African Entrepreneurship Record-Chapter 858 - 162: Northern Mozambique

Sure, here is the translation:

"These conditions are quite good, but most of the areas you are offering are undeveloped, like this Bela. Looking at the map, it's completely a new city; I'm afraid there aren't many people there now, right?" Rudolph pointed to the words "in planning" written in front of Bela on the map and asked.

Ernst explained: "Currently, our population in Bela has already reached over seven thousand people, and there is a direct inland railway leading straight to Bela Port. Investing in building factories here will surely pay off in the future, and strictly speaking, we in East Africa are not lacking in population, especially with our relatively mature compulsory education system."

"Furthermore, you don't understand the national conditions of East Africa. Do you see this area? In fact, it is the most developed industrial area in East Africa. Once Bela is connected with the central provinces, Bela Port will develop rapidly, similar to how your Trieste Port developed back in the day."

The area Ernst referred to is the most industrially advanced province in East Africa—Matabele Province. Obviously, if Bela could take on the role of Matabele Province's outlet, its future status wouldn't be lower than Dar es Salaam City.

Because this is the fastest natural outlet for Matabele Province and can also radiate to the southern part of Lake Malawi and the central regions like the Hohenzollern Province.

Ernst's words left Rudolph somewhat incredulous: "Isn't the most developed region of East Africa the eastern coast?"

After all, based on Rudolph's observations upon arriving in East Africa, the development of Mombasa City and Dar es Salaam City is no less than that of any city in the Austria-Hungary Empire. Bajamojo and Tanga are also good, and First Town City is very modernized, so he never initially thought that the East African interior would be more developed than the eastern part.

Ernst nodded: "We have more than twenty provinces in East Africa. From a quantitative perspective, the eastern part is currently the economic core of our nation. However, if comparing internally within provinces, the industrial scale of the central Matabele Province ranks first nationwide, and other central provinces are also developing well due to resource issues. So, don't underestimate the potential of East Africa's interior."

Rudolph frowned and said: "Then why don't you open up the inland market, instead focusing only on developing the coastal areas?"

"Nonsense, we in East Africa completely have the ability to develop the central and eastern parts ourselves. Otherwise, why cooperate with Germany and Austria in the coastal regions?" Ernst retorted.

Besides, even if East Africa opened up inland restrictions, Germany and Austria wouldn't be genuinely helping East Africa develop, after all, they are not like the Soviet Union doling out money. Also, East Africa's current international status cannot recognize Germany and Austria as overlords.

Therefore, East Africa fully supports the two countries in investing in coastal areas, while the inland is undertaken by the East African Government, especially some of East Africa's heavy industry sectors and national defense industries that must be placed inland.

And on the coast, the western coast of Angola can cooperate with Germany, while the eastern coast of Mozambique naturally partners with Austria-Hungary, alleviating quite a bit of pressure on East Africa.

Of course, Germany and Austria are not charity houses; their companies need to make money, so their investments in East Africa must be profitable. On this point, East Africa has no objections as long as wages are not owed to East African citizens.

Additionally, Germany and Austria are unlikely to inject too much into East Africa since they can set up factories within their own countries, and their financial sectors are not particularly advanced, limiting the amounts they can invest.

Ultimately, when it comes to capital, the strongest are undoubtedly England and France. The United Kingdom is the overlord in the finance sector, and France has the "prestigious" title of a usury empire.

The cooperation is genuine collaboration, not Germany and Austria supporting East Africa. With the backing of state-run monopoly enterprises and resource foundations, economically speaking, East Africa itself is not much inferior to Austria-Hungary.

Rudolph also gained insights from Ernst's words, realizing the cooperation is inherently equal. In essence, it's establishing a platform among the three nations to promote inter-company development and complementary strengths.

Finally, Rudolph, on behalf of Austria-Hungary, signed an agreement with East Africa, recognizing East Africa's significant potential. At least initially, there is no worry of the investment being totally lost, and as a tropical country, East Africa itself possesses unique resources that Austria lacks.

...

February 1892

Pemba Port.

Pemba is an important port in northeastern Mozambique; East Africa had started its development early here, making it one of the economically developed areas in northern Mozambique.

Because Pemba Port is a natural harbor, concealed and easily accessible, its terrain is similar to New Hamburg Port, both being pocket-shaped. However, Pemba's area is larger, the harbor is eight kilometers wide and fourteen kilometers long, the port entry is 2.5 kilometers wide, and it narrows down to 1.8 kilometers at its tightest point.

Furthermore, Pemba Port is near the new Württemberg Province in East Africa (southern Tanzania) and thus can easily receive support from East Africa.

The development of northern Mozambique by East Africa mainly focuses on the coast, namely Pemba, Nacala, and Mozambique Island—these three coastal ports or islands.

Among them, Pemba and Mozambique Island primarily handle external economic port functions for northern Mozambique, while Nacala Port is a key naval base under construction by East Africa's navy.

This is understandable, Mozambique Island was developed early; in 1498, the Portuguese explorer Da Gama landed there. Earlier history from the 10th century to the late 15th century saw Arab merchants use the island and its natural harbor as a maritime trade center. When East Africa took over, Mozambique Island was already fairly developed and densely populated.

The island had a significant place in Portugal's efforts to control Indian and East Indian Archipelago trade, likely being an essential reason behind its colonial name.

Although Mozambique Island's importance gradually got replaced by the southern Maputo, the island remained one of the economically developed areas in Mozambique before East Africa took over.

Historically, the Portuguese built Pemba Port in 1904, so before East Africa acquired Pemba, it was an undeveloped natural harbor. Similarly, Nacala Port was much like Pemba; the Portuguese had hardly developed the location before East Africa took control.

Naturally, based on historical Mozambique, even if the Portuguese had the ability to develop the two ports, they would likely wait until the 20th century.

"Nacala is one of the strategically developed naval ports, currently one of the best-conditioned military bases for our country's navy. Though Bajamojo and Bemba Island have favorable conditions, they are also relatively economically developed places. Nacala's location dictates that it won't hold high significance in the national economy."

"Furthermore, northeast of Nacala lies the Comoros Islands and directly east Madagascar Island, creating a triangle of mutual reinforcement, crucial for controlling the Mozambique Channel."

"In northern Mozambique, commercial port duties primarily fall to Pemba Port in the north and Mozambique Island in the south."

These are the current main ports in northern Mozambique. However, there are still many undeveloped natural bays; this is where East Africa's coastline is fairly twisted, located in the central western Mozambique Channel, making the location very important.

In previous times, Mozambique's three major ports were Maputo, Bela, and Nacala. East Africa's layout clearly differs from this, with Nacala turning into a military port, and Mozambique Island, previously negligible, is now receiving significant attention from East Africa.

The decline of Mozambique Island mainly resulted from natural disasters and human misfortune; unrest in Mozambique's governance led to population outflow from the island, plummeting its importance due to a loss of industries and population.

With East Africa in control, Mozambique Island no longer suffers the repetitive devastation of warfare. The only pity is that Mozambique Island doesn't connect to the mainland, but this doesn't pose a significant problem to East Africa. Earlier, Mozambique constructed a land bridge stretching several kilometers to connect the island to the mainland, a solution East Africa will likely implement in the future.

The entire northern Mozambique isn't particularly significant for East Africa's economy but surpasses some northern and southern provinces. When the national map is completed, northern Mozambique's position becomes prominent.

It's the central point of East Africa's eastern coastal areas, making the development of coastal regions unable to bypass northern Mozambique. If not for geographical obstacles, such as Lake Malawi's barrier, its development would rival any other coastal area in East Africa.