African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 1121: Chapter 130: The Belgians’ Shock

November 17, 1911.

Bangui.

”Is this the city of Bangui in East Africa? I never expected East Africans to have built such a modern metropolis here!”

It was Governor Klein’s first time in Bangui City. After a long journey through the primeval rainforests, traveling by boat, and then transferring to the railway to finally reach Bangui City, Klein felt as if he had traversed two worlds.

The Belgian Congo under his administration seemed like a vast primeval forest, except for a few colonial outposts like Black Horn, even villages were sparse.

However, upon entering East Africa, although the developed areas were few, the railroad cutting through the rainforests and savannas, the multitude of boats on the Ubangi River, and the developed road system left Klein in awe.

The closer he got to Bangui City, the more he could feel the terrifying power of East Africa. Fields, plantations, and villages began to appear, and as the destination neared, the density of farmlands and villages increased, with substantial towns emerging. If these towns were in the Belgian Congo, they would only be second to its capital, Black Horn City.

Moreover, the farmlands and plantations of East Africa were vastly different from those in the Belgian Congo. Firstly, in scale, East Africa had a relatively abundant human resource, so fields were much larger than in the Belgian Congo. In contrast to the sparse farms and plantations there, the farms and plantations around Bangui City formed a contiguous expanse.

The quality difference was even more pronounced, with East African fields and plantations not only well-planned but equipped with very comprehensive facilities.

East Africa’s farms and plantations were evidently scientifically planned. They constructed developed irrigation systems, with rivers roughly managed, and extended with numerous man-made canals following naturally-formed watercourses.

Many of these canals were hardened, meticulously decorated with materials like cement, bricks, and stones. Even the most basic man-made canals were at least leveled.

Occasionally, one could see tractors and agricultural vehicles among the fields. Although animal plowing still predominated, this standard would be rare in the whole of Europe.

Additionally, the quality of East African dwellings was significantly superior to those in the Belgian Congo, with most East African houses updated to second-generation or later, primarily of timber, brick, and stone structures.

What shocked Klein more was that many villages and towns in East Africa had evidently achieved electrification. There were numerous villages connected by utility poles, and he saw some workers laying down electrical grids.

Nowadays, even some cities in Europe haven’t achieved widespread electricity, but East Africa’s electricity supply had already penetrated rural areas.

So, traveling this path, Klein gained a preliminary understanding of the development level of East African villages, which were by no means weaker than European village constructions, leaving him quite amazed.

Klein even thought that Black Horn City, under his governance, may not match the standard of East African villages. As the capital of the Belgian Congo, Black Horn City was actually not poorly developed, lacking no basic materials, and due to its trade with East Africa and Belgium itself, Black Horn had become one of the rapidly emerging commercial towns along the South Atlantic coast.

However, in certain detailed indices, Black Horn City might truly fall short compared to some East African towns. For instance, regarding electricity, Black Horn City had only about twenty percent coverage, even with the help from East Africa. Black Horn City’s electricity supply mainly relied on imports from Cabinda in neighboring East Africa.

For Belgians, Cabinda was undoubtedly one of the most familiar major cities in East Africa, even considered not inferior to Belgium’s capital, Brussels.

Yet, officials of the Belgian Congo Colony, including Klein, never considered Cabinda representative of the common state within East Africa, primarily because Cabinda was a port city. However, this opportunity to delve into the East African interior left Klein deeply shaken, providing him with a clearer recognition of East Africa’s status as a major power in the world.

Naturally, once Klein truly reached Bangui City, he even more keenly felt his past ”frog in the well” mentality.

After a week’s journey, Klein finally arrived at this city, not considered ”outstanding” among East African provincial capitals, and uttered a sigh.

Assistant Robinson, standing beside him, also marveled, ”This place, Bangui City, deep inland, was unexpectedly built by East Africa into something so complete and modern. The entire city resembles a super metropolis on the edges of the Congo rainforest, making it hard to associate with the wild and daunting primeval forests.”

Although Bangui City wasn’t far from the Belgian Congo, Belgians genuinely knew little about it because the political and economic activity centers of the Belgian Congo were in the west and south.

Specifically, the coastal areas and regions near East Africa, where Belgians most frequently interacted with East African cities like Cabinda and Kinshasa in the Congo River basin, or the Maritime-trade-rich Luanda.

As for Ubangi Province, where Bangui City was located, despite bordering the Belgian Congo, geographical, rainforest, and wetland barriers meant interaction wasn’t close, and the majority of Belgian Congo officials simply knew of East Africa having such a city, but almost no one had ever visited Bangui City.

Guman, the staff responsible for receiving the Belgian delegation from the East African government, was immensely pleased with the surprise of these Belgian ”country bumpkins.”

Of course, out of politeness, Guman didn’t exhibit any arrogance but rather said modestly, ”Bangui City is only a mid-sized city in East Africa, with a population of just over two hundred thousand. Given its status as a regional economic center and transportation hub, together with its provincial capital status, it has developed to its current scale. In reality, there are many cities in East Africa much more developed than Bangui City. As a great power in the world, there are over forty provincial capitals within our home region in East Africa, and Bangui City can only barely be considered mid-level among them.”

These words sounded rather grating to the Belgians’ ears because even if some provincial capitals in East Africa were not up to Bangui City’s level, having more than forty sufficed to astonish anyone. It’s known that in Europe currently, cities with populations over a hundred thousand are deemed quite large.

And Bangui City, with a population exceeding two hundred thousand, wouldn’t be considered small in Europe, and from the urban construction perspective, Bangui City seemed quite grand, with railways, roads, and other transport facilities all well-equipped.

Klein asked Guman, ”Mr. Guman, I saw that Bangui City has quite a number of automobiles, something rare even in Europe, yet Bangui City is relatively remote in East Africa; are most East African cities as developed as Bangui City?”

Guman replied, ”Not quite; automobiles in East Africa are considered a relatively special industrial product. Since our East African automobile industry is quite developed, seeing cars in many cities or even villages is not rare. As I mentioned earlier, Bangui City is a regional center and a national transportation hub, so it developed to its current scale.”

”In fact, throughout the Northwest Region of East Africa, you won’t find another city comparable to Bangui City, but the Northwest Region has always been relatively underdeveloped in East Africa’s economy, so in the national context, Bangui City is still quite ordinary.”

”You came from Black Horn City, so you should be somewhat familiar with Cabinda or Kinshasa and other western cities. Those cities should be considered quite developed in East Africa and represent the economic level of relatively developed regions in East Africa.”

Governor Klein nodded and said, ”Indeed! I’m quite familiar with Cabinda, and its development over the years can be described as rapid, already pulling away from Black Horn.”

Belgium had colonized Black Horn longer than East Africa had developed Cabinda, but Cabinda expanded at a seemingly visible speed almost every year, exceeding Black Horn City not even five years after East Africa took over Cabinda.

Now, East Africa’s Cabinda City is nearly three times the size of Black Horn City, with a population approaching over four hundred thousand, and Kinshasa to Cabinda’s east, and Luanda to its south, both develop as impressively as Cabinda.