African Entrepreneurship Record

”Ladies and gentlemen, we are about to arrive in East Africa! The crew on the ship tells me that in less than an hour, we should reach the second largest city in East Africa, Mombasa City.”

”I know, for all of you, East Africa is a strange land. In Mombasa, you may catch a glimpse of its tip of the iceberg. As East Africans, honesty is engraved in our bones, so next, I will truthfully reveal some of the situation in East Africa to you.”

Kelyard, who was responsible for ”escorting” talents from various European countries back home, finished speaking, and a sense of foreboding washed over these European immigrants who had been ”tricked” into coming to East Africa.

Indeed, to attract talents, East Africans probably embellished the descriptions of their country’s ”prosperity, peace, civilization, and friendliness” in Europe.

However, now that the contract has been signed and the ship is about to dock, there’s hardly a chance for regret. Naturally, the East African personnel are much more casual; those Europeans who boarded the ”pirate ship” of East Africa can’t just jump off and swim back.

”There is no need to worry, East Africa may not entirely match the propaganda, but the discrepancies aren’t significant. Your jobs will be secured by the East African government, and your treatment won’t be lower than stated in the contract. Of course, if you want better pay, that depends on your abilities. East Africa is a country that respects knowledge and technology; you won’t face unjust treatment here.”

Kelyard’s explanations seemed to make things worse, as if East Africa were a man-eating lair in northern Myanmar, chilling the hearts of the European guests on board.

”...” Kelyard ignored everyone’s psychological state and finally began discussing various everyday aspects of life in East Africa.

As Kelyard delved deeper, some began to doubt; the country he described seemed somewhat ”fantasy-like,” with collective agriculture, state ownership, and a Five-Year Plan, eerily similar to the rhetoric of the European ”phantom” party.

But one thing is certain: as a monarchy country, East Africa couldn’t possibly be that kind of state.

Naturally, Kelyard saw no need to clarify too much, as East Africa’s political system was excessively abnormal in the world. Even the East Africans themselves were dizzy from the various maneuvers of the royal family. They must experience East Africa firsthand to make a better judgment.

On December 3, 1900, at 11:00 AM, the first batch of high-level talents imported from Europe officially arrived in Mombasa.

”This is Mombasa!”

After enduring the psychological torment of the countries and regions along the Red Sea, Mombasa was the first African international metropolis that the Europeans on board had seen.

This voyage began in Trieste of the Austria-Hungary, then passed through the Suez Canal to enter the Red Sea. It was also the first time the Europeans on board saw Africa. Undoubtedly, the vast sandy seas of Egypt, the Ottoman, the Italian Red Sea Colony, Djibouti, and other places left them deeply disappointed.

Because of the Sahara Desert, most people had the stereotype of Africa being arid, which confirmed their thoughts, and thus East Africa...

In fact, along the eastern coast of Somali, the passengers on board had already entered East African waters, but in Somali, except for the Shabelle River Basin and Juba River Basin, it was primarily no different from the Red Sea coast.

But upon reaching Mombasa, their anxious hearts were finally half-relieved. There is no doubt that Mombasa was very prosperous; just judging from the architectural and industrial density, it was not inferior to any European city, and the climate here was much better than in the north, though still relatively dry compared to northern Europe, somewhat resembling the Mediterranean coastal areas.

Seeing the astonished looks in the eyes of these European immigrants, Kelyard felt a great sense of satisfaction, a pride in his homeland as an East African.

Kelyard said loudly to them: ”Mombasa City has a population of nearly 700,000, making it the second largest city in East Africa. Its commerce and industry are very developed; whatever European cities have, Mombasa has. Moreover, East African industrial products also sell overseas through ports like Mombasa, including automobiles, electrical equipment, and other high-tech products. Mombasa...”

While Kelyard was describing Mombasa, many passengers began whispering to each other.

”Anton Rubov, how many people are in Kyiv?”

”Should be around 200,000 to 300,000! However, in our Ukraine Region, Odessa probably has a larger population. I remember in the 1880s Odessa had more than 200,000 people,” Andropov responded.

”So, compared to Ukraine, which place do you think is more developed?”

”Hard to say, but based solely on Mombasa, East Africa definitely comes out on top. It’s rare even in Russia to have cities capable of supporting such a large population; only Saint Petersburg, Moscow, and Warsaw can compare. But as Kelyard just said, Mombasa is only East Africa’s second largest city.”

”I know the largest city in East Africa. While in Europe, the Deputy Minister of Education of East Africa mentioned it, the city is Dar es Salaam. However, it seems there isn’t much difference between Dar es Salaam and Mombasa, implying Dar es Salaam’s population should also be around 700,000 to 800,000. Therefore, East Africa is still somewhat lagging behind Russia, as our top two cities both have larger populations than East Africa.”

Andropov: ”That doesn’t prove anything. Kelyard once said that East Africa’s urban development path differs from Europe’s. They have fewer megacities but substantial medium and small cities, and reportedly, East Africa’s urbanization rate is higher than Russia’s. This suggests that East Africa’s industry might be slightly more advanced than Russia’s, as many East African products are quite renowned, especially automobiles and electrical equipment, and East African agricultural products are also prevalent in Russia.”

Russia has always been a significant consumer market for East African agricultural products, second only to the German Region. As a colder country than the German Region, East Africa is the nearest tropical product production area to Tsarist Russia.

Of course, geographically, India and Southeast Asia are closer to Russia, but East Africa holds more advantages from the maritime route perspective, especially with the Black Sea route. Currently, Southeast Asia’s development level is too low to compete with East Africa.

The large-scale development of Southeast Asia still requires the efforts of the United Kingdom and France. Now, Southeast Asia doesn’t have the large population it had in later generations, and its development level is also low. For example, Southeast Asia used to be the world’s largest rubber-producing area, but now the rubber industry is almost monopolized by East Africa. Although the UK and France have rubber plantations in places like Southeast Asia, they are just starting and face competition from East Africa, making development very slow.

As the world’s largest rubber producer, East Africa, through large-scale planting and a well-developed rubber industry advantage, heavily suppresses the international price of rubber to thwart the rubber industries of countries like Brazil and Southeast Asia.

Rubber is just one aspect. In industries like tropical fruits and spices, East Africa also adopts similar measures, forming an almost monopolistic trend in the Central and Eastern European market, which avoids economic competition with these grain-producing countries in Central and Eastern Europe.

Correspondingly, East Africa also imports a large amount of grain from the Central and Eastern European regions. As for East African grain, it’s used as feed or for industrial production. For example, in the food processing industry, if East Africa doesn’t import high-quality wheat from Russia, the taste of processed domestic wheat exports would be much inferior.

However, East Africa overall maintains a trade surplus with Russia. East Africa’s imports from Russia mainly comprise grains, minerals, and a small number of industrial products, all of which involve the intervention of the East African government. Business involves give-and-take to ensure a steady flow.

Just like the early trade between the Far East Empire and the United Kingdom, the Far East Empire, relying on its developed handicraft industry, utterly defeated British industrial goods. The failing British simply resorted to war and other underhanded tactics to forcibly bankrupt the Far East Empire’s handicraft industry, allowing British goods to flow into the Far East Empire.