African Entrepreneurship Record

The city of Dar es Salaam.

Will ultimately chose to work in the city of Bulawayo. After all, Bulawayo, situated between Nairobi and Jisan City, combines advantages from both cities, making it more acceptable for people. Of course, this decision came also due to encouragement from his family, who wanted Will to be more ambitious. It was apparent that Nairobi had become saturated with limited room for advancement.

Will didn’t return home alone from Europe; he brought along his German wife and son. Having lived in Germany for many years, someone like Will was naturally a desirable marriage partner.

In fact, it was easy for East African students and workers in Germany to solve marital issues because they generally had a good economic status, working in mostly ”high-end” industries that promised better prospects than ordinary workers.

In Dar es Salaam, the person responsible for receiving Will and others was Immigration Office staff member Edllis.

For talents like Will returning home, the government had specially designated reception places, namely talent apartments in the city of Dar es Salaam.

Edllis opened a room with keys and introduced, ”There are three floors in total, and your apartment is on the second floor, with one room for each member of your family of three, a kitchen, two toilets, and a bathroom. Of course, for those with higher demands, there are family apartments. The one you’re temporarily staying in is a family apartment, which won’t feel crowded even for five people. It’s also the largest apartment available.”

Will’s wife, Mary, was very satisfied. Since arriving with her husband in East Africa, her impression of the ”poor and backward” East Africa described by her husband had entirely changed.

”Will, didn’t you say East Africa was very backward? Just Dar es Salaam city alone doesn’t seem much worse than Berlin, and we also passed through Mombasa, which looked quite nice.”

”Mary, it’s different. Just as Berlin is the capital of Germany, Mombasa and Dar es Salaam are the most developed economic areas in East Africa. However, East Africa’s land is multiple times larger than Germany’s, and the inland areas are much worse. Especially the city of Iringa where I grew up; the urban area is no different from European countryside towns. Moreover, I grew up in the rural part of Iringa City. Even Dar es Salaam is far from matching Berlin, which has a population of over one million, while the two districts of Dar es Salaam combined likely have less than half of that.”

Edllis said, ”Mr. Will is right. Berlin probably has a population of around 1.5 million, whereas we have less than 500,000 in Dar es Salaam, which is already the largest city in East Africa.”

Mary: ”I feel that Dar es Salaam city, in terms of urban construction and living facilities, isn’t inferior to Germany. Moreover, you have this novel thing called a tram, which is probably rare even in Europe and only present in a few big cities.”

”That’s because Dar es Salaam was built later, so the planning and design are more scientific. This advantage is more apparent in newer cities. For example, the place you’re going to, Bulawayo, might not have economic figures like Dar es Salaam, but I guess the environment is not much different,” Edllis said.

”All in all, the living environment of just this apartment is much better than the house we rented in Berlin. I wonder if we’ll have the same treatment when we get to Bulawayo?”

”Of course, such talent apartments are standard in all industrial cities in East Africa. Bulawayo might only differ in design, but the basic facilities should be the same.”

”The city of Bulawayo is an important node on the Central Railway. We can see this on the route map at Dar es Salaam Central Station. Cities that are marked are generally quite large, and in recent years the country has been heavily developing Matebel Province, so as the second-largest city in Matebel Province, Bulawayo is sure to be developing well.”

”Not only talent apartments, but even temporary accommodation for immigrants has greatly improved. All immigrant settlement sites in East Africa were refurbished and rebuilt seven years ago, including those in Dar es Salaam.”

”Mr. Edllis, can I take a look at the immigrant settlement sites?” Will’s interest was piqued by Edllis’s words. East Africa’s temporary immigrant settlements are a collective memory for the older generation, with his parents being among those who stayed there, so he was very eager to see one.

”Certainly, but you have to hurry, as your scheduled departure is next Saturday. You can’t stay here long term, and it will become more difficult to visit Dar es Salaam in the future since Bulawayo is quite far from Dar es Salaam.”

The distance from Bulawayo to Dar es Salaam is enough to cross countries in Europe, so that’s why Edllis mentioned it.

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Later, after handling their luggage, Edllis then took Will to ”reflect upon the past hardships.”

The East African immigration settlement sites still employ communal housing, but it’s now changed to four-person rooms, greatly improving the space.

Water towers have been built on the roofs of communal buildings, providing tap water, so every room now has independent bathroom facilities. The cafeteria is still communal, but it occupies its own two-story building.

”In East Africa, not much clothing and bedding is needed; the old military uniforms issued before have been changed to common workwear styles available on the market. Without the tags, it’s hardly distinguishable from East African people’s usual attire.”

”At the same time, we have also set up language schools specifically for immigrants, something East Africa lacked before. The development in education allows us to provide more teaching resources, eliminating the need for immigrants to adapt independently.”

”This is a super-large community, also known by Dar es Salaam citizens as a ’super-large school.’ It can accommodate ten thousand people a year, but now the number of immigrants to Dar es Salaam is not as high as before, perhaps only three to four thousand a year.”

”Has the immigration policy of East Africa changed now?”

”That is one reason, but there’s also the diversion caused by newly built port cities. East Africa now has eighteen port cities, instead of only Dar es Salaam and Mombasa having the capacity to receive immigrants.”

To Will, living standards in East Africa have indeed significantly improved. Even the temporary immigrant settlement points were quite well-built, suggesting that Bulawayo is also a worthwhile place to expect.

”The criteria for accepting population in East Africa have been redefined. Now those who can settle in East Africa are educated talents or skilled individuals, which is a significant change,” Edllis explained.

”Certainly, the development in East Africa is most visibly observed along the railway lines. It’s good that you are traveling to Bulawayo via the Central Railway; along the way, you can observe the construction developments in East Africa over the years.”

As someone from the Far East at Immigration Office, Edllis had visited many places domestically, deeply feeling the development over the past decade in East Africa.

The 1970s to 1980s were a period of great development for East Africa. During this period, East Africa completed a restructuring of the nation, with significant progress in agriculture and industry, forestry, animal husbandry, fishery, road traffic, water conservancy projects, and urban and rural areas, all visibly reflecting East Africa’s transformation.

These construction achievements, displayed to East African citizens through newspapers, fostered a collective sense of pride in both new and old generations, painting an image of prosperity throughout East Africa.

However, the shadow of war loomed over this scene of prosperity, potentially setting the entire African continent aflame at any moment, also presenting a major test for East Africa after years of peace, questioning whether it could preserve its fruits of success apart from being adept builders.