African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 666: Chapter 354: Provincial Capital Selection

In other words, the current Whale Bay Port and Swakopmund Port are merely fishing ports, providing services to passing ships, with Swakopmund Port also serving as a military port.

”The country’s level of attention to Southwest Africa is probably on par with the Congo rainforest, the Serengeti Nature Reserve, and the Limpopo River Nature Reserve in East Africa, which means we get the same treatment as the animals on the savannah,” Val joked.

Yasold said, ”Hehe, I don’t know about other places, but the Limpopo River Nature Reserve is not on the same level as we are. The Limpopo River Nature Reserve is within the jurisdiction of Heixinggen Province and the Southern Border Province.

Do you think the name Heixinggen holds simple significance? Besides, the capital of Heixinggen Province is called Otto City, named after the previous generation of the Heixinggen Prince, the father of His Majesty the King.

And as for the Southern Border Province, the development of its capital, New Hamburg Port City, is progressing rapidly. It seems they are aiming to keep pace with Dar es Salaam City and Mombasa City.”

Val countered, ”I’m not talking about the same thing as you. The Limpopo River Nature Reserve is not equivalent to Heixinggen Province and the Southern Border Province. Although they are intertwined, they are on the same level, just like the railway is governed by the railway system and not by the provinces.”

”The Limpopo River Nature Reserve is not something Southwest Africa can emulate. It’s a legitimate provincial administration. Our Southwest Africa is not yet even a province, only considered a region. Besides, the number of troops in the Limpopo River Nature Reserve alone is more than the entire population of Southwest Africa. What can we compare it to?” Yasold reminded.

Admittedly, it’s embarrassing that Southwest Africa hasn’t become an official member of East Africa yet. According to East African precedents, such a situation in Southwest Africa should belong to military-controlled areas. Back when Matebel Province was first occupied by East Africa, it was in a similar situation but was quickly designated as a province by East Africa.

”That’s reasonable. The central government approving and building the Mangjing Highway already counts as taking care of Southwest Africa. Given the overall economic situation and natural environment of Southwest Africa, even I wouldn’t pay too much attention. Never mind the highway, just maintaining maritime transport seems enough. Building such a long highway seems entirely unprofitable to me,” said Val.

Before Southwest Africa formally becomes a province, excluding military personnel, Yasold and Val, as well as the Mayor of Orange Monde (the mouth of the Orange River), are likely the top three officials in the Southwest African region. As for Luderitz, it doesn’t belong to an administrative district, being purely a military base at Luderitz Bay.

”So, if you’re saying that when Southwest Africa is divided into provinces in the future, the capital should be chosen between our two cities!” Yasold suddenly realized this issue.

”It’s very likely to be your Whale Bay Port City, considering your economy and population are somewhat stronger.”

”Not necessarily, as the choice of a provincial capital won’t be based solely on these two factors. In many provinces, the economy of the capital isn’t necessarily stronger than other cities in the province.”

”Anyway, it can’t be Orange Monde,” Val asserted.

”Perhaps, but Southwest Africa is such a large area that it could easily be divided into multiple provinces. Although Orange Monde is remote, it has a significant chance if Southwest Africa is divided into multiple provinces.”

The predictions of the two city officials for the future of Southwest Africa are drastically different from Ernst’s ideas.

Ernst isn’t very attentive to Southwest Africa because East Africa is undergoing construction everywhere, and other areas in East Africa have conditions and importance far superior to those of Southwest Africa.

But with a vast stretch of over one million square kilometers of land, Ernst won’t ignore Southwest Africa either.

In broader terms, Southwest Africa already encompasses three provinces: Letania Province in the Okavango River Basin, Lorraine Province centered around the Okavango River Delta in the Kalahari Basin, and New Baden Province centered on the former British Bechuanaland.

These three provinces belong to the desert and prairie transitional areas. The remainder, a vast area, constitutes the unadministrated region of Southwest Africa, which corresponded to most of Namibia, Botswana, and parts of South Africa in the previous world.

Ernst doesn’t have plans to further divide the remaining over one million square kilometers of Southwest Africa, as its positioning is quite similar to the Far East Empire’s Western Regions Province.

But it’s nowhere near as important as the Western Regions Province, which is in Central Asia and holds tremendous national defense significance for the Far East Empire, whereas Southwest Africa faces virtually no land threats, bordering the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and with the harsh environments north and south along the borders with England and Portugal.

Speaking of other things, the economic conditions in the Western Regions Province aren’t something Southwest Africa can compete with, especially regarding agricultural conditions. The oasis agriculture in the Western Regions is highly developed, with abundant high-quality agricultural areas around the Tianshan, the Tarim River, or the Ili River Valley. In this regard, it’s quite similar to the Somali region of East Africa, capable of supporting a large population.

In contrast, there are no large rivers within Southwest Africa, desert and barren lands are widespread, and there aren’t high mountains like the Tianshan, so there is little snowmelt from high mountains.

East Africa’s Southwest Africa is actually larger than the previous world’s Namibia, so a large portion of the Kalahari Desert also belongs to Southwest Africa, and the area of the Kalahari Desert alone exceeds 600,000 square kilometers.

Despite Namibia having a long coastline, it is primarily covered by the Namib Desert. If following the previous world’s development path, the potential of these coastlines wouldn’t be fully realized.

The main constraints on the development of these coastlines are infrastructure and national economic power. If, in the future, East Africa opens a rail connection from here to the inland and the Atlantic Ocean, the economic level of Southwest Africa is expected to surpass that of Namibia in the twentieth century.

Overall, the potential of Southwest Africa doesn’t rank high in East Africa, and due to climatic reasons, there is no need for further division.

Regarding the choice of provincial capital, Ernst actually had an idea long ago and wouldn’t choose a coastal area but rather a location in the central plateau of Southwest Africa, like the previous world’s capital of Namibia, Windhoek, which is a good option.

Therefore, Yasold and Val’s thoughts are destined to fall short. As for why he chose the undeveloped central plateau, the reason is simple: the population capacity there is greater.

Take Whale Bay Port, for instance, where water is a significant issue, and its grain supply still relies on maritime transport. Although Swakopmund has the Swakop River, its water volume isn’t large, and it’s a seasonal river.

In the previous world, the combined population of these two cities barely exceeded 100,000, limiting their development potential. This is also why the Central Railway didn’t choose this place as its sea outlet.

Thus, the future provincial capital of Southwest Africa will definitely be built in a part of the central plateau with some agricultural potential, which is also an important mining distribution area of Southwest Africa, seemingly more promising than coastal ports.

Moreover, the rapid development of the central three provinces of East Africa can effectively influence the central region of Southwest Africa, further reducing the port traffic advantages of Southwest Africa’s coastal areas.

The development of mineral resources in the central regions only has two directions: export or use by East Africa itself. For exports, in the future, railways can also be used through eastern ports, and for East African use, that needs no further explanation as the industry is already deployed in the three central provinces.

Of course, ports like Whale Bay along the Atlantic Ocean still have some roles, as providing more options is beneficial for the safety of East African product exports and has some significance for national defense.

However, its limited population capacity suggests that developing Southwest Africa’s coastal ports into comprehensive terminals will be very challenging. They can only focus on developing a few key industries, which is the major reason why the provincial capital won’t consider coastal locations.