After the North African Railway was fully connected, East Africa also prepared to build out its plans around this line. Darfur, a region that had originally been unimportant, would naturally see major developments as well.
First, one point had to be made clear: along the entire North African Railway—especially the roughly 1,500-kilometer stretch from northern Darfur to southern Italian Libya—towns, population, and freight demand could basically be ignored.
Over the 1,500-kilometer journey, there were only a handful of oases and water sources that could be counted on one hand. Jiaofu Town, for instance, was already the largest settlement along this section of railway, yet it had a population of barely a thousand and no meaningful output of its own.
Therefore, to tap the potential of the North African Railway, they could only start from its two ends. Italian Libya was chiefly Italy's government's concern, while the sections running through Darfur and the East African mainland fell under East Africa's responsibility and administration.
East Africa, Rhine City.
At a government work conference, Crown Prince Friedrich said, "Now that the North African Railway has opened, the overland trade route through which East Africa and Italy can expand from North Africa into the entire Mediterranean market has been completed."
"How are the preparations progressing in Darfur and the relevant provinces on the mainland?"
Naturally, East Africa could not fight an unprepared battle for the construction of the North African Railway. Long before this strategic project had been formally approved, preparations for related matters had already begun.
Cher Laid, Minister of Land and Resources, was the first to report. "Your Highness, based on local conditions in Darfur, we have conducted detailed surveys for nearly a decade."
"We have summarized Darfur's economic development advantages into three key points. The first is transportation, one of Darfur's