Trade with Abyssinia

Turkana Province, Kima City.

When East Africa had first occupied the southern Ethiopian Highlands, its main purpose had been to ensure the security of the Omo River's water source upstream of Lake Turkana.

With East Africa's occupation of this region, the water-source security issues of not only the Omo River, but also the Shebelle River, the Juba River, and many other rivers had been resolved. It was the "little water tower" of northeastern East Africa.

Now, trade with the Abyssinian Empire had made Turkana Province East Africa's most important overland trade port, while the Abyssinian Empire was also East Africa's largest land-trade partner.

The main reason was that the Abyssinian Empire was vast. Among the countries and regions bordering East Africa, the Abyssinian Empire and Egypt had the largest populations.

Unfortunately, Egypt's core regions were too far from East Africa, Sudan in between was too impoverished, and Egypt was now a British semi-colony. East Africa could only stare helplessly at that market.

"This pile of wood carvings can only fetch three Rheinland Shields. The wood-carving market isn't booming right now, especially for carvings like yours. Though they have their own cultural characteristics, they're worthless in the eyes of other countries."

"Mr. Hans, these carvings were painstakingly made over several days by Negmurt City's most renowned master artisan. Look at the patterns, and the grain of the wood. Never mind the craftsmanship—the material alone isn't cheap."

It had to be said that East Africa had inherited a German trait: there were simply too many people named Hans. If someone shouted the name on the street, six or seven people would probably turn around. However, immigrants from the Far East Empire had greatly enriched the diversity of East African given names and surnames.

"How much do you want, then?"

"At least twenty