African Entrepreneurship Record

The geographical location of these five countries can be described as ”excellent.” The Southern Hemisphere is already relatively remote, and they are located in America, even more distant from the Eurasian continent. Though the main territory of East Africa is in the Southern Hemisphere, East Africa maintains relatively close ties with the Indian Ocean and Eurasian continent, making travel to Europe and Asia quite convenient.

These countries, however, are different. The fact that they could avoid both World Wars proves this. Even remote parts of Africa were among the battlefields of World Wars I and II, and Oceania was once coveted by the Japanese. The peaceful state of South America in global trade confirms South America’s disadvantageous position.

Of course, for East Africa, this disadvantage turns into an advantage. The routes between Africa and South America are the most convenient, so South American countries hold an important position in the economy of East Africa’s West Coast.

”Korid, what good things have you brought this time? Do you have any tea or coffee?”

The quality of East African tea and coffee is outstanding, so for Raleigh, these drinks are best when locally sourced, especially the exported coffee and tea.

Korid shook his head and said, ”This time, our ship brought industrial products. After all, South America already produces coffee, though perhaps of slightly different flavor. However, I do have a small stash; I’ll have someone send a bit over later. As for tea, I don’t drink it myself, but others on the ship might like it. This time, I specifically brought you some mosquito repellent incense because Paraguay has quite a number of mosquitoes.”

”That’s great. There are more mosquitoes here than in East Africa. You can buy mosquito repellent products locally, but they’re much more expensive than back home, and many of the mosquito repellent products here are exported from us,” Raleigh complained.

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Rhein City.

Minister of Commerce John Lear is reporting to Ernst on the relationships between East Africa and various South American countries over the past few years.

”Since 1891, we’ve officially established diplomatic relations with Brazil; however, it wasn’t until 1892 that Argentina, Peru, and Uruguay gradually established diplomatic relations with us. The main reason these countries didn’t accept our olive branch initially was due to their economic dependence on British capital support.”

”Especially Argentina, where the economy is primarily in cooperation with the British. The UK imports Argentina’s wool, beef, and other agricultural products, while Argentina entrusts the British with the construction of their infrastructure such as railways and ports, achieving mutual benefits.”

”Therefore, after the South African war, Argentina was quite restrained in establishing diplomatic relations with East Africa at the time. As for Peru and Uruguay, they probably had similar considerations.”

”However, since we established diplomatic relations with Argentina and other South American countries, economic cooperation has developed rapidly, particularly with Argentina’s strong demand for East African industrial products.”

The reason East Africa has to pay special attention to 19th-century Argentina is that, despite having only four million people, it ranks among the world’s top ten economies, indicating how wealthy Argentina is today.

The key to this is naturally the United Kingdom. Currently, Argentina’s wool export ranks first in the world, with the destination being the UK. Although other industries are developing, the textile industry remains dominant. In the 19th century, the textile industry was still the largest in the world, and as the most advanced textile nation, the UK’s demand for wool was extremely high.

Just the income from wool is enough for Argentinians to be well-fed and prosperous, given the vast demand from the UK and its colonial markets. Argentina only needs to serve as Britain’s shepherd, and on this basis, Argentina’s beef and mutton exports are also impressive.

In contrast, during this era, Brazil cannot compare. In the competition with Argentina, Brazil is completely in a disadvantageous position today.

Geographically, Argentina has a favorable climate, making it more attractive to European immigrants, with vast plains and dense river networks, facilitating development more than Brazil.

Even though Brazil’s territory far exceeds Argentina’s, due to transportation constraints, Brazil’s interior hasn’t been effectively developed, and the Northern Amazon rainforest exacerbates the situation, concentrating economic activity near the southeastern coast.

The presence of the Brazilian shield has resulted in numerous cliffs along the Brazilian coast, making it difficult to develop ports to stimulate inland growth under unsolved transportation challenges, forming an economic core. Conversely, Argentina, with coastline no less impressive than Brazil’s, has flat terrain and numerous rivers, facilitating interaction between inland and coastal areas, making early development easier for Argentina than Brazil.

Additionally, Brazil’s former sovereign was Portugal, while Argentina’s was Spain. Spain’s control over Argentina was weaker, leading to Argentina’s earlier independence and a shorter period of exploitation by its sovereign country.

The political ecology is also influential. During the South African war, Brazil experienced a revolution as well. In 1888, after Brazil abolished slavery, the Republican Faction was greatly encouraged, overthrowing the Brazilian monarchy in 1889.

Brazil’s political turbulence also impacted East Africa, further accelerating the end of the East African slave trade. For some time, Brazil had been East Africa’s largest destination for Black people.

Once Brazil ceased slavery, the East African slave trade naturally became increasingly hard to maintain, prompting East Africa to halt the slave trade altogether.

Of course, post-monarchy Brazil did not experience the rapid economic development envisioned by the Republican Faction; rather, its politics grew more unstable. The first president resigned within a year, resulting in Brazil’s unstable political situation and consequently a poor economic state.

Therefore, in East African trade with South America, Argentina and Paraguay take precedence over Brazil. Argentinians are wealthy with strong consumption capabilities, while Paraguay has the best relations with East Africa. Before East Africa established diplomatic relations with other South American countries, trade with South America mainly went through Paraguay. Through Paraguay, East African goods could reach Brazil, Argentina, and Bolivia among the Three Kingdoms indirectly.

Of course, as time progressed, East Africa’s international status stabilized, and it naturally could not rely solely on Paraguay as a ”grasp” and thus began strengthening relations with other South American countries starting from the 90s.

In addition to the five South American countries, East Africa also maintains exchanges with other South American nations, but due to geographical and economic reasons, these are not the main focus for East Africa.

From all perspectives, trade and exchanges between East Africa and South American countries are relatively slow, unlike the rapid trade and communication between East Africa and Eurasian countries.

However, in the global context, East Africa has to actively court these countries because the global market is only so large. East Africa’s industrial development necessitates continuous market expansion, and though these South American countries have deep ties with the UK, they remain relatively independent on the surface.

Therefore, despite endeavors with effort but little appeal, exchanges with these countries are not entirely without effect, simultaneously marking East Africa’s process of expanding its economic influence externally without resorting to war, a process bound to be slow.

After all, war is the most effective means of opening another country’s doors. At the end of the 19th century, East Africa’s strength was far from adequate, and just in terms of naval power, East Africa ranked behind the UK, US, Russia, Germany, and France.

Therefore, East Africa naturally looked to learn from the previous United States. As the world’s top industrial nation, the U.S. had yet to establish global voice control; thus, U.S. goods faced sales restrictions globally, subject to the constraints set by rule-makers like the UK and France.