African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 364: Chapter 43: Next Stop

The Sultanate of Zanzibar has become the maritime carriage driver of the Western Indian Ocean, mainly thanks to the emerging commodity supply market of the Kingdom of East Africa. Moreover, during immigration, the East African migrants would also rent ships from the Sultanate of Zanzibar, mainly for female immigrants targeting regions in the Middle East, Central Asia, and Southeast Asia. As for German and Far East immigrants, Heixinggen Ocean Trade Company handles them, occasionally hiring Dutch ships when lacking in transport capacity.

The Sultanate of Zanzibar originally rose to prominence through the slave trade, so it has considerable experience in transporting people. As long as the regions share the same faith, they become sources of goods, such as parts of India, Dutch East Indies, Central Asia, North Africa, and the Ottoman Empire, where Arab merchants are present.

Although the slave trade of the Sultanate of Zanzibar has declined rapidly in the past two years due to increasing risks, the Kingdom of East Africa can easily bestow enough resources to make the Sultanate of Zanzibar thrive.

So much so that young Said often privately laments his father for not having developed East Africa earlier, letting the Germans benefit for free. However, young Said can only ponder it, as developing Africa without enough population and scientific reserves is a dead-end road. These are not things the Sultanate of Zanzibar possesses, and one can’t rely on millions of Niggers to develop Africa. The Arabs have tried for hundreds of years, managing only some success along the coastal areas (such as in Somalia).

The advanced ”sanitation” concept of the Kingdom of East Africa is a version ahead of its time; the Kingdom could be said to be a nation forged from ”boiling water.” The simple act of not drinking raw water has already increased the survival rate of East African immigrants in Africa several times over.

That being said, young Said is still relatively satisfied with the current situation. Though the Kingdom of East Africa is a bit strict with the Sultanate of Zanzibar, overseeing this and managing that, they still share the benefits, indicating no intention of discarding the Sultanate when it’s unnecessary. Even the East African military stationed on Zanzibar Island once helped suppress a rebellion of Black slaves in the Sultanate during Constantine’s reign, allowing young Said to feel he could rest easy.

...

For the sake of money, Samuel had to change his mind: ”Alright! Just for the sake of the Lira (Italian Kingdom currency), it has to be this way. However, Mr. Sapetto, could you ask them for some discount? After all, the food we plan to order next isn’t a small quantity.”

Sapetto said with some helplessness: ”That might be difficult. The Sultanate of Zanzibar already follows a small profit, high turnover business model, but I can try for you. I just don’t know if the Zanzibar grain merchant that collaborates with my company has the capacity to supply so much grain.”

Samuel had no other choice. The Kingdom of Italy’s finances were on the verge of collapse at any moment, losing nearly half of its territory and population due to warfare, losing the collateral for loans from the British as well.

Fortunately for Italy, it had borrowed enough, and the British feared their investments would go down the drain, convincing Egypt (physically) to open a route allowing Italy to use Eritrea as a springboard to attack the Abyssinian Empire.

The Egyptians, of course, weren’t too willing, which was why the Egyptians had not withdrawn proactively before the Italian troops landed at Asab Port, just in case the Italians didn’t show up!

However, the Egyptians were disappointed, as Italy sent a division upon its arrival. Although Italy was weakened in Europe and had been significantly weakened by Austria-Hungary, its population was still greater than Egypt’s, and its industrial level was ten streets ahead of Egypt. Especially Italy’s Navy, even though the Adriatic Sea navy was almost completely wiped out (part of it being inherited by the Kingdom of Naples), it still remained above average on a global scale.

However, the Egyptian government didn’t have too much reaction. Besides the British pressure, the main reason was that the Asab region was indeed not of much importance to Egypt.

The entire Suez is within Egyptian territory, and the Mand Strait is completely unimportant to Egypt, not to mention that there are two major powers, Britain and France, near the Mand Strait, making Egypt uncomfortable in Asab itself.

Initially, Egypt had occupied Asab as a means to counter the Ottoman Empire, their nominal sovereign country. At present, Egypt had conflicts with the Abyssinian Empire, so Asab had some strategic value. However, Italy was clearly also targeting the Abyssinian Empire, so leaving the Asab region to the Italians was not a problem. If the Italians fought the Abyssinian Empire, Egypt’s disputes with the Abyssinian Empire in the Sudan region might end with the Abyssinian Empire yielding concessions.

Samuel: ”Then I’ll leave it to you, Mr. Sapetto! The kingdom will not forget your contributions.”

Sapetto: ”General, as an Italian, this is what I’m supposed to do.”

...

Dar es Salaam City.

After waiting for three days, people from the Central Government of East Africa finally arrived, and today Li Ge and the others can leave the immigrant transition point and head to the capital, First Town, of the Kingdom of East Africa.

Aryan: ”Mr. Li Ge, do you think First Town will be more prosperous, lively, and spectacular than Dar es Salaam City?”

Are you asking me! Are you out of your mind!

Li Ge replied speechlessly: ”Mr. Aryan, you’re an East African, don’t you know anything about your own country!”

Aryan: ”I said it before, didn’t I! Although I’m a citizen of the Kingdom of East Africa, this is also my first time in East Africa.”

Li Ge was quite helpless. How could the Kingdom of East Africa send such a person to the Far East as a diplomatic officer when he knows nothing about his own country? How can he ensure the diplomatic communication between the Kingdom of East Africa and the Far East?

But Li Ge still speculated: ”In principle, a nation’s capital should be the most prosperous and embody the nation’s spirit, so your capital should also be more flourishing than Dar es Salaam City!”

Li Ge’s words made some sense. However, when it comes to prosperity, Dar es Salaam’s position as the foremost city in the Kingdom of East Africa is unshakable. First Town can only be said to be the most developed city in East Africa.

Being developed and being prosperous are not the same. First Town’s development is due to its top-notch infrastructure in East Africa, even Dar es Salaam City cannot compare in this aspect. Also, First Town is far ahead in healthcare, education, and construction compared to Dar es Salaam. When building Dar es Salaam, the East African government considered cost issues, but as the capital, First Town had no such concerns. Whatever European cities had, First Town had nearly equivalent counterparts. For instance, a third of Dar es Salaam doesn’t even have running water, let alone electric lights and other high-tech products.

Dar es Salaam’s prosperity comes from its excellent commercial environment, active economy, and frequent foreign exchanges, while First Town, as a political center, seems more solemn, and the urban area is quieter and more serious, unlike the lively Dar es Salaam, which remains bustling even late at night, whereas by that time in First Town, most people are already asleep.

However, the differences between First Town and Dar es Salaam can only be truly understood by experiencing the distinct charm of both cities firsthand.

Everyone in the carriage was imagining what First Town, the capital of East Africa, would be like, although they didn’t even know that First Town is only fifty kilometers away from Dar es Salaam.