Step by step

When Pan came to Africa to work for a Chinese tech giant, he expected to be gone in a few years. But gradually, his life has become intertwined with the continent

Pan Guoqiang came to Africa with a dream, but never thought he would stay long. Now, after 10 years, the general manager of Huawei Technologies Ethiopia is not sure whether he will ever leave the continent. "I'm step by step realizing and pushing forward my dream of selling quality Chinese goods all over the world," says Pan, who graduated from Southeast University in Nanjing with a master's degree in mechanical and electrical integration in 2001.

Africa is eager for quality goods, he believes, as well as technology that will help the continent develop.

"Never, never underestimate the demand for good quality products from African countries, which is also the soul of Huawei's global strategy," he says.

"I have been cooperating with many African IT talents these years and they are quite familiar with all the leading technologies in this industry and know what are more suitable for them at this stage."

When Pan joined Huawei in 2001, he first spent almost two years learning the basics of the company and its products before he was assigned to Tunis, Tunisia, as a client manager in 2003.

Huawei, which mainly sells telecommunication and other technology-based products, has become one of the international giants in its field and its products have been embraced across the world.

However, when Pan joined the company's Africa operations, it was still trying to expand into international markets and survive in an industry dominated by Western companies.

After one year in Tunis, Pan was faced with the decision whether to stay in Africa or move on. After some thought, he chose to remain.

"Europe at the time was my dream place not only because of its better living conditions, but more importantly because it is where most leading companies are, like Ericsson and Nokia," he says. "But eventually I thought that sticking to the frontline could help me understand how to develop a better personalized service for our clients."

Pan's decision to stay in Africa has since taken him on an exciting journey that at times laced with disappointment.

"West African countries including Senegal, Gambia, Cape Verde, and Mali still hadn't discovered Huawei in 2004 and I was so excited to be the first one to reach this region, because some of the countries didn't even have diplomatic relationships with China at that time," he says.

His enthusiasm was dealt a blow almost immediately when he realized that many Africans had strong doubts about the quality of Chinese products.

"They couldn't believe a Chinese company could make telecommunication related products and thought China was still under an empire," he says.

To allay his client's doubts, Pan took a party of Senegalese officials, technicians and businesspeople to the company's headquarters in Shenzhen, as well as Beijing and Shanghai.

"Naturally, their worries were all gone after this simply because seeing is believing," he says.

Pan believes globalization will help to further allay fears as Africans learn more about China.

"African markets' hopes and demand will be soon spotted and paid attention to," he says. "Under the backdrop of the development of the Chinese economy, we absolutely hope to win a greater share of the market if we can better satisfy their demand with good quality and acceptable prices."

As Huawei's international reputation has expanded, Pan's job has become easier. Recommendations from old customers have helped significantly, but he continues to search for ways to tailor services for African markets.

Pan says Huawei owes its success in Africa in part to the monopoly previously held by certain companies from the West.

"We have to make our price very competitive when entering a new market, especially in a market like Africa where price is a priority when making a choice," he says. "But even after compromises, we still made a profit because the price set by the traditional powers was too high."

Huawei's expansion in Africa is often compared to ZTE, a Shenzhen-based provider of telecommunications equipment and network solutions.

"We are quite open about this," says Pan. "ICT is a highly internationalized industry and we appreciate the presence of competition. We can learn a lot from our competitors."

One lesson, which Pan learned in 2005 after losing out in a bid for a project in Senegal against Siemens, was not to set the price too high.

"We couldn't make a precise evaluation of the market and risks so we set an unreasonably high price for our bid," he says. "I burst into tears on the street after losing that and felt so helpless, but I also made my decision to better understand this market and its demands."

Part of better serving the market, he says, is to understand the differences between countries across the continent and being sensitive to them.

As well as trying to learn about local customs, Pan sometimes introduces Chinese culture to his African clients, using literature or philosophy to help them better understand Huawei.

While Pan's time in Africa has been an exhilarating and informative journey, he has also missed a great deal by being here, including the birth of his son in 2007. He hopes to return to China when his son turns 10, but his return isn't a sure thing.

"I doubt if I can really go back there as I feel that my life is already tied with this continent," he says.

lilianxing@chinadaily.com.cn