African Entrepreneurship Record

Although East Africa cannot fully support Russia, providing some aid to Russia is like delivering coal during a snowstorm for the current Russian government.

Next, Maxim and East Africa discussed the process of providing services to the Russian Navy, and it was basically decided that East Africa would only provide some ports from its mainland and the Lanfang Overseas Province to Russia.

”On the West Coast, there are six ports capable of serving Russian warships, including Cabinda, Luanda, Benguela, Alexandria Port, Swakopmund, and Whale Bay Port.”

”East Africa can offer one of these ports as a temporary docking port for the Russian Navy. Among these ports, Luanda and Cabinda have the best conditions, especially in terms of supplies, which can basically meet all the needs of the Russian Navy. The climate in Luanda is also the most favorable, whereas the tropical rainforest climate in Cabinda might be difficult for the Russians to adapt to.”

”Likewise, the southern ports on the West Coast are too arid, but their basic infrastructure is relatively complete. Only Whale Bay Port and Swakopmund have tight supplies, as both places are completely surrounded by desert, lacking fruit and vegetable supplies, and other materials are also relatively scarce.”

During the 15th Plan period, the West Coast of East Africa accelerated its development, especially these six port cities, where infrastructure has been implemented, and they are connected by railways and to the interior, so they have the basic conditions to serve the Russian Navy.

Watching the East Africans confidently gesturing over a map, Maxim was filled with endless envy. Russia has always been a nation yearning for the sea. Since Peter the Great, the core idea of Russian territorial expansion has been to gain excellent sea outlets, but things have not gone as hoped. Even today, with Russian territories reaching an astonishing more than 20 million square kilometers, it is still constrained by others at sea.

Looking at East Africa, to be honest, this land and sea layout is somewhat what Russia desires. Of course, Maxim thought to himself that in the end, Africa cannot compare to Europe, the center of world civilization, so Russia’s future should still expand towards Western Europe to solve its current plight.

”Overall, we suggest you choose Luanda as the docking port. It was originally the center during the Portuguese colonial period and has developed rapidly after falling into our hands. All infrastructure is very complete, and it is the commercial trade center of the West Coast of Africa. Most of the world’s goods can be seen in Luanda, and even some Russians do business there.”

On the West Coast of Africa, apart from East Africa, there are almost no countries or colonies with decent development, except for Morocco at the northernmost end and Cape Town at the southernmost end, which are economically barely acceptable, but are still quite a bit behind compared to the West Coast of East Africa.

Therefore, it is entirely reasonable to say that the cities on the West Coast of East Africa are the commercial trade center of the West Coast of Africa, which also attracts more and more businessmen from Africa, Europe, and North and South America to do business in Luanda.

Previously, the region could only export some agricultural products, given that Angola has good agricultural conditions and is known as the Portuguese ”breadbasket,” with a long history of development, being one of the few colonies on the West Coast of Africa with a relatively high level of agricultural development.

Under the governance of East Africa, local industry has also gradually developed since the 1990s, entering the new century. It became a key area for development during East Africa’s 15th Plan period, with current growth on the West Coast exceeding the world’s expectations.

The development of both agriculture and industry has led to commercial trade prosperity in the Luanda region, providing a richer variety of products, and transportation construction has made the connection with East Africa’s interior increasingly close, rapidly narrowing the economic gap with the central and eastern regions, becoming the third economic pole of East Africa.

”Then let’s choose Luanda!” said Maxim, having determined the temporary docking port for the Russian Navy on the West Coast of East Africa after East African government’s introduction.

”Don’t rush, Ambassador Maxim. Your navy might have its own plans after all. The final landing point still needs to be considered comprehensively. Next, we’ll briefly introduce the situation of the East Coast port cities, and you can relay this back to your country to decide the final outcome.”

Maxim readily accepted the suggestion from the East African government, mainly because he was not well-acquainted with East African geography and city development, so it needed to be introduced by East African government personnel.

Even though East Africa is developing rapidly, its cities, except for Mombasa City and Dar es Salaam City, are not very well-known. In fact, this is true for most countries, even some economically developed countries, where many people might only know the capital or the most economically developed city.

”The choice of ports on the East Coast is far more than on the West Coast, and most have a longer development history, with no obvious weaknesses. Most of them can provide relatively comprehensive services to the Russian Navy, with Mombasa and Dar es Salaam City being the most notable. Besides these two ports, the most developed are Bela City and New Hamburg Port City, and the other ports marked on the map are not far behind.”

In Maxim’s view, there was nothing to pick from the ports on the East African East Coast; it primarily depends on how the Russian Navy plans its navigation route.

So he said to Ernst: ”Your Highness, I will quickly send this information back to our country, and I believe our government will make up its mind soon. At that time, I will come again to feedback our country’s opinion to your country.”

Besides the East and West Coasts, there is another city that is already confirmed but not discussed anymore, which is Kundian City, the capital of the Lanfang Overseas Province.

For Russia, Kundian City’s position, apart from the Malacca Strait, is the most suitable, and after leaving East Africa’s mainland, there’s nowhere for the Russian Navy to rest between East Africa’s East Coast and the Malacca Strait, so Kundian’s importance for the Russian Navy is no less than some ports of East Africa’s mainland.

In past lives, there were no ports like Kundian in the South Sea Region to facilitate the Russian Navy. The Malacca Strait controlled by the United Kingdom and other ports were impossible to provide services to the Russians. Dutch colonies, under British pressure, were also likely not to open up to Russia, and as for France, due to various reasons, it did not provide convenience to Russia, so without surprise, Kundian will definitely be a temporary resting point for the Russian Navy.

As for whether this will give Russia an advantage in the upcoming war, Ernst is not worried at all, because after Kundian, there’s still a long distance to Northeast Asia. By the time the Russian Navy reaches Northeast Asia, it will be like a floating duckweed without roots. At that time, Lushun being besieged or occupied by Japan, and the route to Vladivostok being surely under Japanese control, means that even if the Russian Pacific Second Fleet successfully reaches Northeast Asia, the situation will not improve.

And Maxim’s idea of ”quickly” seemed to take a while from East Africa’s perspective, and this wait lasted until March of this year because Russia not only has to consider East African factors but also the attitudes of other countries along the way, especially Germany and France, or else the Russian Navy might find it difficult to even leave the Baltic Sea.

The Baltic Sea passage mainly has two routes, one being the natural straits controlled by the two Nordic countries, Denmark, and Sweden. At this time, Norway had not yet gained independence from Sweden, and Finland was still under Russian control, so there were only two countries in Northern Europe.

The second is Germany’s Kiel Canal, which was officially completed and put into use as early as 1895 and has become the most important artificial waterway connecting the Baltic Sea to the Atlantic Ocean.

Now, many commercial ships in the Baltic Sea choose the Kiel Canal route from Germany to the Atlantic Ocean. If Germany allows it, this would also be the most suitable route for the Russian Navy to head to the Far East seas.