African Entrepreneurship Record-Chapter 853 - 157

Apington.

Apington is the second-largest city in New Baden Province, located in the southwest of East Africa, situated on the northern bank of the Orange River, and was the former capital of the Griqualand Republic.

In June of this year, the citizens of Apington received good news. According to rumors, Apington is going to build a railroad.

"Are you sure about the construction of the railroad?"

In Apington, construction materials are continuously being transported from the east. Thanks to the British who originally built the Kimberley railway, many raw materials for railway construction can be transported nearby from around Kimberley.

"Of course, this railway will go from Bulawayo, passing through Gaborone and Katu, and finally reaching Apington."

It's no wonder the citizens of Apington are interested in the railway; as a small frontier town in East Africa, transportation here is really inconvenient.

Apington is located on the southern border, far from East Africa's political and economic center. This railroad construction will greatly enhance Apington's transportation capabilities.

The Apington railway mainly passes through the eastern part of New Baden Province, running roughly parallel to the Orange River, because the southeastern region of New Baden Province is the area with the best natural conditions and the richest mineral resources.

The construction of the Bua Railway mainly serves strategic defense needs, with the most important role being to transport mineral resources out of New Baden Province.

This railway mostly passes through New Baden Province, with a small part in Matabele Province, then connects to the central railway line in Bulawayo, running northeast to southwest, making it an important project for developing the Kalahari Region in East Africa.

The Kalahari Region, centered around the Kalahari Basin, is considered a separate geographical unit within East Africa.

Of course, the Kalahari Region is formally considered a part of southwest Africa, but the southeastern part of the Kalahari Region and the Okavango Delta still hold developmental value, whereas the natural conditions in southwest Africa are extremely poor.

East Africa's New Baden Province is essentially the northern part of South Africa's former Northern Cape Province along the northern bank of the Orange River and the southeastern part of Botswana. It's fair to say that New Baden Province contains the essence of what was South Africa's Northern Cape Province and the Republic of Botswana.

In the past, the Northern Cape Province held a significant position in South African mineral production, producing over thirty percent of the country's diamonds, more than seventy percent of its silver, over eighty percent of its iron ore, ninety percent of its aluminum, almost all of its copper, along with substantial manganese resources.

Of course, the copper mines in the Northern Cape are mainly concentrated in the western coastal areas; there is only a small distribution within New Baden Province in East Africa. However, East Africa is not a country lacking in copper; many provinces in East Africa have copper mines, with world-class copper reserves in the central regions. The Matabele Province (Zimbabwe), Hohenzollern Province (Zambia), Hessen Province, and Swabia Province (eastern and southern Congo) all hold considerable copper reserves.

And this "small" distribution is only small in comparison to the Northern Cape in the Cape Colony; the quantity is still quite impressive.

Aside from large copper and diamond deposits, most key minerals within the Cape Colony are found in East Africa.

Especially New Baden Province's abundant iron ore resources, which are crucial for the industrial development of the Matabele Province.

As it is, New Baden Province itself is not suitable for industrial development. Besides being located in a border area, the local natural environment is quite dry, lying south of the Kalahari Desert. The local economy is primarily based on sheep farming and grape cultivation.

The scarcity of water resources is fatal for industrial development in New Baden Province, and the local environment has very poor carrying capacity, which could easily lead to the expansion of the Kalahari Desert or land salinization.

In this respect, the eastern Orange area is much better off than New Baden Province, with an annual rainfall that can maintain levels of at least five to six hundred millimeters, reaching over nine hundred millimeters in the east, while even the westernmost Kimberley maintains around four hundred millimeters.

Whereas in New Baden Province, rainfall can only sustain around three hundred millimeters, slightly worse, and it's no different from desert regions.

Therefore, Apington has become the city with the longest sunshine hours in East Africa, and the quality of the local wine ranks among the top in the country.

East Africa mainly has two high-quality grape-growing regions: one in the north near North Africa, and another on the South African Plateau, with the Apington area in particular capable of competing with other top wine-producing regions in the world. It is also a significant wine-producing area in East Africa.

It is worth mentioning that the capital of New Baden Province is Gaborone, the former capital of Botswana, while the former provincial capital of South Africa's Northern Cape Province was Kimberley, though now Kimberley is just an important city in the Orange area.

So both Gaborone and Kimberley ended up losing out, one losing the chance to be a capital city, and the other the chance to be a provincial capital.

However, Apington is completely unaffected and is instead valued by East Africa due to its important geographical location.

Apington is the most livable area on the western section of the Orange River; further west lies southwest Africa and the western part of the Cape Colony, where climatic conditions are harsher, unsuitable for human habitation. If not for the Orange River passing through, allowing for a little irrigated agriculture along its banks, it's doubtful there would be any human presence.

Orange Monde in East Africa is at the mouth of the Orange River, and though it is close to the sea, Orange Monde is entirely surrounded by desert, a true "sighing at the ocean," as the Atlantic Ocean has not blessed Orange Monde with a drop of its rainwater.

To the east and north of Orange Monde is a vast desert spanning hundreds of thousands of square kilometers, with hardly any human presence, and the nearest city to Orange Monde is Apington, about 470 kilometers away in a straight line.

Although Apington is the closest to Orange Monde, their transportation relies entirely on walking or camels, while the sea route from Whale Bay Port to Orange Monde is more convenient.

This is one of the main reasons the British did not attack Southwest Africa during the South African War; it's all desert, and a large number of troops could be burdened to death by logistical needs alone, posing no threat to East Africa.

Another key reason is the British themselves find it exceedingly difficult to reach the northwest area of Cape Town. They must traverse deserts and mountains, and to circumvent these areas, they have to cross the Orange River, where they could encounter East African border troops along the northern bank.

This is where Apington's strategic value becomes clear; capturing Apington would allow a northeastern advance into East Africa's interior. Unfortunately, the Cape Colony has too small a population, and East Africa has heavily fortified New Baden Province, thus preventing this military feat.

Now, the construction of the Bua Railway is to preempt any future conflicts between the British and East Africa over Apington or to serve as a military forward position, allowing troops and supplies from the rear to be continuously transported to the front lines via the Bua Railway.

Of course, the economic considerations of the Bua Railway are significant, particularly the abundant mineral resources in the east, including iron, manganese, diamonds, copper, aluminum, and more.

Another major reason for building the Bua Railway is the poor navigability of the Orange River. The Orange River extends into the southern parts of East Africa, but its mouth empties into the Atlantic Ocean, with considerable elevation changes due to the terrain resulting in many waterfalls, similar to most major rivers in East Africa. For example, near Apington is the former world's fifth largest waterfall—Augrabies Falls.

East Africa boasts many world-renowned waterfalls, yet these waterfalls also sever several major rivers in East Africa.

Victoria Falls, also known as King's Falls in East Africa, cuts off the Zambezi River. Of course, even without King's Falls, the Zambezi River could not be entirely navigable, with King's Falls being the largest on the Zambezi.

On the upper Congo River is Kisangani Falls; on the lower, is Livingston Falls, both well-known in the past, along with Tugela Falls, Owen Falls, and others.

In this respect, Ernst is somewhat numb, which is why East Africa's vigorous development of railway transportation makes sense, given that East Africa's reliance on railways is the strongest.