African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 460: Chapter 138 Fun Talk

Nairobi.

The citizens of Nairobi, who had been bracing for the locust disaster, finally found out it was all in vain, so the government disbanded the locust extermination teams on the spot and restored the normal production order.

This left the citizens of Nairobi a bit disappointed. Why didn’t the locusts come? They thought they could at least get some exercise!

If Ernst knew what the people of Nairobi were really thinking, he would surely be exasperated, saying, ”You really don’t know the value of things until you run a household!”

”I heard the locust disaster would reach us here? We’ve been preparing for so many days and haven’t seen any. Is it fake news?” Stephen said in his Italian-accented German.

”Haven’t there been more locusts these days? So there must be a locust disaster, but I heard the government intercepted it. The northern provinces and Juba Province were severely affected, and even the pastoral areas were attacked. A few days ago, workers delivering cotton said the northernmost cotton production areas also suffered a bit of loss.”

”Having been in Africa for so long, I thought there wouldn’t be any disasters here! It turns out this place isn’t some kind of utopia either.”

”But it’s still better than Italy. Wars are so frequent in Italy, life is hard, and coming to East Africa feels more comfortable. Just follow the workflow without having to worry about making a living. Besides, what’s there to avoid about a locust disaster? The Far East, America, Europe, and even Russia are threatened by locust disasters.” Chris said while skillfully pulling the threads.

”Chris is right. Fortunately, the government has eliminated the locust disaster in time, or it would have been too terrible if it spread over. I’ve experienced it in the Far East! Surely you all have not suffered; I dare say the life here is something I couldn’t have dreamed of before. When the Yellow River changed course back then, my hometown became a disaster area, and the following year a locust disaster occurred, a dense mass of them...” Aud Biao Meng said from the side.

”It’s all about the same, all about the same. Italy is also tough! It’s just that we have more ways out and can run to other countries, while you can’t escape.”

”That’s if you’ve got connections. My cousin ran away during the war, only to end up getting caught in an Italian camp and sent to the battlefield. I haven’t heard anything from him since, don’t know how he’s doing now.”

”He’s probably not doing well. I’ve heard that the Kingdom of Italy is quite embarrassing, always getting chased down by our Austria.”

”Cough cough, what do you mean, our Austria? We’re all citizens of the East African Kingdom now. Moreover, Italy’s defeat is because of incompetent officers, it has nothing to do with the soldiers below. Besides, my ancestors weren’t Italian either, Venice was once part of the Holy Roman Empire! My dad’s uncle’s cousin was German, so I have half German blood too.”

”...”

”Well then, if that’s the case, I also count. My wife’s grandmother’s mother is also German, so that makes me a German too.”

”...”

”Alright, stop fighting about it. We’ve all already registered, you can’t escape being named a German! East Africa is a place with only an entrance and no exit. Luckily, life is decent here, just a bit dull.”

”Hehe, Stephen, just count your blessings! All the bad habits you had in Italy have been quit in East Africa, which is actually good. Living a proper life here is much better than being a wastrel before.”

”Let’s not talk about this anymore. Next Sunday, we’ve arranged a soccer match with the second factory. Who’s coming to watch the game?”

”I don’t have time; my wife said I’m not allowed to go anywhere this weekend, not even fishing, sigh!”

”I think marrying an Oriental wife is better; they’re much more considerate than Italian women.”

”Nonsense! Look at how poor Aud Biao is, tightly controlled by his wife. If you ask me, East India is the best, where I hear you can have four wives if you’re rich.”

”I’m feeling yellow, I’ll urinate first to wake him up.”

...

”The employees at the factory are so lively!” said Kleisen, the director of Nairobi’s first cotton textile factory, with emotion, ”Looks like I need to give them more tasks this week.”

”Hahaha, Mr. Director, I’m sure those young guys will thank you!”

As the inland light industry center, Nairobi’s population has surpassed one hundred thousand this year. For a few months last year, it was briefly the largest city in East Africa, but was consecutively surpassed by Mombasa, Mbeya, and Dar es Salaam.

In the past life, Nairobi became East Africa’s largest city because it developed early, with a clear first-mover advantage. It benefited early from the British construction of the Uganda Railway, and after independence, Nairobi’s infrastructure was far ahead of surrounding countries. Coupled with Kenya’s long-term peaceful situation, it effectively absorbed surrounding populations and industries, leading in fields like food processing and holding a strong position over the turbulent Ethiopia.

This is actually easy to understand. Making money is always easier for the rich than for ordinary people. Compared to the surrounding countries, Kenya was considered wealthy.

Kenya’s industrial products, not to mention international competition, still held clear advantages over the surrounding countries, which caused resource-rich countries to not develop as well as Kenya.

By the 21st century, Tanzania and Ethiopia, under support from major powers, had a tendency to overtake, and then Kenya discovered oil again. So, in the past life, Kenya’s fate was quite good, at least doing well in East Africa.

In this life, there’s no such opportunity. Although the planned northern railway will still pass through Nairobi, the development limit of Nairobi is just an important city, not reaching the level of East Africa’s first.

Especially as East Africa builds the northern railway simultaneously with a more extensive Central Railway, it made Tanzania’s infrastructure conditions no worse than Kenya’s, perhaps even better.

Not to mention comparing with Tanzania, even the coastal Mombasa has to overshadow Nairobi. After three transformations, Mombasa already has the prototype of an international port, rapidly developing through foreign commerce.

Although the upper limit is not high, the lower limit of Nairobi has been lifted by the Kingdom of East Africa. It won’t be too bad no matter what.

In the 21st century, the textile industry may not earn much, but now it’s the 19th century. It’s one of the top quality industries like railway, steel, and coal mines, and textile is still light industry.

Plus, with the northern railway construction, agricultural development around Nairobi, mineral development, and the Great Lakes Region agricultural products distribution center, all indicate Nairobi’s potential far surpassing past times.

Of course, Ernst’s development of Nairobi was just a secondary part, the ultimate goal was still to open the connection channel between the Great Lakes Region and Mombasa.

For Ernst, the importance of the Great Lakes Region is comparable to that of the Sichuan Basin to the Far East, being key to supporting East African agriculture and water, and mining is an essential area, truly the East African version of the ”Land of Abundance.” The Great Lakes Region has a very high comprehensive quality in all aspects, with the only downside being its distance from ports (sea ports), so this part can only be solved through railways.

The current potential of the Great Lakes Region has not been fully tapped, but it’s already the most important agricultural and mining (mainly precious metals development) production area in East Africa.

The next region capable of surpassing the Great Lakes Region in agriculture is the East African hinterland’s Zambia and southern Congo, but the current level of development is still too low.

But in terms of current East African agricultural development, Tanzania is still far ahead, although Tanzania’s water and heat conditions aren’t as good as those in the Great Lakes Region and Zambia and southern Congo.

Of course, this comparison is actually not appropriate, as the Great Lakes Region’s land area cannot be compared with the other two, as the Great Lakes alone occupy nearly seventy thousand square kilometers, and the overlapping area between the Great Lakes Region and Tanzania accounts for a quarter of the Great Lakes Region’s land area.

Zambia and southern Congo don’t have those vast lakes with absurdly large areas on the East African plateau, but the water resources aren’t lacking at all. Zambia alone holds 25% of southern Africa’s surface water resources, and underground water comprises a third of southeastern Africa, with dense river networks, termed the ”Jiangnan Water Town” of East Africa. Nonetheless, if comparing with the Zambezi River, ”Hebei Water Town” seems more apt.

In fact, the Great Lakes Region is the same. Rivers from the east, west, south, and north all flow into the Great Lake, replenishing the lake water, with the only outlet being the White Nile.

The Great Lakes, Zambia, southern Congo, and Tanzania are actually in the core area of East Africa. The terrain is similar to the distant northeast, while the rainfall is similar to the distant southeast, making agriculture development highly favorable, while East African immigrant populations complement the final human resources.