At present, the shipbuilding industry in East Africa has grown considerably, and in terms of the number of ships built annually, it has become a major global shipbuilding power.
With the implementation of the second Five-Year Plan, by the end of 1908, the total tonnage of East African civilian vessels had exceeded two million tons, approaching three million tons, accounting for about seven percent of the world's civilian shipbuilding industry.
At that time, Germany's total civilian ship tonnage was about three million tons, showing little difference with East Africa. Of course, the United Kingdom was more formidable, with its civilian ship tonnage accounting for more than fifty percent worldwide, approaching twenty million tons, even though during the 1890s, the share was even higher. Even as the shipbuilding industries of various countries developed, the UK's share decreased but still led other countries by a vast margin.
