African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 897: Chapter 201: Deepening Cooperation

The Abyssinia Empire is fully investing itself in the embrace of East Africa on cultural and social levels. Although there are slight differences due to religion and other factors, Abyssinia appears more agreeable to East Africa compared to other countries in the region.

North Africa is entirely an Arab cultural region. By contrast, Abyssinia’s mainstream religion is also a branch of Christianity. However, after years of turmoil, the country is destined not to become a great power or even a regional powerhouse.

Firstly, it lacks a coastline. Secondly, its territory is small, with a population that would only be considered medium-sized even in Europe. Thirdly, the country is scarce in natural resources.

Of course, this resource scarcity is only relative to East Africa. Actually, the Abyssinia Empire’s superior mineral resources are not insignificant. The coal and iron required for the first industrial revolution are distributed domestically, and it is also one of the important gold production areas.

However, the lack of an outlet to the sea remains a problem that will constantly trouble the Abyssinia Empire in the future unless it can reclaim the Red Sea coast occupied by the Kingdom of Italy.

But this hope is slim. The current Kingdom of Italy is more pragmatic than during World War II, when its ambitions seemed boundless. Now, Italian immigrants to the Red Sea Colony have reached at least over nine hundred thousand, and even if the region gains independence, it will harbor a significant immigrant population, making a return to the Abyssinia Empire impossible.

And this is precisely what Ernst hopes to see. If Abyssinia had a seacoast on the Red Sea, how could it wholeheartedly cling to East Africa?

To further control the Abyssinia Empire, on March 19, 1894, Raymonds, the East Africa ambassador stationed in Bahir Dar, met once again with John IV at the Bahir Dar Palace to discuss further deepening relationship issues between the two countries.

From the level of East Africa diplomatic personnel stationed in the Abyssinia Empire, one can see East Africa’s emphasis on the Abyssinia Empire. For most backward countries at the same level as Abyssinia, except for Europe and America, East Africa only sends minister-level diplomatic personnel.

The East Africa embassy in Bahir Dar is very prominent, located less than seven hundred meters from Bahir Dar Palace. Currently, apart from East Africa, only Egypt and Italy have set up embassies in Bahir Dar.

”Your Majesty John IV, although East Africa and Abyssinia have always maintained amicable relations, considering the long-term development of our two countries, the Abyssinia Empire should try to avoid direct competition with East Africa and achieve a differentiated development approach. Only then can both countries leverage their respective strengths on different tracks.”

Raymonds went straight to the point in the Bahir Dar Palace, which piqued John IV’s interest.

He asked, ”Ambassador Raymond, I wonder what kind of differentiated development you are referring to?”

If direct competition with East Africa in certain fields can be avoided, it would naturally be beneficial for the Abyssinia Empire, as Abyssinia cannot defeat East Africa.

Of course, if it involves some inseparable interests, John IV will not make concessions. Although Abyssinia is backward, it also has its pride.

Ernst is well aware of this. As one of the few countries in Africa that firmly resisted colonialists, the Abyssinia Empire has earned some respect from Ernst in this regard.

Just like in the war with Italy, the Abyssinia Empire never wavered from start to finish, resolutely resisting to the end. Although it ultimately ended in defeat, the Abyssinia Empire’s courage is noteworthy.

Raymonds said, ”Both East Africa and Abyssinia are located on the African continent and are primarily highland countries, so the natural climate of both countries is quite similar, making it inevitable that there are commonalities in agricultural development.”

”Indeed.” John IV nodded appreciatively, saying, ”This is indeed the case, especially with the loss of large parts of our eastern and northern territories.”

Abyssinia’s lost territories, except for the southeastern region with agricultural value, primarily consist of desert in the north and east.

Of course, although the northern part is desert, it has relatively complete water facilities, and several rivers from the highlands flow into it, so the agricultural conditions are actually quite favorable.

If not, the Tigray region would not have been the core territory of the Abyssinia Empire throughout history. The Tigray region itself is already one of the most developed economic areas of the Abyssinia Empire.

Unfortunately, most of it has now been taken by Italy, causing Tigrayans to migrate to Amhara people’s territory. Initially, the Abyssinia Empire mainly consisted of three major ethnic groups: Tigray, Amhara, and Oromo people. The Tigray people have long been in a ruling position within the Abyssinia Empire, and John IV is one of their representatives.

Due to East Africa’s influence, the power of the southern Oromo people has been greatly relocated to West Africa or moved into East Africa to work. Therefore, in the political map of the Abyssinia Empire, the Oromo people are destined not to influence Abyssinia’s politics as they did in the previous era, when they accounted for twenty-seven percent of the national population.

So now the main population of the Abyssinia Empire is the Tigray people and the Amhara people. The Amhara people have always been the largest ethnic group in Abyssinia but have long been subordinate to the Tigray forces.

However, as the Tigray forces move south, the future integration of the two ethnic groups is expected to form the main ethnic group of the Abyssinia Empire, which is good news for the future of Abyssinia.

Currently, the Abyssinia Empire’s Central Province is the former Amhara state, and a large migration of Tigray people is bound to result in intermarriage and integration with local forces, which is the general trend.

In the previous generation, Ethiopia had severe ethnic conflicts among over eighty ethnic groups, especially in the southeastern Somali region and northern Tigray region, where secessionist intentions were most prominent.

Although the Tigray people were the primary architects of Abyssinian civilization, they lost power in modern times, especially after the capital moved to Addis Ababa.

It should be noted that while the Tigray region is small and sparsely populated, it accounts for over forty percent of the nation’s total economic output and has long played a conqueror’s role in Abyssinia Empire’s history. Thus, the Tigray people’s tendencies toward secession are the most severe, somewhat akin to Catalonia in Spain.

Currently, through the joint efforts of East Africa, Italy, and Egypt, the Abyssinia Empire has practically lost all major ethnic groups except Tigray and Amhara people, including Oromo people, Somali people, Alfar people, and the primitive tribes in Omo Valley, which in reality reduces Abyssinia Empire’s ethnic conflicts.

Now, the two major ethnic groups, the Amhara people and the Tigray people, are actually of the same origin. The Amhara people actually originate from the Tigray region, formed after the Tigray forces moved southward, so the integration of the two major ethnic groups would encounter no resistance whatsoever.

The overall stability of the Abyssinia Empire is favorable for East Africa, which is not like the United States, deliberately engaging in harmful and self-serving actions in its vicinity. After all, regional stability is beneficial for the stability of East Africa’s borders and economic development.

”The Abyssinia Empire’s comprehensive shift towards a highland economy means that the Abyssinia Empire will inevitably compete with East Africa in agriculture in the future. Therefore, for collaborative development between the two countries, we intend to cooperate with the Abyssinia Empire in agricultural division of labor. For example, the Abyssinia Empire could cultivate tropical economic crops different from East Africa, thus agricultural production cooperation between the two countries would outweigh competition, which is good for both countries,” Raymonds said.

In other words, East Africa plans to fundamentally transform Abyssinia Empire’s agricultural development into a form needed by East Africa, integrating it into East Africa’s economy, providing East Africa with cheap agricultural products, and then competing with other tropical regions in the world.