African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 514: Chapter 192 4 Seas 2 Lakes 2 Inland

”On March 2, 1498, Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama led his fleet to India, stopping at ’Mozambique Port’ along the way where they were warmly received by the local Sultan. The Sultan’s name was Muzza Aru Bic, which the Portuguese heard as ’Mozambique,’ giving rise to the name of the country Mozambique. The country still exists today, but the origin point of this Mozambique colony, Mozambique Port, is now in our hands, leaving one to wonder what the Portuguese in the city think about this.”

East Africa Navy Major Ror proudly told his subordinates, noting that Mozambique Port, like the Sultanate of Zanzibar, is actually an offshore island. East Africa’s Mombasa and Mozambique Port are very similar.

Ernst did not quite understand this, as the Arabs seemed very fond of occupying islands along the East African coast, so why didn’t they advance further into the mainland?

It’s illogical to say these islands are more livable than the mainland; most coastal islands in East Africa are hotter and more humid, making them less than ideal for habitation. However, these islands were indeed convenient for controlling the Indian Ocean trade routes in the past.

However, Mozambique Port is already in a phase of rapid decline, which can be attributed to the decline of the slave trade and the opening of the Suez Canal, significantly reducing its economic value. Yet, the navy took an interest in this location, turning it into a new naval base.

The Dutch once competed with the Portuguese for this site, so solid military defenses were built on Mozambique Island. The East African navy could move in without much reorganization.

Ernst is not very interested in developing Mozambique Island. The northern Mozambique occupied by East Africa this time has several bays with much better port construction conditions than Mozambique Island.

The most important among them are Nacala and Pemba, both of which are currently deserted bays but in previous lives have surpassed Mozambique Island to become Mozambique’s third and fifth largest ports. As for Mozambique Island, it fell out of contention among Mozambique’s numerous ports by the twentieth century.

Nacala Port is located at the southern tip of Bengo Island in northern Mozambique and boasts the best deep-water port in the South African region. It is a large port with an 800-meter-wide, 60-meter-deep channel.

Pemba Port can actually also be called Bemba Port, sharing the same name as Bemba Island in East Africa. In fact, the bay where Pemba Port is located is called Bemba Bay.

Pemba Port developed very late during the Portuguese colonial era, first established in 1904, later growing into a port known as America Port, sharing a name with a place in America, hence Pemba Port is a name recently coined by Ernst.

In past lives, Pemba Port ranked fifth domestically in Mozambique, but Ernst believes its ranking could be improved.

Because the conditions here are quite favorable compared to the rest of Africa, Mozambique in past lives suffered from excessive economic underdevelopment, low urbanization, weak trade demand, and too many ports, leading to insufficient exploitation.

If this port were located in the Far East, it could develop into a super port, on par with Jiaozhou.

First, the area of Bemba Bay is not much smaller than Jiaozhou Bay, but the conditions within the bay are significantly better than Jiaozhou Bay. The water conditions are superior, and both have a similarly shaped enclosed bay structure with a narrow entrance and wide interior.

Furthermore, the economic hinterland of Pemba Port is broader than that of Jiaozhou. Shandong’s inland has mountainous terrain that obstructs economic connectivity between Jiaozhou and the inland, while the land west of Pemba Port stretches all the way to Lake Malawi, consisting of highland plains.

The only unfortunate aspect is the competitive relationship between Nacala Port and Pemba Port, making it difficult for Ernst to decide which port to prioritize for development.

This is similar to the competitive relationship between Lianyungang and Jiaozhou, although indeed, Lianyungang’s economy and scale are not on par with Jiaozhou.

Currently, both of these East African ports are still wastelands. Allowing them to develop freely would not make it clear which one is better.

The issue is that East Africa is a nation that places importance on planning; it’s impossible to allow these two locations to develop freely. Therefore, the rise of these two ports greatly depends on how Ernst positions them.

For instance, First Town was merely a small town attached to Dar es Salaam in a previous life, but now it has become the political hub of East Africa.

However, Ernst didn’t ponder for too long, as he suddenly realized he could develop Nacala and Pemba into twin cities. Ernst was mainly concerned about resource waste, but considering East Africa’s development pace, his worries were unfounded.

The future economic focus of East Africa will surely be the eastern regions, so the coastal economy will not decline. As long as East Africa does well in immigration, the economic volume of northern Mozambique will naturally rise.

The Central Province now has the beginnings of a city cluster, so Mozambique can be developed similarly. In the previous life, the Far East had three economic zones: Bohai Sea, Yangtze River Delta, and Pearl River Delta. East Africa’s eastern region could develop similar coastal economic zones.

Ernst believes that once Maputo is captured, this approach can be replicated by leveraging South Africa’s mineral resources and the transportation conditions of Maputo and New Hamburg Port among other southern ports, becoming akin to a South African version of the Pearl River Delta.

The central region led by Pemba Port and Nacala Port will act like the Yangtze River Delta. Ernst certainly wouldn’t do this if the Zambezi River had better navigability.

In fact, the coastal city clusters envisioned by Ernst also take into account multiple factors. For instance, the northern region of East Africa has a poor environmental carrying capacity; otherwise, Ernst would have focused on developing Mombasa. Currently, Mombasa’s development benefits from the northern industrial belt and links with Nairobi and the Great Lakes Region, and Mombasa might become a large northern city in the future, but will never develop into a city cluster.

The three locations Ernst has chosen all share common strengths: multiple ports, flat terrain, large economic hinterland, favorable climate conditions, and comprehensive superior conditions allowing the development of multiple cities.

Of course, according to these advantages, Angola could also plan a similar development in the future. These are the settings for coastal cities, and inland areas are certainly not to be neglected. The conditions in the Great Lakes Region are favorable, and Lake Malawi could follow this approach. Matebel Province (Zimbabwe) would definitely adopt this model too, and Swabia Province and Hohenzollern Province (Zambia and southern Congo) could develop collaboratively as well.

Ernst refers to this layout as the ’Four Seas, Two Lakes, Two Inland’ economic configuration for East Africa: four coastal city clusters, two lake economic clusters, and two inland city clusters.

In fact, this configuration wasn’t too far off from that of East Africa in the previous life (within the East African region); the biggest difference was the absence of South Africa.

In the previous life, South Africa was the most economically developed region south of the Sahara, particularly the area centered around Johannesburg and Pretoria within the original Transvaal Republic.

Ernst has effectively included this area within Zimbabwe and the eastern coast (primarily southern Mozambique), making it a raw material supply base for industrial development in both locations.

The reason not to vigorously develop local industry boils down to the local scarcity of water resources and fragile ecological environment, where excessive development could result in the eastward expansion of the Kalahari Desert, a path Ernst doesn’t want to take.

Ernst is not an environmentalist, but he is very cautious about desertification, especially in grassland regions, which are the most prone to becoming desert due to human development.

The mining industry is already quite water-intensive. Developing industry locally would further increase water demands. In the previous life, South Africa addressed this water issue by implementing a South Water North Diversion project, drawing water from Lesotho — something East Africa does not require due to its vast territory and greater options compared to South Africa.