Chapter 165: The Development of the Laskankpori Trade Market
Somalia.
The small village of Laskankpori has prospered thanks to the East African colony's establishment of the Laskankpori Trade Market.
Laskankpori Village is not part of the East African colony but lies in Somali territory. However, when the colony mapped out the market, they were too lazy to invent a new name, so they simply took the village's name and applied it to the trade center. As a result, the "Laskankpori Market" and "Laskankpori Village" are not the same thing. The market belongs to the East African colony, while the village falls under the southern Somali Geledi Sultanate. The Geledi Sultanate is the successor of the Ajuran Sultanate, which was long fragmented until unified by the founder of Geledi, Aden.
This era marks the late stage of Geledi's power. The previous sultan, Yusuf Mahamud Ibrahim, was renowned for his victories—he once defeated the Omani Empire (including Zanzibar). Historically, in 1871 the Sultanate of Zanzibar in turn defeated Geledi, making it a vassal until the Italian colonizers arrived. Hence, the Geledi Sultanate, like Zanzibar, has already declined. The actual strength is far weaker than appearances suggest—one hard push and it collapses.
Many Arab merchants have gathered at the Laskankpori Trade Market, purchasing goods for resale inland into North Africa. Laskankpori Village itself, under the Geledi Sultanate, gains from this prosperity because many smaller merchants choose to lodge in the village, saving costs. Even so, some wealthier or more status-conscious traders prefer the hotels within the trade market itself, whose European-style buildings and better facilities far outclass that little village.
After more than half a year of development, Laskankpori Trade Market thrives substantially, rivaled only by a few big cities like Mogadishu within the Geledi Sultanate. It has become a crucial source of tax revenue for East Africa. The market holds a near monopoly on trade between the colony and North Africa, since the colony's westward expansion has forcibly cut off the usual routes on which Arab merchants traveled south.
And East Africa hasn't done things halfway. It not only closed its borders to keep out local tribes but also blocked so-called explorers from prying into the colony's interior—thus shutting out Arab merchants and slavers. "Cutting off one's livelihood is like killing one's parents." Therefore, at the same time East Africa sealed its borders, it opened the Laskankpori Trade Market for dealings with North African merchants.
Moreover, the colony hasn't raised the prices of East African products, and with frequent wars driving down slave prices, Arab merchants' costs have actually fallen. Logically, Laskankpori might earn East Africa little profit compared to port cities like Mombasa or Dar es Salaam, which form the colony's true commercial hubs. But on the coast, East Africa essentially collects no taxes or only nominal service fees, mindful that foreign colonizers at sea aren't to be trifled with. The colony's founding was no easy feat, so it still has to "play nice."
As for "sovereignty," in these times that's more a slogan than reality. Even after Germany was unified in Ernst's previous world, lacking naval power meant overseas colonies were just prey for Britain and France—and indeed they were carved up after World War I. And that was Germany, a top-tier power with considerable strength, which still couldn't prevent its colonies from being lost once blockaded by the Royal Navy. East Africa, an isolated "African island," obviously lacks the ability to negotiate with maritime giants. So even the supposedly declining Portugal and the Netherlands, from East Africa's perspective, remain formidable at sea—never mind Britain or France.
It would be simple to levy duties in the coast's major harbors and rely on the colony's fortifications to hold out for a while, but East Africa's black-and-white merchant fleets, so crucial to linking Europe and the Far East, are its real lifeline. Without immigrants, the colony's population would have to grow naturally, which would take decades—time in which "the rice would have gone cold." Natural growth alone wouldn't allow East Africa to develop enough, and at best it might match or even lag behind the old South Africa in resources.
Though East Africa's resources are fairly good, the most vital—coal, iron, oil—are in short supply. Low population further cripples them if a major power threatens. Because East Africa is effectively a German colony, poor handling of international relations could invite a beating from multiple sides. For now, its 1.75 million immigrants outnumber any single old-time colonizers in Africa, but they had also used local tribes as cannon fodder. Summing up, no tariffs can be raised in thriving ports like Dar es Salaam, because in the pre–Suez Canal era, so many ships stop by East Africa that antagonizing a powerful enemy would be unwise.
Ernst isn't "afraid" of other colonizers, but East Africa would pay a bitter price in any conflict, thus thwarting its growth. Meanwhile, Laskankpori Market is different, catering mostly to North African Arab merchants. Though East Africa fears maritime powers, it doesn't fear the land-based Arabs of North Africa. Indeed, those caravans rely on land routes. At sea, East Africa is weak, but on land, East Africa is a "major power."
Hence East Africa's customs are concentrated in the Laskankpori Market. North Africa's consumer base is by no means small, including the Sahara's desert and oasis tribes who lack everything. Historically, sub-Saharan Africa barely had large-scale grain cultivation aside from Egypt, Ethiopia, and parts of West Africa. While they did grow some grains, they had no improved seed varieties for wheat, rice, maize, etc. brought in by colonists. So in sub-Saharan Africa, agriculture was notoriously basic. Take the so-called "Northwestern Eight Nations," which East Africa just destroyed, still practicing half-farming, half-pastoralism, half-fishing, half-hunting. You'd occasionally see an innovative measure—like terracing or waterworks—but the region's backwardness prevented widespread adoption.
Such sporadic developments reflect an Africa that was too carefree. Hunting or picking fruit was simpler than planting. Without good seeds, yields might not beat wild flora, and rampant wildlife further discouraged agriculture. Even Ernst, if he'd been a native African, might never have been motivated to farm. This meager agriculture, combined with the culture of North Africa shaped by Arab influences, means their diets differ wholly from sub-Saharan Africa's. Consequently, North Africans typically imported grain via the Mediterranean or the Middle East. Now East Africa's colony offers them an alternative, especially letting Somali merchants compete with those from the Mediterranean and Middle East.
Thank you for the support, friends. If you want to read more chapters in advance, go to my Patreon.
Read 20 Chapters In Advance: patreon.com/Canserbero10
Friends can now purchase any novel with a 25% discount. This promotion ends on October 7th.