African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 241: Chapter 230

”Given the current territorial boundaries, suddenly acquiring so much land, coupled with the need to govern newly occupied territories, I believe we should reform the existing administrative divisions,” Constantine said.

Currently, East Africa has a total of 18 administrative districts, with two areas not officially designated as administrative divisions; these are military-occupied zones in the southwest (Zambia) and northeast (Somali).

Among these 18 administrative districts, 17 are located in the east. Beyond Mbeya, only the East Katanga District is in the southwest.

Of the 17 administrative districts, excluding the Central District and the Northern Omolate Special District, the remaining 15 are distributed across former Tanzania, Kenya, and the Great Lakes Region.

Constantine had long wanted to reform the administrative divisions of East Africa. East Africa is vast with a sparse population; the eastern administrative divisions are too small, and each district does not have many inhabitants, leading to a waste of administrative resources.

The main issue is that the regional changes caused by East Africa’s expansion have rendered the original districts somewhat insufficient, especially concerning defense tasks.

For instance, the southern border with Portuguese territories, along the Lufuma River, is divided into the East Lake Malawi District and the Lower Marine District; these two districts should be merged into one.

This would better address the potential threat from Portuguese colonies. Additionally, the presence of the East Lake Malawi District is too weak, centered around Songea, and clearly unable to compete with Mbeya. Conversely, the Lower Marine District has a good port at Mtwara, while the capital, Ron Roda, is developing well. Mtwara’s original purpose for port construction was to serve the East Lake Malawi and Lower Marine Districts, so from a defense, economic, complementarity, and administrative cost perspective, the two regions should be merged.

There is also the Central Coastal Area, which has an even weaker presence and lacks its own independent port, entirely reliant on the Central District. The Central Coastal Area does have excellent harbors; its eastern Kilwa Kisiwani Island was once the most powerful city in East Africa during the medieval period, with its influence reaching as far as Zimbabwe. However, it later declined, leaving only ancient ruins.

Currently, East Africa has no plans to develop new ports; the existing ports are sufficient, even redundant. However, the Central Coastal Area can be merged into the Central District, which already exclusively controls two excellent ports.

East Africa also has a large grassland district deep within its heartland; Ernst initially established it as an independent district due to its vastness, which is somewhat of a wildlife paradise.

There is also the Upper Lake Malawi District where Mbeya City is located, and looking at Mbeya City’s potential, the Upper Lake Malawi District is too small.

Aside from these issues, the most prominent are the newly occupied northeast and southwest regions, which are essentially blank slates.

To establish governance in these areas, relying solely on military suppression is certainly not feasible; government agencies must be established. East Africa itself does not have many administrative personnel, so the simplest method is to merge administrative divisions in the east. This would allow existing government personnel to be reallocated to new occupied areas. Internal administrative adjustments can free up more personnel for investment in new territories. This approach is somewhat akin to the Meiji Government’s plans for Japan.

However, Japan is more extreme than East Africa, as East Africa has large amounts of newly acquired land to accommodate these officials, while Japan requires centralized authority (Daimyo Clans), whereas East Africa does not.

”Your Majesty, we do indeed need to dismantle some districts with unclear positioning, such as the Omolate Special District (including the Omo River Basin and vast lands in northern Kenya). Previously, it was the northernmost district, but now with the Gledi Sultanate incorporated, our border has moved to central Somali, north of the Shabelle River. Besides Somali states and tribes, it is also not far from the colonies of Britain and France along the Red Sea coast. Regardless of how it’s adjusted, the area north of the Shabelle River should be consolidated to address native and Anglo-French forces,” Delaine suggested.

”Yes, the Abyssinia Empire too, given its large size, population, and long history, poses a potential threat.” Felix remarked.

”My view is completely opposite. Abyssinia Empire hardly poses any threat to us from either a strength or interest perspective. Even if we assume the Abyssinia Empire has the same national strength as us in East Africa, they would not conflict with us. Now we have seized the advantage of timing and geographical positioning, combined with the German people’s unity, even the Abyssinia Empire wouldn’t engage us for a pile of worthless land south of the Ethiopian Highlands,” Von der Leyen expressed his opposing opinion.

The core area of the Abyssinia Empire is in the northern Ethiopian Highlands. East Africa’s Omolate Special District has gradually completed wars against the Oromo people, Lu Luo Clans, and Kushites in the southern Ethiopian Highlands through years of infiltration, thus acquiring the current extent.

These are native tribes, so their combat ability is not strong. However, some tribes have connections with the Abyssinia Empire, similar to its vassal states. But upon encountering East African armed forces, the Abyssinia Empire, educated by the British, chose to feign ignorance in response to East Africa’s expansion, allowing East Africa to easily subdue these affiliated Black forces.

East Africa has no further need for northern expansion; pure Black races have been completely eradicated from this area, solving 80% of the northern complexion crisis.

Moreover, the Ethiopian Highlands are not the ideal expansion area for East Africa; their altitude is still a thousand meters higher than the East African Highlands.

The altitude of the East African Highlands is the most habitable altitude for humans (scientific experiments have proven the most habitable altitude for humans is between 500 and 2000 meters). The average altitude of over 2500 meters in the Ethiopian Highlands, especially in terms of oxygen content, is not suitable for East African immigrants to reside, potentially causing altitude sickness and discomfort.

This is also the reason East Africa chose to expand southwestward, where the altitude is similar to the East African Highlands, and immigrants hardly experience altitude sickness, making it very habitable. To the East African army accustomed to the East African Highland environment, expanding there is almost like returning home.

Especially the German immigrants, who do not feel any difference from Europe in East Africa. Most German immigrants in East Africa come from Austria or Southern Germany.

In Europe, these regions are considered relatively high-altitude areas; the Alps and the Bavarian Highlands have an average altitude of around 500 meters.

”Indeed, now we’ve reaped enough benefits; by occupying some defensible spots, we can halt our northern expansion. The Abyssinia Empire is caught between the British-French, Egypt, and our East Africa. Clearly, British-French and even Egyptian threats are greater for them; they wouldn’t be foolish enough to offend us further,” Sivert agreed.

In reality, Abyssinia would not be so foolish. East Africa’s occupied Omo River Basin and southern Ethiopian Highlands, surrounded by mountains and rugged terrain, are inherently bad marching grounds. East Africa took advantage of firearms to capture this area.

Now, East Africa only needs to deploy some rudimentary fortresses on strategic routes to basically avert threats from the Abyssinia Empire.

Additionally, the Abyssinia Empire has no justification for southern expansion; just like East Africa’s reasons for expanding upstream along the Omo River, East Africa intends to protect upstream water sources from threats. Besides this, the southern Ethiopian Highlands have no economic value. Even in previous lifetimes, this area was the least populated and economically undeveloped area in Ethiopia.

”Observe Egypt’s territory; it conveniently semi-surrounds the Ethiopian Highlands from the south. Now is the era of oceans; the Abyssinia Empire doesn’t even have an outlet to the sea, so its future prospects can be imagined.”

Originally backward, and now it’s blocked from international interactions; if it weren’t for Italy’s previous colonial efforts, Ethiopia might be even more underdeveloped.