African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1506 Jiaofu Town

The town of Al-Jawf.

By March 1931, the total population of Al-Jawf had reached 3, making it a small town of reasonable size. The East African government did not make things difficult for the Tubu people who originally lived there, and relocated them to live in southern Darfur.

East Africans have been in Al Jawf for quite some time. As early as World War I, expedition teams from East Africa had already penetrated deep into this place and dealt with the locals.

In the 1920s, East Africa informally established a base in Al-Jawf, which later became the center of East Africa in the Kufra region. In less than a decade, Al-Jawf was transformed from a primitive tribal settlement into a modern town.

Not only was running water built, but electricity was also available. In the 20s, these two points alone had already surpassed many backward regions in the world.

In addition, there are post offices, restaurants, telegraphs, telephones, etc., everything you need. This small town with a population of only 3,000 people even has a small cinema.

The Bol family lives in this small town. Bol is an employee of the East African Thorold Mining. His job is mainly to upload some reports from the exploration team for the company.

At this time, he was watering a small vegetable plot at home. In Jiaofu Town, many families grow some vegetables and fruits to meet their needs for food diversity.

"Pol, the peppers you grow are growing well, they are green and lush. These should be the Mogadishu peppers you mentioned before, right?" asked Bol's neighbor Camosido.

Bol said with a smile: "Yes, Mr. Camocido, although there is a supply of chili peppers in Jiaofu Town, most of them are chili sauces shipped from China and sold in stores. I am not used to eating chili sauce, so I thought about growing some myself. I didn't expect it to be successful."

Pointing to Bol's pepper seedlings, Camosido said, "Mogadishu peppers can be grown in most parts of the country, but just by listening to the name, you can tell that this pepper is also suitable for growing in desert areas. After all, Mogadishu is in the Somali Desert."

"The Kufra region is also a desert area. Apart from being a little higher in latitude than Mogadishu, the environment is not much different, so it is not surprising that Mogadishu peppers can be grown there."

As a country that loves spicy food, East Africa has cultivated many varieties of peppers over the years. Mogadishu pepper is a variety of pepper cultivated by the local Academy of Agricultural Sciences. It is very suitable for cultivation in desert areas.

The two river basins in East Africa, namely the Shabelle River and the Juba River, started out based on the fruit and vegetable industry, so the agricultural technology in the cities of Mogadishu and Kismayo is quite good.

Boll said: "If nothing unexpected happens, it will take several months for these pepper seedlings to bear fruit. If you want to eat fresh pepper fried meat, you have to wait."

Camocido said: "The main reason is that the location of Jiaofu is too remote and the transportation is backward. We can only grow fruits and vegetables on our limited arable land, and the food is basically transported from the country."

The original arable land in Al-Jawf was mainly used to grow wheat before the arrival of East Africans, which was the most important staple food source for the Toubu people, but the East Africans were obviously different.

The Tubu people are struggling to make ends meet, while the living standards of East Africans have long since moved beyond the level of just having enough to eat and are moving towards eating better.

In this regard, East Africa is different from today's industrial countries such as Europe and the United States. Influenced by the official dietary guidelines for residents and various popular science propaganda issued by East Africa, the people of East Africa pay attention to diversity in diet, or balanced nutrition.

Therefore, although East Africans are also major agricultural producers, their demand for and planting scale of many vegetables are higher than those of Americans, while their consumption of sugar and fat is lower than that of Americans.

In terms of meat consumption, the two countries are on par with each other, but their meat consumption structures are different. East Africa consumes more pork and mutton than the United States, but less beef than the United States. At the same time, East Africa's inland aquatic products are also consumed more than the United States.

There are also big differences between East Africa and the United States in terms of oils and fats, especially in the area of ​​butter. The consumption in East Africa is much lower than that in the United States, but the diversity of various vegetable oils is not comparable to that in the United States.

The same is true in the food sector, with rice, wheat, corn, millet, etc. East Africa is also more diversified than the United States.

The complex market demand in East Africa has also led to the prevalence of small and medium-sized family farms in East Africa. They will grow suitable agricultural crops according to the eating habits of local towns, which is also their way of survival.

After all, if the agricultural crops are suitable for large farms and large-scale cultivation, they will not be able to compete with the large state-owned farms in East Africa.

It can be said that East Africa's diverse dietary needs have promoted the prosperity of small and medium-sized family farms, especially in agricultural areas around towns.

However, the town of Jiaofu obviously cannot enjoy such treatment. Due to the limitations of water resources and transportation, there are clear regulations on how to use the arable land in Jiaofu Town. Of course, vegetable fields like the one opened up by Bol are not included.

There is no shortage of land in Al-Jawf Town. After all, the entire Kufra region has nearly 500,000 square kilometers of land, but most of these areas are deserts and lack water sources. Theoretically, as long as there is enough water, the residents of Al-Jawf Town can plant as much land as they want.

However, the water supply in Al-Jawf is limited. Although the Al-Jawf government and the military have drilled several new wells, they cannot withstand waste.

Boll said: "It's actually not bad. Although Al-Jawf is small, it has everything. As long as you can endure the loneliness here, it's actually no worse than other places in the country. After the Libyan railway is opened in the future, life here will only get better."

As the two were talking, they suddenly heard a cry from afar: "A convoy is coming!"

Pol and Camocido looked in the direction outside the town and saw a large convoy heading towards the town of Jofu, with its wheels raising a cloud of dust.

Boll judged: "This convoy is quite large, perhaps with more than a dozen vehicles. It looks like quite a few people have come this time. Let's go over and take a look at the newcomers!"

For Jiaofu, a relatively closed and peaceful town, there is no shortage of people watching the fun, especially every time someone comes, even if they are just passing by, there will be people who come up to chat with them.

Generally speaking, outsiders who come to Al-Jawf can be divided into two types: one is East Africans, and the other is some Libyan Arab businessmen.

This caravan was obviously from within East Africa, as the Arab caravans in Libya were all camel caravans and only came from the north.

The main purpose of the Arab caravans to come to Al-Jawf was to resell supplies. They purchased goods here and then sold them to Arab tribes in Italian Libya or French Libya.

This also formed a new commercial route, and the formation of this route was also due to East Africa's exploration of the Kufra region. Before that, although there was land trade between East Africa and Libya, it was mainly transited through Egypt or southern Germany.

Because the environment in Kufra was too harsh, it was not until the East Africans entered the area and made some changes that some strongholds were established, thus giving the area a number of stable water sources and material supply points. Before that, any person or organization who wanted to pass through Kufra would have a life-or-death experience, or even no chance of survival. In comparison, taking a detour was more feasible.

Al-Jawf is not the northernmost stronghold of East Africa in the Kufra region. The northernmost stronghold of East Africa in the Kufra region is a military stronghold, or outpost, more than 400 kilometers north of Al-Jawf town, with only seven people stationed there, which is a squad of troops.

More than 100 kilometers to the north is the town of Jallu in Italian Libya, which is actually an oasis and the southernmost tip of Italian Libya. In ancient times, it was one of the important trading posts in North Africa. Jallu mainly serves the east-west trade, that is, from Egypt to western Libya and other regions. To its west is the well-known Siwa Oasis in Egypt.

The town of Jallu can basically be seen as the dividing point between the Darfur colony in East Africa and the Italian colony in Libya.

In the previous life, Italy entered the Kufra region through this place. However, in this time and space, Italy colonized Libya much later, so that it collided with East Africa.

This also means that the area of ​​Libya in the previous life will most likely be divided into four countries in the future. The first is French Libya centered on Tripoli, followed by Italian Libya centered on Benghazi. The Kingdom of South Germany also occupies part of the territory of Libya in the previous life, and finally the Kufra region occupied by the Darfur colony in East Africa.

Fortunately, the climatic conditions in central and southern Libya are very harsh and the resource situation is not very clear. Otherwise, given the current geopolitical situation, with the British Egyptian colony next to it, several countries would have been in a state of panic.

The reality is that several Libyan colonists not only live in harmony, but are also relatively humble. For example, the stronghold in East Africa is more than 100 kilometers away from the Italian town of Jalu. As for the 100-kilometer range in between, neither Italy nor East Africa looks down on it.

After all, there are neither population nor resources here. Even surface water and green plants cannot be found. There is only endless yellow sand.

The situation is almost the same in the areas where the spheres of influence of Britain, France, Italy, East Africa, and the Kingdom of South Germany intersect. There is not even a clear border line.

……

At this time, outside the town of Jiaofu, the convoy finally arrived amid the watching and cheering of the townspeople.

The mayor of Jiaofu Town went outside the town to greet them in person. Unlike ordinary townspeople, the mayor had known about the arrival of the convoy long ago.

He stepped forward to greet them and said, "You are the convoy that Professor Kabu is in, right?"

That’s right, the convoy that entered Al-Jawf town was the same convoy that Professor Kabu was in before, and their destination was Al-Jawf town.

At this time, Kabu and his students had already gotten off the bus. He said to the mayor, "Yes, I am Kabu. Hello, Mayor Kewen."

The two held hands and greeted each other.

Mayor Ke Wen said: "I have received instructions from my superiors that you will arrive in a day or two, so housing and other supplies have been prepared for you."

"Professor Kabu, you have come all the way from the south to Al-Jawf. I wonder how the North African railway is progressing now."

Kabu replied: "Railway construction in southern Darfur is still relatively fast. From what we can see, hundreds of kilometers from Fasheer to Antun are under construction. However, there is not much movement from the back to Al Jawf. Only sporadic construction sites or camps can be seen."

"In short, it will probably take several years to build the North African railway to Al-Jawf, especially the nearly 700-kilometer line from Antun to Al-Jawf, which is the most difficult to build."

“Perhaps the railway from Benghazi to Al-Jawf will be completed earlier than the railway from China to Al-Jawf.”

The construction of the North African Railway in East Africa is planned to start in two sections. One section will start from East Africa, pass through Darfur and move towards Libya, and the other section will start from Benghazi, the capital of Italian Libya, to the south.

Mayor Ke Wen said: "The construction of the northern section of the North African railway, that is, the railway from Benghazi to Al-Jawf, is less difficult, but I personally think that the southern section may be completed earlier."

"Because the northern section has not yet entered the official construction stage, the main focus of the northern section is still on the transformation of the Benghazi port. It is almost impossible for the northern section to officially start construction in a short period of time."

Professor Kabu said: "I do know a little bit about it. The ultimate purpose of the North African Railway is to facilitate trade with Europe. Therefore, the original infrastructure of the Port of Benghazi, the terminal of the railway, is far from meeting our requirements."

"Therefore, a large-scale renovation of the Benghazi Port is necessary, and this has also affected the transportation of goods at the Benghazi Port due to the renovation project, and the construction materials sent from China to Benghazi have also been restricted."

"Only after the Benghazi Port is completely completed can the construction of the northern section be officially accelerated. After all, the North African railway fully adopts my country's railway standards, including rails, electrical signals, etc., which must be sent from China to Benghazi via the Suez Canal."

Mayor Kewen sighed and said, "It seems that it is basically impossible to complete the North African railway without five or six years. This is bad news for the town of Al-Jawf."

"Although you can take a bus from Al-Jawf back home, the road conditions are far from satisfactory, and you often encounter various problems on the road. Only railways can solve this problem."

There are no roads, or modern roads, from Al Jawf to East Africa, especially in the Kufra area. Not to mention dirt roads, even driving in the desert is difficult. Fortunately, the desert in the Kufra area is not difficult to travel, but it is enough to make people very uncomfortable.

Professor Kabu has a deep understanding of this. He said: "Especially after the settlement, along the way, we can only use the compass and some special signs to identify the direction. There are no roads at all."

The road itself has a directionality. After all, it is impossible to get lost in the desert along the road. However, from the time we settled down all the way to Jiaofu, there was not even a decent road. As the saying goes, there are no roads in the world, but when more people walk on it, it becomes a road.

Before the advent of the East African continent, from northern Darfur to the town of Al-Jawf, there were less than 10,000 people living in an area of ​​hundreds of thousands of square kilometers. Therefore, there were naturally no ready-made roads in the area.

In ancient times, the issue of direction alone was enough to discourage most people from visiting the Kufra region. East Africa also relied on national strength and advanced mechanical equipment, such as airplanes, compasses, etc., to explore the Kufra region in depth, which laid the most fundamental foundation for the construction of the North African railway.

If we don't even understand the situation here, it will naturally be impossible to design and plan the North African railway.

(End of this chapter)