African Entrepreneurship Record

Kitwe's urban area had undergone initial renovations. By the end of the year, over a dozen medium-to-large enterprises and hundreds of small workshop-style production facilities had been shut down, significantly reducing industrial waste in Kitwe.

Throughout 1921, the Kitwe city government focused primarily on this, which greatly impacted the city's fiscal revenue and made it impossible to immediately compensate for these losses.

However, Kitwe did see some gains. After shutting down a number of the most polluting businesses and numerous small workshops, Kitwe's urban area experienced a long-awaited change.

Although towering chimneys still dotted Kitwe's landscape, emitting smoke into the sky, it was no longer to the extent of covering half the city's sky as it once had.

In the past, on certain days, visibility in Kitwe's urban area would drastically decrease due to industrial production. While not as extreme as in London, it was enough to threaten the health of the citizens.

Now, with a significant reduction in Kitwe's industry, the remaining factories are the city's lifeline, indispensable at least in the short term.

The Kitwe city government's policy for these enterprises is to renovate where possible, while also providing assistance in other areas.

Previously, Kitwe was surrounded by a haze of smoke, but now the city's air emissions are more like a few strokes of ink on a blank sheet of paper, possessing a certain poetic quality.

Replacing those heavily polluting production enterprises were various consumer and commercial service-oriented businesses and institutions. Although they were insufficient to replace the shuttered factories, they prevented Kitwe's economy from looking too dire.

It should be noted that, affected by the economic recession, the entire East African economy is in a state of stagflation. Therefore, De Bern did not want to see Kitwe trigger market panic and cause a chain reaction due to overly dogmatic policies.

However, Kitwe's current economic situation has already caused widespread public discontent, with many complaints directed towards De Bern.

De Bern was well aware of his sharply declining public approval rating, but he was not someone easily swayed by external rumors or short-term difficulties.

In fact, De Bern had less than two years left in his term. Before the end of the Five-Year Plan, he would likely retire to the second tier.

De Bern's conscience told him that his series of actions were, on the whole, not problematic. He was considering Kitwe's long-term interests. Otherwise, an unchanging Kitwe would likely fade into obscurity and become a peripheral city in East Africa.

Therefore, De Bern said, "The economic transformation cannot be stopped now, and if we can bring the film and television industry to Kitwe, it would be a great thing for the city."

"In January next year, the city government will organize personnel to inspect the film and television industries in Mombasa and Rhein City, and strive to attract some relevant practitioners to start businesses and develop in Kitwe."

"Especially the higher education talents in Rhein City, that is, those outstanding students who are about to graduate, our Kitwe should provide them with a good development environment, whether it is entrepreneurship or work, they should feel Kitwe's sincerity."

"And within the city, our support for the film and television industry has two levels: one is the official level, with the city radio station splitting off a group of personnel to form a city television station."

"The other is the private level, introducing private enterprises to invest in film and television projects in Kitwe, and increasing cooperation with Mombasa and Rhein City..."

To be honest, De Bern was also clueless about how to develop the film and television industry. After all, the film and television industry is an emerging industry, and it is a new thing all over the world. Its germination occurred only in the 1980s and 1990s, and it officially took shape at the beginning of this century.

Therefore, De Bern can only try his best to find "professionals" to help Kitwe build a platform for the development of the film and television industry, but as the saying goes, every profession is like a mountain. Precisely because he does not know enough about the film and television industry, he can only try his best to rely on the upper echelons.

For example, Kitwe Radio Station is one of Kitwe's industries. De Bern believes that this should be the unit in the city that is most related to the film and television industry, so letting them assist the Kitwe city government in building a television station is a solution, albeit not a perfect one.

Currently, there are only four television stations in the entire East Africa, two of which are in the capital Rhein City, and one each in Mombasa and Dar es Salaam.

This shows how niche, or even rare, television stations are in East Africa right now.

Therefore, in addition to its own efforts, De Bern can only learn from the three cities of Rhein City, Mombasa, and Dar es Salaam, and introduce technology and personnel to build the platform.

Especially the university students in Rhein City, which are the best talent option for Kitwe to win over.

Thus, at the beginning of 1922, the Kitwe city government officially launched the action of introducing and building the film and television industry.

De Bern personally led a team to Rhein City and entered the National Media University, Film Academy, and Art Academy to recruit talents.

The initial actions in Kitwe were very smooth. The film and television industry is an emerging industry, but many people in East Africa have not realized this, which allowed Kitwe to successfully pick up the slack. After all, if other cities, especially those big cities, were competing with Kitwe, then Kitwe would not need to bother.

Not to mention those economically strong cities with a population of over one million, even cities like Maputo and Benguela with a similar population size to Kitwe, Kitwe would not be able to compete.

As for Kitwe's solicitation and cooperation, relevant universities or units in East Africa are also relatively welcome. At present, the film and television industry is still a small cake, but the potential is great, so even the film and television industry in Rhein City is not afraid of competition.

And universities are even more pure. It is a good thing for students to be able to find employment immediately after graduation and receive government support.

Now, because of the relatively high level of higher education in East Africa, East African university students are far less valuable than university students in other countries.

After all, scarcity makes things valuable. East Africa has consistently ranked first in the world in the number of university students, so it is naturally impossible to be completely limited to a situation monopolized by the elite class like other countries.

Kitwe Talent Recruitment Fair.

"Student, are you interested in developing in our Kitwe?" De Bern personally acted as a staff member of the recruitment fair, recruiting soldiers on the campus of the Media University.

"What place is Kitwe?" a university student asked.

It is no wonder that someone asked this. Kitwe's popularity in East Africa is not very high. After all, there are nearly a thousand cities in East Africa alone, and Kitwe is only in the upper-middle level, even within the top 100. But even so, it is not an exaggeration to say that Kitwe is unremarkable.

Although Kitwe is known as the second largest city in the Copperbelt and is also featured in East African middle school geography textbooks, Lubumbashi is still more representative when it comes to the Copperbelt.

So, De Boer still patiently explained, "Kitwe's popularity isn't very high, but our economic level is still quite good nationally. You've probably heard of the Copperbelt, right? Kitwe is the second largest city in the Copperbelt."

"Now that you mention it, I understand! The Copperbelt! The industrial area where Lubumbashi is located," the university student said.

This made Mayor De Boer feel a little down, but it was also normal. Lubumbashi is one of the top ten largest cities in the country and the provincial capital. The latter alone is enough to give it a certain reputation throughout East Africa.

De Boer said, "Yes, we are the city next to Lubumbashi, but although our city is next to Lubumbashi, Lubumbashi belongs to the Shaba Province, while Kitwe belongs to the Central Province."

The reason for emphasizing the latter was to prevent people from thinking that the unknown Kitwe was located in a remote area, while the Central Province was equivalent to East Africa's directly administered province.

At this time, De Boer regretted not bringing a map of the Central Province, otherwise it would have been easier for him to explain the situation of Kitwe.

A student asked, "Is this a talent recruitment fair organized by your city government? It's not graduation season yet."

De Boer said, "Of course. I am the mayor of Kitwe. Look, this is my ID."

As he spoke, De Boer took out his work permit to prove it, which really surprised the students of the Communication University.

After all, this was the first time they had seen a department-level cadre like De Boer, the mayor of a city, personally running to the playground, acting as a recruitment fair staff member, and being so kind and amiable.

Here, it is important to understand a concept: the mayors of East Africa are also divided into sizes. There is no county-level administrative division under the prefecture-level cities in East Africa, so directly below the prefecture-level city is the town.

The mayor of a prefecture-level city is a mayor, and the mayor of a town-level city is also a mayor, but the value of the two is obviously different.

De Boer joked, "If it weren't for this, I'm afraid your president wouldn't have let us in."

"The reason why Kitwe is holding a talent recruitment fair on campus in advance is because our city is undergoing a transformation in the economic field."

"Kitwe used to be a developed industrial city, but this has also led to a relatively single industrial structure. Therefore, in order to seek diversified development, we need different talents to help us achieve this."

"And one of our city's important goals in the near future is to vigorously promote the development of the film and television industry, so that Kitwe will become the fourth film and television base after Rhein City, Mombasa, and Dar es Salaam, and even the first film and television city in East Africa."

The pie that De Boer drew really attracted the interest of some students. After all, this is the National Communication University, and many students majoring in related fields are no strangers to the film and television industry.

"Mayor De Boer, is your city planning to make movies?"

"Does Kitwe have any mature film and television companies?"

"What is the salary if we go to work in Kitwe..."

Faced with the students' questions, De Boer patiently answered, "Not only movies, documentaries, music, and even other things that may be related to it and can be spread through cameras and telecommunications signals, our city supports them all."

"Currently, Kitwe has an existing television station, but our city government has drafted the establishment of a film production company and is preparing to introduce some film and television companies to invest in Kitwe, so the employment prospects are broad."

"As for the salary issue, Kitwe supports the development of the film and television industry and will naturally allocate resources to it. Of course, if you, the proud children of the empire, encounter any trouble in the future, you can directly contact me, and I will definitely give you a satisfactory attitude..."

Of course, some people also heard the subtext from De Boer's words, that Kitwe has no film and television industry foundation at all and lacks relevant experience, so they began to retreat.

Of course, some people think this is a good opportunity. No foundation doesn't matter. After all, everyone hasn't left the campus yet, and what they lack most after entering society is opportunity.

After all, if you really enter those more mature companies and units, you may not have the opportunity to show your talents.

Now Kitwe provides a platform. If you make a little effort, you may be able to catch a ride and eventually soar into the sky.

"Mr. Mayor, how many people do you need approximately?"

Hearing this, De Boer was very happy, after all, this meant that someone was interested, so he said, "Naturally, the more the better. Of course, the prerequisite is that you must have real talent and practical knowledge. However, our requirements will not be too outrageous. As long as the professional quality is qualified, our city welcomes you."

"You don't need to worry. Anyway, Kitwe is not far from your university. The round trip between Rhein City and Kitwe by rail and road is only one day."

"You can find a holiday to visit Kitwe. Our city government can send someone to personally receive you."

The proximity to Rhein City is a huge advantage of Kitwe. Even Mombasa, which has the most developed film and television industry, cannot compare to this. After all, Rhein City, due to the concentration of educational resources, has gathered the country's top talents. The closer it is to Rhein City, the more conducive it is to absorbing these talents. Of course, the premise is that there is corresponding industrial and employment support.

Under De Boer's忽悠 (persuasion), more than a dozen university students from the Communication University were prepared to try their luck in Kitwe that day. However, these dozen students were not the best in terms of grades, which is also easy to understand. More outstanding talents are definitely more willing to stay in Rhein City or go to Mombasa and Dar es Salaam for development. Their grades are the stepping stones. There is no need to run to a city that doesn't know if it will succeed and has a relatively poor economic level.