African Entrepreneurship Record-Chapter 855 - 159: Complementary Advantages
The geopolitical environment in East Africa is indeed quite secure, and under such a geopolitical environment, the future threats to East Africa mainly come from the north and west, namely North Africa and West Africa.
However, this is difficult to achieve. As long as the two regions do not integrate, it is fundamentally impossible for them to have the strength to confront East Africa. Right now, West Africa is full of colonial nations, and it is feared that a cluster of countries with different cultures will form in the future.
"East Africa is not interested in international affairs, but we are quite interested in economic cooperation with other countries, which is also the common expectation of both our peoples," said Ernst, shifting the focus of the conversation.
Of course, there is no problem with cooperation, but East Africa's main strategic direction is centered on economic development, occasionally laying groundwork in the Nanyang and Pacific for future preparedness, which is also a major policy direction for East Africa.
Of course, the main reason is that there is nothing left elsewhere to expand into. In this regard, East Africa is actually in a similar situation to Germany. Apart from some fringe areas of the Pacific, there is basically no room for expansion, with the main areas in the hands of England and France.
Of course, East Africa is somewhat stronger than Germany, having quite a few colonies in the Pacific region, which is mainly due to East Africa's geographical advantage over Germany. After all, the amount of Asian and Pacific colonies that Germany colonized in previous lives were eventually relinquished, bypassing too many seas.
In fact, East Africa is not too different, although it has gained in the Asia-Pacific region, as long as the Malacca Strait remains in the hands of the United Kingdom, those colonies of East Africa are not considered safe.
However, unlike Germany, East Africa's desire for colonies is not particularly strong, as the development of East Africa itself is enough to occupy it for decades, or even a hundred years.
Moreover, most of the land is not the hard-to-develop frigid land like that of Tsarist Russia. If over 13 million square kilometers are developed, the potential presented would be astonishing.
Kapulivi felt a bit regretful about East Africa's lack of intention to ally with Germany, but economic cooperation is sufficient.
After all, Germany's primary purpose now is to open markets and sources of raw materials for its domestic industry and commerce, thereby further boosting national strength, which is also an important policy of Kapulivi's "new route".
"Well, there are not many German countries in the world. Besides Germany and East Africa, the others are just insignificant small countries, so cooperation between our two countries is a natural choice," said Kapulivi.
He reluctantly considers East Africa, a country with a significant Chinese immigrant population, as part of the German realm. After all, East Africa's culture leans entirely towards German cultural identity, and the royal family is also of German traditional nobility. The Heixinggen Royal Family still retains the title of a principality in the German Heixinggen Principality, so it is legally justifiable, and East Africa has the value of being won over.
Of course, the main reason is that about one-third of East Africa's population consists of pure German immigrants, and non-German immigrants have undergone thorough Germanization, so some minor issues can be completely ignored.
Here, we cannot fail to mention Austria-Hungary. Austria-Hungary is not considered a German country; only Austria is part of Germany. Bohemia, which is Czechoslovakia, can barely be counted in, after all, tracing the German lineage leads to the Holy Roman Empire, of which Bohemia was a part.
Even so, Bohemians can only be considered a semi-Germanized region, and now in Austria-Hungary, Hungary and Austria are on an equal footing, so Austria-Hungary cannot be classified under the German countries. If it were back in the days of the Austrian Empire, it might manage to fit in.
But back then, Prussia would never acknowledge it, as including areas like Hungary under German countries would threaten its voice in the German Region.
And now, the weakened Austria-Hungary is what Prussia likes to see. But now Prussians enjoy the situation, fearing that when Austria-Hungary, a seemingly strong empire, finally has its facade torn down, they will no longer laugh. In the previous life, if Austria-Hungary were slightly stronger, Germany might not have lost the war. Austria-Hungary couldn't even exert a third of its power and was humiliated by the newly independent Serbia.
Of course, one cannot blame the Germans for their short-sightedness, and even the Habsburgs might not have imagined that their "powerful" country would be so vulnerable.
However, under Ernst's strengthening, Austria-Hungary's current situation is significantly better than it was historically, but even with Venice in Austria-Hungary, Ernst is not optimistic about the country's future.
The reason why East Africa supports Austria-Hungary is naturally to better take over Austria-Hungary's political assets worldwide, mainly in Europe, in the future.
After all, East Africa has no voice in the Mediterranean, but the Mediterranean is vitally important to East Africa, second only to the Indian Ocean and the Pacific, ranking above the Atlantic Ocean.
And the Mediterranean Region is truly filled with hidden experts and talents, and the primary means for East Africa to gain influence and protect economic interests locally is to support Austria-Hungary. Currently, Austria-Hungary's influence in the Mediterranean is only second to England and France, and in the Eastern Mediterranean, it is solely behind England.
Regarding Kapulivi's compliments, Ernst showed little interest and preferred to discuss more practical interests.
"East Africa and Germany are both major economies in the world, and if our two countries can join hands in the economic field, it is something that everyone would be pleased with, and it would also push German influence globally."
"In my view, Germany is a real economic powerhouse, while East Africa is an economic giant built entirely on the size of its territory and population. A perfect complement can be achieved between the two. Our East Africa needs Germany's talents, technology, and financial support, while East Africa can provide Germany with a market and abundant raw materials, benefiting both sides."
What Ernst said is exactly the true purpose of Kapulivi's visit to East Africa: East Africa's territory is just too vast, and according to the rough export and import data of East Africa analyzed by Germany in recent years, the benefits here are no less than any European country.
Maybe the East African government wants to continue "acting as the small transparent in the international community," but the busy commercial fleets off East Africa's coasts and the developed urban economies along the Indian Ocean coast cannot be ignored.
Take Dar es Salaam City, for example, although it is only a quarter the size of Berlin's built-up area, economically it might be worse. After all, Berlin is the capital of Germany, with economic and political resources converging on Berlin. However, cities worldwide reaching a quarter of Berlin's size are not many.
Especially in Africa, Dar es Salaam City is already the most prosperous city, surpassing Egypt's Cairo, and has become the economic center of the African region.
And East Africa has more than one such city. In reality, the gap between Mombasa and Dar es Salaam is very small, with Dar es Salaam City holding a slight advantage over Mombasa.
Additionally, New Hamburg Port, Mogadishu, Kismayo, Mtwara, and other early-developed or coastal cities focused on by East Africa have developed quite well.
And this is just the coast of East Africa. Based on embassy staff's intelligence and the analysis of Eastern Africa, there are also economically developed inland cities like Nairobi, Mbeya, and Harare.
Thus, the interests of East Africa have exceeded the expectations of most countries, and wanting to construct such a batch of economically developed cities, saying East Africa's inland hasn't been effectively developed, is something the German government naturally won't believe.
After all, Germany itself has a colony in Africa, namely Cameroon, and frankly, Cameroon's economic situation is quite poor. The German government is still investing money into it, and as for recovering costs, it seems to be far away.
With Cameroon as a comparison, Germany naturally understands East Africa's distinction. After all, Sub-Saharan Africa is quite similar across regions, and Cameroon can be seen as a miniature version of East Africa.
