African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 1201: Chapter 210: Making Use of Waste

First Town City.

Now the location of the government of Marine Province in East Africa, after East Africa’s capital relocated, the central institutions moved to Rhein City, and at that time the local government agencies and related dependents became the main support for the local population and economy.

Ever since losing its status as the capital, First Town City has not been able to recover until now. After all, relocating the capital involves not only central government agencies but also the original public systems such as education, healthcare, and scientific research.

However, the decline of First Town City has provided an opportunity for this World Exposition.

The government of Marine Province and the government of First Town City are working just as hard as Dar es Salaam City for this round of the World Exposition.

Governor Tren of Marine Province: ”Although this World Exposition is jointly hosted by Dar es Salaam City, Bajamojo City, and First Town City, the task for First Town City is heavier than for the other two cities.”

”Because First Town City is responsible for providing 58% of the venues, surprisingly preceding the economically and industrially stronger Dar es Salaam City and Bajamojo City.”

The remaining shares are 34% for Dar es Salaam City and 8% for Bajamojo City.

This outcome is precisely due to the abundance of idle venues and the most complete and high-quality city construction levels among the three cities in First Town City.

After all, as the former capital of East Africa, the urban planning in First Town City was carried out according to the highest standards at the time, with not only durable building quality but also a keen emphasis on artistry.

Among the current East African cities, First Town City ranks second only to the capital Rhein City in terms of architectural artistry, which is very different from other cities.

”The royal family is willing to dedicate the Sweet Palace as the core venue for this exhibition, thus saving a large budget for venue construction.”

”At the same time, we also have a lot of former diplomatic venues in our city that can be utilized. Since the relocation, these venues have been mostly idle, and now we can make good use of them.”

Since First Town City is the location of the provincial government, Governor Tren conveniently referred to First Town City as ”our city.”

Meanwhile, the true mayor of First Town City, Su Jiade, stood by listening to the governor’s arrangements.

If we talk about the status of First Town as the former capital, the city government was actually on the same level as the provincial government. However, now that the capital has become Rhein City, the city government of First Town has become subordinate to the provincial government.

As for the original First Town City government personnel, they directly moved to Rhein City, becoming the backbone of Rhein City’s administration; the current First Town City government is newly established.

Su Jiade’s name reflects a typical East-West combination, which is also a naming feature of many people in East Africa in recent years. After the population integration was completed, the East African central government no longer cared much about such trivial matters as names.

Su Jiade said to Tren: ”These former diplomatic embassies are centrally located and have beautiful surroundings, making them excellent venues for exhibitions. Combined with the Sweet Palace, they can definitely accommodate most companies and foreign personnel.”

Tren said: ”This is also the main reason why the central government asked us to complete the related tasks in less than three months. As it stands, building a batch of new venues in time is impossible. Besides, the costs of the World Exposition are gigantic; using existing buildings could save a substantial amount of funds.”

”Moreover, these venues can only be used temporarily, which is not economical at all, so leveraging existing buildings is resource-efficient.”

Many of the constructions for the World Exposition are visually appealing but impractical. After all, with so many venues serving only exhibition purposes, once the World Exposition concludes, they basically lose most of their use.

Therefore, the mainstream approach most countries take after hosting a World Exposition is to directly demolish these painstakingly constructed venues, as even just the future maintenance costs can be hard to bear.

Take the third Paris Exposition, for example. This exposition isn’t very far in the past, having been hosted by France in 1889, and it’s quite famous. The Eiffel Tower, renowned worldwide in later generations, was a product of the third Paris Exposition. However, after that World Exposition, the Eiffel Tower was almost dismantled.

But First Town City doesn’t have such concerns because Sweet Palace as the main venue is royal property and one of East Africa’s rare protected cultural heritage units. Although the former diplomatic embassies aren’t as significant as Sweet Palace, they are also historical witnesses from the East African Kingdom era.

Therefore, Tren concluded: ”In summary, the main task of this World Exposition is reasonable utilization, greater speed, higher quality, and more cost savings. The Emperor and the central government have given us very important orders, and the timeline is pressing; your city is responsible for the selection of exhibition areas and rational route planning, completing all work by October.”

First Town City has many idle public resources and buildings. After all, when the capital relocated, the population of First Town City decreased by more than a hundred thousand, and most of the population migrated out, leaving First Town City with idle land and buildings.

To put it bluntly, First Town City almost became a ”ghost town,” and First Town City didn’t have corresponding industrial resources, so the idle rate was extremely high.

With some modifications to the vacant buildings and venues in the city, they can serve as exhibition sites and accommodation for visitors.

Moreover, the buildings in First Town City are relatively new, constructed according to the highest standards at the time, so even after being idle for years, there aren’t any safety hazards.

This is a favorable condition that Dar es Salaam City and Bajamojo City do not possess. Of course, although Dar es Salaam City doesn’t bear heavy venue tasks, it is the focus of this East African World Exposition.

The main purpose of the East African World Exposition is to let other countries witness the great achievements of East Africa’s economic and industrial development, something First Town City certainly cannot achieve.

As for Bajamojo City, although its economic and industrial capabilities are not weak, Bajamojo City mainly focuses on the military and shipbuilding industries, so it doesn’t offer much to see.

However, this does not prevent the three cities from jointly hosting this World Exposition, thanks to the transportation construction proposed by the Dar es Salaam City urban circle.

A developed intercity railway network, essentially light rail transportation, has been constructed between Dar es Salaam City and nearby ”circle” cities. Coupled with existing highways and waterways, the transportation within the Dar es Salaam City urban circle is very developed.

Therefore, tourists can reside in First Town City and Dar es Salaam City, but it doesn’t prevent them from visiting other cities within the Dar es Salaam City urban circle.

Actually, for the East African government, as long as the exposition can ”lure” more people to Dar es Salaam City, it is considered a success.

Much like how many cities in previous eras competed to host the Olympics or other large-scale events to expand their own influence. Indeed, the Olympics and other large-scale events have some attractions, but the economic development situation of the host city is paramount.

Letting other countries see the style of East African cities, as well as industrial and economic strength, can attract more investment while instilling the ”powerful and prosperous” first impression of East Africa in other countries.

In summary, the East African World Exposition is just an opportunity to invite many elites from other countries who have never been to East Africa, eliminating their stereotypical impressions of East Africa, while showcasing East Africa’s national power.

After all, East Africa has been open nationally only since 1910, and many people have never visited East Africa, making the discussion of understanding East Africa moot.

On the contrary, due to the slow update of information, many people’s impressions of East Africa even linger in the past views of the entire African Continent as ”primitive,” ”Black masses everywhere,” ”beasts rampant,” etc.

If it were before the Three-Five Plan, Ernst hoped East Africa would maintain a low profile, avoiding targeting by other countries, which was understandable. But now times have changed, and East Africa also needs to export its influence abroad.

To lay a foundation for the restructuring of world power after World War I, East Africa thus needs to proactively showcase its country’s powerful industry and prosperous economy to the world.

As for its military prowess, that naturally doesn’t need such showcasing. After all, East Africa has always had a notable military presence, and if it were to hide this strength, other powers might have already been restless.