African Entrepreneurship Record

In the blink of an eye, the year 1894 arrived. Over the past three years, the development of East Africa in Mozambique and Angola has been quite successful, with 2.73 million people migrating to Mozambique alone, preventing it from being as desolate as before.

Apart from the native population continuously expanding into the inland and remote areas, there was a small peak in foreign immigration in the past three years, although it still cannot compare to the immigration scale of the previous thirty years.

Moreover, this wave of foreign immigrants was mainly composed of Italians and Chinese, further increasing the difficulty in attracting population in the German region.

One reason is that the economies of Germany, Austria, and other German countries have developed rapidly, and across the world, there hasn’t been a single German country with poor development in recent years. Including the Sigmaringen royal territory, which conducted colonial expansion focusing on Chad, despite poor conditions, it is a vast, sparsely populated area rich in resources, showing considerable development potential.

Of course, attracting foreign immigrants was merely a temporary measure to quickly provide the conditions for developing Mozambique, Angola, and Orange. The local population of East Africa grows rapidly, and even without using foreign immigrant groups, it would take only two to three years for East Africa to develop Mozambique and Angola to the current level.

The Westward Movement of the United States and the Eastward Movement of East Africa started almost simultaneously. By careful calculation, the United States started its westward expansion about a decade before East Africa. By the 1890s, the U.S. had essentially completed its overall development, while East Africa’s development of Angola was only in the initial stages. Additionally, there remained large areas in the north and south of East Africa yet to be developed.

Furthermore, East Africa’s conquest of the African interior was accompanied by large-scale military actions, whereas the territorial expansion of the United States was completed before the 1850s.

In the 1840s, Oregon, California, New Mexico, and Texas were incorporated into the United States. The Mississippi River basin, including the east, except for Florida, was incorporated into the United States in the early 19th century.

Looking at these regions later incorporated into the U.S., the reality is that the U.S. completed its overall territorial formation only fifty years earlier than East Africa, and the development of the central and eastern regions of East Africa almost started simultaneously with the American Westward Movement.

By the time the American Westward Movement ended, the development of East African territories only reached its peak. The only change was that East Africa no longer relied on foreign immigrants to develop domestic regions; now, foreign immigrants could only be considered an embellishment to development.

Indeed, this was the case. After Mozambique and Angola had taken shape, in 1893, East Africa once again tightened the scale of immigration. As for immigrants who missed the last opportunity, East Africa would directly channel resources to Sigmaringen, Cameroon, and Belgian Congo.

…

Jiaozhou.

”East Africa has stopped issuing large-scale visas this year. If you want to emigrate to East Africa on a large scale, you must follow the rules strictly.”

As East Africa closed immigration channels, many who came after hearing the news were very disappointed.

”Sir, you can’t ignore us, East Africa! We all responded to the previous call, traveled thousands of miles to join you. We sold all our family assets just for an overseas ticket. If we can’t go to East Africa, we’ll have to sleep on the streets.”

The crowd outside the consulate was protesting loudly; it was unavoidable given the reputation East Africa had accumulated over the past few decades, which has spread to the interior of the Far East Empire, especially after East Africa opened its postal system with Germany and the Far East Empire.

Those who immigrated to East Africa could contact their relatives back home via telegram, letters, etc. Some people could even visit family abroad.

This made the situation in East Africa more vividly evident. The living conditions in East Africa were considered only mid-upper among countries worldwide, but compared to the still relatively poor Far East Empire, it was indeed a blessed land. The same conditions would not be so attractive in Europe.

Now, European immigrants could choose to go to the United States, Argentina, and finally consider East Africa, along with those countries with colonies, where nationals could prioritize migrating to their colonial territories.

Of course, these changes couldn’t diminish the enthusiasm of Far Eastern Empire immigrants heading to East Africa, primarily because East Africa itself had a large Chinese immigrant community and was not as xenophobic as the United States or Argentina.

This also explains why the Japanese were keen on emigrating to Brazil. Brazil was more inclusive in its population policies than East Africa, accommodating various skin colors, while East Africa was too unfriendly towards Black people.

”Quiet! This is the consulate, not a place for you to make trouble and argue. East Africa’s immigration policy naturally follows the development needs of our country. I understand some of you long for East Africa, but you came a step too late. If you had come two days earlier, the situation might have been different.”

”However, some people need not worry. Our need for high-quality talents in East Africa remains unchanged. Those interested can take part in the exams we organize. Of course, this is quite challenging.”

”Of course, if you cannot go to East Africa, you may also choose the surrounding countries of East Africa. It mainly depends on your willingness to accept it. If you are interested, we can directly issue visas for the Sigmaringen royal territory.”

The immigration channel for the Sigmaringen royal territory in the Far East has always been under the trusteeship of East Africa, so East Africa can directly issue Sigmaringen visas. This is similar to Haiti, except that the partnership between East Africa and Haiti was a product of the slave trade.

”Where is Sigmaringen? What are the conditions like?”

People were quite familiar with East Africa, but Sigmaringen was a completely unfamiliar name.

The consulate staff did not withhold any information, providing a detailed account of the real situation in the Sigmaringen royal territory.

”Is there a desert? How could that place be any good? Water scarcity is a big problem…”

”Cough, cough, do not underestimate the Sigmaringen royal territory. Although the environment is slightly lacking, the population is small, the competition pressure is low, and the area is large enough, comparable to three or four provinces of your Far East Empire. Take Shandong, for example; it’s not small, right? Sigmaringen is the equivalent of eight Shan-dong’s, and water shortage is only a problem in some areas; there are also places with sufficient water. Many rivers and lakeside areas are uninhabited.”

”Moreover, the Sigmaringen royal territory has another advantage: you have many Chinese. There are hundreds of thousands of them, all your fellow countrymen, so developing in Sigmaringen is definitely better than going to the United States or other places, where at least you don’t have to be second-class citizens. What does a second-class citizen mean? It means not being treated as one of their own.”

Of course, despite the explanation from the East African staff, people did not dare to make decisions lightly, as the complexity of the name Sigmaringen royal territory alone was enough to kill many brain cells.

East Africa in the Far East has only two names: East Africa and Heixinggen, neither exceeding three characters, while the Sigmaringen royal name is too complex.

At this point, the consulate staff directly said: ”You can certainly hesitate and consider carefully, since going to a distant place is an important decision, but the sooner you go, the better. Just like when East Africa recruited people before, there was no limit, but now getting even one visa is difficult.”

”In short, Sigmaringen still requires at least one million slots. Don’t think it’s a lot, as it’s only a matter of a few years. After a few years, it might be as limited as we are in East Africa.”

Indeed, under such a ”scarcity” prompt, many people gritted their teeth and chose to hop on the boat. Whether it was a ”pirate ship” or not, they didn’t have time to consider. After all, there was nothing more to lose.

East Africa helped the Sigmaringen royal territory sell tickets, which was a requirement of bilateral cooperation. The immigrant group from the Far East Empire could also choose to go to German Cameroon, Togoland, or Belgian colonies.

Of course, East Africa would not recommend them to go to Belgian colonies, although because of East Africa, the Belgian government was somewhat more ”benevolent” to Chinese immigrants in Belgian Congo, their status was akin to that of Black people in the United States.

And Belgium and Germany both had embassies in the Far East Empire, so East Africa could not arbitrarily interfere in immigration matters.