African Entrepreneurship Record

Cabinda.

As an important port established by the Portuguese in Angola, Cabinda was built too late to compare with the cities of Luanda or Benguela.

Currently, Cabinda is essentially a small coastal village left behind by the Portuguese on the Atlantic Ocean, or a small military fort, with a small area and incomplete infrastructure.

Both Luanda and Benguela have over a hundred years of development history, while Cabinda was only started by the Portuguese as a northern coastal fortress city in the 1980s. If not for the Berlin Conference and the establishment of the Belgian colony, the Portuguese would have had no interest in this coastal rainforest area.

Of course, Cabinda has another important function, which is to restrict the mouth of the Congo River. Previously, East Africa and the Portuguese were in an antagonistic relationship, so the development of Cabinda by the Portuguese also had the purpose of blocking East Africa from access via the Congo River.

Now East Africa has decided to expand and reconstruct this strategic military town on the West Coast, which is no bigger than a fishing village.

”The Portuguese stronghold in Cabinda is less than three hundred meters from east to west, with an area roughly over five thousand square meters, featuring only a little over three hundred buildings with previously around a thousand inhabitants.”

East African city designer Dielka told Cabinda’s military commander Balco, ”Therefore, the demolition work in Cabinda is not difficult; the challenge lies in the vast surrounding rainforest, which is unfavorable for urban construction, thus requiring a large workforce to cut down and clear the tropical rainforest before space can be freed up to construct Cabinda Port.”

Currently, Cabinda is the station of the 2nd Brigade, 4th Regiment of the 331st Division, with Balco as the regimental commander. During the South African War, the 331st Division captured this place, but due to Cabinda’s small size, it could only accommodate a limited number of troops, so the 4th Regiment remained here.

In fact, it’s quite strenuous for a regiment to be stationed here because transporting supplies is extremely challenging.

The 331st Division previously seized Cabinda through land, practically paving a path by force, but now that path is completely overgrown and has reverted to its rainforest state.

Currently, the 4th Regiment mainly relies on maritime transportation for supplies, routed from New Hamburg Port around Cape Town and then conveyed to Cabinda.

This transportation route also includes ports and outposts in Southwest Africa, primarily through sea transportation which is more convenient and offers larger freight capacity.

Luanda was more convenient, but before the Portuguese withdrew, they destroyed all ships, and land transportation is not feasible, especially across the Congo River, where each crossing is practically an adventure.

The downstream flow of the Congo River is too rapid, unsuitable for small ferries. The fundamental issue is the downstream of the Congo River being completely undeveloped, forcing East Africa to construct makeshift rafts from local materials for river crossing, which is not a problem for temporary use during wartime since urgency prevails. The 331st Division had already completed the river crossing at Kinshasa, making the journey from Kinshasa to Brazzaville relatively easy.

Kinshasa can also transport supplies, but Kinshasa has limited capacity, and its upstream cities of Bangui and Jisan City are in relatively remote parts of East Africa. For East Africa to develop Cabinda, it cannot rely solely on these cities.

Therefore, developing Cabinda ultimately depends on Luanda, utilizing sea transport between Luanda and Cabinda to complete the project.

But currently, land routes between Cabinda and Luanda are inaccessible, and maritime conditions are inadequate, forcing East Africa to take a large detour.

In peacetime, East Africa sees no need to risk soldiers rafting across the river again; during wartime, numerous soldiers were swept into the Atlantic Ocean with their rafts by the Congo River floodwaters.

Moreover, although Luanda can connect with the East African inland via land, without railways, the time and effort spent are far less convenient than sea transport.

”Cabinda’s geographical location is extremely strategic; it marks the beginning of the western coastline and borders our nation and the Belgian Congo. From Cabinda to the Belgian Congo’s capital Black Horn, the straight-line distance by sea is only ninety kilometers, and only six hundred kilometers to the French Gabon’s Qiantier Port,” Balco stated from a strategic perspective.

The French Gabon capital is Libreville, also Gabon’s largest port city, while Qiantier Port is an important port on Gabon’s central coast. At the moment, these are the only two Gabon ports, and previously the most crucial ports in Gabon.

As a veteran colonial empire, France’s selection of colonial locations is impeccable, whether referencing Libreville or Qiantier Port, whose geographical conditions far surpass those of the Belgian Congo and East Africa’s West Coast ports.

Libreville located at the Como River’s estuary, boasts a natural harbor as its backbone, making it a prototypical bay and estuary port capable of accommodating sea transport and linking Gabon’s inland waterways.

Ports such as Dar es Salaam, Mombasa, and many in East Africa are bay ports, built relying on bays similarly to Libreville, with Bajamojo being a comparable case.

However, comparing Libreville and Bajamojo is unjustifiable, as the Como River is no ordinary small river compared to the ’Rhine’ River (Lu River).

Considering economic attributes presently, Bajamojo is more valuable than Libreville, as vast tropical rainforests within the French Gabon colony inhibit development despite excellent ports and inland navigation prospects.

Bajamojo derives economic value from effectively developed East African interiors, whereas West Coast’s Cabinda cannot compare with Libreville or Qiantier Port in any aspect.

The Portuguese did not face this problem due to Portugal being a maritime nation, with most inland areas already occupied by East Africa, meeting their needs by only developing coastal areas.

Yet East Africa is unsatisfied with this; East Africa aims to link Cabinda with East African interiors and transform Cabinda into a future economic development bridgehead linking East Africa with Atlantic nations.

”In the future, this place will be the exchange center between East Africa and Belgian colonies, but to enable this node, Cabinda must undergo a comprehensive modification, particularly regarding transportation.”

”The easiest to achieve currently for Cabinda is restoring maritime transportation. As for land transport, overcoming numerous challenges is necessary, especially regarding the Congo River, a natural barrier between Cabinda and Luanda. Nonetheless, Kinshasa can temporarily serve as an interim option, as the primary deficiency between Kinshasa and Cabinda is merely a road.”

At present, Brazzaville across from Kinshasa is a small military outpost, with only one platoon deployed there, under Kinshasa’s jurisdiction. Thus, the road Balco refers to connects Brazzaville from the past to Cabinda, which is the only land transportation consideration.

When suitable conditions are met, a road or even a railroad can be built between Luanda and Cabinda, resolving the Congo River issue through a ferry service.

This necessitates East Africa first constructing shipyards and related facilities downstream of the Congo River or directly introducing small vessels to establish ferry docks.

For the impoverished Angola region, such developments require extensive periods, as under several hundred years of Portuguese rule, Angola developed only a small part of its agriculture and remains largely undeveloped, with transportation issues being East Africa’s greatest challenge.

During conflicts with Angola and Mozambique, East African Army’s biggest headache was transportation between the two regions, fortunately alleviated by extensive grasslands present in these areas.

However, Cabinda is surrounded by typical tropical rainforest climate, and this is the greatest challenge East Africa faces in developing Cabinda.