Chapter 301 Austrian Business Mission
Clearing Venice is definitely not an option. It would be too big a move and Ernst would not agree to it. Neither would the Austro-Hungarian Empire. All East Africa did was to move the jobs of the Venetian workers who migrated to East Africa to East Africa.
In fact, a large number of Venetians went to East Africa to participate in the great cause of land reclamation, so the industry needed in Nairobi was not large, but professional.
At the same time, Ernst's original goal was to turn Venice into Austrian territory to prevent it from becoming a landlocked country in the future, rather than forcing the remaining Venetians to oppose Austria in its pursuit of autonomy and independence.
If Germany becomes a landlocked region, East Africa will not have to worry because most of Germany's seaports are concentrated in the Baltic Sea. Britain and France can clamp down on Germany's reach to East Africa. On the one hand, they can block the German navy in the Baltic Sea, and on the other hand, they can cut off the Strait of Gibraltar and force it to bypass the west coast of Africa, which is a long distance.
The Austro-Hungarian Empire relied mainly on the Suez Canal to access East Africa. Although there was a risk of being cut off, both the Austro-Hungarian Empire and East Africa had the ability to counter. Moreover, the Suez Canal concerned the interests of most countries and regions along the Mediterranean and Red Sea. Maintaining the smooth flow and security of the Suez Canal was not the sole responsibility of East Africa.
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Mombasa.
Mombasa was particularly lively today. A welcoming ceremony hosted by the City Hall was held at the dock. Many government officials, including East African Finance Minister von der Leyen, also participated in the welcoming ceremony.
A ship flying the flag of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was anchored at the dock, and the Austrian business delegation got off the ship.
Von der Leyen stepped forward and said: "Welcome to East Africa! I am the Minister of Finance of East Africa, von der Leyen."
"Hello, Minister von der Leyen! I am Wolfgang, the head of the Austrian business delegation."
As Wolfgang spoke, he looked around the environment of Mombasa. The first impression was that it was uniform, or dull and featureless. There was no garbage or sewage on the streets. The city seemed rather empty, mainly because the roads were relatively wide and the houses were not concentrated.
Seeing Wolfgang looking around, von der Leyen asked: "Mr. Wolfgang, what is your first impression of Mombasa? If you have any questions, I can answer them."
Wolfgang: "Mombasa is pretty good. I have imagined the scenes of East Africa countless times before coming here, but just seeing Mombasa in front of me is beyond my expectations."
Von der Leyen: "Mombasa is a city that was almost demolished and rebuilt. We are committed to bringing German culture to Africa, so please don't be polite in East Africa. It's almost the same as returning home."
The Austrian business delegation all agreed with this point. Since they were all Germans, they naturally benefited from it.
Wolfgang: "Minister von der Leyen, although Mombasa looks good, why do you build such wide roads and such far distances between buildings that it looks empty? Isn't this a huge waste?"
Wolfgang has been to many places in Europe. At present, the roads in many cities in European countries are generally narrow, with a large flow of people, and house construction also pays attention to utilization. In his opinion, the construction of Mombasa is a bit too luxurious.
Von der Leyen: "On the one hand, East Africa is vast and sparsely populated, so land resources are not very scarce. On the other hand, East African cities pay more attention to the living environment. Although the buildings are relatively scattered, the green plants are also relatively abundant. According to what we say in East Africa, this is called a garden city. At the same time, it is convenient to match the supporting facilities of the city, such as the drainage system and reserved space for tap water pipes, street lights, warning signs, etc. Mombasa's economic capacity is currently limited, so the relevant facilities are not perfect, but we refer to the advantages of other cities and reserve enough space for the future development of Mombasa. As for the roads, they are relatively wide, but pedestrians and goods on the streets are in order according to the traffic rules of walking on the right, so the traffic efficiency is also very good. At present, there is definitely a surplus, but in the future, when the population of Mombasa increases, there will be no need to re-plan."
Wolfgang believed von der Leyen's explanation three points, which at least showed that the East African government has a long-term vision. However, he chose not to give it the remaining seven points, because current European cities cannot reach the level that von der Leyen mentioned, so East Africa is even further behind. This is a huge administrative waste and is flashy but not practical.
Wolfgang said: "Although what you said makes some sense, the population of East Africa is not large. How many years do you plan to take to realize the city as you said? Thirty years, forty years or even longer."
Von der Leyen: "At present, the population of Mombasa has reached 60,000, second only to Dar es Salaam. You should know that we Germans have only opened up this city for more than three years, and this is the result after expelling the local Zanzibari people. In other words, we have made Mombasa and other cities on par with Europe in terms of population just by relying on immigration, so the future development of Mombasa must be very promising."
Sixty thousand people is not a lot for this city, but it is 1870, and the population of Berlin is only 700,000 to 800,000, while Vienna is about 500,000 to 600,000.
Of course, Dar es Salaam and Mombasa are special cases. They are the two largest transit ports in East Africa, so the scale of employment can support such a large population concentration. Providing services for passing ships and sailors alone has created a large number of jobs. After the expansion of Nairobi is completed, it will become a "big" city with a population of over 50,000 or even 100,000.
The third largest city in East Africa is currently Mbeya, and the fourth is Mwanza. It will also fall to the fourth and fifth positions due to the sudden rise of Nairobi. This is the power of policy.
Although East African cities seem to be able to reach European levels, the existing urban population in East Africa is mostly at the town level, basically provincial capitals. Among the provincial capitals, only Mombasa has a population of over 50,000.
After listening to von der Leyen's words, Wolfgang also became interested in East Africa. He asked: "If you look at it this way, Mombasa's development is still remarkable. After all, it has changed from a colonial city to a modern German-style city today. It is also a great achievement. I want to know what the current population size of East African cities is?"
Population, especially urban population size, means labor force and market. If East Africa meets these two requirements, plus its resources, all that is missing is investment from entrepreneurs.
Although the Austrian business delegation accepted the royal commission, they came mainly to make money. It was only for the sake of the Emperor's face that they traveled thousands of miles to East Africa for inspection.
Von der Leyen did not directly answer Wolfgang's question, but said: "At present, the population of East Africa is mainly concentrated in agriculture and rural areas, and the urban population is not prominent. However, the northern industrial belt we are planning, that is, the industrial belt with Mombasa, Nairobi and Kisumu as nodes, has a population of about 100,000 in these three cities alone. Among them, Nairobi will have a population of more than 100,000 due to the result of the war in the Venice region. In addition, there are many villages distributed along this industrial belt, and the population in the area is about 600,000."
Von der Leyen did not reveal the specific strength of East Africa as a whole, but simply repeated Kenya's population size to the delegation.
There is no need for von der Leyen to describe too much, just the number of 600,000 is enough to make many people feel itchy. The current population of Greece is only 1.45 million, while southern Kenya not only has a relatively sufficient population, but also abundant resources.
Von der Leyen went on to say: "In addition, we are planning a large cotton planting base in the north. Not ordinary cotton, but long-staple cotton. The quality may be slightly different from that of Egypt, but not much different. At the same time, there are large-scale farms in the north. The agricultural foundation in southern Kenya is also relatively good. Sorghum, wheat, corn, millet are all grown, including coffee plantations in South Prussia, where Nairobi is located."
This is the agricultural foundation of the northern industrial belt, with abundant raw materials, and Austrian businessmen can also rely on these products to invest in promising related industries.
Wolfgang: "In this regard, East Africa does have its own advantages. After all, your land resources are rich and it is located in the tropics. But I want to learn more about the local medical conditions."
Wolfgang spoke his true feelings. We have all heard that the environment in Africa is harsh and there are many diseases. It is not a question of whether to invest or not, but a question of whether to live or not.
Von der Leyen: "Mr. Wolfgang, you don't have to worry about this. We have invested a lot in medical care in East Africa, and through health and environmental transformation, the population loss has been reduced to an extremely low level. In this regard, it can be said that it is far lower than other regions at the same latitude and very close to the European level. Look at me, I came to East Africa four years ago. Many of our government officials, including military officers, have been in East Africa for at least three years."
Even if von der Leyen did not say so, the living environment in East Africa is actually better than most areas at the same latitude. After all, most of East Africa is located in the tropical plateau and is very livable. In addition, East Africa has vigorously promoted and enforced health measures, as well as carried out large-scale mosquito control. Although due to the low level of technology, people other than Ernst cannot understand the principles, the probability of disease outbreaks in East Africa has been reduced in some way.
Not to mention that in the current era, Europe may not be able to do much to deal with diseases. As far as Ernst knows, in 1872, a large-scale epidemic of cholera occurred during the World Expo held in Vienna, killing thousands of people. That was in Vienna.
The decentralized population distribution in East Africa, coupled with an effective monitoring system, also makes it impossible for diseases to spread on a large scale in East Africa. The Minister of Health in East Africa is a powerful figure, and his status as one of the top five in the government shows the importance that East Africa attaches to this aspect. There is also a large number of officials in East African administrative personnel who rely on health, medical care and disease prevention and control systems. The subsequent rollout of the telegraph system in East Africa will further enhance the possibility of East Africa blocking the spread of infectious diseases.
(End of this chapter)
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