This time, Nairobi city planned to take in 80,000 people. Added to the existing population of 20,000, it would nearly break 100,000, with hopes of becoming East Africa's first major city to surpass that mark.
The industry planned to support Nairobi city's massive population was textiles. The main cash crop grown in the agricultural areas around Nairobi was cotton.
At the same time, to broaden the range of products, East Africa planned to introduce Egyptian cotton for cultivation in the upper reaches of Somalia's rivers. Egyptian cotton, also known as Egyptian long-staple cotton, had long enjoyed a global reputation and was hailed as "white gold."
Cotton originated on the South Asian subcontinent and favored high temperatures and abundant rain. Tropical savannas, temperate monsoon regions, and tropical monsoon regions were the most suitable for its growth. Across the world, as irrigation technology developed, cotton cultivation increasingly concentrated in arid regions with irrigation conditions.
Yet the finest output was Egyptian long-staple cotton, improved by the Egyptians. The Kingdom of East Africa intended to directly introduce Egyptian varieties of long-staple cotton for cultivation.
In Egypt's Nile River Delta and along the Nile River, the river ensured that cotton cultivation never lacked water. The soil's moisture content remained consistent, humidity stayed around 60 percent, temperatures were steadily high, and both sunlight and rainfall were perfectly suited to cotton's growth. It was a flawless natural cotton irrigation system—a classic case of Heaven handing them a bowl of rice.
Searching the world for a similar environment, none could surpass Somalia. Though it lacked the blessing of the world's longest river, both the Shebelle River and the Juba River were major African rivers.
The Shebelle River in particular most resembled the Nile River in natural conditions. Both flowed from tropical savanna regions toward tropical deserts, forming irrigated