African Entrepreneurship Record

”In ten years, surpass New Hamburg Port, in twenty years, catch up with Mbeya, and in thirty years, become the new Dar es Salaam.”

”Work hard for fifty years, build a world-class international city.”

”The economic bridgehead of the West, the future industrial city of East Africa.”

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On the streets of Luanda, these kinds of red slogans are everywhere. As the largest city on East Africa’s west coast, Luanda City has the greatest ambition among several cities on the west coast.

In terms of geographical location, environmental climate, and transportation conditions, Luanda’s conditions are no worse than those of Dar es Salaam City. The difference lies in that Dar es Salaam City was developed more than twenty years earlier than Luanda.

This timing naturally counts from when the two cities fell under East African rule. Without this factor, it’s really hard to say which between Luanda and Dar es Salaam has better development levels.

Before the emergence of East Africa, Dar es Salaam was a major city of the Sultanate of Zanzibar, while Luanda was the capital of Portuguese Angola, with strengths that were nearly equal.

However, under East African governance for so many years, Dar es Salaam City has long shed the flavor of an ”African” city. Even in the International Community, Dar es Salaam stands as a significant ”metropolis,” so in many people’s eyes, Luanda City’s pursuit is as difficult as climbing the sky.

After all, although Luanda’s development is indeed good, Dar es Salaam City is also progressing. Dar es Salaam City’s target is towards cities like New York, London, Paris, Berlin, those most prosperous cities of various countries.

Moreover, Luanda City’s development speed in East Africa currently lags behind Bela City and is even being chased by Cabinda, described as having a ”harsh” environment.

Seeing these red, inspiring slogans, Hel felt somewhat uneasy for reasons unknown. Hel is a German businessman coming to East Africa to seek business opportunities.

And his destination is Luanda because since Luanda Port fell into East African hands, it has become an important port for exporting resources to Western Europe. Coupled with the opening of the Luanda railway, the cargo volume here is no less than that of Dar es Salaam and Mombasa.

”East Africa is a very peculiar country. Although culturally you originate from the German Region, you have your own characteristics. It’s a distinction not found in any country or region in the world, not even from the largest immigrant group of the Far East Empire,” Hel said, looking at the slogans in Luanda City, to Maxim, who was hosting him.

”How can Mr. Hel be so sure?” Maxim asked curiously. He was puzzled about how Hel came to this conclusion, as it required knowledge of both Germany and nations across the globe.

Hel shook his head and said, ”Perhaps it’s my limited knowledge, but having visited many places worldwide, I’ve never seen a country so drastically different as East Africa. Take Germany, for instance. Although Germany is also a nation of big government, it is a military power, with national management characterized by military traits everywhere. And we all know Germany does so to maintain its security, given that wolves surround the German area.”

”And East Africa?” Maxim asked.

After some contemplation, Hel responded, ”Frankly, I initially thought of East Africa as a more militaristic country than Germany. Yet upon arriving here, I realized I was wrong, even in areas like Angola which are under temporary enforcement control. There’s not as much military presence as expected, rather there’s a vibrant view of economic development everywhere.”

Of course, Hel did not mention that such development is like a cow being whipped into moving forward, just because the East African government’s administrative intervention in the economy is extremely excessive, yet, it must be said, it’s very efficient.

He had also witnessed Luanda under Portuguese rule when he was young, during a time when the Suez Canal was not yet opened, so most ships passed through here.

In merely five years since East Africa took over Luanda, the city area and population expanded several-fold, and East Africa has set up industries here, so in European terms, Luanda is already considered a rather nice small city.

At this, Hel suddenly recalled something. He told Maxim, ”These slogans remind me! They’re just like Germany’s old recruiting slogans, only with different content between the two countries.”

To this, Maxim said, ”After the South African War, East Africa’s external threats almost ceased to exist, so naturally, military expansion stopped too. Actually, although East Africa had a large number of troops before, it didn’t seem so within East Africa itself. Given that East Africa’s land is ten times the size of Germany’s, honestly, East Africa should be compared with Europe, but Europe consists of many countries with ample military, cumulatively far outnumbering East Africa. Especially since the great powers possess military quantities far beyond East Africa.”

In Europe, with concentrated populations and small national territories, any news spreads rapidly domestically; like recruitment itself, causing public anxiety easily.

If it were in East Africa, the difference would be marked. Recruiting from the east would hardly be felt elsewhere in the regions unless residents along the railway experience that pressure from troop movements during wartime.

”Moreover, our East Africa is also a peace-loving nation. In the early days, it was indeed universal conscription, but those were special measures for special times. Consider that Africa once had massive indigenous forces and wild animals; if such tactics weren’t adopted then, there wouldn’t be the peace and stability seen in East Africa today.”

The peace and stability of East Africa were established on the bodies of indigenous people, Arabs, Portuguese, and British, not to mention the catastrophe that befell wildlife across the country.

In this regard, Hel felt a sense of envy. He said, ”Your location in East Africa is advantageous, bordered by oceans on two sides. Southward lies only Cape Town, and northward are largely uncivilized lands. Once your interiors are developed, the threats of warfare are fundamentally blocked off, whereas Germany is situated in the heart of the European continent, with unrest on all fronts.”

Maxim could only console, ”This positioning also makes Germany the crossroads of Europe, becoming the center of Europe. Therefore, as long as Germany remains strong, it remains an advantage.”

Though an East African, East Africans are also Germans, so Maxim wasn’t stingy with praises for Germany. After all, East African social mainstay civilization still sources from the German Region. Likewise, if Austrians were present, Maxim would speak similarly.

Germany and Austria are both important economic partners for East Africa. East Africa is even in the open as ”allies” with Austria, and with current industrial development in East Africa needing the support of Germany and Austria, Maxim would express a degree of ”respect” to people like Hel.

Of course, what Hel truly felt was another matter. Though East Africa may claim to be a German Country, whether it gains the recognition of German and Austrian citizens is questionable.

In fact, the non-German theory in East Africa had quite a following in Germany and Austria, especially before the South African War, where many outright denied the East African ”German” identity, given the twofold negative factors of ethnicity and geography faced.

However, post-South African War, such rhetoric largely disappeared. To defeat the British, surely only a ”German” could accomplish this.

After all, France had already lost to Germany once, and Tsarist Russia was a backward, savage country. Only Britain piqued the interest of German hotheads, yet the South African War broke down this illusion directly. If even East Africa couldn’t be defeated, perhaps it’s time for British world hegemony to change hands.