In recent years, East Africa has become increasingly assertive on the international stage, and the struggle for interests leaves no room for leniency. Especially at this moment when East Africa seeks to penetrate more international markets, the Far East Empire, as the third largest market for East Africa, is naturally under close attention from East Africa. Meanwhile, the top markets remain the Central and Eastern European Market, followed by the Western European Market.

This is determined by the industrial structure of East Africa. East Africa prides itself on its heavy industry and agriculture, and for many heavy industrial products to be sold, the counterpart must possess consumption capacity; the same applies to agriculture.

East Africa’s agricultural trade is primarily focused on tropical economic crops, and Europe is the world’s largest consumption region for economic crops.

Europe itself lacks diverse climates, particularly the tropical climate type. The climatic conditions in Central and Eastern Europe are harsher than those in Western Europe, coupled with the distance advantage between East Africa and the Central and Eastern European market, making Central and Eastern Europe the largest agricultural product consumption market for East Africa.

As for Western Europe, after the development of East Africa’s West Coast, it took advantage of geographical convenience, thus development has been quite rapid in recent years. However, competitors are also numerous; countries in the Caribbean Sea, South America, and West Africa can form competition with East Africa, while on the East Coast, the only competition for East African agriculture comes from India under United Kingdom control.

...

Berlin.

The commercial delegation organized by Maputo City’s government traveled thousands of miles to Berlin, preparing to raise development funds in Berlin.

Since the commencement of the Five-Year Plan, East African policies have further liberalized, which presents opportunities for Maputo City. For Maputo City, what is most needed for development now is money.

As a significant city on East Africa’s East Coast, Maputo City has not enjoyed many policy benefits; earlier development funds mostly came from provincial support.

However, the strength of Hansa Province is ultimately limited, so if Maputo City wants to advance further, it must look abroad.

At this time, Maputo City also attempts to attract investment from Portugal by leveraging its status as the "political center of a former Portuguese Mozambique colony."

But Portugal is ultimately a small nation, with an underwhelming economic level, making it challenging to meet Maputo City’s needs.

In its past existence, Portugal alongside its colonies at least had a population of over ten million, but now Portugal’s few overseas colonies are pitifully small, economically declining further, and it stands as a third-rate nation in Europe.

"Berlin indeed deserves its reputation as a world-class city; just the level of prosperity here, I’m afraid Dar es Salaam City may not catch up even in twenty years."

"Berlin’s population should be close to three million, more than twice that of Dar es Salaam City. However, we shouldn’t underestimate ourselves; one million is not the limit for Dar es Salaam City, it’s just that the policies are temporarily inadequate. Otherwise, doubling the population isn’t unattainable."

"Moreover, although Berlin is large, its level of development might not exceed that of Dar es Salaam City. Everything Berlin has, Dar es Salaam City basically possesses as well. And for Dar es Salaam City to reach its current scale, despite not being a political center, is quite remarkable."

Berlin is Germany’s political center, whereas Dar es Salaam City isn’t even a capital or provincial capital. Currently, the provincial capital of Marine Province still remains First Town City, and even after East Africa’s capital relocation, the provincial government hasn’t relocated, which is the primary reason First Town City can continue maintaining city operations.

"Alas, let’s not talk about capitals like Berlin and Dar es Salaam City anymore; our Maputo City should first set surpassing Bela as a target!"

The conversation among members of Maputo City’s commercial delegation caught Keuer’s attention. Keuer is a reception staff member of Berlin City Government and also the business manager at Rooney Bank Berlin.

Keuer is not unfamiliar with East Africa, but he doesn’t particularly understand it. Previously, East African policies made it impossible for small banks like Rooney Bank to engage in investment in East Africa.

Keuer subtly inquired of the person who spoke earlier: "Director Rog, surely Maputo City is considered a major city in East Africa, isn’t it? After all, Maputo City is the former capital of Mozambique’s Portuguese colony; East Africa should pay significant attention here, shouldn’t they?"

The man named Rog responded: "Mr. Keuer, you overestimated it. Maputo only ranks in the middle-upper level among East African cities, but economically, it ranks around thirty to forty nationally. Previously, Portuguese did indeed pay attention to Maputo, but within the Empire, Maputo can only be considered an ordinary city."

Keuer: "Why is that? Given that Maputo was valued by the Portuguese, surely Maputo’s conditions weren’t bad, were they?"

Rog explained: "Naturally, our Maputo is considered a relatively superior port city in East Africa. However, Maputo’s geographic location is too far south, lacking substantial resource advantages, and the economy in East Africa is under the centralized management of the Government, so the city’s development and policies are closely linked. The policies Maputo City can acquire are not outstanding nationally, so ultimately Maputo’s development has limits."

Keuer was aware of this point because East Africa is one of the world’s most typical non-free market nations. If such a country emerged in Europe, it might easily provoke discontent among other countries. However, East Africa is far overseas, and its military strength is rather formidable, so no country idles away and brings this issue to create trouble for East Africa.

Under the European perspective, the freer the economy, the better. Merchants generally resent government regulation, so Keuer asked curiously: "Could you share a little about your domestic economic situation? I’m quite curious about how an economy develops in a nation like East Africa."

Instead of refusing, Rog obliged Keuer’s request. As Rog gradually explained, Keuer began to understand the fundamental logic of East African economic development. It can be said that most of East African economy is fully under the government’s control.

Curiously, Keuer remarked: "Under such an economic system, don’t you feel any resentment?"

Upon hearing this, Rog’s gaze became sharper. In fact, Rog is not a merchant but the director of Maputo City’s investment office. This delegation is mostly composed of Maputo City Government personnel or enterprise staff, with most Maputo City enterprises being state-owned, primarily local enterprises.

After organizing his thoughts, Rog replied: "Our East African economy has operated in this manner from the start, and in recent years, East African development has been above the world’s average line. So, for us living naturally in this nation, it’s a matter of course in East Africa."

"Of course, now the policies have opened up, and we are actively engaging with the international market, so domestic reforms in economic fields are underway. This is the major premise for our ability to visit Berlin and attract investment."

Regarding East Africa’s economic system, there’s really not much to say. Over the past fifty years, East Africa has always operated in this manner, so the new generation in East Africa doesn’t have any special feelings toward an economic system so different from the world.

Moreover, East Africa has been in continual high-speed development, with increasingly prominent international status, fostering a favorable environment. Naturally, domestic conflicts won’t be particularly pronounced, although surely some people have a blind faith in the free market, but they do not gain much traction in East Africa.

Keuer was merely curious. Although he didn’t entirely understand the mentality of East Africans, being a German, he was not in a position to criticize.

Thus, Keuer shifted focus to seeking opportunities from this East African policy change. Maputo City, being an important city on the West Coast of the Indian Ocean, has relatively many opportunities, and whether Keuer can seize them depends on his capabilities.

Therefore, he began asking Rog about Maputo City’s fundamental conditions, prioritizing aspects such as population, income, minerals, and enterprise situation.

As Rog elaborated, Keuer realized that Maputo City indeed holds great potential, but it is contingent on effectively utilizing Maputo City’s resources. In terms of population, Maputo City alone has nearly thirty thousand people, which would be considered a relatively large city in Germany, and the consumption level of East Africans is not low, so leveraging Maputo City’s consumption capacity alone can yield extensive opportunities.