African Entrepreneurship Record

Hessen Province.

In name, it corresponds to the Grand Duchy of Hesse in Germany. In reality, in the 18th century, Hesse, like the Principality of Heixinggen, was just a county territory. However, during the disintegration of the Holy Roman Empire in 1803, Hesse seized the opportunity for territorial expansion. Later, when Napoleon formed the Confederation of the Rhine, Hesse was elevated by Napoleon to a Grand Duchy, annexing more lands and becoming one of the important states of the German nation.

The capital of the Grand Duchy of Hesse is Wiesbaden. However, in the former life, the most famous city within Hesse State in Germany should be Frankfurt, one of Europe’s financial centers.

From the name itself, one can understand the characteristics of this state, which is that it is heavily forested. Three-fifths of the national territory is forest-covered, making it the place with the most forests in Germany, with numerous river valleys and basins.

A significant reason for the name of the Hessen Province in East Africa is also due to its natural characteristics similar to those of the Grand Duchy of Hesse, which is densely forested.

Hessen Province is on the eastern edge of the Congo Rainforest, west of the Mitumba Mountains, so it has abundant rainfall. Coupled with the widespread mountainous plateaus, the forest coverage rate is over seventy-five percent.

The coverage is not ninety percent because, after merging the southern Mitomba Province, it acquired part of the Katanga Plateau, which has a typical tropical savanna climate.

At the same time, through the merger of Mitomba Province, Hessen Province also achieved a border with Soron Lake (Tanganyika Lake) and has the Congo River to the west, the river with the largest flow volume in East Africa, and Tanganyika Lake to the east, the largest freshwater lake in East Africa. Thus, Hessen Province has quite rich water resources.

Currently, the development of Hessen Province is relatively good among the provinces in East Africa, and the East African Railway Company has determined the overall plan for the Central Railway’s Hessen Province section through more than half a year of surveys.

”The Luapula River (upper section of the Congo River), stretching over 1,800 kilometers, but with many rapids and waterfalls, making it unsuitable for navigation, causes the north-south transportation development of Hessen Province to be unsatisfactory. In contrast, east-west transportation connects with the Great Lakes Region, Tanganyika Lake, and Bujumbura’s railway and external links. However, this also causes the economy of the entire Hessen Province to easily become fragmented. Moreover, because of the Congo Rainforest’s presence, there is also a lack of a main north-south transportation artery in the East Africa hinterland, which is quite regretful,” said Bamiel, an engineer with the East African Railway Company.

If the Luapula River could be navigated, that would be ideal, even negating the necessity of building the Central Railway section through Hessen Province. However, due to terrain reasons, as the Luapula River crosses plateaus and plains, the terrain drop is significant, with many waterfalls and rapids, making its navigational capacity very poor, whereas the water power resources are quite abundant.

”Downstream of Jisan City (Kisangani, the third-largest city in Congo Gold, formerly known as ’Stanleyville’) all the way to Kinsasa, the main course of the Congo River is a natural waterway with very convenient navigation. If it could be connected with the railway, it would greatly benefit East Africa’s development of the Congo Rainforest.”

Jisan City, in the former life, was discovered by the Belgian explorer Stanley, as this was an important demarcation point between the Congo River and the Luapula River.

The Kisangani Falls are located here, downstream are navigable sections, and above the falls is the Luapula River.

”Therefore, now the major divergence point in synchronizing the Central Railway with the north is whether to pass through Jisan City. If it passes through Jisan City, it can realize the connection between these two major railway arteries and the Congo River waterway, greatly benefiting Jisan City’s development, making its future development comparable to coastal cities.

But if not passing through Jisan City, the northern railway would have to move northward, primarily passing through New Bavaria Province (eastern Azande Plateau), which New Bavaria Province would certainly be pleased to see happen.”

This is the contention between the two north-south extensions of the Northern Railway. In reality, both schemes align with Ernst’s ideas, and in his view, both have the necessity for construction, but which to build first requires careful consideration. The one built first can also earlier enjoy the benefits brought by the railway along its line.

Bamiel’s student, Christian, suggested: ”In terms of distance, there is not much difference between the two schemes; both start from Kisumu, with the endpoint at Bangui, with similar difficulties. The northern line scheme must pass through the Nile River Basin, and the southern line must pass through the Congo Basin, both traversing large areas of rainforest and swamps, so the primary consideration is still the economic benefits brought by the railway, the sooner the enterprise can yield returns, the better.”

”Then choosing the southern line scheme seems more reliable. Firstly, the economy of Hessen Province is now more active than New Bavaria Province. Secondly, the Central Railway now passes through Hessen Province, while Bujumbura’s railway branch line also belongs to the Central Railway, thus they overlap.

So, it is better to go through the Northern Railway; this way, Hessen Province’s economy can be simultaneously connected with the two major regions. Moreover, I have a premature idea, which is, if the economy along the Congo River develops in the future, Jisan City could become an important national transportation hub in East Africa, which the northern line scheme cannot achieve,” Bamiel said to Christian.

An important role of a national transportation hub is to realize economic interconnection and interoperability. If choosing the southern line scheme, the economic ties between the Northern Industrial Belt, the Great Lakes Region, Hessen Province, and the three inland provinces (Hohenzollern Province, Swabia Province, Matebel Province) would be greatly strengthened.

Among them, the Northern Industrial Belt has always developed well, especially in the light industry field, making prominent contributions to East Africa.

The Great Lakes Region is an important grain and economic crop production base in East Africa, and relies on the Great Lake, making water transportation convenient and the fishery industry prosperous.

Hessen Province is also a major resource province and the largest rubber-producing area, the largest forestry production area, with relatively abundant mineral resources.

As for the three inland provinces, they are the core areas of current development in East Africa, focusing on building an inland industrial base with vast mineral resources and favorable natural environments.

Furthermore, considering the existence of the Congo River, this forms an important three-line integrated transportation hub, which is Jisan City, the capital of Hessen Province.

Of course, the most crucial point is that Hessen Province currently has industries, whereas New Bavaria Province pales in comparison, and the gap between the two provinces is all-encompassing, whether it be in terms of population, resources, or other factors.

One key factor in railway construction is to get as close as possible to cities or developed areas, thus the bias towards Hessen Province naturally becomes evident.

However, the construction of these two railways is also one of the most challenging in East Africa, not in the least inferior to the Siberian Railway, with the two being extremes, one with a cold climate and the other with a hot climate.

East Africa must overcome geographical challenges, while the Siberian Railway must overcome the permafrost issue, though they share many similarities, such as the extensive forests and swamps, with significant logging and drainage engineering required.

However, overall, the Hessen Railway is slightly easier as the permafrost problem is much more challenging to address compared to terrain, and the geography of Hessen Province is not considered complex, at least compared to other countries. The Mitumba Mountains are not insurmountable, even though it’s called a mountain range; in reality, it’s closely tied to plateaus, with its northern part also known as the Itongbu Mountains or the Itongbu Plateau.