African Entrepreneurship Record

Mars also said with memories: "We were happy for less than a day when we discovered the huge gap between reality and imagination. Although we were assigned to Benguela City, it was not the mature urban area of ​​Benguela at that time. ”

"It is a new area built by the city of Benguela, Falta New District. When we arrived at Falta New District, we were dumbfounded. Except for sand and soil, and a pile of building materials brought from the old town of Benguela, the entire Falta There is nothing in the new area.”

"At that time, our hearts were almost chilled. Those who didn't know it thought we were being exiled!"

In fact, when Anton and Mars first arrived in Falta New Area, it was no different than being exiled. Although they were born in rural areas in central East Africa, Salzburg Province is a famous land of plenty in East Africa.

Even in rural areas, it can be said to have a beautiful environment and rich products. At that time, Falta New District had just been established, and the conditions could be said to be very harsh.

Anton said: "But no one would have thought that in just a few years, Falta New District would develop to what it is today. Maybe Benguela City can regain its status as the second city on the west coast with Falta New District!"

Benguela was once the second largest port city on the west coast of East Africa. However, with the rise of Cabinda and Lobito, it has dropped to fourth place, behind Luanda, Cabinda and Lobito. As for the fifth It's Alexandria.

The relationship between the cities of Lobito and Benguela is similar to that of Cabinda and Luanda. Lobito and Cabinda focus on the economy, while Benguela and Luanda focus on politics and military.

East Africa likes this layout very much, which can be seen from the capital Rhine City and the central economic center New Frankfurt, as well as the earlier Dar es Salaam City and First Town City.

Of course, this layout is actually related to the history of East Africa. Benguela was originally one of the first areas developed by the Portuguese. East Africa later inherited the city of Benguela, so it still chose Benguela as the regional center, while Lobito was the center of East Africa. Developed new town.

The same is true for the relationship between Luanda and Cabinda. Although Cabinda and Lobito were also big cities in Angola in their previous lives, when East Africa occupied these areas, the Portuguese had not yet come to develop the two places.

Take Lobito as an example. In the previous life, the Portuguese developed Lobito in the early 20th century, after the completion of the Benguela Railway. The emergence of East Africa greatly compressed this time. At the end of the 19th century, Lobito, Cabinda and Cities such as Alexandria appeared in advance as they were included in the East African territory.

The attitudes of the East African and Portuguese governments towards Angola are obviously different. After all, the moment Angola was included in the territory of East Africa, it was designed and built according to the local content.

At that time, the east coast economy of East Africa was already quite large. Therefore, from the perspective of balanced and coordinated economic development across the country and the development of Atlantic trade, it was urgent to build the west coast into a new pillar of East Africa's economic development.

Otherwise, the West Coast, which was already lagging behind the East Coast, would have more difficulty catching up with the East Coast in the future. Therefore, in the last decade of the 19th century, a large number of new towns emerged on the West Coast.

These towns were planned and constructed by the East African government, and most of them were designed and planned in advance, which also reflected the East African government's confidence in the country's economy at that time.

And this is also true. Before the outbreak of World War I, in less than two decades, the economy on the west coast of East Africa had risen rapidly.

Benguela, an old city founded by Portugal, has also successfully completed its transformation driven by the economy of East Africa. Now Benguela is divided into two parts. In addition to the old city, a new district has been built in the southwest.

The new district built Falta Port around Falta Bay and named it Falta New District, which has become the fastest growing economic area in Benguela City in recent years.

This is relatively rare in urban planning in East Africa, because the Falta New District and the old city of Benguela are not adjacent to each other, which is somewhat similar to the relationship between Lanzhou City and the New District in the Far East Empire in the previous life.

The reason for this urban development pattern is also limited by natural conditions. Benguela City’s environmental carrying capacity has an upper limit. Its climate is relatively dry and its ecological environment is fragile, so it is not suitable for over-development.

Therefore, the separation of Falta New District and Benguela City has certain ecological considerations. Furthermore, and more importantly, the port resources in East Africa are limited. Therefore, in order to fully utilize and develop these ports, the construction of Falta New District must also There is no resistance.

After all, as a natural resource, a natural port is located wherever it is. Even if Falta New District is not established, East Africa may build another town here.

The reason why it is regarded as a new district of Benguela City rather than developed separately is because the natural environment of Falta New District is much worse than that of Benguela.

Although the climate is relatively arid, Benguela still has large areas of green space, forests, rivers and other resources, while Falta New District and its surroundings are completely a large area of ​​Gobi and sparse grassland. It is said that grassland has enhanced the natural conditions of Falta New District. It is true. The situation is actually slightly stronger than the desert, similar to the Kalahari Desert in the interior of East Africa.

Falta New District is not barren, but the extremely limited vegetation is better than nothing. At least if you look at the vegetation in the past, you can count it on your hands. Falta New District is like a sporadic distribution of vegetation. It completely relies on the rare precipitation and heavy fog in the Atlantic Ocean, as well as drought resistance. The tenacious vitality of plants.

From this, we can imagine the harsh conditions at the beginning of the construction of Farta New District. Anton and Mars, who were assigned to Farta New District at that time, naturally felt sad. Such natural conditions are not as good as farming in their hometown!

Of course, Anton and Mars will definitely not think so now, because Farta New District is no longer what it used to be.

Anton said: "Falta's port conditions are a huge advantage, so the country must have seen this, so the construction of Farta New District has been a provincial key project from the beginning."

"And it is only 12 kilometers away from the old city of Benguela. Drinking water, daily necessities, etc. are more dependent on the old city. This is probably the reason why Farta New District did not set up a separate city at the beginning, but developed as part of Benguela City."

Although Farta New District has groundwater resources that can be exploited, with the growth of population, it can only solve the early water use problem. Now the main source of water is transported from the old city and other water sources through water pipelines.

Other resources are supported by Benguela City, which is particularly important for the early development of Farta New District. Therefore, Farta New District cannot be set up as a separate city, which would require more construction costs.

Benguela City also needs the land and port resources of Farta New District to seek further economic development. As an important node for the East African Railway to connect with the Atlantic trade, although the natural environment of Farta Port is relatively poor, it is worth the investment of the East African government.

Farta New District can be said to be a new city that has risen under the witness of Anton and Mars, and as the first generation of residents, they naturally have different feelings for this place.

Anton said: "It is estimated that when the European war is over, Farta New District and the old city will be closer, and there will be more and more buildings along both sides of the road, and the progress of Farta New District to the north will be faster and faster. Maybe when we are old, we can still see Farta New District and the old city merge into one!"

This is not without precedent. For example, Soga City, once the East African science and technology city, completely merged with Dar es Salaam City in a few years after the capital of East Africa was moved to Rhine City.

Of course, there is still a big gap between Benguela and Dar es Salaam. The latter has been the largest city in East Africa for many years. It can maintain this position when so many cities in East Africa are developing rapidly. Obviously, Dar es Salaam has a very deep cultural heritage, which is exactly what Benguela lacks, so Anton did not say too much.