Library encounter that turned a page

Tanzanian students open eyes and doors to African business

A few years ago, for Wang Fengzhai any mention of Africa conjured up just two words: poverty and disease. In that regard, Wang, a university student, was similar to many millions of his Chinese compatriots.

But in 2012 that all changed after he came to know two Tanzanian students, Shafii Hamisi Swed and Justine Emanuel Luvanda, and these days when Wang thinks of Africa he thinks of business.

It all began one afternoon when he was reading in a library and the two Tanzanian students asked him how they could buy cards so they could use their laptop computers wirelessly.

"I had never thought about connecting with Africa, but that opened a door for my career," Wang says.

Through Swed and Luvanda, who are now his good friends, Wang gained not only a new insight into the continent, but was presented with a huge business opportunity.

Last year bilateral trade between China and Africa was worth more than $220 billion, the highest in history, Xinhua News Agency says.

After Wang met Swed and Luvanda early in 2012, he invited them to his hometown of Tai'an, Shandong province, during the following summer holidays. Over several months the three discussed the possibilities of doing business in Africa, and they agreed to register a trading company, Chinaworldbuz, in Hong Kong. At the same time they set up a website.

With the help of a friend of Swed who worked for a radio station in Tanzania, the company launched a two-week advertising campaign, and received many inquiries by phone and by e-mail.

"Some people said they used to buy products in China through third parties in Kenya, South Africa or Dubai, but dealing direct would save them a lot of money," Wang says.

In November 2012, Chinaworldbuz received its first order. In December the following year, the pilot free trade zone was set up in Shanghai, and the three, still short of capital, decided to register their company there.

"At the time, all I wanted to do was get enough money so we could travel to Tanzania, and we got investment of 700,000 yuan ($112,000) in August," Wang says.

Wang and four business partners, two Chinese and two Tanzanian, finally landed in Tanzania in January last year.

"Nothing was like I imagined," Wang says. "The weather is good, people are nice and looking at the Chinese and Japanese characters everywhere, on buildings and cars, I felt as though I was still in China."

Wang says he believes traffic conditions reflect the economic well-being of a country, and during his visit to Tanzania he was impressed by the huge number of family-owned cars, although that meant one could easily be stuck in traffic jams for two or three hours.

As these traffic jams sprung up, sellers would appear, bearing on their heads containers carrying all sorts of goods imaginable, including bottled water, fruit, ice cream and accessories.

For Wang and his partners that suggested there were many investment opportunities in the country, but they decided to stick to their original goal of trading.

In their more than two months in Tanzania, Wang's team launched a series of advertisements in four big cities, conducted 18 major newspaper, radio and television interviews, and set up their Tanzanian branch and office. After they returned to China they set up their website.

Those activities helped the company build its brand recognition in Africa, and later became an important factor in gaining business in Tanzania.

"The greatest benefit there for us was to gain a good understanding of local economic development so we could make the right decisions on growing there later.

"I was impressed with the fast speed of WiFi in the city, which is much faster than the wireless Internet connection speed in Shanghai. That kind of network lays a solid foundation for the widespread use of smartphones there."

Wang and Swed want to go to Tanzania soon, and they plan to set up showrooms and recruit staff.

Apart from the brick-and-mortar company, Chinaworldbuz plans to continuously expand its online activities.

"The website's functions are limited at the moment, but we keep on updating it and adding new functions such as BBS, new products and business communities for our more than 6,000 registered users," Wang says.

The company is convinced the website will have a key role once the e-commerce era gets into full swing in Africa.

"We also plan a smartphone app in a couple of months," Wang says.

The e-commerce companies Cdiscount and Jumia are already operating in Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria and South Africa, according to eastday.com.

Online trade in major African economies will account for 10 percent of their total retail transactions by 2025, a report by McKinsey predicts.

wangying@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily Africa Weekly 03/06/2015 page8)