African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 126: Chapter 121: Development of the Northern Territory

February 11, 1868.

Omolate Town is located on the east bank of the Omo River within Kenya, currently the northernmost immigrant settlement in the East African colony.

With full support from the Nairobi government, a large number of immigrants were transported here to settle in a short time, bringing the current population to over eight hundred.

The Nairobi government organized all the vehicles to transfer these immigrants who docked at Mombasa and traveled west to Nairobi towards the Omolate area.

Poor Nairobi government, under the chessboard of East Africa, gained nothing but instead continuously supported other regions in Kenya, slowing local development.

As the former capital of Kenya, Nairobi shares its fate with Dodoma, the former capital of Tanzania. Both cities, once brilliant, are now rather desolate.

Of course, Dodoma, having been developed earlier, is in much better shape than Nairobi, having accumulated a sufficient population, whereas, during the early stages of Nairobi’s establishment, a portion of people were diverted north to build coffee plantations. Now, they have barely rested before needing to support the development of Omolate Town.

These two cities cannot compare to their former status, but this is the current situation of the East African colonies; the closer to the center, the slower the urban development.

By contrast, many cities on the edges of the colony have developed adequately, and Omolate is one such peripheral city.

Omolate was the first foothold in East Africa’s bid to secure the Omo River Basin. In a rush to secure the area, there wasn’t even time to clear out the local indigenous people.

The reason Omolate was chosen as the current northernmost city is due to its favorable geographic conditions; the land is flat and easy to develop.

Heading further north along the Omo River, it’s all mountainous and highlands, where development is difficult, and the upper Omo River area is so winding that ”winding a thousand twists” doesn’t even begin to describe it.

No wonder Ethiopia built hydroelectric stations upstream in the past, as its hydro resources are indeed abundant.

South of Omolate lies the Omo River Delta, about thirty kilometers from Lake Turkana.

The Omo River Delta is inhabited by indigenous tribes who live by fishing, so Omolate was established slightly north of the delta to avoid it.

This location is quite good; compared to the delta, it’s less susceptible to floods, and the land is very fertile, yet the local indigenous people have no farming experience.

Therefore, the land here has never been developed, and, nourished by the Omo River over thousands of years, both banks are full of fertile soil.

The establishment of Omolate Town follows the usual East African expansion pattern: first enclose the land, then gradually invite out the original landowners.

Once enclosed, the land thoroughly becomes part of the East African colony, much like how Ernst once enclosed the entire inland plateau of Tanzania.

Using cities like Mwanza, Kigoma, Mbeya, Kalonga, etc., as bases around the Tanganyika region (a collective term for the inland plateau), it cut Tanganyika off from other powers.

Then immigrants were used to completely occupy the enclosed land, and slowly the Tanganyika region fell into the hands of the East African colony.

As for Kenya, it was seized through warfare, so it didn’t follow this pattern.

Even now, the establishment of Omolate Town once again showcases the most adept expansion method of the East African colony.

From the moment Omolate Town was established, it completely severed all Ethiopian factions (including the Abyssinian Empire) from the land south of Omolate.

Once villages under Omolate are established and completed, these forces will have their roads to contact and enter northern Kenya blocked by the East African colony.

The vast lands along the shores of Lake Turkana (about fifty thousand square kilometers) become East Africa’s possession, with the colony able to slowly digest the region from both the south (Nairobi) and the north (Omolate).

Turkana, being a saltwater lake, has few surrounding tribes and indigenous people, so once isolated, they are like lambs waiting to be slaughtered.

The precipitation in the Omo River Basin ranges between 1500mm and 2000mm, so downstream Omolate has no lack of water sources, allowing for large-scale rice planting to support immigrants.

South of Omolate is Lake Turkana, and the Kenyan region east of Lake Turkana is not suitable for large-scale grain farming.

The desert and savannah are interwoven, so it’s planned to be used as pastureland, which is the least economically valuable land use in East African pastoral land.

The entire East African plateau has a tropical savannah climate with no shortage of such grasslands, and the south also has more precipitation, making the grass and vegetation more lush.

Additionally, in the current East Africa, there is plenty of undeveloped land; even in the most densely populated Marine District, there are vast areas of grassland and forest.

Thus, the natural conditions in northern Kenya barely stand out, and it is only for immigrant settlement that pastures are preferentially selected in northern Kenya.

However, herding is not so easy either; in East Africa, ”armed” herding is implemented.

Besides the Sahara Desert, which is truly barren, almost all regions of Africa are teeming with wild animals; even the southern Kalahari Desert is a paradise for wildlife.

Northern Kenya, no matter how poor the conditions, still has plenty of animals, with lions, leopards, hyenas, and such being quite numerous.

As the planned large ranch of East Africa, the population in Northern Kenya is destined to remain small, unable to numerically compete with the wildlife.

Wild animals certainly pose a threat to the safety of the colony’s livestock. In this era, there’s no barbed wire or electric fence to separate the two.

Even if there were, the current economic conditions of East Africa couldn’t afford them. What can East Africa afford? Guns in their hands.

The East African colony holds around several hundred thousand guns, roughly one for every five people.

Herding with guns is definitely cost-effective and safe, as East Africa can even produce them on a small scale itself.

The East African colony’s plan is first to select the pasturelands, then organize personnel to physically eliminate the wild animals within the pasture areas.

Immigrants then form herding groups, each responsible for its own area.

Pastoralists, unlike farmers, all carry weapons to patrol the pastures, preventing disturbances by wild animals and wild people.

Speaking of wild people, herdsmen are also obliged to capture any who trespass into the pastoral area and then have them escorted south by higher authorities.

In this way, as large and small pastures cover northern Kenya, the indigenous peoples’ living space naturally shrinks; should they resist or intrude into the pastures, they’ll be captured by the East African colony.

The day Kenya is covered entirely by pastures and plantations will also be the day when the indigenous peoples are completely cleared.

This is a rough plan for developing northern Kenya by the East African colony: simple but effective.

Unlike the vast regions of northern Kenya, Omolate Town holds its unique political and economic status.

It is an agricultural planting area and borders Ethiopia, with a direct northwest corridor to the Sultanate, making it of high strategic and economic value.

Occupying this region also considers the future, just like how Americans once worried about illegal immigrant crossings from Latin America.

East Africa will surely face similar situations, and although the northern Ethiopian population is better, with many Arabs or North African Caucasians with lighter skin,

the southern regions of Ethiopia and Somali have a large number of purely black populations, which for Ernst, committed to clearing the Black population, is a concern.

From Ernst’s past life experience, the skin color of Black people is conspicuous everywhere (except at night), and to prevent future emergence of Black people in the East African colony, merely clearing the Black population within its borders isn’t enough.

It’s also necessary to clear the Black populations in areas around the colony, otherwise, locals from these backward areas will surely flee into East Africa in the future, and in Ernst’s understanding of bureaucrats and capitalists, they’re capable of anything.

For example, when American politicians granted Latin American immigrants legal status, the ones who suffered were the ordinary people of America (the U.S. government also wanted ordinary people to compete, and with obedient Latin American immigrants, they could divide the unity of the lower classes... essentially, it’s all beneficial for the upper classes and of no benefit to the native lower U.S. populace).

Anyway, regardless of whether American people suffer, the elites will never suffer; they only stand to gain or gain less. Even if America is ruined by their doings, with their capital and military might, they can open new battlegrounds worldwide.