African Entrepreneurship Record

November 1897.

Mayor Hansleden convened a meeting with leaders of several nationalized factories and dozens of capable workshop administrators in the city.

Although many workshops are small in scale, in a country like East Africa, they are also part of state capital. Apart from a few nationalized large factories, these small workshops are directly led by Maputo City enterprises. In other words, while nationalized large factories are state-owned enterprises, these handicraft workshops are municipal enterprises, but essentially they are the same. It’s just that state-owned enterprises don’t necessarily have to be entirely subject to Maputo City’s influence; they are also linked to provincial and even central departments.

”Mayor Hansleden, I’m not sure why you’ve called the main factory managers and management of Maputo City here?” the head of Maputo City power plant asked first.

”Ahem, the reason for calling this meeting is primarily to hope that everyone will cooperate sincerely and contribute to the development of Maputo City. After all, we all know that Maputo City is poor! If we don’t unite, Maputo City’s competitiveness with other cities in the future will be at a disadvantage, which is not good news for all of us.”

”Of course, we understand this, but if the state doesn’t provide resources and quotas, we can’t expand. After all, Maputo City is only this big, and there are only so many citizens. It’s impossible to produce extra electricity to waste!” the head of Maputo City power plant said.

”Exactly, we were able to establish plants due to the state’s major policies. Resources like electricity, tap water, and timber have quotas.”

Under Portuguese rule, Maputo had no electricity or tap water. These were newly established under East African governance, as the development of electricity and industries related to urban life quality impacting livelihoods is standard for every city.

Hansleden tapped the table and said, ”I understand your difficulties, but opportunities don’t wait to come; they should be sought and seized. This is an important topic of our meeting, to change our city’s economic development mindset.”

”As everyone knows, while there are many regulations restricting East African economic development, there is room for activity. Why are coastal cities like Dar es Salaam and Mombasa prosperous in terms of economy? Apart from geographical and policy advantages, active initiative is also important. So Maputo City must learn to find opportunities, only then can we break the economic barriers and surpass other cities.”

Someone retorted, ”Mr. Mayor, what you say makes sense, but we don’t have enough networking and resources to achieve this! If we insist on improving production capacity, that’s easy, but what about resolving product market issues?”

Hansleden said, ”Well said, this is indeed a problem for inland areas. However, since Maputo City is along the coast, the situation is different; coastal cities serve as windows for East African economy and have opportunities for external exchanges. Therefore, this time the city government invited experts to help you out of your predicament.”

Then, at Hansleden’s signal, the secretary invited a group of people in suits into the meeting room.

”This gentleman is Mr. Wilco, director of Heixinggen Foreign Economic and Trade Company, Maputo Branch. He is primarily responsible for coordinating export activities of Maputo City for Heixinggen Foreign Economic and Trade Company,” Hansleden introduced.

”This gentleman is Mr. Grivelle from Portugal, who previously engaged in import business in Mozambique for years.”

”...”

Under Hansleden’s introduction, everyone in the meeting room learned that these were the ”reinforcements” brought in by Hansleden and the Maputo government.

”The reason I invited these business elites here is simple: the Maputo City government intends to collaborate with you. Our government will act as a liaison, aiding you in finding sales routes and markets, as well as solving raw material issues, while Maputo City’s enterprises are responsible for production and completing orders.”

The majority of businessmen invited by Hansleden were Portuguese. After all, as a former Portuguese colony, Maputo City has deep cooperation with Portuguese businessmen.

This is very different from Bela City, which, thanks to the Central Government as a liaison, has attracted significant investments from German businessmen, while Maputo missed that opportunity.

Thus, Hansleden turned his eyes towards the Portuguese. Although the Portuguese domestic economy is in shambles, primarily due to the government’s reckless actions, Portuguese businessmen are quite strong. After all, during the former Portuguese colonial Empire period, Portuguese commercial activities spread worldwide.

Now, Portuguese civilian commercial groups, though diminished, remain formidable. Especially considering colonial independence may not necessarily eliminate the influence of the former sovereign country.

The most typical example is Brazil, where commercial groups have deep ties with Portugal. Undoubtedly, Brazil represents a large market, and if Portuguese help can open the Brazilian market, the benefits to Maputo City would be immense.

Hansleden said, ”I plan to establish a specialized economic office in the city to promote economic development. This office will be responsible for negotiating with domestic and foreign enterprises and merchants, subsequently conducting extracurricular production activities through city enterprises.”

”Of course, the prerequisite is to prioritize completing planned production tasks, and then participate in international market competition, promoting the development of Maputo City’s industry and commerce.”

Hansleden creatively introduced the concepts of ”planned” and ”extracurricular,” although many among the management of large nationalized factories had doubts. In their view, completing superior tasks is sufficient, without stirring up trouble unnecessarily.

Naturally, Hansleden wasn’t aiming primarily at these ”large factory leaders”; he couldn’t dictate them, but he could oversee other municipal enterprises.

He said to the leadership of municipal enterprises, ”Municipal enterprises are small in scale and low in production efficiency, thus I have decided to integrate resources across the city. For example, Maputo has four wood factories. After integration, they will become one, backed by municipal government guarantees, obtaining loans from Heixinggen Bank, acquiring advanced equipment to increase output while expanding production lines, ultimately connecting sales through Mr. Grivelle and others...”

In Hansleden’s view, these small workshops have a batch of skilled workers but lack financial and equipment support. Relying on them alone will never lead to development or expansion. Therefore, the municipal government will first integrate them into a major factory, enhance tools and equipment, to form a municipal enterprise capable of competing with large nationalized factories.

Moreover, the management rights of such enterprises primarily reside with the municipal government, which facilitates Maputo City’s economic governance and resource optimization. Only by making profits can a comprehensive transformation of Maputo City be achieved.

Hansleden couldn’t settle for stagnation in a city like Maputo that East Africa has ”abandoned,” given its status in Mozambique and development trajectory after integrating into East Africa, which is not emphasized.

Cities like Tete City, Bela City, Kilimane City, and even Xinxiang City enjoy more policies than Maputo City. Maputo City’s new development opportunities are a result of distribution within the province.