African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1094: Bigger Circle

Islands are naturally defensive and can isolate the risks posed by land forces. The British mainland took advantage of this to stir up trouble across the European continent, and as long as Britain maintained its naval superiority, it could ensure the safety of its homeland.

The same is true in the Persian Gulf region. Britain occupies several of the most important islands in the Persian Gulf, such as the largest Qeshm Island, the Greater Tunb Island, the Lesser Tunb Island and the Abu Musa Island that control the Strait of Hormuz, and Bahrain Island in the Persian Gulf.

Britain basically uses these islands as bases to control the political situation in the entire Persian Gulf, so Britain will definitely not cede these islands to East Africa.

The Pirate Coast, namely the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar are secondary forces controlled by the United Kingdom in the Persian Gulf region. Qatar is a peninsula and is located next to Bahrain, so the United Kingdom will not let it go easily.

As for other places, although Britain has great influence, they are not under its direct control. Even the Pirate Coast or Qatar are actually seized by Britain to a certain extent because of their low value.

The only relatively valuable industry in the area is pearl fishing. Qatar and Bahrain used to belong to the same country. Later, the Bahraini royal family moved to Bahrain to fish for pearls. As a result, the housekeeper who stayed in Qatar to look after the house declared himself king.

The occurrence of this bloody drama, to a certain extent, reflects the poverty situation along the Persian Gulf coast from the 19th century to the early 20th century.

This is also the main reason why East African government negotiating officials are dissatisfied with the conditions offered by the British government.

Freer told Russell bluntly: "Not only does this place have no economic output, but the area you have allocated is too small. There are only a few tribes in the entire Pirate Coast, not even a country. So your country is too insincere."

The Pirate Coast is the UAE in the previous life. The full name of the UAE is the United Arab Emirates. The characteristics of the country can be seen from the name alone. In essence, it is a country composed of several tribes united together.

After all, East Africa has seen many rulers like chiefs. In the process of conquering the indigenous peoples, East Africa has killed thousands of chiefs, if not tens of thousands.

The top political forces on the Pirate Coast are actually no different from those on the African continent. Both are based on the most basic tribal civilizations.

Freer went on to say, "And the name of the Pirate Coast shows that the specialty of this area is pirates. The locals have to rely on being pirates to make a living. If we get it in East Africa, it will basically be a losing business."

The Pirate Coast is actually the former territory of the Omani Empire. In the 18th century, Oman was in civil strife many times, and the local leaders in the UAE region proclaimed themselves as emirs and established independent regimes. At that time, both Arab and European merchant ships were repeatedly plundered by small countries in the region, so the area was called the "Pirate Coast".

In the 19th century, the British East India Company dispatched fleets to destroy coastal fortresses in Ras Al Khaimah, Sharjah, Dubai and other places to ensure the smooth passage of routes from India to Egypt.

This also shows that the reason why Britain designated the region as a colony was not because it was so important, but to curb the breeding of pirates and, most importantly, to maintain the security of Britain's trade routes.

Therefore, the Pirate Coast was a burden to the British at the beginning. Britain did not actually have much benefit here every year, and had to pay additional governance costs.

Now Britain actually wants to pass this burden to East Africa and gain political benefits at the same time, which can be said to be "killing two birds with one stone."

Russell was naturally aware of this, so he had to whitewash the Pirate Coast to a certain extent in order to increase its "price".

Russell said, "Mr. Freer is wrong. The Pirate Coast is still quite important. East Africa itself is a major grain producer, and you don't need the Pirate Coast as a grain production base, so the climate problem of the Pirate Coast is actually not too important to your country. By gaining this place, East Africa will have a stable base, thus forming a certain political influence on the Persian Gulf." "After all, overseas territories can never be judged by economic accounts, but also by political gains and losses. There is no doubt that if you gain sovereignty here, it will be of great benefit to your country's political influence in the Persian Gulf."

What Russell said does make sense to a certain extent, but colonial activities themselves are driven by economic interests. There are many examples in history of Western colonial countries voluntarily giving up certain colonies because they could not make ends meet. The most typical example is Russia's sale of Alaska to the Rhine royal family. In essence, Russia underestimated the economic value of Alaska.

From today's perspective, the economic value of the Pirate Coast is not even as good as that of Alaska. Alaska under the governance of East Africa still produces furs, timber, minerals and other products, while the only thing the Pirate Coast can offer is the pearl industry mentioned earlier.

However, the pearl industry is not enough to drive the development of the Pirate Coast, and the entire Pirate Coast can be said to be one of the poorest areas in the world.

Moreover, the climate here is too harsh. Alaska under the jurisdiction of East Africa at least has a temperate marine climate, which is more suitable for human habitation. It has certain basic agricultural conditions, at least conditions for growing potatoes, barley and vegetables.

In contrast, on the Pirate Coast, fresh water resources are extremely scarce, and nomadic industry can only be realized by raising a small number of camels. As for crop output, it is almost negligible.

This can also be reflected in the population of the Pirate Coast. Although there is no accurate figure, according to the assessment of the East African government, the current population of the entire Pirate Coast is probably only tens of thousands.

You should know that the area of ​​the entire Pirate Coast is as high as over 100,000 square kilometers, and such a small population is already the limit of the Pirate Coast at this time.

In the past, when the UAE gained independence from Britain, its population was only more than 300,000, and that was decades later. Moreover, the UAE's oil industry had been developing for many years at that time. So at that time, East Africa calling the Pirate Coast a barren land was not a derogatory term at all, but the true situation of the Pirate Coast.

This is also the fundamental problem why East African government officials look down upon the Pirate Coast. If the Pirate Coast itself is relied upon for its output, even if the local indigenous people are cleared out, East Africa can only accommodate a population of around 10,000 at most.

After all, although East Africa is not rich, the living standards of its people are much higher than those in truly remote and poor areas like the Pirate Coast. The resources that were originally used to supply the lives of local indigenous people are not enough to support the survival of East African residents of the same size.

So Freer said to Russell: "The value of the Pirate Coast is too low, so if Britain wants to use it as a bargaining chip, it should make greater concessions. For example, this circle is too small. It should be larger to include the entire Pirate Coast."

"In fact, the only thing we can see is the Al Ain Oasis. At least there is some fresh water here. As for other areas, they are not of much value at all."

Al Ain Oasis is the largest oasis on the Pirate Coast and also occupies more than 90% of the fresh water resources of the former UAE.

Of course, even this currently best land on the Pirate Coast is not of much value in the eyes of East African government officials, because although the Al Ain Oasis is not a desert, it is not much different.

The only thing worth seeing here is the fresh water resources. The most powerful Abu Dhabi tribe in the UAE in the past developed based on this oasis. Al Ain Oasis was also the earliest capital of Abu Dhabi. Later, due to the development of the oil industry, the capital was moved to the coast.

Freer took a red pencil and, under Russell's gaze, circled the entire Pirate Coast, which was roughly the size of the UAE in his previous life.

In fact, if it weren't for Ernst's previous advice, Freer would never have bought into the British plan. After all, enclosing such a large piece of desert would have almost no value to East Africa. At least in the eyes of most East African officials, this was not a good deal.

(End of this chapter)