African Entrepreneurship Record

No matter how widespread the compulsory education is in East Africa, it does not hinder Terel’s calculations in his mind. He said to Mayor of Clarnis, ”Mayor of Clarnis, since you have so many secondary school students in East Africa and cannot provide them with better employment positions, isn’t this a huge waste of social resources?”

”Well, we’ve also considered this. After all, educational investment is no small amount, especially with ten years of compulsory education. However, this matter is decided by the Central Government, so we are only responsible for execution,” replied Clarnis truthfully, expressing his thoughts.

If spending more money does not yield the expected returns, doubts are certainly understandable. However, East Africa does this to more conveniently align with historical trends in the future because Ernst knows that with the development of the times, the demand for talents will keep increasing. Like Germany now has over twenty thousand college students nationwide, which isn’t even as many as a regular university in the past life.

Ernst’s calculations focus on long-term benefits, but currently East Africa is indeed incapable of providing so many employment opportunities.

”Exactly. Our Austria-Hungary Empire would not be so impulsive in educational investment, yet this does not prevent Austria from being one of Europe’s centers of civilization,” said Terel.

Austria-Hungary invests a lot in education, but compared to the East African government, Austria-Hungary’s government is absolutely thrifty, or rather the pathways are different. One is elite education, emphasizing quality, and the other is civilian education, focusing on quantity. However, there’s a saying that quantitative change leads to qualitative change, which is also East Africa’s approach.

However, there’s no superiority between the two; ultimately, they share a common goal in genuinely cultivating talents for the country, even if it’s merely for the utilitarian purpose of maintaining national governance stability.

Terel tentatively asked, ”Mayor of Clarnis, has your East African government ever considered a win-win method to solve the employment problem of graduates from secondary schools?”

”Well, Mr. Terel, what do you have in mind?” Clarnis asked in confusion.

”Mayor of Clarnis, listen to me. Here’s the situation. You have students facing employment problems, while we in Austria have many employment opportunities requiring slightly higher qualifications, at least stronger than those of primary school students. This way, wouldn’t it form a complement between our two countries?” Terel directly expressed his intentions.

His words indeed stimulated Clarnis’s thinking. As an official in East Africa, Clarnis is quite familiar with the country’s situation, so he is aware of the efforts put into promoting compulsory education in East Africa.

And Terel’s words indeed had considerable appeal, which relates to the term ”expatriate remittances.” In reality, many countries acquire income through ”expatriate remittances.”

For instance, the mercenaries of various German states and nobles in medieval history, were essentially a form similar to ”expatriate remittances,” working for foreign monarchs for profit.

Like Egypt in the past life, Pakistan, India, Thailand, and many other countries, ”expatriate remittances” are important economic sources. Especially for Egypt, ”expatriate remittances” are even an industry pillar. With over one billion population and only lands along the Nile River, failure to seek avenues would result in starvation.

Japan now also heavily relies on ”expatriate remittances” to accumulate capital for national development, and it’s even more frequent in Europe, vividly reflected within the Austria-Hungary Empire.

Within Austria-Hungary, development in countries and regions is not balanced, leading to many Hungarians, Serbians, and Poles working in economically developed areas. If they later choose to return home, those wages should be considered ”expatriate remittances,” given Austria-Hungary’s internal countries, especially Austria and Hungary, can be entirely viewed as two countries, with strong autonomy and independence in other regions.

”Mr. Terel, your idea is good, but as a small local official, I can’t decide such matters. You should know that East Africa’s population management is quite strict, lacking in mobility compared to European countries. So even if I agree, I am powerless, but I will relay your suggestion upwards,” said Clarnis.

As for the lack of mobility in East Africa’s population, it depends on the analysis. The household registration system of East African citizens confines many people to their original locations. Without government permission, mobility is indeed limited. However, there are also large-scale population migrations organized by the East African government, with significant impacts on the development of East Africa’s inland. The contrasting example is the U.S. Westward Expansion, where the government barely intervened, relying entirely on civil initiatives.

Terel asked, ”So, Mr. Mayor, do you see a high possibility?”

Clarnis certainly didn’t know, given there is also the provincial government above him, and whether it will pass the provincial government is still uncertain. Therefore, he said, ”That depends on how the higher government thinks. However, you can try going to Dar es Salaam city, considering your identity as Austrian businessmen would be more useful than me, the small mayor, and easily attract the Central Government’s attention.”

Terel was quite satisfied with this resolution proposed by Clarnis. Indeed, it would be more efficient to handle this by themselves.

Finally, the topic returned to the issue of investment in factory construction. This time, Austrian businessmen ultimately gave Mogadishu City an opportunity, which was to solve the port issue first. If Mogadishu city’s New Port could be completed by the end of the year, they could initially test the waters, while the follow-up supporting facilities would be discussed next year.

The delay by Austrian businessmen is entirely to strive for more benefits. Even without Mogadishu City’s guarantee, they could fund the completion of related tasks themselves. However, who wouldn’t want to save more money!

They remain optimistic about Mogadishu City’s prospects, especially with its fruits and vegetables being quite popular in Europe. Thus, even without much commitment from Mogadishu City, some will choose cooperation. However, that wouldn’t reach the desired effect of Mogadishu City.

Mogadishu City places greater emphasis on exporting products from the Northern Province to foreign markets. Yet, its limited capabilities necessitate the reliance on Austrian businessmen. Once they establish the relevant factories, for the sake of profit, they will actively promote the superiority of Northern Province agricultural products in Europe.

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”Labor cooperation?” Ernst listened to the reports from his subordinates and learned about the intentions of Austrian merchants. Previously, there were certainly individuals from East Africa working overseas, but primarily through official channels or through the Heixinggen consortium’s network. This is the first time foreign civilian groups like these Austrian merchants actively sought cooperation.

After some thought, Ernst agreed to it, as this matter posed no harm to East Africa, but he did have some considerations.

”Cooperation is possible, but the initiative must remain in our hands. We can build a platform similar to the foreign student model. But this platform would be a cross-border labor company rather than a government agency, because we need to ensure the safety of our citizens, at least preventing them from being unfamiliar with Austria-Hungary.”

Ernst merely intends to establish a platform rather than control it. It’s not an alarmist statement, as there are indeed examples of countries doing this, like the current government of the Far East Empire.

Anyway, Austria-Hungary is also a monarchical country. Ernst isn’t worried about dangerous ideas or opinions being transmitted back to East Africa, and these graduates opting to work abroad aren’t a concern about them not returning. Their homes are in East Africa, and even if they don’t return, whether they stay in East Africa or Germany, in Ernst’s view, it’s all the same pot of meat.