African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1109 Four-Nation Conference
Being so close to these more developed cities in East Africa, Klein felt that the Belgian colony was just like a large rural village. In fact, it was not even a large rural village. Although agriculture in the Belgian Congo had improved through immigration, the overall situation was still very serious with vast land and sparse population.

Of course, if we do not compare the entire Belgian Congo but only compare Pointe-Noire, the situation will be much better. As the core of Belgian Congo, Pointe-Noire has a population of more than 100,000, and the scale of the city is still relatively considerable.

The development of Pointe Noire was actually influenced by East Africa. The development of East Africa's new west also provided opportunities for the development of Pointe Noire. A large amount of goods from the Belgian Congo colony were exported to East Africa through Pointe Noire.

Of course, this is also related to Belgium's basic strength as a medium-sized industrial power. Even without the influence of East Africa, Belgium can still develop Pointe Noire, and East Africa mainly plays a driving role.

Guman said to Klein, "Mr. Klein, everyone has seen enough of the sights of Bangui City. I will lead you to the city hall. Special Envoy Morris has been waiting there for a long time."

Governor Klein nodded and said, "Okay, maybe we can go sightseeing in Bangui City after the meeting is over."

Afterwards, under the arrangement of Guman, the members of the Belgian delegation boarded the convoy of the East African official organization and headed towards the city center.

The Belgians came to Bangui this time actually at the invitation of the East African authorities. Not only Belgium, but also the Kingdom of South Germany and Germany were invited. East Africa planned to hold an international conference in Bangui.

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

To the north is the Kingdom of South Germany, and to the west is Germany's Cameroon colony. After the Second Moroccan Crisis, France has agreed to cede Gabon to Germany, so now the area of ​​Germany's Cameroon colony has expanded a lot. In addition to the three German countries of East Africa, the Kingdom of South Germany and Germany, there is only the Belgian Congo colony in the west.

East African envoy Maurice is hosting the governments of the Kingdom of South Germany, German Cameroon and Belgian Congo in Bangui to discuss regional cooperation.

Morris said to everyone with a smile on his face: "Welcome to Bangui. The main purpose of inviting you here is to strengthen trade and cooperation between East Africa and other countries. I believe that you can see the strength of our East Africa in the region from Bangui itself. If our four countries can unite, it will accelerate the development of the region and safeguard the interests of all countries in Africa."

Bangui is not actually that outstanding in East Africa, but compared with other regions in Africa, it is definitely a rare big city.

As one of the political and economic centers in northwestern East Africa, Bangui currently has a population of over 280,000, which is not small even in Europe.

The construction of Bangui city is particularly outstanding compared with the surrounding countries and regions in East Africa. It has many high-rise buildings, and is well-equipped with transportation such as railways, roads, and ports. It has basically all kinds of factories, and cars can be seen everywhere on the city streets.

It can be said that the city of Bangui at that time was considered a relatively developed medium-sized city in the whole of Europe. In contrast, the Kingdom of South Germany, German Cameroon, and Belgian Congo were like uncivilized places.

Although many new things have been introduced into their respective territories under the colonial activities of various countries, the main activities are still based on agriculture and mining. In addition, the shortcomings in population size make it difficult for their respective territories to develop as rapidly as East Africa.

Therefore, East Africa also hopes to demonstrate its strength to the three countries through the development of Bangui, thereby taking the lead in this meeting.

Xavier, the governor-general of the German Cameroon colony, was not as reserved as the members of the delegations of the Kingdom of South Germany and Belgium. He asked Maurice: "Special Envoy Maurice, please speak directly about your country's specific ideas for this meeting!" Maurice also had a preliminary understanding of Xavier. As the governor-general of German Cameroon, Xavier implemented the Prussian-style colonial policy very well in the local area.

Xavier, who came from a Junker family, was a warrior to some extent. He carried out iron-blooded suppression and military governance in Cameroon. Of course, this was basically the case with colonies of other countries, but the Germans were relatively rough.

Morris did not keep the secret. He said to Xavier, "No problem. In fact, our East African government organized everyone and held this meeting in Bangui for a very clear purpose, which is to discuss the four countries' cooperative development of the Central African region."

Central Africa, or Central Africa, includes the vast areas of Cameroon, Chad, Gabon, the two Congos, the Central African Republic, and Angola in the past.

Today, this area is occupied by East Africa, Germany, Belgium and the Kingdom of South Germany. Therefore, in order to extend the boundaries of its economic development and establish an economic circle dominated by East Africa, the East African government decided to use Central Africa as a model for preliminary exploration.

Governor Crane asked, "Then I wonder what specific plans there are for East Africa?"

Morris replied: "Central Africa is located in an important position. It is a land route connecting East Africa and West Africa. It is also close to the Gulf of Guinea. Our East Africa and West Africa can be said to be the essence of the African continent south of the Sahara. Therefore, in the economic development of Africa, Central Africa, which connects my country and West Africa, is very prominent."

"So we in East Africa intend to join hands with your country to jointly develop Central Africa, so as to promote the development of local infrastructure and economy, establish a Central African Economic Cooperation Organization, better promote the development of various countries, and maximize everyone's interests under a unified framework."

Maurice's answer also made the other three countries present understand East Africa's true thoughts. Belgium was still quite tempted. With this cooperation framework, it means that East Africa respects Belgium's interests in Africa. As for the Kingdom of South Germany, it has always stood on the side of East Africa.

Only the Germans are temporarily hesitant. East Africa wants to dominate the economy of Central Africa, so why can't Germany do the same?
If East Africa did not exist, it might still be possible with Germany's national strength, but without East Africa, Germany would not be so interested in the Cameroon colony. Just like in the previous life, once the war broke out, Germany could abandon all its overseas colonies at any time and focus on dealing with the European battlefield.

So after a little thought, Cameroon Governor Xavier realized that Germany would definitely not be able to stop the actions in East Africa, and there was no need to stop it. This was actually a good thing for Germany.

After all, Germany does not have the ability to develop Cameroon, so it cannot gain any benefits from the Cameroon colony. If it can achieve this with the help of East Africa, it will be more beneficial for Germany.

East Africa is different from Germany. As a local tyrant, East Africa's development costs for surrounding areas are much lower than Germany. After all, if Germany wants to develop Cameroon on its own, it has to import everything from its own country, which is very costly. The most fatal point is that except for East Africa, the other three countries in Central Africa do not have sufficient population.

Because of the tropical rainforest climate, the population of Central Africa has never been large. Under Xavier's militarized governance, a lot of people have been consumed, so Germany simply does not have enough manpower to develop Cameroon.

So after careful consideration, Xavier also expressed his agreement, but the matter still needs to be consulted with the country. The same applies to Belgium. Only the Kingdom of South Germany is an exception.

The Kingdom of South Germany itself was supported by East Africa, so the cooperation between the two countries has never been interrupted.

(End of this chapter)