African Entrepreneurship Record

At the end of 1885, the western segment of the Northern Railway was officially completed and opened, while the Hessen Railway had not yet been constructed, as its difficulty was much higher than that of the western segment of the Northern Railway.

Due to the completion of the western segment of the Northern Railway, the Mombasa City government held a separate discussion on this matter.

Because Mombasa is the starting point of the Northern Railway, the larger the coverage area of the Northern Railway, the more it benefits Mombasa’s economic and political status.

In fact, over the years, because of the exaggerated length advantage of the Central Railway and the vast economic hinterland, Mombasa has always been overshadowed by Dar es Salaam.

The most obvious aspect of this is that along the Northern Railway, the population, resources, and number of cities are all significantly inferior to those of the Central Railway.

Therefore, Mombasa City is very much in favor of the construction of the western segment of the Northern Railway and its connection with the Central Railway in Jisan City, as this provides more motivation to compete with Dar es Salaam, the leading economic power in East Africa.

In terms of the domestic economic positioning in East Africa, Mombasa is not in an advantageous position. However, when it comes to foreign contacts and East African liaisons, Mombasa’s advantage is its closer proximity to the Eurasian continent compared to Dar es Salaam.

Meanwhile, in the northern city of Mogadishu, agricultural exports are a focus and the carrying capacity of the environment is lacking, making it unable to compete with Mombasa and Dar es Salaam.

”The gap between West and East Africa is immense, and the Northern Railway is a critical factor in changing this, symbolizing the disruption of the original transport order throughout the northern region.”

”In our competition with Dar es Salaam, a significant drawback for us in Mombasa has been the poorer northern inland economy compared to the central and southern regions. If it were not for the Great Lakes Region serving as a ballast for the northern population and economy, we could have abandoned the competition with Dar es Salaam altogether.”

Although the Great Lakes Region is primarily agricultural, the current national economy in East Africa is also predominantly agricultural. Given the dense population and relatively rich resources of the Great Lakes Region, it is not exaggerated to call it the ballast of Mombasa’s economy. As long as the freight from the Great Lakes Region flows out to sea via Mombasa, Mombasa’s economy will inevitably maintain a superior position in East Africa — if not first, then certainly second.

”With the western segment of the Northern Railway, this situation is greatly altered. The immigration progress to Sigmaringen can be dramatically accelerated, significantly impacting the exchange with many northern provinces.”

The territories of the Sigmaringen Royal Domain connected by the Northern Railway and several northern provinces have, in fact, been minimally developed, with many resources still untapped. The opening of the Northern Railway provides the transportation conditions necessary for the development of these resources.

”The entire northern industrial belt will benefit from this Northern Railway western segment project. The opening of this railway expands the northern industrial belt’s coverage area directly from the Great Lakes Region to the far west of the nation, linking the entire West African economy, thus resolving the main shortcoming of resource scarcity in the northern industrial belt.”

Mineral resources and markets are vital components of industry, both indispensable, followed by other factors such as water sources, population, and transportation, among others.

Internally, the northern industrial belt is relatively lacking in minerals, or the quality of mineral resources is poor, which also results in poorer product quality from the northern industrial belt. Mombasa has had to import large quantities of coal and iron ore from India to develop its industry.

”However, this is a temporarily pleasing development. We should not assume that we can rely on the Northern Railway to continuously reap profits. Although Eurasia is our principal trade market in East Africa, the western coast can also radiate into Europe and align with South and North America, plus West Africa, which should not be ignored either.”

In the past, East African trade with South and North America primarily passed through the Cape of Good Hope and Red Sea routes. Now, with the completion of the western segment of the Northern Railway, this offers a new outlet for future northern foreign trade. What East Africa currently lacks is an Atlantic coastal port for exports.

”Especially on the western coast, only the vicinity of northern Angola enjoys a good climate and convenient water transport. This is something beyond what our northern industrial belt can compete with, as it mainly relies on the construction of the Northern Railway. In the future, East African railways will surely become more numerous, eventually spreading across the entire nation.”

The West Coast’s future economy will inevitably concentrate in the northern part of Angola, unlike the East Coast, which alone has four major economic zones. From north to south, these are Somalia’s Mogadishu and Kismayo, the Northern Railway’s starting point in Mombasa, the Central Railway starting point in Dar es Salaam, and the Central Railway endpoint in New Hamburg Port City, leading to intense competition.

If the Atlantic coast were to be incorporated into the East African map in the future, competition with Mombasa would still arise. Currently, the lack of a pivotal economic port along the Atlantic coast means that most western logistics principally rely on eastern ports, even though they are closer to the Atlantic.

The most straightforward illustration is East Africa’s trade with North and South America, where the Red Sea route surpasses the Cape Route. This is certainly because of the rough seas at the Cape of Good Hope and adverse coastal weather in southwestern Africa, unsuitable for navigation. More importantly, the majority of East African logistics are concentrated at over a dozen external ports along the eastern coastline.

”Therefore, to ensure Mombasa’s future economic advantage, we must immediately lay out plans in the northwest region to create path dependency, minimizing our geographical disadvantages as much as possible.”

In essence, commercial path dependency means providing superior services to ensure the client base remains unaffected.

”Our primary targets are the economic connections between the Sigmaringen Royal Domain and West Africa, ideally with the provincial government uniting the entire northern region to build a northern economic corridor centered around the northern industrial belt, reaching from Mombasa deep into the core inland areas of West Africa.”

The northern industrial belt is the core because Mombasa alone lacks such capability. The entire northern industrial belt is one of the three major industrial regions in East Africa; thus, using the name of northern industry to develop economic ties with East Africa’s northwest, the Sigmaringen Royal Domain, and West Africa is feasible.

While Mombasa relinquishes many interests to Kisumu, Nairobi, and other cities, the ultimate beneficiary remains Mombasa, as Mombasa Port is both the beginning and the endpoint of economic activities. Ultimately, economic activities from the northern economic belt will converge in Mombasa.

Therefore, promoting the development of the northern industrial belt is supporting Mombasa’s own development. Under this logic, the Mombasa City government possesses more enthusiasm for ceding some benefits rather than developing alone.

In reality, Mombasa has already felt the disadvantage of developing independently, especially when compared to Dar es Salaam, surrounded by numerous sister cities. Along with cities on the Central Railway line, like Mbeya, Dodoma, Mwanza, and Harare, it is difficult for Dar es Salaam not to grow and prosper.

When the Hessen Railway opens in the future, Dar es Salaam will advance even further, which is also a concern for Mombasa. To compete with Dar es Salaam, the only way is to integrate the northern economy while seeking external support to reduce the gap with Dar es Salaam.

Of course, Mombasa also understands that the chance of winning in competition against Dar es Salaam is slim. The main goal is not to fall behind, continuing to enjoy the twin-star status of the East African economy and preventing Dar es Salaam from achieving overwhelming dominance.