Caprivi had returned to Germany two months before the agreement was signed. After all, as Imperial Chancellor, he could not remain abroad for too long—especially when East Africa was so far from Germany.
When European leaders traveled abroad, they generally only moved about within Europe, where distances were not particularly great. It was much like Confucius touring the various states, yet never really leaving the Central Plains.
Many European countries were, when placed in East Africa, only on the level of a province or city. Of course, there were also colossal powers such as the Russian Empire, with its absurdly vast homeland, and colonial nations such as Britain and France, whose overseas colonies covered immense territories.
After signing the cooperation agreement with Germany, East Africa once again turned its gaze toward the Austro-Hungarian Empire. East Africa's development could not do without Austria's support, especially since cooperation between the two countries had already been underway for many years.
Of course, the same point still stood: Austria was not the Austro-Hungarian Empire. That was the only regrettable part. Yet Austria had played no small role in the development of East Africa's coastal regions.
Back then, East Africa had opened the Northern Industrial Belt to cooperation with Austria, but the results had not been remarkable. The development of the Northern Industrial Belt had mainly been barely sustained through East Africa's own accumulated strength. Austrian investment was chiefly concentrated in Mombasa and had not penetrated deep inland. Naturally, this was also related to East Africa's policies and the Northern Industrial Belt's underlying conditions.
The Northern Industrial Belt had never been a resource-rich region, but that was in the past. Since the Northern Railway was expanded, resources from northern East Africa could flow without end through the Northern Railway directly to Mombasa. This was also