East Africa had extensive colonial possessions along the Persian Gulf coast, which formed the foundation of its colonial expansion into the Middle East. The Middle East and Central Asia were among the main directions of East Africa's economic colonial expansion at this stage.
Since the last century, East Africa's regional trade had already reached eastward to Afghanistan, northward into the Russian heartland of Central Asia, westward to the Red Sea coast, and southward to the Arabian Sea.
However, at that time, East Africa was not a major participant in international affairs in the Middle East and Central Asia. Aside from the local states and forces, Britain and the Russians were the dominant powers in those regions.
The other great powers were similar to East Africa. Lacking a military presence in the Middle East and Central Asia, their trade with the countries of the region was like water without a source and trees without roots; they certainly could not compete with Russia and Britain.
This was crucial. Without military guarantees, Russia and Britain could engage in unfair competition against other industrial nations. After all, if the quality and prices of industrial goods were truly compared, Britain aside, once competition was opened up, Russian industrial goods would certainly be routed in utter defeat.
Yet it was precisely because Russia possessed large spheres of influence in Central Asia and the Middle East that its wretched industry could monopolize local markets. Other countries might perhaps trade within Russia's sphere of influence as well, but compared with Russia's gains, their profits were utterly insignificant.
By the same token, East Africa had become a newly risen major participant in the Middle East because of its military presence there, and East Africa's military presence and deployments in the region had happened to be completed during World War.