African Entrepreneurship Record

The influence of the Far East war on the regional pattern is significant, but overall it is much smaller than in the previous world, and Ernst is not optimistic about the short-term situation of the Far East Empire.

Take its North Navy as an example, although it was not completely annihilated this time, the losses were still considerable. After all, its naval strength was much stronger than in the same period in history, and based on this, its naval losses were almost the same as in the previous world. After all, with its large scale, the specific losses of the North Navy this time were seventy percent of those in the previous world.

Japan, as a country, also has a slightly stronger naval strength than in the previous world. After all, its reference was the Far East Empire Navy. With the increase in the number of warships in the Far East Empire Navy, the Japanese government would follow suit, but constrained by financial pressure, it only imported three main combat ships retired from the British Navy through loans, more than in the previous world.

And this loan, post-war Japan could only recover from Korea, after all, the compensation from the Far East Empire this time was only one-tenth of that in history, but Ernst was happy to see this situation.

Ernst had no enmity with Korea, but absolutely no affection, and as Japan increased its exploitation and oppression of Korea, it would inevitably trigger fierce resistance from the Korean people, further increasing Japan’s colonial costs.

Although Korea’s combat power is worrying, it is not something that can be compared to the indigenous people of Africa. The African indigenous have forty percent of Korea’s strength, and Ernst’s colonial strategy in East Africa was already difficult to achieve at that time. Moreover, during this period, Korea was actually also a populous country. In the late 19th century, the population of the Korean Peninsula had already exceeded seventeen million, more than that of the Abyssinia Empire, but its national area was nearly 100,000 square kilometers less than the Abyssinia Empire.

Of course, Korea is also unlikely to overthrow Japan’s colonial rule. This is not something Ernst is making up. In the previous world, Korea overthrew Japanese rule mainly relying on external forces. If it depended on Korea’s own strength, it would probably be difficult for Korea to achieve independence until the middle of the next century. Secondly, Korea is too close to Japan, and the significant disparity in strength between the two is also a reason why Korea finds it difficult to overthrow Japanese rule.

So, Ernst is overall satisfied with the pattern formed by the Far East war. Even if Japan develops, it is unlikely to do so as quickly as in the previous world. However, Ernst also does not want Japan to be too weak.

If Japan is too weak, then East Africa, just like the United Kingdom, would have to worry about the issue of Tsarist Russia dominating alone, while Japan will still be a pawn to maneuver the situation in the South Sea and Pacific Ocean in the future.

East Africa is quite dissatisfied with the international pattern in the South Sea region. Apart from the Lan Fang overseas province and a completely negligible Balabac Island, East Africa’s influence in the local area is very weak, not even as strong as the Netherlands and Spain.

Without considering the area of colonies, East Africa’s influence in the region is even less than Portugal’s. Although Portugal only has East Timor as a main colony in the South Sea, Portugal has been rooted in the region for hundreds of years, and the influence left behind is still considerable.

Besides these countries, the United Kingdom and France have overwhelming advantages in the South Sea region, especially the United Kingdom, which controls the main areas of the Indian Ocean and South Sea except for the coastal areas of East Africa, relying on India as its base.

So Japan is a very good tool for this. In the previous world, it was also noticed by the United States, only the United States did not expect Japan’s combat power to be so extraordinary, that it could even push back to American soil.

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Tete City.

Tete City is one of the important cities in Mozambique in East Africa. Its economy and population even surpass Maputo and Bela, ranking as the fourth largest city in the entire region.

The top three are all port cities, including Pemba City, Nacala City, and Kilimane City.

The common point of these four cities, including Tete City, is that after the first East-Portuguese War, they were incorporated into the East African territory along with the entire Mozambique area north of the Zambezi River, with Tete still being the main battlefield between the two countries, East and Portugal.

After being incorporated into East Africa, Tete City has achieved significant development, transforming from a once desolate commercial hub into an emerging city in the region.

Although Tete City is located inland, it has excellent regional conditions. First, it is located on the banks of the Zambezi River, serving as the shipping demarcation point of the river, allowing direct access to the Indian Ocean from Tete.

Secondly, Tete City is sandwiched between the East African Malawi Lake Industrial Zone and the central industrial zone, so the economies of Mbea City and Harare can both radiate to Tete City.

Lastly, most importantly, the natural resources around Tete City are very rich, including coal, bauxite, rare metals, and iron ore resources.

In summary, Tete City is both a regional center and an important transportation hub, as well as a relatively important industrial and mining city in East Africa. The only thing currently lacking in Tete City is a railway, but this won’t be a problem once the Kilimane City - New Frankfurt City railway construction is completed.

This is a trunk railway, and regarding the branch railways, the two major industrial zones, led by Harare and Mbea City, intend to build a railway passing through Tete City, thereby achieving the linkage of the two major industrial zones in East Africa. Of course, there is also the idea of taking advantage of Tete City’s resources to promote the development of the region.

After all, coal and iron ore resources around Tete City are very abundant. This point may not matter to Matabele Province, but it is very important to South Salzburg Province.

Of course, as a city with excellent conditions, the Tete City government naturally has its own ambitions. Since the natural endowments are considered excellent in the whole of East Africa, why not aim to become a nationally important city like Mbea City and Harare?

With such ambition, in early 1895, the Tete City government once again dispatched a team to cities like Mbea and Harare.

This time, the Tete City government, focusing on the newly discovered bauxite resources in the region, plans to establish the largest aluminum processing and manufacturing center in East Africa. However, its plan to build an aluminum smelter locally was vetoed by Ernst.

The reason for this premature failure lies in that aluminum smelting is an extremely polluting industry and is generally chosen to be located downstream of the river and far from residential areas.

Tete City is located on the north bank of the Zambezi River, although also downstream, but the Zambezi River, as one of the four major rivers in East Africa, has a long downstream stretch, and the downstream is a key agricultural development area reserved by East Africa. If Tete City establishes an aluminum smelter locally, the over 400 kilometers of river banks downstream would suffer greatly.

Therefore, the aluminum smelter was eventually sited in Xinde Town at the mouth of the Zambezi River. Once aluminum smelting is completed, the products will be transported back to Tete City for secondary processing via water transport, with wastewater being discharged directly into the Indian Ocean to reduce pollution of rivers and soils within East Africa.

Moreover, locating the industry along the coast has another advantage, which is the potential cost savings for importing bauxite in the future.

Although aluminum smelting relies on local resources like steel, as economic development and the world market or globalization era arrives in the future, importing raw materials will certainly become the main focus.

After all, although East Africa’s bauxite resources are considered abundant, they are somewhat lacking compared to world-leading production areas, with reserves not being on the same level.

At the same time, by establishing the aluminum smelter in Xinde, it can also drive the development of the Zambezi River mouth. Although the port conditions at Xinde are not as good as those at Bela and others, as the confluence area of the Zambezi River and the Indian Ocean, it holds unique economic value.

Among the four major rivers in East Africa (the Nile River, the Congo River, the Orange River, and the Zambezi River), the only one with a river-port mouth with some shipping value.

The Nile’s estuary is in Egypt, the Orange River is a border river, with the lower reaches mainly desert and sparsely populated, and the lower Congo River is not navigable.

This highlights the importance of Xinde Town. From Xinde to Tete, there is basically no obstruction to navigation. It flows through the coastal plains of East Africa and is a rare river segment in East Africa with high shipping value.

Although the East African Central Government rejected the proposal by Tete City to build an aluminum smelter within the city, Tete City naturally cannot completely give up.

So, the Tete City government plans to rely on the shipping of the Zambezi River to transport aluminum from Xinde back to the city for secondary processing, which is quite feasible and can stimulate the development of many industries.