African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 1139: Chapter 168: Handcrafted Radio

The East African Defense Army has already built a formidable regional force, adequate for East Africa’s local defense needs. As for overseas territories, that’s a different issue; East Africa has a considerable amount of overseas territories, including the latest Beibu Gulf territory, which Ernst values highly, and the stationed troops there are not insignificant, followed by Alaska.

However, apart from the stationed troops in the Beibu Gulf territory, they can largely be ignored. If other countries truly want to make things difficult for East Africa’s overseas territories, most wouldn’t hold out until East Africa’s support arrives.

Like in Alaska, it’s quite a distance from East Africa. If neighboring countries are intent on targeting Alaska, East Africa can only choose to abandon it.

Therefore, East Africa’s troop deployments in overseas territories, apart from the Beibu Gulf territory, are generally symbolic, with numbers not being large. Safety is entirely reliant on the deterrent power of East Africa’s homeland.

The main issue is that most of the overseas territories are not ideally located, positioned east of the Malacca Strait, which isn’t under East African control, leading to East Africa’s limited reach.

The Beibu Gulf territory, however, is different. On the one hand, East Africa has relocated significant population there and stationed troops; on the other hand, it lies within the East African Navy’s range, making it convenient to travel from Mogadishu to the Persian Gulf.

Though the United Kingdom also controls the Persian Gulf’s access, the Indian Ocean is fundamentally the domain of the East African Navy, giving them confidence to break through the Persian Gulf blockade.

Counting the troops deployed in the East African colonies, East Africa’s total military strength reaches a whopping 520,000, with most stationed in the Beibu Gulf territory and Alaska.

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Dar es Salaam City.

On a grassy area of Anthony Park, two boys are stealthily plotting something.

As a garden city, Dar es Salaam City boasts numerous city parks, providing citizens with places to rest. As significant urban landscapes, some parks naturally become venues for gatherings.

And Anthony Park is Bob and Li Laite’s secret base. In Anthony Park, there’s a clearing, seldom visited due to its seclusion.

One of them speaks, ”Bob, where did you get these parts? They look brand new.”

On the grass, a grey cloth bundle has been opened, revealing various electronic components, brought by Bob.

The young man named Bob says, ”My second uncle is a security guard at an electronics factory, so these electronic parts were brought out by my uncle through connections. Now that the market is open, I want to make some money, so I plan to assemble a radio from these components and sell it.”

Li Laite replies, ”You really have guts, but with so many components, are you sure you can succeed? Also, without external packaging, it seems tough to sell the finished product.”

Bob proudly says, ”Assembling a radio is no challenge for me. I was quite into electronics in high school. Remember the crystal radio I made in school? Although it was rather crude, the main issue was the lack of raw materials at the time. Now that we’re directly getting the components from the factory, we can certainly build better radio products.”

Li Laite recalls that during high school, his friend enjoyed fiddling with gadgets, creating several small electronic products based on textbooks. Though many were impractical, they indeed honed Bob’s hands-on skills.

So, personally assembling a radio is genuinely not difficult for Bob, but this doesn’t dispel Li Laite’s doubts.

He further asks, ”But those things you made in high school likely wouldn’t sell either. They could be used as science experiment toys, but without external packaging, it won’t do. You don’t have radio casings among your components; surely you can’t leave them exposed.”

Bob explains, ”That’s very manageable—I’ll make a wooden casing and glue it together. I’ve seen the factory’s finished radio packaging and am quite familiar with their structure, totally doable by hand, though perhaps not up to factory standards, certainly sufficient for use.”

With that said, Bob begins assembling. His high school passion led him to acquire a set of tools, including pliers, screwdrivers, and so on.

Soon, a radio without casing is born in Bob’s hands. After installing the battery and tuning, the semi-finished radio quickly delivers clear voices.

Bob is very pleased with his work and says, ”Tomorrow, when I find some boards, I can make the radio’s casing. How about we sell this handmade radio afterward?”

With great interest, Li Laite watches his friend’s handiwork, and after hearing Bob’s question, replies, ”Should be good, but it’s still somewhat inferior to factory-made ones. Pricing it lower would still yield a market.”

Upon hearing his friend’s answer, Bob says, ”Now that the market is open, I don’t want to follow my parents’ arrangement to intern in the factory, so I plan to do some small business myself. Do you want to join?”

Li Laite hesitates, ”It’s quite feasible to earn some extra money by selling the radio, but career decisions require careful consideration, especially since we’ve just graduated. If we don’t work in the factory now, finding stable jobs in the future may be difficult.”

Bob frowns slightly, ”But the factory I’ve been assigned to is a textile mill, the working environment isn’t pleasant—I don’t wish to waste time there.”

Li Laite, ”But an assigned job at least provides stability. Though many people engage in small businesses after market liberation, they can’t rely on consistent returns; why don’t we work for a period, flip radios during free time, and resign to start a business once we ensure profitability.”

Bob acknowledges, ”You’re right, yet just thinking of the sour smell in the textile mill makes me uncomfortable. If I could join the electronics factory, I wouldn’t need to seek alternative paths.”

Nowadays, entrepreneurship in East Africa is quite the trend, already beginning to influence the whole East African society. As the market opens, some state-owned enterprises in East Africa also start shedding burdens and downsizing, shifting positions to the free employment market.

Belonging to a more thoughtful person like Bob, he doesn’t plan to rely on his fresh graduate status for a fixed post in a factory but prefers to join the entrepreneurial crowd instead.

However, being a poor student like Bob, he clearly lacks significant capital, but tinkering with radios suits him well; it matches his skills and interests.

Due to compulsory education, East African students aren’t short on talent, most can be outstanding technical workers with a bit of training. Yet, it’s rare for graduates like Bob to independently assemble radios right after graduation.

By rights, Bob should be distributed to electronics factories, but as an assembly plant, electronics factories are considered quite respectable workplaces in East Africa, with opportunities not easy to come by and no high skill requirements needed.

So positions have long been filled, as for textile mills, they clearly aren’t as promising as electronics factories, and Bob doesn’t favor textile work either, so he decides to venture out.

Bob says to Li Laite, ”I can get a steady supply through my uncle, just need to assemble these components into finished products and sell them. Radios are quite scarce on the market now, and expensive, as long as we control costs, we can surely make a big profit, catching the wave of national policy to earn startup funds; eventually, we can venture into other businesses.”

Bob hopes to bring Li Laite on board, having to handle too many things alone can be overwhelming. More hands make light work, but not too many. According to Bob’s calculations, the best start for such a small business is ideally with two or three people involved.