Small businesses follow in the footsteps of giants
Saturday, 1 September 2007
Alec Russell
TOMMY Zhang is the very model of a new-age Chinese businessman in Africa. Aged 23, he says he was at his home in Fujian province when a friend asked if he wanted to help set up a small trading business in Angola. Now, 18 months later, he is the deputy manager of a shop in the central town of Huambo selling Chinese bric-a-brac.
"I came for the money," he said with a laugh. Behind him his more taciturn friend was doing a brisk trade as scores of Angolans browsed through the clothes, stationery, hi-fi equipment and toys, all of which came by boat from China and thenby lorry from the coast to Huambo.
Asked if he might stay in Angola and be in the vanguard of a new settler community, Mr Zhang shook his head. He missed China too much and would stay at most another two years.
In the past few years the world focus has fallen on giant Chinese state companies deploying workers into Africa to work on infrastructure projects. By and large, that has been a simple business arrangement. In Angola, where tens of thousands of Chinese are at work, most are housed in compounds with tight security. They have minimal contact with the locals except on the roads, railways and other projects where they work by day.
Now, however, there seems to be a secondary trend: the arrival of Chinese small traders in the slipstream of the state companies. Using the connections already established by politicians and construction companies, they hope to make inroads into the Angolan consumer market which, five years after the end of a 27-year war, is just starting to take off.
In Luanda's São Paolo market, scores of Chinese businessmen can be seen selling goods imported from home. Their arrival has prompted speculation that many are planning to put down roots. Rumours in the Angolan press that the government was considering settling large numbers of Chinese in the agricultural heartland has caused disquiet among Angolans.
Historically, Asian traders have sometimes had a fraught relationship with local communities in Africa, where they have been labelled exploiters. While the Chinese companies' rapid building of infrastructure in Angola is popular, as in other African countries, their work is not known for its durability.
But the experience of the frontrunners -- representatives of state companies and small traders -- suggests that for the time being the chances of the Chinese turning into settlers are remote. Mr Zhang is very homesick.
"I like China more," he says. "The development here is low. The [mobile phone] network is very bad and the internet is slow. I will go back to see my parents next year, then come back here for one more time."
His homesickness is echoed by Song Jing, a 27-year-old engineer who has been in Angola for a year, running a trouble-shooting engineering team for high-priority projects. He will never forget his time in Africa, he says, but he and his workers would not dream of staying.
"China is much more advanced than this," he said. "It is hard to get used to the conditions and the diet. There are no vegetables here, only potatoes and tomatoes. I miss my parents. If I were married and away from my family I would get very depressed."
Neal Zhou came to Luanda a few months ago to help set up an office for Sino-mach, a state industrial design company. He and his colleagues even brought their table tennis kit with them. He oozes excitement about his new adventure and yet does not sound as if he will stay long.
"If I want to go out and have a good time I can't communicate," he says. "Only a few Chinese people will stay here for a long time. Most will be shuttled out and replaced every three months."
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FT Syndication Service
TOMMY Zhang is the very model of a new-age Chinese businessman in Africa. Aged 23, he says he was at his home in Fujian province when a friend asked if he wanted to help set up a small trading business in Angola. Now, 18 months later, he is the deputy manager of a shop in the central town of Huambo selling Chinese bric-a-brac.
"I came for the money," he said with a laugh. Behind him his more taciturn friend was doing a brisk trade as scores of Angolans browsed through the clothes, stationery, hi-fi equipment and toys, all of which came by boat from China and thenby lorry from the coast to Huambo.
Asked if he might stay in Angola and be in the vanguard of a new settler community, Mr Zhang shook his head. He missed China too much and would stay at most another two years.
In the past few years the world focus has fallen on giant Chinese state companies deploying workers into Africa to work on infrastructure projects. By and large, that has been a simple business arrangement. In Angola, where tens of thousands of Chinese are at work, most are housed in compounds with tight security. They have minimal contact with the locals except on the roads, railways and other projects where they work by day.
Now, however, there seems to be a secondary trend: the arrival of Chinese small traders in the slipstream of the state companies. Using the connections already established by politicians and construction companies, they hope to make inroads into the Angolan consumer market which, five years after the end of a 27-year war, is just starting to take off.
In Luanda's São Paolo market, scores of Chinese businessmen can be seen selling goods imported from home. Their arrival has prompted speculation that many are planning to put down roots. Rumours in the Angolan press that the government was considering settling large numbers of Chinese in the agricultural heartland has caused disquiet among Angolans.
Historically, Asian traders have sometimes had a fraught relationship with local communities in Africa, where they have been labelled exploiters. While the Chinese companies' rapid building of infrastructure in Angola is popular, as in other African countries, their work is not known for its durability.
But the experience of the frontrunners -- representatives of state companies and small traders -- suggests that for the time being the chances of the Chinese turning into settlers are remote. Mr Zhang is very homesick.
"I like China more," he says. "The development here is low. The [mobile phone] network is very bad and the internet is slow. I will go back to see my parents next year, then come back here for one more time."
His homesickness is echoed by Song Jing, a 27-year-old engineer who has been in Angola for a year, running a trouble-shooting engineering team for high-priority projects. He will never forget his time in Africa, he says, but he and his workers would not dream of staying.
"China is much more advanced than this," he said. "It is hard to get used to the conditions and the diet. There are no vegetables here, only potatoes and tomatoes. I miss my parents. If I were married and away from my family I would get very depressed."
Neal Zhou came to Luanda a few months ago to help set up an office for Sino-mach, a state industrial design company. He and his colleagues even brought their table tennis kit with them. He oozes excitement about his new adventure and yet does not sound as if he will stay long.
"If I want to go out and have a good time I can't communicate," he says. "Only a few Chinese people will stay here for a long time. Most will be shuttled out and replaced every three months."
........................................
FT Syndication Service