Entrepreneurship in Africa after 1990s: A Construction Worker's Entrepreneurship in Africa
At the beginning of my business, I went around looking for a job.
One day in March, 1998, 42-year-old Zhu De Xianghe and several colleagues were sent from a project site in Namibia to Botswana to explore the market by the command of Zheng Tai Group headquarters.
When I first arrived in Gaborone, I was a stranger, the company was not registered, and there were no construction machinery, equipment and vehicles, so I was totally ineligible to participate in the project bidding. How to solve the survival problem in this case? Even if $5,000 is used for the living expenses of seven people, it won't last long.
In Zhu Dexiang's eyes, Gaborone at that time was like a big countryside. It's hard to see a building with more than three floors. The road conditions outside the city center are very bad. The roadside is full of waist-deep thatch, and the water supply and power supply are not normal. In order to save money, several people rented a bungalow with an iron roof of less than 20 square meters.
? At that time, I didn't want to return it. If I often want to retreat, it is impossible for a person to persist. Zhu Dexiang said,? I thought we were here to start a business, not to travel. What's the point of having a hard time?
Several of them went around looking for jobs separately, and they appeared on the construction sites in Gaborone, large and small.
At that time, there were several China construction companies in Botswana. As long as it is the construction site of China people, they will go in to befriend and put in a good word. Finally, they found a construction site of Qingdao Overseas Company, and the other party agreed to give them some work. The problem of eating was solved temporarily, but the next problem followed.
? We found a job, but we didn't have the start-up capital, mechanical equipment and vehicles, and no bank account, so we couldn't send money at home. I've been looking for money everywhere these days, and I'm worried about missing the start date and losing my job. I'm really worried. Zhu Dexiang is also deeply moved in retrospect.
Desperate, he met a clothing self-employed man in Jiangxi, China. Knowing their plight, the Jiangxi compatriot generously lent them $20,000 to solve their urgent needs.
In the next few years, I looked around for jobs like this. Don't ask what life is like. They do odd jobs and short jobs that others find dirty and afraid of suffering, such as building thatched houses and building walls.
Botswana has a dry climate, with the highest temperature in summer exceeding 40 degrees Celsius. Like the local black workers, they live in tin sheds, sleep on the concrete floor, eat corn on the cob and drink tap water. At the end of a summer, everyone looks at each other, okay? Reincarnation? Yes
In this way, with their down-to-earth and diligent work style, they gradually gained credibility, accumulated fixed assets and construction qualifications, and the company was successfully registered, so they obtained the bidding qualification.
Seize the opportunity to build development projects
After the global financial crisis in 2008, in order to stimulate the economy, the Botswana government made great efforts in infrastructure construction. Zheng Tai Botswana Company seized this opportunity and independently built four projects in Botswana.
20 10 In July, Zheng Tai Group Botswana Company won the largest civil engineering project of China Company in Botswana's history, and the largest civil engineering project in Botswana's history, with the contract amount of1390,000 yuan (about 230 million US dollars), which is also one of the five national key projects in Botswana.
? Do a project and make a group of friends. This is a sentence that Zhu Dexiang usually likes to say. He is convinced that this is the development and growth of Zheng Tai in Botswana? Secret? One.
He believes that to do this, we must first contract the project with excellent quality, and then learn to communicate.
? As a project contractor, it is not enough to work hard. Sometimes when we encounter unreasonable design, we will sincerely communicate with the owners and design companies. Because the result of the project designed according to the bad design will definitely not be good, once there is a problem, the reputation of the project contractor will definitely be affected, and the relationship with the owner, design company and project supervision will also be stiff. ?
Zhu Dexiang said that many projects are now invited to bid, and Botts Company of Zheng Tai Group will receive the initiative invitation from the owners to participate in the bidding. According to him, they are too busy now, and have turned down several private project invitations, because? Big mouthfuls often choke. .
? After so many years abroad, my dream is that China enterprises will be more and more integrated into the local economy and society in Africa and become the positive energy of China-Africa relations. Zhu Dexiang said.
Now, Zheng Tai Group has begun to explore the market in Zambia, and Zhu Dexiang, who is nearly sixty years old, is facing a second venture in Africa.
Entrepreneurship in Africa after 1990s: I sell mobile phones in the poorest country in the world.
The noon sun in Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi, is a bit poisonous. The second district is a business district with many people and cars. Most of the vehicles on the road are used cars from Japan. Young people in their twenties walk in groups of three or five in the market, or sit and play with their mobile phones. They like to play music stored in their mobile phones outside. Young people's mobile phones are mostly feature phones, and mobile Internet access is not popular here. The flow of 1G is more than 50 yuan, which is one sixth of the average monthly salary here.
Some people are trying to pedal their bikes. There is a pile of firewood in the back seat of the bicycle. They took it from the suburbs to the capital to sell. Many residents in the capital can't afford liquefied gas and need firewood to cook? Sima? It is made of cooked corn batter.
Most shops in the wholesale market are run by Indians and Pakistanis. Merchants in the countryside wholesale goods from here. They are carrying bundles of clothes to catch the long-distance CMB, so as to get enough goods before the peak season. The rainy season in Malawi is coming to an end, crops will be harvested, and farmers will sell corn, soybeans and tobacco leaves and change them into daily necessities.
There are many unemployed young people standing in the streets of the downtown area. Their eyes were fixed on the businessmen coming and going. If the opportunity is good, they will use poor skills to open pedestrians' backpacks.
In the center of Lilongwe, there is a bank area, and the security guards at the entrance of each bank carry guns, although some barrels are rusty.
The presidential motorcade passes the President Avenue in the capital, which is the only four-lane highway in the capital. There are only two lanes of asphalt roads left in the country. On the left side of the road is the Parliament Building, with a conference center of more than ten floors, which is the tallest building in the city, aided by China. There is a cornice pavilion with China characteristics near the Convention and Exhibition Center, called Matai Pavilion, which was built by Taiwan Province Province when Malawi established diplomatic relations with Taiwan Province Province. After 2008, Malawi broke off diplomatic relations with Taiwan Province Province and established diplomatic relations with the mainland. Some buildings in Taiwan Province Province were demolished, but the pavilion remained.
Go a few hundred meters further along President Avenue, and on the right side of the road is the Golden Peacock Hotel, which is one of the best hotels in the area. In addition, there are no modern hotels in Malawi, which are all old buildings left by white people during the colonial period.
In front of the Golden Peacock Hotel is the Golden Peacock Supermarket, which is very big. According to the current calculation, it can accommodate 10 times more passengers. Obviously, this is a bet on the future of Malawi.
Several villas have been built on a construction site in the northern suburbs. This is a purely commercial project undertaken by Henan International in China. There will be 700 villas here. In this poorest country, there are also many government officials and businessmen who can afford villas.
Malawi is located in south-central Africa, with a population of 10 million. It is the poorest country in the world. In 20 13 years, the per capita GDP was $223, that of China was $6,629, and that of Luxemburg 12 and 135 ranked first.
Lake Malawi [the third largest lake in Africa]
A chance to travel to Malawi by chance, we decided to start a business in Africa, starting from Malawi. Entrepreneurial direction, choose to sell mobile phones.
I. Zhang Youwen
On April 2, 20 14, my partner and I sent Zhang Youwen to Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi, for the first time.
Although it is an international flight, most people on the plane are from China, and occasionally a few black people are carrying big bags and small bags. Many people pack their goods in cartons, and there are coils of tape wrapped around the cartons. More and more African locals buy goods directly from Yiwu small wholesale market and sell them in their own countries in Africa.
On the plane, Zhang Youwen chatted with people near his seat. He met three people:
An uncle in his forties went to Ghana. Many Guangxi people dig gold mines in Ghana, and uncle goes there as a truck driver.
Another Huawei employee has been working in Zambia for five years, providing operation support system for MTN, the largest local telecom operator.
Another 90-year-old student, who is similar in age to Zhang Youwen, opened an Internet cafe in Equatorial Guinea. He is from Jiangxi, and his parents have been working in Guangzhou. He is a left-behind child in the mountainous area of Jiangxi. I graduated from junior high school two years ago and didn't go to high school. He went to Equatorial Guinea and worked in his uncle's hardware store. Later, I opened my own Internet cafe, where Internet access is very expensive, and the Internet cafe costs more than 40 yuan an hour.
After a flight of 12 hours, I changed planes in Addis Ababa. The airport is very crowded, and the cranes outside the window are roaring. Zhang Youwen is no stranger. A construction company from China is expanding the airport, and a big slogan of safe production is hung on the crane. It happened to be the Spring Festival in China, and half of the people at the airport were from China. All the signs are in Ethiopian, English and Chinese, and there is a Chinese information desk. Business in airport duty-free shops is very good. People in China are buying double happiness cigarettes, Chinese cigarettes and the like, and packing their luggage one by one. They couldn't get used to Dunhill Road abroad, so they extended their memories of their hometown to Africa with domestic cigarettes.
The smoking room at the airport was suffocating with people from China.
Next to the smoking room is a small room for Muslims to pray. After getting off the plane, some Muslims in robes are waiting in line to pray.
It still takes four hours to fly from Addis Ababa to Malawi. On the plane, Zhang Youwen saw the grasslands of Africa for the first time. From the plane, the land is flat, yellow and bare, with white light, and it is the aluminum roof of the earthen house. Now, Zhang Youwen is the only China person on the plane.
The plane descended almost vertically and landed with a bang at Lilongwe airport, which is pitifully small and has a short runway. The plane stopped after a sharp deceleration.
Second, Elfield.
When doing business in Africa, safety comes first. Zhang Youwen rented a villa in the rich area of Lilongwe.
Zhang Youwen is the only one living in the villa, and there is a gardener in the yard. His name is Elfield. He lives in a low house behind the yard and takes care of the flowers and plants in the yard.
Zhang Youwen is chatting with Elfield, just practicing English. He learned that Elfield's five children and his wife all live in the country.
Zhang Youwen greets Elfield in a very China way every day. He always asks, have you eaten? Elfield always answersno. It turns out that Elfield only eats two meals a day, breakfast and dinner, which is very late. Later, Zhang Youwen stopped asking him if he had eaten.
Once, Elfield asked Zhang Youwen if you were married.
Zhang Youwen answered no.
? You should get married. ? Elfield said firmly.
The second time, Elfield asked the same question again. Later, he told Zhang Youwen: I have a daughter. Is her age appropriate?
Zhang Youwen thought Elfield was joking, but he refused.
One morning, Zhang Youwen woke up and found a thief entering the house. There was a power grid in the fence of the yard, and the thief broke the steel bar at the gate and entered the yard. The door of the house was opened with a master key. Thieves entered the living room and stole more than 100 mobile phones. There is a door between the living room and the bedroom. The thief didn't enter the bedroom, but put many stones at the door. It is estimated that the thief is afraid that people in the bedroom will hear the sound and use stones as weapons.
At this time, it was the presidential election in Malawi, and social security deteriorated.
In order to hire a security guard, Zhang Youwen interviewed dozens of people and finally selected three people he thought were the most suitable. One of the security guards is the most responsible. He cherishes this job, not only at night, but also in the yard during the day.
Once, when Zhang Youwen was in the shop, the security guard in charge came over and told him that he didn't want to do the job. Zhang Youwen was surprised and asked him why. He said the gardener threatened to kill him if he continued to do the job.
Zhang Youwen thought that maybe Elfield was afraid that the security guards would take his job. Because in addition to the gardener's fixed salary, Zhang Youwen has to pay Elfield a salary to be responsible for the safety of the yard during the day.
A month later, Zhang Youwen's residence was stolen again, this time during the day. Bai Wan, the thief, pried open the steel bars in the living room window and stole everything in the living room, including Zhang Youwen's underwear.
After the incident, Elfield said that he went out to pick up seedlings during the day and was not in the yard. I don't know what happened.
Although Elfield feels suspicious, there is no evidence. The hard part is that Elfield was invited by the landlord, so it is not easy to fire him. In desperation, Zhang Youwen had to reinforce the windows with steel bars, leaving no room for thieves.
I came to Malawi to discuss with Zhang Youwen how to deal with Elfield, so I tried to chat with Elfield and get to know him.
Elfield asked me who I was and I said I was a friend of Zhang Youwen's. I do business in Zambia.
Elfield asked me: How many languages can you speak?
I said I can speak two languages, English and Chinese.
Elfield proudly told me that he could speak six languages, and he began to list them. Next, except Chihuahua, the mother tongue, and English, the official language of Malawi, the other four are all South African dialects.
It turned out that Elfield was trying to tell me that he had seen a lot. He has not only worked in South Africa, but also been to Zimbabwe and Zambia. Only after his father died did he return to Malawi.
I asked Elfield directly why Malawi is so poor compared with these countries.
Because in South Africa, the rich help the poor. If the rich have money, give it to relatives and friends and let relatives have money. The rich in Malawi don't help the poor at all, so Malawi is very poor.
This view of Elfield is very interesting. Although I didn't agree, I nodded my head.
Later, after chatting, Elfield told me that his house was flooded this year and the house was washed away. He needs money to repair it.
He complained to me again that Zhang Youwen should give him a raise.
He also said that he wanted to go home for Christmas and Zhang Youwen should give him a holiday.
Complaining so much, I feel it is not easy to chat with Elfield and get into his heart.
He only wants material things.
Elfield will go to church on Sunday. So one Sunday, I asked Elfield to go to church with me.
During his three hours in the church, Elfield completed the service according to the procedure. Boring worship and getting up early on Sunday make me yawn. Elfield complained that I shouldn't keep yawning.
After the service, I thought Elfield would chat with acquaintances, but in fact he didn't know anyone here. He didn't say hello to anyone after the ceremony. When he goes to church, he can only find the God he knows.
The night before I left, I chatted with Elfield again.
Elfield was very anxious when he knew I was leaving.
? Business in Malawi is good. I can open a shop in the town. ? He said:? Can I invest? I'll do it for you. ?
? What can you sell? I asked.
? Clothes, shoes, anything they want. ?
? However, Malawi's consumption power is not good. ? I said.
? Malawians are very rich. When the crops are ripe, they sell corn and tobacco leaves. They are very rich. ? Elfield insisted on his point of view.
? I only do business in Zambia. ? I don't want to tell him the truth.
? Business here is really easy to do. ? The elders stressed that? You don't want to sell clothes and shoes, you can also sell corn and tobacco. ?
? I have no corn or tobacco. ?
? You can buy it in one place and sell it in another. You can also sell chickens, buy native chickens from the countryside and sell them to Lilongwe. ?
Elfield's business knowledge is limited to what he sees.
I shook my head.
Aird is not satisfied. He told me that he had been a gardener for five years, and he was too tired and his salary was not enough. He only has 20,000 kwacha a month (less than 300 RMB in total).
How much money can you have? I asked.
? 70 thousand, or 80 thousand ? Elfield said,? If you do business here, I'll do it if you pay me 40 thousand. You pay me monthly, you pay me monthly. I'll do it for a month, you give me another month. ?
I continued to shake my head. Elfield didn't speak again. He turned on the radio and asked me if I had heard this song. He said that this is a singer in Zambia. I'm in Zambia. I should know.
We all fell silent.
Elfield is a little depressed. He looked at the ground, picked up a cigarette butt and twisted it carefully with toilet paper. He tried to smoke the discarded cigarette butts, but there was no tobacco left.
Can I have a cigarette? Elfield said.
I handed a cigarette and Elfield took it with both hands. I lit it for him, and he looked grateful.
Elfield was intoxicated by the way he smoked. He took a long puff of smoke.
? I'm very tired. He said,? I want to change my job. I have been doing this job for five years. ?
I got up to say good night and told him I was going to bed.
? You must give me your mobile phone number. When you go to Zambia, you can also give me a job. I only need 45,000 kwacha. ? Elfield said.
? I cry every day. ? Elfield finally said,? Because I am poor, my mother has no money, my wife has no money, and I have no money?
We moved out of that villa after Christmas.
Third, Friday.
Friday is our first local employee. We took Friday to our factory in Wang Feng.
The first time I went to Malawi, the police found that the car was helpless and the police lion asked for money. Fortunately, I met Wang Feng, which helped me a lot. Wang Feng gave the police some money and the police let us go. Then we became friends with Wang Feng.
When Zhang Youwen arrived in Malawi, the first thing he did was to recruit a local driver. Wang Feng said it was simple. There are many job seekers at the gate of his factory every day.
In the morning, Wang Feng opened the heavy iron gate of the factory. After inquiry, he found three driver's licenses for Zhang Youwen to interview, and Zhang Youwen accepted the one with the highest academic qualifications, that is, Friday.
Actually, I only went to college for three days on Friday.
Before joining, I drove a bus on Friday, didn't make much money, and learned the skills of dealing with the police. China people give 5000 kwacha to solve the problem, and give 1000 kwacha on Friday. Once our car was stopped by the police at night, and the police wouldn't let us go. He said to Friday that it will be windy tonight.
What the police mean is that it is not easy for him to check the car outside. If he is cold and hungry, give him some money.
Friday pretended not to understand and said, Yes, it's windy.
The police have no choice but to let us go.
Friday's family is poor, so it is estimated that he has been malnourished since childhood. This is a fragile appearance. On one occasion, he coughed badly. Zhang Youwen gave him a bag of Radix Isatidis, and he recovered after drinking it. Thank you very much on Friday.
At Christmas, I sent a message to every local colleague asking what their dream was. Friday gave me a long message. His main idea is that he wants to finish his college studies. Maybe this wish is simple for us, but too difficult for him, because he can't save enough college tuition at all, so he can only rely on our help.
I have seen Friday's mobile phone, which contains many e-books, some of which are high school textbooks, for example, how to solve a quadratic equation. It has been four years since he left school, and he still insists on learning these unnecessary things in reality.
Later, I signed up for another weekend class on Friday to study electronic courses.
When we started our business, the local people in China told us not to trust black people under any circumstances. However, we believe that localization is necessary in order to succeed. We should not only trust them, but also rely on them.
Four months later, Zhang Youwen began his first attempt. He asked Friday to go to town to collect money.
Zhang Youwen wrote this passage.
? By six o'clock in the afternoon, Friday hasn't come back yet. I panicked. After repeated phone calls, Friday said the signal was bad, and he said he couldn't wait for the bus. Finally, when I was desperate, I came back at ten o'clock on Friday night. He gave me a lot of money. I am very touched. Trust is not easy. ?
Six months later, Zhang Youwen's story in Malawi was reported by CCTV. In the Chinese world, CCTV said: Look at the guy in the pink shirt in the middle. He is a great local entrepreneurial youth. He sold smart phones locally and won the first local brand?
Fourth, Wilson
Children in Malawi play in Lake Malawi.
Wang Xufeng joined the company four months later than Zhang Youwen. From August, 20 14 to April, 20 15, he and Wilson, a local employee, spent most of their time together, even eating and living.
Wang Xufeng said that although many business people in China told him never to let black people touch money and things, he always kept his point of view, because Wilson showed different qualities from other employees and was mean. Even if he complained a lot, he would still finish his work. Wang Xufeng and Wilson talked about many things together, including the future and dreams.
Like Friday, Wilson also said that he would go back to school one day to continue his studies. For such a poor country, the simplest dream is whether he can live a good life, but Wilson is different, which makes Wang Xufeng have to admire Wilson.
Slowly, with the passage of time, Wang Xufeng's trust in Wilson was established. Wang Xufeng believes that Wilson can achieve a high position in the company and will have a bright future. Wang Xufeng began to let Wilson collect money independently. After several months, no mistakes were found.
This trust lasted until one day in April, when Wang Xufeng found that Wilson was short of some payment. Wang Xufeng formally talked to Wilson, who just kept silent and sweated. Finally, he said, deduct the underpaid part from your salary.
Wang Xufeng didn't say anything. He just thought that maybe the Wilson family needed money badly, so he took the money to help them out.
A few days later, Wang Xufeng found several mobile phones missing. He became suspicious and asked the local employees who handled the goods with Wilson. The employee's answer is: I have forgotten everything that happened that day, but I don't remember anything!
At this time, Wang Xufeng began to look at all the payments handled by Wilson, and found that there were problems with his recent payments. At this time, Wilson was sick and asked for leave to go home.
Wang Xufeng had to call every day to ask when Wilson would come back. Wilson always says that all the phones can't be connected until the fourth day.
Wang Xufeng felt deeply hurt by the knife, so he handed it to himself.
Remembering the advice of all China people when they first arrived, Wang Xufeng's trust collapsed instantly.
? It collapsed, leaving no residue. ? Wang Xufeng said.
Wang Xufeng began to reflect that he gave Wilson a chance to make mistakes and failed to correct them in time, which led to Wilson's greed becoming more and more serious, from cheating to running away.
After that, as long as the local employee is dishonest, Wang Xufeng will fire him. Although the continuous dismissal of employees will greatly affect the construction of a team, honesty is the bottom line that must be adhered to. Wang Xufeng also admitted that this was the shadow left by Wilson's departure.
? Rome was not built in a day, but one day is enough to destroy it. ? This sentence was once said by Wilson and Wang Xufeng.
However, after working in Malawi for one year, Wang Xufeng had the opportunity to go back to China for a holiday. He decided to give this opportunity to Chikondi, a local employee in Malawi.
Wang Xufeng said that in contact with local colleagues in Malawi, he felt that to build trust, local colleagues must know China. For example, when Wang Xufeng talks about the company expanding its business to more African countries, local colleagues will be puzzled, because in their minds, Lilongwe is the best city in the world except new york. Why do you want to do business in other African countries?
Why do you recommend Chikundi? Wang Xufeng listed three reasons in his email to me:
First: Chikundi is Blantyre's inventory management, and there has been no mistake.
Second: Chikondi's wish is to come to China and study mobile phone maintenance in domestic mobile phone factories.
Thirdly, he promised Chikundi that if he was honest, he would bring him to China.
Chikandi came to China, and Wang Xufeng fulfilled this promise.