African Entrepreneurship Record

As the first railway hub in East Africa, New Frankfurt City is of undeniable importance; of course, in a country as vast as East Africa, it is impossible for there to be only one railway hub.

According to the ”three verticals and three horizontals” plan in East Africa, these six mainline railways, connecting vertically and horizontally, should form nine intersections. However, since the West Coast Railway temporarily cannot cross the Namib Desert, Whale Bay Port cannot form a railway hub.

The objective reason for this outcome is that the Namib Desert is a shifting desert; even in the 20th century, only a few countries had the capability to build roads and railway facilities in such areas.

Moreover, post-construction maintenance is difficult, with railways prone to being buried by sand and dust. The options are either to support alongside sand control projects or, like the Far East Empire in the 21st century, construct elevated railway lines to reduce erosion and burial by sand and dust.

Neither option is something East Africa can easily achieve right now, and even if achievable, it would be extremely uneconomical.

Therefore, in reality, there are only eight intersections for the ”three verticals and three horizontals,” which are the railway hubs on East Africa’s most important six mainlines.

In the central region, there are three national railway hubs, namely Kisangani City, New Frankfurt City, and Bulawayo City.

In fact, counting the branch railways, Harare, Lubumbashi, Dodoma, and others are also regional railway hubs. Currently, East Africa focuses mainly on building mainline railways, and branch railways are only constructed before mainline ones if, like the Habei railway, they are of great value.

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Mbea City is the technological center of East Africa, which is quite unexpected, since higher education in East Africa is concentrated along the eastern coast, with cities like Soga City aiming for science, education, and culture during its construction.

Thus, even though it was neither designated as a technological center city nor the city with the most concentrated higher education, Mbea City still managed to stand out among many cities in East Africa for good reason.

Currently, the industrial scale of Mbea City has already been surpassed by Harare City, but its industrial foundation remains strong, and its level of higher education is among the top five in East Africa.

Given its industrial and educational foundation, Mbea City’s technological level is naturally high in East Africa, and the real reason it surpasses cities like Dar es Salaam, First Town, Soga... lies in the city’s research institutions, far exceeding other areas.

Counting higher education institutions and independent research organizations, Mbea City has over a hundred various institutes. There are thirteen national, thirty-two provincial, and ninety-three municipal ones, covering most industrial fields such as metallurgy, electricity, power, energy, steel, railways, and shipping.

”The scientific level of our Mbea City is very advanced in all of East Africa, even after some institutions migrated to Lusaka, Harare, and other central provinces. If not for the loss of industry and talent, Mbea would be even stronger in scientific research.” The Mayor of Mbea City remarked with some regret, as Mbea City’s geographical location had initially positioned it as a key player in developing the central region of East Africa.

Based on East Africa’s geographical division, Mbea City is precisely at the junction between central and eastern areas. Initially, inland cities mostly focused on developing heavy industries, and at that time, Mbea City, as the heavy industrial center of East Africa, naturally took on the responsibility of supporting central industrial and mining cities in establishing their frameworks.

”Mayor Reni, you need not be wistful; industrial transfer is the general trend, and we must follow the national grand policy. Moreover, Mbea’s achievements today could not have been attained without the policy support from the Central Government; only when everyone progresses can our nation develop better in the future.” Logans, visiting from New Frankfurt City, consoled.

Logans is also the Mayor of New Frankfurt City, whose mission to Mbea this time is to visit for assistance, oops, I mean according to the Central Government’s requirement, to package some of Mbea City’s automotive, electric power and equipment manufacturing research institutions and talents to relocate them to New Frankfurt City.

In the last decade or so, Mbea City has been the ”incubator” for industries in various central provinces, given its status as the earliest heavy industrial base of East Africa, with a wealth of resources.

Faced with a government ”villain” like Logans, who is unashamed in his actions, Mayor Reni responded irritably, ”You’re benefiting and still acting coy; just thinking of your New Frankfurt City annoys me. Rhein City isn’t even built yet, and you’ve already gained from the first batch of policy benefits.”

Logans laughed, ”You can’t say that; even without Rhein City, our New Frankfurt City’s status isn’t low—all thanks to its being a transportation hub. The name Frankfurt itself embodies the Central Government’s high expectations for our city.”

Reni expressed disdain: ”Although you have some advantages in transportation, you don’t fare much better than us. After all, land transportation between central and eastern areas cannot bypass Mbea City. Mbea will construct more roads and railways in the future; additionally, we also have Lake Malawi, a natural Great Lake, making our water transportation quite developed.”

This point is indeed valid: Soron Lake (Lake Tanganyika) and Lake Malawi afford Mbea City a unique locational advantage, playing a vital role in East Africa’s land and water transportation.

Even compared to New Frankfurt City, one could only say the differences are minimal. Soron Lake and Lake Malawi are narrow lakes stretching significantly; Lake Malawi spans over 560 kilometers, while Lake Tanganyika stretches over 670 kilometers, so bypassing Mbea City by land means detouring far. Moreover, with both lakes’ depths exceeding several hundred meters, traversing the lake can only be done by ship.

”For the Second Automotive Factory Research Institute, we’ll allocate thirty percent to join New Frankfurt City, and as for equipment manufacturing, we haven’t selected personnel yet, considering it’s complex. Our plan is to draw on strengths from thirteen powerful factories and research institutes to merge part of the workforce into your city, including fields like electric power, locomotives, and engines.” Reni spoke with some heartache.

This time, New Frankfurt City plans to draw a professional team of over a hundred people from Mbea City, an endeavor impacting Mbea City’s core strength—as the last time Harare City did similarly.

However, Harare City was far more ”excessive,” nearly replicating sixty percent of Mbea City’s industrial sectors and research institutions to Matabele Province, hence its rapid development.

Of course, Mbea City couldn’t achieve this solely on its own but through the entire Malawi Lake Industrial Zone behind it, mobilizing a significant workforce to support the industrial framework of the central three provinces.

So this time, New Frankfurt City’s ”blood sucking” from Mbea City doesn’t really reach the core strength.

”These are the treasures of our Mbea City, Logans. You must take good care of them.” Reni remarked.

Logans naturally agreed wholeheartedly, ”Rest assured, Mayor Reni; talent is respected everywhere, and our New Frankfurt City will certainly offer the best treatment for these esteemed guests.”

After spending three days in Mbea City, one of East Africa’s industrial incubators, Logans continued his journey eastward, as Mbea City was just the starting point—with cities like Dar es Salaam, Mombasa, and Nairobi awaiting his visit.

According to the itinerary, Logans would also visit Soga City upon returning, primarily to recruit talent from East Africa University. In East Africa, university students are considered a scarce resource, with various cities flocking to Soga City to recruit them.

Soga City mainly focuses on domestic students, while the group of overseas students is primarily distributed by East Africa’s industrial sectors, generally preferred by national agencies, state-owned enterprises, or royal enterprises before being scooped up by the local institutions for some ”leftovers.” However, those who study abroad boast a high upper limit of potential, with the lower limit being very high, inevitably pursued by various cities and institutions in East Africa.