African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1725 The Soviets' Eye-Opening Experience
The fact that the Central Asian Highway is running normally is already a certainty, and the fact that Prince Konica's convoy was able to reach Salitash speaks volumes.

The convoy consisted entirely of large military trucks, so if Prince Konica's convoy could pass, it meant that ordinary civilian vehicles could also pass.

Going forward, all we need to do is focus on highway maintenance and the follow-up construction of supporting facilities.

This includes essential facilities such as service areas and gas stations. In addition, East Africa may also consider building some military facilities along the route and sending personnel to maintain the smooth flow of traffic on the road.

……

While Prince Konica was inspecting road construction in Central Asia, the Soviet negotiating team, far away in East Africa, eventually arrived in East Africa. Their first stop was not a major city, but Bosaso, a city on the coast of the Gulf of Aden in East Africa.

Instead of flying, Soviet officials opted for the safer modes of transport: rail and air. They first traveled by train from Moscow to Odessa, then boarded the Ilya Ehrenburg passenger ship, operated by the Soviet Black Sea Shipping Company, and finally arrived in Bosaso.

The reason it was moored in Bosaso was an arrangement made after communication between the Soviet government and the East African government.

If it were just a routine inspection, the Soviet Union would naturally prefer to land in a major East African city. However, this time, the Soviet Union's foreign affairs activities in East Africa clearly showed a certain urgency.

Choosing Bosaso as the final destination of this voyage will save a lot of time. After all, even if we choose Mogadishu, we will have to travel nearly 2,000 kilometers further, and Mombasa will be even further away.

In addition, Bosaso is connected to the East African national railway network by rail.

Bosaso's railway station is also a hub for European goods and people arriving from the Red Sea route, allowing them to reach other parts of East Africa at the fastest speed.

Although it would be faster for Europeans to choose the route via the North African railway from Benghazi, the Soviet Union was clearly unwilling to gamble on whether the Italians would make things difficult for them.

Upon arriving in Bosaso and landing, Livinov and other Soviet officials were visibly excited, as many of them were setting foot on the land of East Africa, a “nationalist country,” for the first time.

Livinov exclaimed in amazement, “East Africa truly lives up to its reputation as an industrial powerhouse. Bosaso is probably one of the best-built and planned cities we’ve seen since entering the Suez Canal.”

It's no wonder he was so surprised; after all, from the time their ships entered the Suez Canal, they passed through almost no decent cities in any of the countries and regions they visited, except for Italy's Red Sea colonies.

Although the Italian Red Sea colonies were called colonies, their construction standards were no different from those of mainland Italy, so the level of urban development in the area was quite good, making it like a "Little Italy of the Red Sea".

Apart from Italy and East African towns, the surrounding areas are either relatively poor countries like Egypt, or British and French colonies, especially the French colony of Djibouti, which is already small in size, making it unrealistic for even slightly larger towns to form.

Britain did not put much effort into developing its colonies such as British Somaliland and Aden. The towns in these areas basically maintained a strong ancient Arabic cultural atmosphere, with only a few modern elements mixed in.

Therefore, if the small city of Bosaso were located on the Red Sea route, its urban scale and level of modernization would rank among the top, with only Port Said in Egypt able to surpass Bosaso.

However, Port Said prospered thanks to the Suez Canal, a major global shipping artery, and became very chaotic and noisy due to the influx of Egyptians.

Livinov's deputy, Spiridonov, was also curiously observing this East African city.

He said, “The city of Bosaso in East Africa looks like a professional, modern port city.”

“Bosaso is not a very large city, but its port and docks are extremely busy. Many cargo ships from Europe and East Africa, including ours, may choose to dock here.”

“If this port weren’t so small, I think it could very well have given rise to a new metropolis.”

Bosaso's location is quite important, a fact that Spiridonov keenly recognized, which led to his judgment.

The location of Bosaso can be compared to Guangzhou in the Far Eastern Empire, and it is significantly closer to the European market than Mombasa.

However, due to its inherent limitations, the port of Bosaso is clearly unable to handle such a large share, and the vast majority of ships will still choose major East African cities such as Mombasa as their final destination.

Of course, as a Soviet citizen, Spiridonov did not consider one point.

That is, as an East African city, Bosaso cannot continue to expand due to water scarcity.

Due to water scarcity, East Africa lacks the motivation to further modify and expand the port of Bosaso through artificial means.

For this reason, East Africa focuses on two aspects in positioning Bosaso: a military and a professional freight hub, maximizing the benefits of limited resources.

This is why Livinov and others were able to observe that the port of Bosaso was very advanced and professional.

Livinov sighed and said, "Bosaso is only a small city in East Africa. If it were a big city like Mombasa or Dar es Salaam, wouldn't it be much more developed and prosperous? It's a pity that our trip is too tight to see and experience it for ourselves."

Spiridonov largely agreed, saying, "In Bosaso alone, we've already seen numerous buildings, well-developed roads, vehicles everywhere, the positive spirit of ordinary East Africans, the advanced and professional port facilities, and a highly efficient operating model..."

"In our country, it would probably be quite difficult to find a small or medium-sized city that can be compared with Bosaso."

Livinov sighed, "This is the strength of East Africa as the world's leading industrial power. It will probably take us another twenty years to catch up with East Africa. If it weren't for the shadow and threat of war, it might only take ten years..."

After the tremendous achievements of the two Five-Year Plans, the Soviet people were full of confidence in the country's future development. Therefore, Livinov believed that without the threat of Germany and the Axis powers, the Soviet Union could catch up with East Africa's current level within ten years through peaceful development.

Spiridonov said, "Comrade Livinov, perhaps we don't need to draw conclusions so early. After all, Bosaso's location is a window to the outside world for East Africa, so we should put more effort into its development."

"This may not represent the overall development level of East Africa. Next, we will travel to Rhine, the capital of East Africa, and there is still a long journey ahead. We will only get the final answer after we have seen other towns in East Africa."

Spiridonov's words have some merit. Due to its unique geographical location, Bosaso receives significant investment from East African governments.

After all, East Africa acquired this area relatively late, and Bosaso is a completely new city.

Livinov nodded and said, "You're right. We need to observe the development situation in East Africa more closely before drawing any conclusions. We can't make wild guesses based on this." With this in mind, the Soviets embarked on a special journey. Livinov and his entourage first boarded a train to East Africa, arranged by East African government officials.

Upon entering the Bosaso train station and boarding the train, they once again felt the profound heritage of East Africa as an industrial powerhouse.

Most of the railways in East Africa have been electrified. Electrified railways were a novelty in the Soviet Union, although the Soviet Union also emphasized electrification when building railways.

The Soviet Union's first electrified railway was completed as early as 1926, but by 1939, the total length of electrified railways in the Soviet Union was less than two thousand kilometers.

However, Livinov and his colleagues then witnessed just how exaggerated the electrification of the East African railway was. From Bosaso to Mogadishu alone, a distance of nearly a thousand kilometers, they saw a continuous stretch of electrified facilities along the railway line.

This section of railway alone is equivalent to half of the electrified railways in the entire Soviet Union, but it is still far from the city of Rhine.

While marveling at the extent of electrification of railways in East Africa, Livinov was also filled with wonder at the desert landscape of East Africa for the first time.

Along the 1,000-kilometer railway line from Bosaso to Mogadishu, there is almost no greenery, and towns and settlements are extremely scarce.

However, this further highlighted the terrifying challenges of transportation infrastructure development in East Africa for Soviet officials. Somalia's environment, in the Soviet Union's view, was equivalent to part of Central Asia. But the Soviet Union clearly lacked the capacity to build a nearly 1,000-kilometer electrified railway in Central Asia.

In response, Livinov remarked, "East Africans are really rich and powerful. Building such a railway, especially one that crosses a desert region, must have cost a lot of money."

"It's only because Bosaso is well-located that it can handle goods from Europe and the Middle East; otherwise, such a railway would definitely suffer huge losses."

Indeed, the railway from Bosaso to Mogadishu relies entirely on freight transport, as there are virtually no people along the route.

Of course, another reason for building this railway in East Africa is the importance attached to its strategic and military uses. Bosaso is the most important city in East Africa in the Gulf of Aden and a strategic pivot for East Africa to control the Red Sea shipping route.

The Bosaso-Mogadishu railway was originally built entirely for the purpose of East African defense and military strategy.

Once this railway is completed, trade between Eurasia and Africa will become a secondary benefit.

Although Livinov and his colleagues were intrigued by the East African railway and desert, the route from Bosaso to Mogadishu was almost entirely desert, which temporarily dashed their hopes of seeing the specific development situation in East Africa.

Upon arriving in Mogadishu, they reached a turning point in their journey, where the development of East African countries began to unfold before their eyes.

First, there's Mogadishu itself. As a provincial capital, Mogadishu is larger and more prosperous than Bosaso.

Then came the advanced agricultural irrigation facilities and mechanized modern plantations along the banks of the Shebelle River, which broadened the horizons of Soviet officials.

The Shabelle and Juba River basins in Somalia were originally chosen by the East African government as the "orchard of Europe" and "vegetable basket," so the agricultural technology here is very advanced.

Some of the special fruits imported by the Soviet Union each year came from here; Mogadishu bananas were quite famous in the Soviet Union.

From Mogadishu to Juba, the Soviet negotiating team saw various modern plantations, like green pearls embedded between the desert and the rivers.

Further south, they finally saw the "savanna" of East Africa. As East Africa's influence expanded, most countries in the world knew that savanna is the most common vegetation in East Africa.

As the train continued south, in addition to the increasing greenery, the number of towns also began to rise. The Soviets then discovered that every town in East Africa was exquisitely constructed.

Finally, the train began to travel southwest, climbing steadily as the altitude increased, eventually entering the East African Plateau from the Somali region.

After entering the East African plateau, they continued south. The first city they saw was Arusha, which was even more beautiful than the cities they had seen before, as Arusha itself is a popular tourist city in East Africa.

Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in East Africa, can be seen from Arusha. This magnificent mountain rises abruptly from the flat plateau, and the snow-capped peak on its summit amazed the Soviets.

The Soviet Union certainly had its share of high mountains like Kilimanjaro, but the vast majority of Soviet people lived in the plains of Europe.

Moreover, Kilimanjaro's tropical mountains also possess plateau characteristics, and it has very distinctive features that cannot be found in the Soviet Union.

It was hard for Soviets like Livinov not to be amazed by the magnificence of Mount Kilimanjaro.

The city's urban development also impressed them greatly; it was more like a "city garden." Imagine, while the snow in Moscow had not yet melted, Arusha was full of flowers—this was undoubtedly another spiritual shock for the Soviets.

Some Soviet officials exclaimed, "This is a sunny and warm place! It's like a dream, so refreshing!"

After passing Arusha, the train began to enter the heart of the East African plateau, heading towards Dodoma, and officially entered the East African grain-producing region.

Previously, the Soviets had mainly seen the deserts, plantations, and grasslands of East Africa, and had not yet seen the main grain-producing areas of East Africa.

As the train traveled, they gained a deeper impression of East Africa, the world's largest food producer, and its advanced agriculture.

Vast fields of wheat, corn, and other crops stretch across the flat, expansive land of the East African plateau, with a sophisticated irrigation system weaving through these fertile fields, where tractors work meticulously.

At the same time, many villages and towns were scattered throughout the area. Soviet officials noticed that even though these villages and towns in East Africa were scattered, they were connected by smooth, paved roads and utility poles, which showed that the extent of infrastructure development in East Africa was extremely exaggerated.

It should be noted that at that time in the Soviet Union, even in collective farms, the electricity penetration rate was only about 10%, and the vast rural areas still relied on kerosene and candles for lighting.

Needless to say, the road conditions in the Soviet Union were far superior. According to Soviet officials, even the roads in these rural East African countries were of higher quality and more comfortable than most roads in the Soviet Union, and could even be compared with roads that were considered good within the Soviet Union.

As for the highway network in East Africa, namely national and provincial highways, it far surpasses the Soviet Union's newly constructed and proud highway system.

(End of this chapter)