Special Administrative City

Italy's development of Ethiopia and Eritrea had indeed been remarkably intensive, thanks to its abundant surplus population. Many European countries wanted to imitate it, but simply could not.

If Italy had not split apart again because of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and if East Africa had not absorbed population from the Far East, then had Italy begun developing its African colonies a decade or so earlier, it would have been hard to say which side would have been stronger.

"All right. Since we cannot determine the pros and cons of this matter now, we will conduct an experiment first. Diredawa can serve as a pilot. If it succeeds, it can provide references and experience for other border regions in the future. If it fails, the losses will not be too great. After all, Diredawa is merely a small border city and will not have much impact on our overall strategy." Ernst finally brought the argument to an end.

"Diredawa shall be established as a Special Administrative City, with border trade as its primary focus of development, serving as East Africa's pilot city."

This allowed Diredawa to return early to its path of development, though this time, it had not risen through the railway.

"Diredawa lies on the southern side of the East African Rift Valley, with the Dechatu River running through it. The former Kafeira City was originally a distribution center for local agricultural and livestock products, where the fur trade flourished, so it does have a certain foundation. However, Diredawa's location is indeed extremely unfriendly to us in East Africa, especially with its poor transport connectivity. Northern Province and Turkana Province will need to reopen the traditional trade routes."

East Africa had previously made Diredawa a military outpost not by simply drawing a circle on a map. There had originally