African Entrepreneurship Record

With Ernst’s directive, various departments in East Africa began a new round of work, with a large number of personnel heading to New Frankfurt City. Using New Frankfurt City as the center, they screened for a new capital site for East Africa. However, this task wasn’t too difficult, as it was limited to the surroundings of New Frankfurt City, significantly narrowing the scope of exploration.

At the same time, regarding the name of the new capital, Ernst already had plans. As a German country, the capital’s name must be eye-catching, and at least in translation, it should sound refreshing.

Just like London, Paris, Berlin, and New York, these world-famous metropolises, Ernst mainly thought about this issue from the perspective of people from the former Far East Empire. The new capital’s name must have not only recognition in the Far East Empire but also in Europe and America, and even globally.

In fact, First Town City is already quite ”well-known,” as the name is easy to remember when translated into various languages because it features the word ”First.”

However, the meaning and connotation of First Town City aren’t very favorable. ”First” seems a bit ”exaggerated,” much like the United States, giving an impression of ”nouveau riche,” which is very vulgar.

If First Town City could indeed rival any city in the world, it wouldn’t be a problem, but clearly, First Town City doesn’t fit that category. It doesn’t even rank in the second tier among East African indigenous cities in terms of economy, scale, population, and other data.

The ceiling of East African cities is currently Dar es Salaam and Mombasa, which belong to the first tier. Following them, Nairobi, Mwanza, Mbeya, Harare, Bulawayo, Lusaka, and New Hamburg Port City rank in the second tier, leaving First Town City in the third tier.

So, compared to the name ”First,” First Town City is obviously overrated. Of course, adding ”Town” might make it somewhat fitting.

However, placing the East African capital in the ”Town” category, in comparison with other nations’ capitals, would probably invite ridicule. All capitals are ”cities,” yet you’d have the nerve to say your capital is a ”town”!

Besides the vulgarity, the name First Town City carries a strong ”colonial flavor,” as it was East Africa’s earliest colonial stronghold, making the name easily evoke the ”origins of East African territory.”

In other words, the name itself is a ”guilty proof” of East African colonialism, further impressed upon memory by overlapping with the capital.

Thus, ”First Town City” as the capital name of East Africa is unsatisfactory to Ernst from any angle.

Instead, Ernst’s proposed name for the new capital fully embraced ”Trustworthy, Convey, Elegant” (Xin, Da, Ya), with recognized historical and cultural characteristics, high international recognition, and highlighting East African culture as a German country—that name is ”Rhine.”

The term ”Rhine” clearly originates from the mother river of Germany—the Rhine River, Germany’s longest river, the mother river of Germany, and the cradle of German civilization.

Simultaneously, the Rhine River is Western Europe’s first major river, a renowned international river, and a famous international shipping waterway.

It originates from the Alps, passes through Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, France, Germany, and the Netherlands, and flows into the North Sea near Rotterdam.

So, the very nations it runs through guarantee the Rhine River’s fame in Europe, making ”Rhine” an absolute choice for East Africa’s new capital name to achieve ”world fame.”

Moreover, the meaning of Rhine is quite pleasant, with its ancient Celtic meaning ”clear and bright,” which is harmonious even in Chinese translation.

Though the Rhine is famous, aside from Germany’s ”Rhineland,” it’s rarely used as a geographic name, with no city in Europe named ”Rhine,” providing East Africa with a special convenience.

This means that by adopting ”Rhine” as the new capital’s name, it achieves high distinctiveness, with everyone first thinking of the East African capital.

City names overlapping is not a minor issue—for instance, the U.S.’s São Paulo and Brazil’s São Paulo are easily mixed up. The U.S. São Paulo is the capital of Minnesota.

While Brazil’s São Paulo is the largest city in the country, it seems Brazil has the upper hand; however, considering the U.S. is a strong country, its state capitals are nothing to scoff at.

East Africa has a similar example, such as the western East African port city—Alexandria Port, sharing its name with Egypt’s Alexandria. Certainly, East Africa’s Alexandria now cannot compete with Egypt’s Alexandria.

Thus, this highlights the preciousness and rarity of the name ”Rhine.”

Additionally, ”Rhine” aligns with the mainstream cultural identity of East Africa, like the first river named in East Africa—the Little Rhine River.

The Little Rhine River is well-known in East Africa, though it was just an obscure small river in Tanzania—Lu River, virtually unknown internationally.

The Little Rhine River not only holds some recognition domestically in East Africa but is also often mentioned in Europe, especially within Germany. Apart from the Nile, Congo, Orange, and Zambezi rivers, it is the most famous river in East Africa, purely due to the advantage in its name.

So, using ”Rhine” as the capital name of East Africa can significantly enhance East Africa’s international influence, boost national identity, and supplement certain historical and cultural deficiencies.

East Africa itself has an extremely short history, and if its cities aren’t named something refreshing, it’s hard for people to remember. Currently, the most famous cities in East Africa are Dar es Salaam and Mombasa.

Of course, due to Dar es Salaam city’s economic development and the rise of East African national power, in the former Far East Empire, Dar es Salaam city has been simplified to just ”Da City.”

As for ”First Town City,” its highly distinctive name ensures it remains, even spreading wider after the South African war.

Honestly, if Ernst were a regular person abroad, the name ”First Town City” would cause some awkwardness.

It’s like if New York wasn’t translated as New York, but as ”Xinxiang,” instantly paralleling ”First Town City,” to the point where Ernst could say, ”A town is bigger than a village,” hence First Town City has won big.

However, New York actually comes from the Duke of York in the United Kingdom, with ”New” as a prefix, and there is also ”Yorkshire” in the UK. This is similar to East Africa’s ”New Hamburg Port,” ”New Frankfurt City,” or the Dutch historical reference to New York as ”New Amsterdam.”

If it weren’t for the existence of the Sultanate of Zanzibar and influences from previous memories, Ernst might rename ”Dar es Salaam” or ”Mombasa” into German names with ”New...”

Of course, even after determining the new capital’s name, Ernst hasn’t shared this idea with others yet, as ”Rhine City’s” specific location hasn’t been finalized in East Africa.

Once East African site selection is complete, the news of ”Rhine City” will be widely known. Even after the site selection is finished, constructing the new capital will take time, and reaching the scale of First Town City might take years.

So currently, ”Rhine City” is still far from completion. In this century, Ernst doesn’t expect to finalize the capital relocation. Only after completing the supporting railways, roads, water, electricity, and other infrastructure can the actual move start.