African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 991 Arrival
"Everyone, we are heading to East Africa next! The crew on the ship told me that in less than an hour, we will arrive at Mombasa, the second largest city in East Africa."

"I know that East Africa is a strange country to you. You may be able to get a glimpse of its tip in Mombasa. As an East African, the quality of honesty is engraved in our bones, so next, I will tell you some of the situation in East Africa truthfully."

As soon as Koliad, who was in charge of "escorting" talents from European countries back to their home countries, finished his words, a bad premonition came over the hearts of these European immigrants who were "tricked" by East Africa.

It is true that in order to attract talent, East Africans in Europe will certainly exaggerate the description of their motherland as "prosperous, peaceful, civilized and friendly".

However, now that the contract has been signed and the ship is about to reach the shore, there is basically no chance to regret, and the East African personnel have naturally become more casual. Could it be that these Europeans who have boarded the East African "pirate ship" can actually jump into the sea and swim back.

"Don't worry, East Africa may be a little different from what is advertised, but the discrepancy is not too big. Your work will be protected by the East African government, and your salary will not be lower than the contract. Of course, if you want a higher salary, it depends on your ability. East Africa is a country that respects knowledge and technology, and you will not be treated unfairly in East Africa."

It can be said that the more Kliad described, the worse it got, as if East Africa was really a cannibalistic den in northern Myanmar, which made the European guests on the ship feel increasingly disappointed.

"..." Without considering everyone's mental state, Kliad finally got to the point and began to explain various common sense of life in East Africa.

As Kollyard continued his explanation, everyone began to doubt that the country he described seemed a bit "dreamlike", with collective agriculture, state ownership, and the First Five-Year Plan. It felt a bit like the propaganda of the European "Ghost" Party.

But one thing is certain, that is, East Africa, as a monarchy, certainly cannot be that kind of country.

There was naturally no need for Koliard to explain it too clearly to them. After all, the political system of East Africa was too different from that of the rest of the world. Even East Africa was dazzled by the various operations of the royal family. They still had to experience the specific situation in East Africa themselves so that they could make a better judgment.

At 1900:12 am on December 3, 11, the first batch of high-level talents introduced from Europe to East Africa officially arrived in Mombasa.

“This is Mombasa!”

After experiencing the psychological devastation inflicted on everyone by the countries and regions along the Red Sea, Mombasa was the first international metropolis in Africa that the Europeans on the ship saw.

The route started from Trieste in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, then passed through the Suez Canal and entered the Red Sea. This was also the first time that the Europeans on the ship saw Africa. There is no doubt that the vast sea of ​​sand in Egypt, the Ottoman Empire, the Italian Red Sea colonies, Djibouti and other places made everyone feel very lost.

Because of the Sahara Desert, most people's stereotype of Africa is that it is dry, and this confirms everyone's idea. East Africa...

In fact, along the eastern coast of Somalia, the passengers on the ship had already entered the East African waters. However, if the Shabelle River Basin and the Juba River Basin are excluded, Somalia is basically not much different from the Red Sea coast.

But when we arrived in Mombasa, everyone's hearts were finally put at ease. The whole of Mombasa is undoubtedly very prosperous. Judging from the density of buildings and factories alone, it is not inferior to any European city. The climate conditions here are much better than those in the north, but it is still relatively dry compared to northern Europe, and it feels a bit like the Mediterranean coastal areas.

Seeing the shocked eyes of these European immigrants, Kolyard felt a great sense of satisfaction. This was the pride of East Africans for their motherland. Kolyard said to them loudly: "Mombasa has a population of nearly 700,000 and is the second largest city in East Africa. Its industry and commerce are very developed. Mombasa has everything that European cities have. At the same time, East African industrial products are also sold overseas through port cities such as Mombasa, including some high-tech products such as automobiles and power equipment. Mombasa..."

As Koliad described the situation in Mombasa, many passengers began to whisper to each other.

"Antonropov, how many people are there in Kiev?"

"It should be around 200,000 or 300,000! But in our Ukrainian region, the population of Odessa should be larger. I remember that the population of Odessa was already over 200,000 in the 1980s," Andropov replied.

"Which place do you think is more developed, East Africa or Ukraine?"

"It's hard to say, but judging from the situation in Mombasa alone, East Africa is definitely better. After all, cities that support such a large population are rare in Russia. I'm afraid only St. Petersburg, Moscow and Warsaw can be compared. But as Kolyad said just now, Mombasa is only the second largest city in East Africa."

"I know the largest city in East Africa. When I was in Europe, the Deputy Minister of Education of East Africa mentioned that it was Dar es Salaam. However, it seems that there is not much difference between Dar es Salaam and Mombasa. In other words, the population of Dar es Salaam should be around 700,000 or 800,000. From this point of view, there is still a certain gap between East Africa and Russia. After all, the population of our top two cities is larger than that of East Africa."

Andropov: "This doesn't mean anything. Kolyad once said that the development path of East African cities is different from that of Europe. They have few megacities, but the strength of small and medium-sized cities is good. It is said that the urbanization rate in East Africa is higher than that in Russia. This shows that East African industry may be more developed than Russia. After all, many East African products are also well-known, especially automobiles and power equipment. East African agricultural products are also very popular in Russia."

Russia has always been an important consumer market for East African agricultural products, second only to the German region. As a country colder than the German region, East Africa is the closest tropical product production area to Tsarist Russia.

Of course, geographically speaking, India and Southeast Asia are closer to Russia, but in terms of shipping routes, East Africa has greater advantages, especially the Black Sea route. Moreover, the Southeast Asian region is currently underdeveloped and is completely unable to compete with East Africa.

The large-scale development of Southeast Asia still requires the efforts of Britain and France. Southeast Asia now does not have as large a population as it will be in the future, and its level of development is also low. For example, Southeast Asia was the world's largest rubber producing area in the past, but now the rubber industry is almost monopolized by East Africa. Although Britain and France have rubber plantations in Southeast Asia and other places, they are just in the initial stage and have to face competition from East Africa, so their development is very slow.

As the world's largest rubber producer, East Africa has severely lowered the international rubber price by relying on large-scale planting and perfect rubber industry advantages in order to suppress the rubber industry in Brazil, Southeast Asia and other regions.

Rubber is just one aspect. Similar measures are taken in East Africa in industries such as tropical fruits and spices. A monopoly trend has almost been formed in the Central and Eastern European markets, which will not lead to economic competition with major grain-growing countries in Central and Eastern Europe.

Correspondingly, East Africa will also import a large amount of grain from Central and Eastern Europe. As for East Africa's grain, it is used as feed or industrial production. Take the food processing industry as an example. If East Africa does not import high-quality wheat from Russia, but processes its own wheat and then exports it, the taste will be much worse.

However, East Africa's trade with Russia is generally in a surplus position. East Africa's imports from Russia are mainly in the fields of food, minerals and a small amount of industrial products. All of these are intervened by the East African government. Only when there is a give-and-take in business can the business be sustainable.

Just like the early trade between the Far Eastern Empire and Britain, the Far Eastern Empire, with its developed handicraft industry, made British industrial products completely vulnerable. Britain, which could not afford to play this game, simply used war and other insidious means to force the Far Eastern Empire's handicraft industry to go bankrupt, thereby causing its own industrial products to flow into the Far Eastern Empire.

(End of this chapter)