African Entrepreneurship Record

Bajamojo Port.

Two formidable-looking sailing warships are completing their transfer.

"Your Highness, these are the warships we've drawn from the active fleet to support your endeavor."

Blair, a captain of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, is responsible for this handover. He smiles broadly as he introduces the warships to Archduke Ferdinand (Maximiliano I).

"Alright, when it comes to understanding them, I'm probably more familiar with them than you are." Ferdinand, the commander of the East African Navy, bluntly interrupts Blair.

"Back when I took office, they were serving in the Austrian Navy. Now, East Africa is a good place for them to continue playing their part."

Saying this, Ferdinand boarded one of the ships, with Blair following behind.

"It's been years, and not much has changed, though this paint is freshly applied?"

"Yes, before leaving port, these two ships underwent a thorough inspection. Overall performance is still good, except for some minor issues accumulated over the years. They were then taken to the Trieste Shipyard for maintenance and some modern facilities were added."

"Franz is not bad. When you return to report, deliver this letter to him for me." Ferdinand took a letter from his chest pocket and handed it to Blair.

"Yes, Your Highness, I will make sure this letter is delivered."

The letter naturally contained words of gratitude. This time, Ferdinand felt genuinely thankful for having a good brother.

After suffering at the hands of the Mexicans, Archduke Ferdinand had swung from one extreme to the other.

Back in Mexico, Ferdinand stubbornly refused to seek any help from the Austrian Royal Family. Now, Ferdinand exclaimed, "How delightful!"

In East Africa, with Franz's help, the navy instantly gained shape with two retired Austro-Hungarian warships and two antique Sultanate of Zanzibar warships.

"Blair, what do you think is the future of the East African Navy?" Ferdinand asked.

"Your Highness, it's hard for me to say, um... it's very promising, at least the maritime conditions are much better than Austria's."

Blair didn't hold much hope for the East African Navy. After all, East Africa was too poor to build a navy. When he saw the two antique warships of East Africa, Blair felt a bit sorry for Ferdinand, the so-called commander of the East African Navy. However, the geographical conditions in East Africa were indeed several times better than the "bathtub" at the doorsteps of the Austro-Hungarian Navy.

Bajamojo Port was quite decent, but because it was very close to Dar es Salaam, it was often ignored by the East African government.

For instance, both immigration and commercial exports were diverted to Dar es Salaam and Tanga ports nearby, and it was even less significant than Mtwara Port in the south.

Because Bajamojo Port had shallow water, while Dar es Salaam was a deep water port, Bajamojo had a hard time competing with Dar es Salaam. Whereas Tanga Port and Mtwara Port were significant regional ports and had no rivals, they were more important than Bajamojo. However, Bajamojo had its advantages.

It was a river port, located on the right bank at the estuary of the East African Little Rhine River (Lu River).

But the rivers along the East African coast had little shipping value. The larger rivers were only a few hundred kilometers long and, due to terrain constraints, only a hundred kilometers or so were navigable.

Yet the Little Rhine River was strategically important for East Africa. Going upstream from the estuary, one could reach the political center, First Town.

Hence, the East African Navy Base was located here, not only making use of Bajamojo's port conditions but also controlling the Little Rhine River estuary, and providing support to the ports on both sides of East Africa. Bajamojo was across from the natural geographic barrier, Zanzibar Island, which could shield from some Indian Ocean storms. And since economic development was stagnant, it might as well be used as a naval base.

It must be said, choosing Maximiliano I as the East African Navy Commander was the right choice.

Unable to secure resources from the East African government, he turned to Austria. "I, Ferdinand, call for funds, Franz!"

This was why Franz said Ferdinand had learned bad behavior from Ernst. But even the Austrian Navy couldn't get funding, where would they support Ferdinand?

Oh, referring to it as the Austrian Navy is no longer accurate. It should be called the Austro-Hungarian Navy since it was renamed when the Austrian Empire became Austria-Hungary in 1867.

The Austro-Hungarian Navy, when queried by His Majesty the Emperor, expressed their willingness to support Ferdinand by donating two brigs for free and sending a group of young and talented individuals as advisors to help Archduke Ferdinand build East African naval forces.

A brig has two masts with square sails used on sailing ships. In the era of sailing ships, brigs were widely used as warships and merchant ships due to their speed and maneuverability.

The designed service life of 19th-century pine brigs was generally 20 years, with many actually lasting longer.

The two ships given to East Africa by the Austro-Hungarian Navy were built around 1840. The Austro-Hungarian Navy had long wanted to retire these aging vessels but didn't know where to send them. It was opportune that East Africa took them; since the Emperor wanted to care for his brother, we of the Navy gave them these two warships, so next time we ask for funding, we can be more assertive.

As for the talented youths, they were naturally young officers of the Austro-Hungarian Navy with little experience or political outcasts. For them, being sent to East Africa was almost akin to exile.

In conclusion, the Austro-Hungarian Navy, like the East African government, said that as long as no money was involved, everything else was negotiable. They were willing to send ships and manpower free of charge.

Cramped in the narrow Adriatic Bay, the geographical position of the Austro-Hungarian Navy led to a lack of interest in the navy. Still, neighboring Italy helped the Austro-Hungarian Navy somewhat. To contend with a unified Italy, the Austro-Hungarian Navy had relatively better times in recent years, and since 1861, it had entered the Ironclad Ship era, now as the Austro-Hungarian Navy.

"You are right, but potential is only potential. Without the support of a strong country, even the best conditions will be wasted," said Ferdinand.

"Your Highness, don't worry. I personally remain optimistic about East Africa. With Austria's help, it might not keep up with Europe, but in Africa, it should develop quite well." Blair cautiously replied.

During this time, Europeans reinforced the notion of Europe as the center of the world, and abroad, the only country that could compare to Europe was perhaps half of the United States. Thus, Blair prefaced promising development with "in Africa," and said the reason for potentially good development in Africa was because there was one semi-modernized country in Africa—Egypt.

During Ali's era, the Egyptian navy's power was quite formidable even by European standards, at its height boasting 32 warships. Now, although Egypt had declined, it was not something East Africa could provoke as Africa's leading military power.

Speaking only of the army, East Africa's pre-reform forces were already very close in numbers to Egypt, but post-reform, the army was nearly halved, and it couldn't compare to Egypt in terms of sheer size.

Moreover, Egypt had the capability of independent production of armaments. Though now primarily reliant on imports due to British and French colonization, the military industrial system still existed.

Blair, escorting the warships, traversed the Suez Canal, Red Sea, and Aden Bay, finally arriving in East Africa.

He had seen some cities in Egypt but had only reached Mombasa in East Africa once for supplies before arriving at Bajamojo. Mombasa was relatively bustling, but Bajamojo was rather desolate.

So Blair concluded that East Africa was significantly behind Egypt, making it seemingly difficult to become Africa's number one.

Blair had never heard of another civilized nation in Africa outside of Egypt, and the Ottoman Empire did not count since its core was in the Middle East and Europe.

Actually, this wasn't Bajamojo's fault. Immigration and exports relied on neighboring Dar es Salaam, a free port. Thus, Bajamojo appeared deserted.

Historically, Bajamojo flourished for a time during German colonization, but the Germans later realized the better conditions of Dar es Salaam and shifted their focus. Bajamojo was mentioned again in the 21st century when a major power engaged in the "Belt and Road" initiative. It seemed an act of desperation; African countries had low credit, and Bajamojo Port's conditions were mediocre, but there were no other choices as all excellent ports along the Indian Ocean were held by Western or pro-Western forces.