African Entrepreneurship Record-Chapter 694 - 382: Kinshasa

"The Congo River Basin's only regret is that the shipping ends in Kinshasa, but Kinshasa is currently the only city on the Congo River with potential comparable to Jisan City (Kisangani). However, all of this is based on the premise that the issue of the sea outlet is resolved. Without a sea outlet, Kinshasa is just a dead port, used only by East Africa, with its cargo volume even less important to East Africa than the Ubangi River."

In the original history, it wasn't until 1881 that the colonial explorer Stanley reached Kinshasa, where there were scattered villages and thousands of Black people.

East Africa had seized Kinshasa three years earlier, and currently, Kinshasa's population is barely more than 3,000 people, as East Africa does not count the local Black population.

"The Congo River Basin, excluding Hessen Province, and several provinces in the highland areas, can be said to have extreme economic value. The most abundant resource is timber, but since timber cannot be exported, it is basically worthless, so the Congo River Basin essentially has no output."

"Moreover, even if the Atlantic sea outlet is opened and taken from the Portuguese, Kinshasa would still be blocked by the downstream waterfalls. Therefore, we have basically two options to connect the Congo River Basin to the Atlantic: building railways for water-rail combined transport or constructing a canal. "

Building a canal with vigorous brick-laying support has a significant feasibility. While the Black people of East Africa still have some utility, constructing a hundred kilometers of canals can indeed bypass the downstream waterfalls.

The main challenge is to overcome the topographical difficulties of slowing the river's gradient, and now East Africa's dynamite production capacity is quite considerable, so the solution does not solely rely on manpower.

However, the number of laborers required for this plan is astronomical, and given the current development trend in East Africa's western region, it is simply unaffordable. The main issue is that the downstream is still controlled by the Portuguese, and without resolving the Portuguese problem, everything is just an illusion.

"A certain proportion of Kinshasa's residents are military, followed by those engaged in export trade to downstream regions, including daily goods and medicines. In other areas, they are mostly competitive, such as the vast forestry resources that even the grasslands of East Africa's east do not lack. Moreover, in terms of mineral resources, they are much more advantageous compared to here."

The trade through Kinshasa ultimately relies on East Africa's industry, which many colonies do not have, so they have to import many goods from Europe.

Through shipping, East Africa can transport these goods to Kinshasa City, and then the Belgians can operate downstream. As for Portugal, it has long cut off trade with East Africa, especially with those capable of consumption, such as the Angolan farm owners.

Kinshasa City is a very young city, so it has no production capacity, with its main source of goods coming from Jisan City.

Even though Jisan City is connected to Kinshasa City via waterway, the distance is over 1,500 kilometers, although the one-way speed from Jisan City to Kinshasa City is quick.

The middle Congo River runs through a basin with flat terrain, where hundreds of tributaries converge into the main channel, resulting in a high water volume and, thus, a faster flow compared to average rivers. The trip from Jisan City to Kinshasa takes only a few days.

However, going upstream would be the reverse, though it isn't as impassable as the Kinshasa downstream section due to the abrupt drop in elevation.

But this poses a requirement for the vessel's capacity to navigate the river. In the Congo rainforest, there are no trackers to pull boats, so more effort must be put into the power system of the boats, with steam engines and internal combustion engines becoming the preferred options. Fortunately, East Africa has accumulated related experience, especially with the rapid development of inland river navigation in the Great Lakes Region, solving technical challenges, so Jisan City's shipbuilding industry is relatively developed.

Even so, the main vessels on the Congo River are still medium-sized boats; if they are too small, they are difficult to control and need to reserve fuel space, while if they are too large, they are difficult to maintain. East Africa has only established dozens of outposts along the Congo River.

"Pharmaceuticals are a major export of Kinshasa City, and we East Africans have significant influence in this area compared to other regions. For example, quinine is an essential export product and is very popular in Belgian Congo and Angola, with demands for other pharmaceuticals also being quite large."

This is mainly because of East Africa's well-developed state and large population, giving it ample experience and influence in this field.

After all, if the medicines weren't effective, East Africa wouldn't be able to establish itself here, having the continent's largest immigrant population. East Africa's population is a secret to various powers, but it is certain that East Africa has the largest immigrant population.

As for the Black people, being indigenous people grants them strong immunity. Of course, it can't be ruled out that their scattered residency prevents diseases from spreading.

Currently, African natives still adhere mostly to primitive societal systems, with villages and tribes as the mainstream, thus resulting in a sparse and scattered population, which in turn hinders the spread of diseases to some extent.

Of course, malaria, transmitted by mosquito bites, is inevitable since Africa, being in the tropics, is ideally suited for mosquitoes, much like South America and India, but this also makes East Africa's mosquito-repellent products a hot-selling item.

However, people of this era rarely understood the connection between mosquitoes and malaria, so they simply used these as mosquito repellents rather than as a living essential as in East Africa.

So even if some colonists buy mosquito repellents to improve their quality of life, they seldom share them with slaves or workers.

Under such circumstances, East Africa's secret to ensuring population growth and curbing disease spread hasn't been disseminated, mainly because mosquitoes serve as vectors for various tropical diseases, significantly raising East Africa's average life expectancy and health level.

Moreover, with other regions in dire straits, it further expands the export market for East Africa's pharmaceuticals, making it a win-win situation.

So, despite Kinshasa's small population size, its pharmaceutical and daily goods redirects profit to East Africa, accumulating earnings that are not less than certain cities in the east. Of course, the upstream Jisan City is also a beneficiary.

"Among cities in the junction area of the western region and the Belgian Congo, only Bangui City and Kinshasa City are barely worth noting, with their military significance outweighing their economic importance. But according to the above information, Kinshasa City is set to continue expanding in the coming years, directly under central leadership." 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

The Congo rainforest basin area has not yet been divided into provinces and is treated as a region similar to Southwestern Africa.

And here, the only 'big' city is Kinshasa City, so it is perfectly normal for it to be under central direct control, just like the three cities in Southwestern Africa being jointly managed by the Ministry of Defense and the government.

Kinshasa holds significant importance for East Africa's military, as it will serve as a future frontline stronghold against Portugal.

Because Kinshasa is situated at the border of two countries, it is the confluence of the Kongou and Congo Rivers, serving as a water and land transportation hub, with the only shortfall being its population. Therefore, for the strategy against Angola, Kinshasa City's development has also been put on East Africa's agenda, being a focal development city near the South Atlantic in the future.

In fact, across from Kinshasa is Brazzaville, but Brazzaville is located along the narrow left bank of the Congo River, with the Belgian Congo to the north, making it not a focal development area for East Africa. Meanwhile, Kinshasa, just across the river, can utilize the river for military defense and transportation functions to some extent.

Furthermore, in the future, East Africa intends to directly build bridges to connect Kinshasa and Brazzaville for traffic purposes, as there is no need to develop two cities on either side of the river.