African Entrepreneurship Record-Chapter 684 - 372: Opportunities in the Northwest

The population of East Africa mainly flows into the three central provinces, with the northern regions as a secondary direction. In the south, enemies of East Africa line up, but there's no such worry in the north, where order remains methodical.

Now, the construction of the northern railway's western section has commenced, further accelerating the population's movement toward the northwest, with the Great Lakes Region and the northern industrial belt leading the charge.

"The difficulty of the northern railway's western section is slightly lower than that of the Hessen Railway, but the resources along the line are relatively scarce, resulting in a low return rate. However, if it connects to the Sigmaringen royal territory, the future prospects are still promising."

"Currently, thirty percent of the northern railway's western section has been completed, with expectations to finish the entire line soon. Before 1887, it could be operational, forming a major northern artery from Mombasa City in the east to Kabo City and Bangui City in the west, having significant impacts on the economy, transportation, and national defense of the entire northern region."

The northern railway has two endpoints: one is Bangui City, the capital of East Azande Province, which is also an important port on the Ubangi River.

Bangui Port is a crucial tributary waterway of the Congo River, from where one can travel directly to Kinsasa. The Ubangi River has navigable sections reaching over six hundred kilometers year-round, and during the rainy season, it can extend to more than fourteen hundred kilometers.

From April to June each year, the rainy season causes river levels to surge, with the Ubangi River experiencing reverse flows, akin to rivers in the Amazon rainforest turning into 'oceans' during the rainy season.

The Congo rainforest is the world's second-largest tropical rainforest, only surpassed by the Amazon. However, the Congo rainforest sits primarily in the Congo Basin, making it significantly different from the Amazon.

This results in the Congo rainforest's rainfall being orders of magnitude less than that of the Amazon, with the Amazon receiving up to five times more, which is why the Congo rainforest was historically more populated than the Amazon.

The Amazon rainforest has little population distribution, while the two Congo state populations have directly surpassed one hundred million. In fact, it's more apt to compare the Congo rainforest to northeastern India.

The Ganges in northeastern India, the Yarlung Zangbo River in the Far East Empire, and the Meghna River in Bangladesh share a common estuary, sometimes regarded as a single river whose flow exceeds that of the Congo River. However, this classification has not become mainstream.

Despite Bangladesh being a small area, it houses a hundred million people. The world's rainiest place, Cherrapunji, is located in northeastern South Asia, so the water volume of the Congo River Basin can't compare to northeastern South Asia. This highlights the powerful impact of the Himalayas and the South Asian monsoons.

Ultimately, the Congo River Basin spans more than three million square kilometers, roughly the same area as all of South Asia. Rainfall in the Congo River Basin exceeds fifteen hundred millimeters, whereas northeastern South Asia exceeds two thousand millimeters, with northeastern Bangladesh surpassing three thousand millimeters. There's no comparison between the two within the same area.

Yet, this works well; the Congo River Basin receives enough rainfall to barely meet human habitation standards, unlike the Amazon rainforest, which is challenging to develop.

This is a significant reason for Bangui City's promising development future. The development difficulty isn't as severe as imagined, and transport conditions are favorable, with potential maritime connections to northwestern Angola and Atlantic Ocean access, it can also facilitate future land transport between East and West Africa.

This aspect is crucial as East Africa's northeast only borders two main land countries, the Abyssinia Empire and Egypt. A bunch of colonial economies there are almost negligible in economic weight.

West Africa, meanwhile, matches East Africa in area and resource comparison, particularly excelling in iron ore, bauxite, and oil and gas resources.

These three resources are relatively scarce in East Africa, allowing for East Africa's economy to complement them. Hence, Bangui City becomes particularly significant in linking East and West Africa.

Furthermore, Bangui City's most crucial aspect is its military significance. Controlling the upper reaches of the Ubangi River ensures East Africa can protect the lower Congo River from threats, which is why both sides of the Ubangi River are under East African control.

As for the northern railway's second endpoint, Kabo City, it was entirely invested in by the Sigmaringen royal territory, speeding up its development progress after completion.

"Additionally, the railway connects at Jisan City (Kisangani) with the Hessen Railway, forming a network with the Central Railway and the northern railway. Resources from inland industrial provinces like the Matebel Province can directly transit northward through Jisan City, while grain is distributed to the northwest via the Great Lakes Region. Resources from East Africa's northwest and West Africa then diffuse through Jisan City to the northern industrial belt and the three central provinces, establishing a basic domestic transport framework for central and northern areas."

Central East Africa, comprising Swabia Province, Hohenzollern Province, Matebel Province, and the northern East Azande Province, New Bavaria Province, and Nile River Province, is isolated by the Congo Basin.

With the linkage of the Hessen Railway (Central Railway) and the northern railway, a grand railway structure for the central and northern regions can be formed.

The only areas not connected are the Somali region and northern Angola. Somalia and East Africa primarily rely on road and maritime transport, leveraging the Juba and Shebelle rivers for population and economic distribution, easy to achieve sea-river intermodal transport, making railway urgency not high for the Somali region.

Northern Angola remains under Portuguese control, so the western endpoint of the Central Province railway has always been part of the Ministry of Railways' design blueprint.

"Based on the current construction progress of the northern railway, we can effortlessly conduct industrial planning along the railway lines for the northwest three provinces and Sigmaringen royal territory, primarily supported by the three provinces of the northern industrial belt, the two provinces of the Great Lakes Region, providing targeted assistance to the northwest three provinces."

"The first focus is on increasing the population of the northwest three provinces, with a batch of farmland and villages constructed along the railway line to develop the land there. Secondly, due to railway construction, the existing traffic layout within the northwest three provinces needs re-planning, reconstructing their traffic setup through roads."

With the railway passing through, the immigration settlements, villages, and cities in the northwest three provinces, previously arranged based on terrain and road distribution, inevitably require re-planning, particularly to establish connections with the northern railway. This ensures effective utilization and development of the northwest three provinces.

"The Immigration Bureau's plan is to introduce at least three hundred thousand people into the northwest three provinces within three years of railway operation, with twenty percent centralized relocation from the relatively densely populated northern industrial belt and the Great Lakes Region. Combined with the Sigmaringen royal territory's development, the population of the northwest three provinces is targeted to reach a million by the end of this century, around 1890."

The development history of the northwest three provinces isn't short and corresponds to when the three central provinces were incorporated into East African territory. However, development mainly relied on military efforts and past trade with West African indigenous countries and tribes.

Since East Africa supported the construction of the Sigmaringen royal territory, trade between East and West Africa has been almost entirely severed. To rebuild the trade route, one must wait until the Sigmaringen royal territory is completely stabilized.

According to East African government estimates, optimistically, this may take years because Sigmaringen cannot display East Africa's financial prowess. Meanwhile, the Sigmaringen royal territory will spend considerable time learning from the East African experience.

However, this is an early-stage investment for East Africa. Though the Sigmaringen royal territory currently doesn't bring value to East Africa, once it takes shape, its generated value will surely overwhelm that of the indigenous population, thereby smoothly driving the future development of East Africa's northwest.