African Entrepreneurship Record

This is not an exaggeration. As descendants of Nicholas II, the insight of the three is evidently much higher than that of ordinary people, and although Russia’s economy and industry rank relatively behind among the Great Powers, this is only in comparison with other Great Powers.

Maria, Anastasia, and Aleksey, all of whom have long resided in Saint Petersburg, which as Russia’s most economically developed region, compares favorably with other European countries in terms of construction.

However, this trip to East Africa still allowed them to see directly the great disparity between Russia and East Africa, starting with the route they took to reach East Africa.

To avoid conflict zones, the three did not choose to depart from the Baltic Sea, as the western side of the Baltic Sea crosses German waters.

And Ukraine and Eastern Europe are also on the war frontline, so the route chosen for their arrival in East Africa was from a port on the eastern coast of the Black Sea.

And traveling from Saint Petersburg to the Black Sea coastline inevitably crosses the heartland of Russia, where the further east one goes, the lower the levels of economic and industrial development, which caused the three to some extent to witness the real national condition of Russia.

Upon arriving in East Africa, what they saw along the Central Railway formed a stark contrast with the real situation they had encountered within Russian borders.

Of course, in this way, East Africa has an unfair advantage, as the areas along the Central Railway have always been the most economically developed regions of East Africa, giving a sense of a calculated comparison.

Maria and the others, naturally, could not comprehend the hidden intricacies within, as they lacked an understanding of East Africa’s national condition.

Aleksey said, "It feels as if East Africa is far more advanced than Russia, especially along the railway line. East African farms commonly use tractors, automobiles, and other machinery, whereas these are rarely seen in Russia, though this time of year Russia is in winter."

Winter naturally means that agricultural activities in Russia have basically stopped, while East Africa, being a tropical country, has no such concerns.

So comparing East Africa’s busy farming period with Russia’s offseason does not explain anything, but the presence of automobiles on East African farms could not be deceiving, they won’t stop just because it is winter in Russia and all the cars have stopped.

Of course, this mainly refers to cargo vehicles and not passenger cars. If comparing passenger car numbers, Russia would lose miserably.

"Additionally, the level of electrification in East Africa is evidently far stronger than in Russia. We’ve seen a large amount of electrical facilities in East Africa, basically every village along the Central Railway has achieved electrification, and the cities and towns of East Africa exhibit an astonishing degree of electrification."

"Electric wires and poles are visible everywhere, weaving together into a complex electrical grid, with many power equipment and lines on both sides of the railway whose uses we do not understand."

"It’s even more exaggerated in large cities. The level of electrification in Dar es Salaam City, Mbeya, and Rhein City is astounding; electricity has become a necessity in every household in East Africa."

The term ’electrification’ was naturally a term Aleksey learned from Maxim; when it comes to the ubiquity of electricity, Aleksey and other Russian royal family members are actually not unfamiliar.

But they are clearly aware of the vast disparity between Russia and East Africa in this regard, as in Russia, electricity can only be promoted in cities with the conditions available.

In most of Russia, gas lamps, kerosene lamps, candles, and even wood are still used for lighting. At nightfall, most of Russia is plunged into darkness.

East Africa, however, has abundant electricity to power streetlights at night, making East African cities effectively cities that never sleep.

Maxim said, "This is because our approach to electrification in East Africa started early. As far back as the last century, East Africa considered electricity and electrical research as crucial directions for the country’s future development."

"After entering the 20th century, the concept of nationwide electrification was proposed, and subsequently, under government leadership, a large number of power facilities were newly constructed across the country, steadily increasing East Africa’s power generation output."

"Therefore, the achievements East Africa has made in electrification are just several steps ahead of other countries. With the development of time, other countries should be able to catch up."

"Just like the first Industrial Revolution, it initially occurred only in the United Kingdom, but as time progressed, it eventually spread to other regions of the world."

Maxim wasn’t speaking without basis; after all, Germany, the United States, and even France aren’t lagging in their research in the field of electricity. Their efficiency in promotion and dissemination, however, is not as fast as East Africa.

Especially in the early construction of the electrical field, East Africa’s investment was quite generous, unmatched by other countries, even though they have many power companies.

But compared to the state machinery of East Africa, the latter evidently can achieve significant effects in a short period of time.

After all, enterprises in the early stages must bear the risks, and a slight misstep could lead to losses and bankruptcy, whereas a state machine like East Africa can push forward the electrification process with much stronger risk-bearing capability.

Moreover, investment in the electricity sector is overall beneficial, so the East African government does not care about some initial failures and minor risks.

Princess Maria said, "Compared to your esteemed country, Russia certainly does not progress satisfactorily in some areas, while East Africa has always been a powerhouse in electricity worldwide; many electronic products and devices in Russia are imported from East Africa."

Worldwide, East Africa’s development in electricity and electronics is quite renowned, as in this domain, East Africa has ranked first in the world for over ten consecutive years.

Although Ernst founded the Heixinggen consortium early and set up within power industry, the true explosion of East African electricity and electronics industry was at the end of the last century.

That time also coincided with East Africa beginning to reap the fruits of education, a large number of overseas students returning home, local colleges established, compulsory education expanded, talents from relevant fields drawn from various countries — all factors which allowed East Africa to pull away from the United States and Germany at the start of the 20th century.

In the last century, the United States and Germany were actually still competitive with East Africa in the field of electricity, especially since East Africa started late, with weak industrial foundation and a relative lack of talent.

And all the turning points seemed to occur after the South Africa war, which can be said that the South Africa war was a battle of fate for East Africa; since then, East Africa’s development has been unstoppable.

In a mere two decades, surpassing the United Kingdom and outpacing the United States, became the world’s largest industrial nation, an incredible miracle, especially since at the early 1990s, the United States had just snatched the position of the world’s largest industrial nation from the British.

The ascent of the United States to become the world’s largest industrial nation was not surprising, even deemed justifiable, as the United States took over two hundred years from founding to become the world’s largest industrial nation.

But if you count the colonial history, East Africa has only had half a century, truly achieving in a few decades what other countries had done over hundreds of years.

Of course, the most deserving of thanks in this process are the "Black people," without their "selfless dedication," East Africa could hardly have easily obtained such vast and fertile lands, nor could it have easily secured tens of millions of almost costless free labor.

Tens of millions of Blacks’ decades of "selfless contribution" served as the foundational reason for East Africa’s rapid economic and industrial growth in recent decades, helping East Africa achieve land development and project construction with minimal cost, relying on "black slaves" East Africa completed the primitive accumulation of capital.

And that was the basis that enabled East Africa to push forward its first two five-year plans in the early 20th century, rapidly expanding industrial scale, propelling East Africa to promptly become an industrial powerhouse.

Without the decades-long exploitation and oppression of millions of black slaves, East Africa might have needed several decades more to achieve today’s accomplishments and would have had to bear the risk of regime collapse, as immigrants are not like black slaves, allowing the East African government to exploit them freely.