African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 163 End of the Year
In 1868, it was the end of the year again.

The population of East Africa went around to 170 million.In addition to the new immigrant population, there is also the first wave of baby boomers in East Africa.

The relatively stable environment in the past two years, coupled with East Africa’s preferential policies for female immigration, and the gradual improvement of immigration marriage problems, newly established families account for the majority of East African families.

Now that a family has been established, it is natural to pass on the family line. East Africa has been enjoying the dividends of war. The expansion of the territory and the increase in the area of ​​food cultivation have provided impetus for immigrants to give birth.

In this era, the cost of raising children is extremely low, coupled with the influence of immigrants' traditional concept of childbearing, basically they let go of life.

These immigrants, as long as they work a little harder, can feed more people.

The immigrants in the East African colonies basically did not have any sense of crisis. The main reason is that East Africa is too open and the natural conditions are too good, which has lost the involuted environment of the Eurasian continent.

In addition to the immigrant population, indigenous workers are not included in the East African population statistics. This year, the number of indigenous workers is expected to be around 130 million.

There is no shortage of natives in the African continent. Even if the natives in East Africa are controlled, the natives will not only have to undertake heavy work, but will also be sold by the East African colonies, so the loss is still great.

However, when East Africa expands westward, it will catch a batch of them back to supplement the missing labor force in East Africa. It is a typical slave economy, and there are in and out, forming a closed loop.

Under the slave economy, the infrastructure in East Africa was created at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the cities and villages in East Africa were connected by roads.

At the same time, the widespread use of slaves allowed East Africans to easily open up several times the land, replace livestock and machinery, and support the scale of agriculture in East Africa.

The food harvested by the East African colonies is mainly divided into three parts, one part is the rations of immigrants, the other part is the rations of slaves, and the other part is sold overseas.

Among them, the rations of immigrants accounted for the largest proportion. It was not that the immigrants ate a lot, but that the new immigrants to East Africa were all poor and white, and it was impossible to put them into production immediately. The early rations were completely paid by the East African colonies.

Moreover, land development, village and city construction, or wars in East Africa all require a large amount of food as a guarantee.

The rations of slaves accounted for a large proportion, and where the number of slaves was, the total amount of food these people ate was indispensable.

In order to solve the problem of food for slaves, large tracts of corn and cassava were planted in East Africa as rations for slaves. These things have high yields and are easy to take care of. Basically, they can grow in the ground, so food for slaves can be easily solved.

Grain for sale is the main source of income for the East African colonies. However, grain cultivation is cyclical, coupled with the continuous influx of immigrants. At present, there is not much grain in East Africa for export, but with the huge arable land area, the amount is still considerable.

Naturally, the grain for export must be of the best quality, so that it can be competitive in the European market. With the help of low manpower and land costs, East African grain exports are very profitable.

Compared with food crops, cash crops are definitely more profitable, but the existence time in East Africa is too short now, and many cash crops have not yet entered the harvest stage.

For example, coffee plantations in Kenya take at least three to five years from planting to fruiting, rubber plantations along the Great Lakes take six to eight years, and special products such as cinchona trees take time.

Only cash crops such as sisal, cloves, and peanuts have entered the stage of sustainable production and export.

In the second half of the year, the area of ​​East Africa did not expand much, mainly due to the simple expulsion of the indigenous people on the west side of the Mitumba Mountains.

The west side of the Mitumba Mountains is the buffer zone between the East African Plateau and the Congo Basin, and the terrain is relatively rugged.

The occupation of the Mitumba Mountains area can only be regarded as a continuation of the last Northwest War, so the East African government does not attach much importance to it.

The entire Mitumba Mountains area is densely covered with primeval forests and sparsely populated, and further west is a tropical rainforest climate.

Therefore, the East African colony easily acquired this place, about 20 square kilometers of land, mainly in the North Kivu and South Kivu provinces of the former Congo.

In this era, the Kingdom of Congo was still eating ashes along the Atlantic coast in the west, and the strongest forces in the Mitumba Mountains region were the eight northwest countries that were wiped out or driven away by East Africa.

As the heritage of the eight countries in the Northwest, the Mitumba Mountains area was taken over by East Africa, and further west is the huge tropical rainforest, with few suitable places for survival.

There is no country in the Congo Basin, and they are all tribes, which are collectively called the Northwest Bantu Tribes, corresponding to the exterminated Eastern Bantu Tribes.

It was only after Belgium invaded this place that the prototype of the former Congo Dinosaur was integrated, the famous Belgian Free State of the Congo.

Now the original Mitumba Mountains in the Congo region are occupied by East Africa, and it is destined that there will be no place for the Belgians here.

And next year, East Africa will swallow up the Katanga Plateau in the south of the Congo and the east of Zambia in accordance with last year's plan, so what will be left to the Belgians in the future is only the real Congo Basin, that is, the tropical rainforest area.

However, all plateaus and mountains that are slightly suitable for human habitation are reserved or already occupied by East African colonies, and the emergence of East African colonies will definitely affect the score of the great powers in Africa in the future, and the future will be highly variable.

At present, Ernst is not interested in the hinterland of the Congo Basin. The reputation of the tropical rainforest and the forbidden place for human beings is not something to brag about.

Throughout this year, the territorial expansion of East Africa is not very large, adding up to about 60 million square kilometers, mainly in the northwest.

Among them, the eight northwest countries took the most effort, but after eliminating and driving the eight northwest countries, East Africa has also established a stable rule in the local area. Except for Egypt in North Africa, no other forces can threaten this place.

In addition to population and area, East Africa has initially established a traditional handicraft system to meet the needs of colonial immigrants.

Including saltworks, brick kilns, lime factories, various handicraft workshops...

These are all gradually promoted inland after taking over the industries in the eastern part of the former Sultanate of Zanzibar.

Low technical content and low output are its characteristics, but the East African colony is a blank slate, and the follow-up development can only be sought after solving the existing problems.

The technical content also means that it is easy to be mastered by practitioners, and it is suitable for dissemination in an illiterate environment like East Africa. If something is really advanced, considering the cultural level of colonial immigrants, the maintenance of the machine may be a problem.

The group of people with the highest education in East Africa is equivalent to the elementary school level, and they are still scattered in government agencies in various places to maintain the operation of the East African colonies.

Of course, East Africa also built a few modern factories this year. Although the scale is not large, it can be considered as the introduction.

Machines and parts are all dependent on imports, and at the same time need the guidance of professional and technical personnel. Every factory needs European employees to watch from the construction to the production stage.

The most important thing is that East Africa does not have a complete industrial chain, and what is lacking in Europe can be imported from neighboring countries, so even small countries can achieve industrialization with the help of Europe's complete industrial system.

In East Africa, only one Egypt has achieved half a foot into industrialization, and it was cut off by Britain, France and the Ottoman Empire.

The Mozambique colony next door is completely used by the Portuguese to suck blood. The level of industrialization in Portugal is not high, let alone a colony, so the conditions for industrialization in East Africa are still immature.

Of course, if you are willing to spend money, even the North and South Poles can build skyscrapers, but the Hexingen Consortium is not a welfare institution. The Hexingen Consortium under Ernst’s control has continued to transfuse blood into the East African colonies in exchange for today’s population and scale.

If the whole world can't find a second company, it's like if the East India Company had been losing money in developing India, the British government would have given up on India long ago.

Why did the colonists not expand blindly? After all, it is still a matter of cost, and the operation of the colony also requires costs.

The most worrying issue in East Africa is not to be lucky enough to develop and build, and finally give others a dowry, so the population and army are the core of the East African colonies.

Only someone can provide more soldiers and military expenses, and only a large-scale, advanced-equipped, and powerful army can defend the security of the East African colonies.

And for colonists like Ernst, people are also wealth. If the quality is not good, the quantity is enough to collect wealth for the royal family of Hechingen.

Just like India in the previous life, no matter how miserable ordinary people are, it will not affect Indian companies to rely on India's population and market to grow bigger and stronger.

(End of this chapter)