African Entrepreneurship Record

Saint Petersburg.

East Africa is full of doers. Before it even finalized the decision to dig under Tsarist Russia’s walls, it had already organized personnel to scout the country, and the first stop was Russian universities.

Tsarist Russia took education relatively seriously. Besides Saint Petersburg and Moscow, places like Kyiv and Warsaw, which were economically developed and relatively open, also had decent higher education strength.

Of course, compared to East Africa, Tsarist Russia’s higher education followed a classic elite track, with very few universities; but that also meant the teaching quality at Russian universities was relatively high—at the very least, far stronger than most East African institutions.

The ones leading the ”gold‑panning” trip to Tsarist Russia this time were East Africa’s Deputy Minister of Education Laidler and Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Maurice.

Laidler said, ”Russia’s education system is different from ours in East Africa. In Russia, universities are a typical aristocratic education—those who get access are usually from the powerful and noble classes, and ordinary people are rare. But for us, our target is precisely those Russian college students without a background and without prospects. Now that Russia’s economy is in a slump, it will inevitably have a string of negative impacts on their employment.”

Those ”without a background” could also be from declining nobility or middle‑class families that placed value on education; truly bottom‑rung students who made it into Russian universities were as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.

Maurice chimed in at the right moment, ”Apart from university students, some key factories in Tsarist Russia are also our targets. Centered on Saint Petersburg, we’ll split into three routes and head to Moscow, Kyiv, and Warsaw respectively to conduct recruitment, with special focus on the chemical industry. The country is currently in urgent need of talent in related fields.”

Laidler: ”Same goes for universities. Students in chemistry, physics, mathematics, machinery and other STEM fields are our primary targets.”

Maurice: ”Minister Laidler and I will only be in Russia for two months. During this period, the liaison center will be set up in Saint Petersburg. Of course, there’s no need for you to rush. According to the government’s requirements, this round of talent recruitment will be long‑term. Over at least the next year, you can roll out your work gradually. But our requirement is that screening must be strict—don’t bring in people who are just bluffing their way through. In Dar es Salaam City we’ll administer another exam, so don’t fudge things just to meet your targets.”

Although the 1900 economic crisis broke out in Russia, other countries, including major ones like the United Kingdom, France, and Germany, would all be affected. So after this, the two senior officials Maurice and Laidler would also head to other countries to continue ”digging under other people’s walls.”

Of course, East Africa already had relatively well‑developed talent introduction processes and organizations in the German Region, so this round of work focused on non‑German areas. Countries like Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Italy were all key targets of this East African effort.

This was only East Africa’s deployment within Europe. At the same time, another talent‑fishing campaign organized by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Science and Technology was under way in America, with the United States and Canada as priorities. In addition, in some non‑priority areas such as South America and the Far East, East Africa had also dispatched working groups.

South America and the Far East were, without question, not very economically developed. But in the 19th century, any normal country would still establish some universities and industries. And because their economic development was limited, many talents found it hard to get jobs. It was just like in the previous life, where India trained plenty of talent, but domestic employment was difficult, so they went to the United Kingdom and the United States to develop their careers. East Africa was acting on the same logic.

After all, it was a fact that East Africa couldn’t compare with Western Europe and North America, but aside from those countries, places more developed than East Africa were few and far between.

Of course, the ”Far East” in East Africa’s talent recruitment did not mean the Far Eastern countries, but Russia’s Far East. Ernst wasn’t about to go poaching in the Far East Empire or Japan and the like.

Ernst named it the ”Rekou Plan,” taking it from Emperor Taizong of Tang: ”All the heroes under heaven have fallen within my range.” Under this plan, during the First Five‑Year Plan, East Africa would bring in at least a hundred top‑tier senior talents in science and engineering from Europe and America.

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Russia, Tomsk.

Tomsk is a Russian city located in the southeastern part of the Western Siberian Plain; this area belongs to Russia’s Far East region.

Unquestionably, Tomsk, situated out in the Far East, was not particularly prosperous. After all, it was constrained by its climate. But its status could not be underestimated; it was the main educational and scientific center of Russia’s Siberian region.

For example, the famous Tomsk Imperial University of Tsarist Russia was located here—known in the previous life as Tomsk State University in Russia, one of Russia’s four top universities.

Tomsk Imperial University was founded in 1803. It was the first institution of higher education that Russia established in Siberia. Later, with the support of Tsar Alexander III, it was upgraded and renovated, and by 1888 it had become one of Tsarist Russia’s important academic exchange centers. And Tomsk Imperial University was only one of the most representative universities in Tomsk.

”What damned weather. If we weren’t here to recruit people, I’d think I’d been exiled!” said Kowell, head of the East African talent recruitment working group stationed in Russia’s Far East, wrapping his sable coat tightly around himself.

By the time the working group entered Tomsk, it was already October 1900, and Tomsk was into winter. Local winter temperatures could even drop to more than ten degrees below zero. For East Africans, whose country had virtually no winter across most of its territory, this was simply hell on earth.

”Mr. Kowell, this is no different from exile. The Northern Hemisphere is entering winter now. If it were Europe, the temperatures might still be bearable, but Russia is cold to begin with, let alone a place like Tomsk deep in the Russian interior. It’s fortunate we’re not going further east; by Siberian standards, Tomsk’s infrastructure is already among the best,” said temporary team member Anka.

”I really envy those colleagues who got sent to big cities like Saint Petersburg, Moscow, and Kyiv. Even though Saint Petersburg and Moscow are also cold, things are still much better there than in Tomsk. There are shockingly few people here—probably only our northern regions in East Africa have a lower population density than this,” said Kowell.

Anka: ”Although Russia’s population is much larger than ours in East Africa, their territory is also much larger than ours. So in terms of sheer population density, East Africa is still above Russia, and our distribution is more even. Even in East Africa’s harshest climates—the Congo rainforest and the desert areas—our population is still stronger than in Russia’s Far East.”

Looking at the Russian‑style log cabins lining the streets of Tomsk, Kowell said, ”The people of Tsarist Russia are also much poorer than us in East Africa. Fortunately, they have abundant timber here, otherwise these poor Russians would probably find it hard even to get through the winter.”

As he spoke, he pulled his hands out of his gloves, waved them in the air, and hurriedly stuffed them back in. ”Even the air here is drier and colder than in East Africa. Living here is absolute misery.”

”No wonder Napoleon lost to the Russians. In weather like this, if we weren’t fully geared up, we wouldn’t last half a day. Only Russians can hold out in such a bitterly cold land. So any Great Power that wants to invade Russia must be prepared to face atrocious transportation and climate conditions.”

In Kowell’s words, Tsarist Russia had become a land of bitter cold. And at this point, East Africa had been under construction and development for not quite forty years. That alone highlighted the very different developmental trajectories of East Africa and Tsarist Russia in the latter half of the 19th century.

Anka said with a cheerful grin, ”These sable coats we’re wearing were imported from Alaska. They really do keep you warm. Alaska was sold to the royal family by the Russians back then. In this sort of icy world, sable fur is indeed practical and comfortable.”

Kowell: ”It’s only because we’re on assignment in Russia; otherwise this kind of clothing would have no consumer market in East Africa at all. But Alaska is too far from East Africa. If Alaska were in Antarctica, that would be perfect; it would make it easier for East Africa to administer, and it could serve as a vacation and tourist spot as well.”

For a country like East Africa, which had no winter, a bitterly cold climate like Tsarist Russia’s was in fact a kind of resource. Just as in the previous life Russians liked to vacation in the tropics, many East Africans—especially the new generation—went their whole lives without ever seeing snow, so it was only natural that some of them longed for it.