African Entrepreneurship Record

December 5, 1915.

Benguela Port.

With the development of the economy and the stimulation of the European War, the economy of the entire West Coast region of East Africa has taken advantage of this historical opportunity to reach a higher level.

In the new Falta district of Benguela, trains and cars are loading and unloading goods and containers from inland or local areas.

At eight o'clock in the afternoon, dock worker Anton and his co-workers finally completed the loading of the last container. After wiping the sweat on his face with a towel, Anton sat on the cement floor and said to Mars: "This year's work will be better." But it’s much more than last year, and I don’t know how long Europe will continue to fight.”

After taking a sip of herbal tea from his thick water cup, Mars said: "The longer the fight, the better. Although it is unreasonable to say this, without the European War, there would not be so many trade orders now."

"I don't care how Europeans are living now. It's good for us to live a good life. After all, the European powers are not a good thing. If they decline like this, it will be a good thing for the entire world."

The people of the world have been suffering from Europe for a long time. Of course, it is certainly not the turn of East Africans to say this. After all, East Africa is just a member of the world's great powers and is also one of the persecutors.

Throughout the history of East Africa, the rise of an imperialist country is entirely built on the blood, sweat and bones of tens of millions of black, brown, and some yellow and white people.

The countries in Europe and East Africa that have experienced bad behavior are the UK and Portugal. But if we really discuss who is the victim, from the perspective of who is the beneficiary in the end, it is obvious that East Africa is definitely not the one.

Most countries in Europe may look down on East Africa in their hearts, but the relationship between the government and East Africa is good. Even the United Kingdom and Portugal have "put aside their past grievances" and "reconciled" with East Africa in recent years.

Needless to say, Britain naturally reached a temporary compromise at the official level after the East-British reconciliation. However, the relationship between Portugal and East Africa has completely increased as the national power of East Africa has led to the Portuguese government having to make new choices.

Obviously, the Portuguese's disgust and hatred for East Africa could not be obvious, but the Portuguese government had to be "pragmatic." In 1902, the new Portuguese government had already begun to change its tone.

We will no longer promote the "East African hatred theory", "East African threat theory" and other remarks that are not conducive to the "friendly" relations between the two countries. After all, the new Portuguese government has a clear positioning of itself.

The last Portuguese government came to power based on the anti-East African sentiment of the people after the defeat of the South African War. However, after a long period of accumulation of social conflicts, the theory of East African hatred can no longer satisfy the catharsis of public sentiment.

The East Africa card is obviously no longer an excuse for the government to deflect conflicts, and the Portuguese government is very clear that continuing to play tricks on East Africa will not only fail to solve the problem, but will further offend East Africa.

After entering the 20th century, East Africa has firmly established itself as a member of world imperialism. On the contrary, Portugal has completely declined.

The Portuguese government will not further offend East Africa because of public sentiment. After all, with the rise of the East African Atlantic Fleet, it is really possible for East African warships to enter Lisbon.

Therefore, after the new Portuguese government came to power, it was natural for the two countries to "reconcile" with East Africa. When East Africa initially colonized Africa and did not have direct contact with Portugal, the relationship between the two parties was actually good, so the "reconciliation" between the two countries was justified.

Even countries like Portugal, which had an "immortal" feud with East Africa, can "reconcile themselves". The relationship between other European countries and East Africa is basically very good, and there are even "siblings" such as Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. A country of deep love.

So Anton said: "You are a little extreme Mars. Although the European war has indeed brought huge benefits to us in East Africa, the wars in European countries cannot continue forever, so the economic development dividends of this period will eventually follow. Ended with the end of the war in Europe.”

"I would say that the development of East Africa ultimately relies on its own efforts and progress, rather than the implementation of other countries. As long as we surpass Europe in industry and economy, even if they really recover, it will not have too much impact on us. Big impact.”

Mars said: "You are right, developing yourself is the last word, but there is no problem with what I said. The industrial countries in Europe and the United States are our competitors. If competitors fall, it will definitely not be a bad thing for us, so Europe Continuing the war will definitely do more good than harm to us, but this is indeed just an ideal situation. "

"If you look at the development of Benguela City over the years, it can be said that it is the same every year and is changing with each passing day. This is closely related to the government's grasp of opportunities."

"The development of the West Coast is one aspect, and trade with South America and Europe and the United States has stimulated the rapid rise of Benguela and other West Coast cities. The outbreak of the European War is a huge historical opportunity for Benguela today."

"Our workload this year alone is probably more than the previous two or three years combined. A large number of orders have been sent from Europe and the United States, factories are working day and night, and railways are running day and night, and we have more Got the salary.”

The outbreak of the European war caused visible changes to the city of Benguela. This was also the main reason why Mars supported the continuation of the European war.

After all, the whole of East Africa is too far away from Mars, but the development of Benguela City is closely related to Mars.

He went on to say: "Back then, our Farta New District really developed from nothing to its current size."

"People who have not experienced it would be hard to imagine that six years ago this was just a large construction site, but now it has developed into a new district that is on par with the old city. The port, dock, road, and building are all good. Except for the relatively monotonous environment, there is almost no disadvantage in the new district compared with the old city."

Anton also agreed with this. He said: "Indeed, you and I were just two young people from the rural areas of Salzburg, and now we have become serious urban residents."

"I still remember that when we first came to Benguela, we were quite excited. After all, Benguela should have been one of the more famous big cities in the empire at that time."

Benguela is still well-known in East Africa. Although Anton and Mars were born in the rural areas in the interior of East Africa, Benguela was once an important base for the Portuguese in Angola, so it is relatively famous in Angola.

Of course, the most famous one is the Benguela Current, which has the same name as the city of Benguela. The Benguela Current is an important part of the geography textbooks of East Africa, so many East Africans can remember the term Benguela Current if they pay attention in class or read the books more.

There is no doubt that the Benguela Current is an important part of the ocean currents, and because it is located on the west coast of East Africa, it will naturally be mentioned by East African teachers and often compared with the Peruvian Current.

In addition, the Benguela Railway, an important western branch of the Central Railway, is the main artery of the East African Railway. The frequency of the word Benguela in East Africa cannot be too low.

The city of Benguela originally occupies an important position in the history of East Africa. At the same time, Benguela is also one of the provinces of East Africa, and Benguela is the provincial capital, so the economic foundation of Benguela cannot be too bad, and its popularity cannot be too low.

This is also the main reason why Anton was so excited when he was assigned to Benguela. A well-known city obviously cannot have a bad economic situation.

Although the conditions in Salzburg Province, the hometown of Anton and Mars, are much better than those in Benguela Province, and Mbeya, the capital of Salzburg Province, is one of the ten most famous cities in East Africa, these have little to do with Anton and Mars in the rural area of ​​Salzburg.