African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 165 Development of Las Campoli Trade Market
Ras Kampoli, Somalia This former small village prospered as the East African colonies established the Ras Kampoli trade market.

The village of Las Campoli is not part of the East African colony, but is located in Somalia. However, the map of the East African colony was not troublesome at the time, and I was too lazy to name the market, so I took the local name and named it directly.

Therefore, Ras Campori Market and Ras Campori Village are not a concept, but belong to the East African colony and the Grady Sultanate in southern Somalia. The country has been in a state of fragmentation, and was later unified by Adel, the founder of the Geredi Sultanate.

This era was the end of the prosperity of the Gradi Sultanate. The previous Sultan Yusuf Mahmoud Ibrahim made great achievements and defeated the Oman Empire (including Zanzibar) at that time. However, according to the original history, in In 1871, the Sultanate of Zanzibar defeated the Grady Sultanate and became its vassal until the arrival of Italian colonists.

Therefore, the Geredi Sultanate, like the Zanzibar Sultanate, has declined, and its national strength is only better on the surface, but in fact it will be broken with a single stab.

Many Arab merchants gathered in the Las Campoli trade market, from which supplies and commodities were purchased and promoted to the inland areas of North Africa.

The Las Campori Village under the Gelady Sultanate also benefited from the Ras Campori trade market. Merchants pay more attention to costs, so many small businessmen choose to stay in Ras Campoli Village, which can save a lot of money.

Even so, some merchants choose to live directly in hotels in the Las Campoli trade market.

Because the architecture of the Las Campoli trade market is completely European style, and the facilities are relatively complete, it is far from comparable to a small village under the rule of the Gradi Sultanate. Some businessmen who pay more attention to enjoyment or better face will still choose to pull A hotel in the Skampoli trade fair.

After more than half a year of development, the Las Campori trade market has become quite prosperous. Only big cities such as Mogadishu in the Gradi Sultanate can compare with the Ras Campori trade market.

It has also become the first important taxation area in East Africa. The Las Campoli trade market has basically monopolized the trade between the entire East African colony and North Africa. The original route of Arab merchants going south was forcibly interrupted due to the expansion of the East African colony.

Moreover, the East African colonies kept on doing two things. In order to prevent the return of natives and so-called explorers from entering the East African colonies to inquire about the situation, they directly blocked the borders, so that Arab merchants and slave traders were also kept out.

Cutting off people's wealth is like killing their parents. Therefore, while closing the border, East Africa opened up the Las Campoli trade market to trade with merchants in North Africa.

In addition, the East African colonies did not increase the prices of the original East African products, and frequent wars led to the continuous reduction of slave prices, and the cost of Arab merchants did not rise but fell.

Logically speaking, the Las Campoli trade market should not make much money in the East African colonies, because coastal cities such as Mombasa and Dar es Salaam should be the most elite commercial areas in East Africa.

However, the colonial governments of East Africa basically did not collect taxes along the coast, or only collected some symbolic service fees.

After all, the colonists on the sea are not easy to mess with. It is not easy to establish a colony in East Africa, so we still have to continue pretending to be grandchildren.

As for sovereignty, just listen to it in this era. Even in the reunified Germany in the previous life, without the support of sea power, overseas colonies are still a piece of meat in the mouth of Britain and France.

After the First World War, it was divided up by all countries. Of course, the German navy itself is not weak, but it is a pity that it was blocked by the British at the door.

After the reunification, Germany is a top power, and its national power is so strong. Even so, the East African colony, as an "isolated island" in Africa, naturally does not have the strength to negotiate terms with those maritime powers.

In the eyes of Europeans, Portugal and the Netherlands, which have declined, are maritime powers in the eyes of the East African colonies, not to mention Britain and France.

Tax collection is simple, and East Africa can resist for a period of time relying on the fortifications built along the coast, but the Hexingen ships at sea are the foundation of the East African colony.

The immigration and business routes of Europe and the Far East are maintained, and there is no immigrant population. The population of the East African colonies can only slowly rely on the existing local immigrants to give birth to growth. It takes at least 20 years for a generation to grow up, and the day lily will be cold in 20 years.

East Africa cannot grow by relying on natural population growth. In the future, it will at most reach the level of South Africa in the previous life, and it will not even be as good as South Africa. After all, South Africa still has abundant resources.

Although East Africa is relatively rich in resources, the most important resources such as coal, iron and oil are relatively scarce.

Moreover, the population is not enough. Facing the threat of Western powers in Africa, East Africa may not be able to deal with it. After all, East Africa is a German colony. If it does not handle international relations well, it is likely to be beaten by gangs.

Although the number of immigrants from East Africa now far exceeds the number of colonists in Africa in their previous lives, they still have natives who can be used as cannon fodder.

All in all, it is impossible to collect taxes in economically developed port cities such as Dar es Salaam. In the era when there was no Suez Canal, so many merchant ships docked in East Africa, and it would be bad if they provoked powerful enemies.

Of course, Ernst was not afraid of the colonists of various countries, but that East Africa suffered too much from arguing with them, which was tantamount to sacrificing its own development potential to make other colonists unhappy.

The Las Campoli trade market is different. The audience is mainly the Arabs in North Africa. The East African colonies are afraid of the colonists of those Western maritime powers, but they have never been afraid of the Arabs in North Africa.

After all, the business routes in North Africa are mainly on land, and East Africa is indeed food on the sea, but on the land of Africa, East Africa exists like a great power.

Therefore, the tariffs in East Africa are concentrated in the Las Campoli trade market, while the North African market is not small, especially those tribes living in the Sahara Desert and oases, who lack everything.

Before the colonies in East Africa were opened up in Africa, only Egypt, Ethiopia and some countries in West Africa planted food crops on a large scale. Although the entire sub-Saharan Africa also grew food, they lacked good seeds, such as wheat, rice, corn...these The staple food was brought over by later settlers when they colonized Africa.

Therefore, it is difficult to describe the planting industry of African indigenous people. Take the eight northwestern countries that have just been eliminated in East Africa as an example.

It is still in a state of half-cultivation, half-grazing, half-fishing, and half-hunting. The East African colonies can occasionally see some technological innovations on the land they originally cultivated.

For example, terraced fields and water conservancy facilities have appeared in some areas, but the backwardness of Africa has not allowed these innovations to spread.

These innovations found in Northwest countries are also an exception. The reason is very simple. Africa is too comfortable to plant. It is not convenient to wait for various tropical fruits and vegetables to mature.

Moreover, in Africa, which lacks good seeds, the crop yield may not be as good as those of wild plants. In addition to the flooded animals in Africa, Ernst would not have the motivation to engage in planting if he was an African.

Africa's agricultural production is not good, and North Africa is influenced by Arab culture, and its eating habits are completely different from sub-Saharan Africa.

Therefore, North Africa mainly relies on the Mediterranean or the Middle East to import food. Now the East African colony provides it with an additional channel, especially the Arab merchants in Somalia can also participate in the competition with the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern merchants.

(End of this chapter)