African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 1122: Chapter 131: Four-Nation Conference

Being too close to these relatively developed cities in East Africa made Klein feel that the Belgian colony was just like a large rural area, which in fact barely even qualified as that. Although immigration has brought some progress to agriculture in the Belgian Congo, overall, the situation of vast lands with sparse population remains a severe problem.

Of course, if we only compare Black Horn City instead of the entire Belgian Congo, the situation would be much better. As the core of the Belgian Congo, the population of Black Horn City has developed to over one hundred thousand, making it a city of considerable scale.

The development of Black Horn City was actually influenced by East Africa as well. East Africa’s new western development has also provided opportunities for the development of Black Horn City, with a large amount of goods from the Belgian Congo Colony transiting through Black Horn for export into East Africa.

Of course, this is also related to Belgium’s fundamental strength as a medium-sized industrial power. Even without East African influence, Belgium could have developed Black Horn City; East Africa mainly serves as a driving force.

Guman said to Klein: ”Governor Klein, everyone has more or less seen the sights of Bangui City now. Let me lead you to the city government hall, where Ambassador Maurice has been waiting for quite some time.”

Governor Klein nodded, saying: ”Alright, maybe after the meeting we can take a tour around Bangui City.”

Then, under Guman’s arrangement, members of the Belgian delegation boarded a convoy organized by the official East African government, heading towards the city center.

The Belgians came to Bangui City this time because they were invited by the East African government. Not only Belgium, but the Southern German Kingdom and Germany were also invited, as East Africa planned to hold an international meeting in Bangui City.

As the capital of Ubangi Province, Bangui City has always been the economic and political center of East Africa’s northwest, as well as a transportation hub and a center for regional cooperation exchanges.

To the north is the Southern German Kingdom, and to the west is Germany’s Cameroonian colony. After the Second Moroccan Crisis, France agreed to cede Gabon to Germany, so the area of Germany’s Cameroonian colony has expanded considerably. Apart from East Africa, the Southern German Kingdom, and Germany—the Three German Kingdoms—there is only the Belgian Congo Colony to the west.

East African envoy Maurice is hosting discussions in Bangui City, exploring regional cooperation with the governments of Southern German Kingdom, German Cameroon, and Belgian Congo.

With a smile, Maurice said to everyone: ”Welcome to Bangui City. The main reason for inviting you is to strengthen trade and cooperation between East Africa and your countries. I believe you can already see from Bangui City itself the strength of East Africa in this region. If our four countries unite, we can accelerate regional development and safeguard each country’s interests in Africa.”

Bangui City may not seem particularly extraordinary within East Africa nationwide, but compared to other regions in Africa, it definitely qualifies as one of the few large cities.

As one of East Africa’s northwest political and economic centers, Bangui City currently has a population exceeding 280,000, which is not a small number, even when placed in Europe.

The construction of Bangui City appears particularly outstanding in contrast to surrounding countries or regions in East Africa, with numerous high-rise buildings, railroads, highways, ports, and complete transportation facilities. Various factories are basically all in place, and automobiles are a common sight on city streets.

At this time, Bangui City could be considered a relatively developed medium-sized city in Europe, in contrast to the Southern German Kingdom, German Cameroon, and the Belgian Congo, which seem as if they are in undeveloped territories.

Although each country’s colonial activities have introduced many new things into their respective territories, the main activities are still centered around agriculture and mining. Additionally, population shortages make it difficult for their territories to achieve the rapid development seen in East Africa.

Therefore, East Africa also hopes to demonstrate its strength through the development of Bangui City, thereby leading the proceedings of this meeting.

The Governor of Germany’s Cameroonian colony, Xavier, was not as reserved as the members of the Southern German Kingdom and Belgian delegations. He asked Maurice: ”Ambassador Maurice, please just tell us directly what your country plans to accomplish with this meeting!”

Maurice had some initial understanding of Xavier. As the Governor of German Cameroon, Xavier effectively implemented Prussian-style colonial policies locally.

Born from the Junker class, Xavier could be considered somewhat of a soldier, conducting iron-fisted repression and military governance in Cameroon. Of course, other countries’ colonies generally operate similarly, but Germans are relatively more rough in their approach.

Maurice did not keep them in suspense. He said to Xavier: ”No problem, in fact, the purpose of organizing everyone together for this meeting in Bangui City is quite clear, and that is to discuss the cooperation and development plans of the four countries in Central Africa.”

Central Africa refers to Central Africa, including former Cameroon, Chad, Gabon, both Congos, the Central African Republic, Angola, and other vast regions.

Currently, this region is occupied by East Africa, Germany, Belgium, and the Southern German Kingdom. Therefore, the East African government decided to use Central Africa as a model to conduct preliminary exploration, extending the boundaries of its economic development and establishing an economic circle led by East Africa.

Governor Klein asked: ”Then what specific plans does East Africa have?”

Maurice replied: ”The position of Central Africa is quite important, serving as the land route connecting East Africa and West Africa. It is also adjacent to the Gulf of Guinea. Moreover, we can say that East Africa and West Africa are the essence of the African continent, south of the Sahara. Therefore, in Africa’s economic development, Central Africa, connecting our nation with West Africa, becomes particularly prominent.”

”Therefore, our East African intention is to jointly develop Central Africa with your countries and thus promote infrastructure and economic development there, establishing an economic cooperation organization for Central Africa to better facilitate each country’s development and maximize everyone’s interests within a unified framework.”

Maurice’s answer clarified East Africa’s real intentions to the representatives of the other three countries present. Belgium is quite interested; with this cooperation framework, they understand East Africa respects Belgium’s interests in Africa. As for the Southern German Kingdom, it has always stood alongside East Africa.

Only the Germans are temporarily undecided. East Africa wants to lead Central Africa’s economic efforts—isn’t it possible for Germany too?

If East Africa didn’t exist, relying on Germany’s national power might still have a chance, but without East Africa, Germany wouldn’t prioritize Cameroon as much. Like in the past, once war breaks out, Germany could abandon overseas colonies at any time, focusing all efforts on the European battlefield.

Therefore, after some thought, Xavier realized Germany definitely couldn’t stop East Africa’s actions, nor was there any need to. This actually served as a beneficial development for Germany.

After all, Germany doesn’t have the capability to develop Cameroon. Thus, it cannot profit from the Cameroonian colony. If East Africa’s involvement could achieve development, this would be quite favorable for Germany.

East Africa is different from Germany; as the local authority, East Africa has significantly lower development costs for surrounding areas. After all, for Germany to develop Cameroon independently, it must import everything from the homeland, raising costs incredibly high. The most critical issue is that apart from East Africa, the other three countries don’t have sufficient populations.

Due to the tropical rainforest climate, Central Africa’s population has never been abundant, and Xavier’s militarized governance has consumed quite a bit, so Germany simply lacks enough manpower to develop Cameroon.

Therefore, after further consideration, Xavier expressed his agreement, although the matter still required domestic consultation, and Belgium felt the same. Only the Southern German Kingdom was an exception.

The Southern German Kingdom itself was supported by East Africa, so cooperation between the two has never been interrupted.