PC: German Confederation Congo?

In OTL, Leopold II of Belgium was given the Congo because that way there would be a neutral Congo without any single power dominating it (France, Germany, Portugal and Britain all had claims to the area) and a promise that all powers would have access for movement and trade.

Therefore my question is, in a TL where the Netherlands remains united and the German Confederation (dominated by Austria) survives, would it be possible for the German Confederation to be the neutral power that is given the Congo?
 
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In OTL, Leopold II of Belgium was given the Congo because that way there would be a neutral Congo without any single power dominating it (France, Germany, Portugal and Britain all had claims to the area) and a promise that all powers would have access for movement and trade.

Therefore my question is, in a TL where the Netherlands remains united and the German Confederation (dominated by Austria) survives, would it be possible for the German Confederation to be the neutral power that is given the Congo?
No, since that kind of Germany would still be a major power, even if it wouldn't be a major colonial power. A better way might be a late German unification (or an earlier scramble for Africa) in which a smaller German power gains the Congo (maybe a non british Hanover?), which later becomes part of a united Germany.
 
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