. Do your maths. How many planes are equivalent to our 2024/2025 budget? Do the maths after taking breakfast or lunch. Can you see why our economic future is tied to STEM?

Finally, Donald Trump return to the White House is sending economic shock waves throughout Europe. In Germany, there is fear that tariffs on German cars will devastate an industry already facing intense competition from electric cars and Chinese cars. Have we figured out Trumponomics and how it will affect our economy and mitigation measures thereof?