Chinese company finds secret to business success in West Africa

The project will cover 61 hectares, including 300 large parking lots for platform trailers, 9,600 storage areas for containerized freight, five oil tanks each with a volume of 18,500 cubic meters, four large warehouses as well as office buildings, banks and fire stations.

Hualong also is involved in the construction of a hospital in Guinea and a deepwater port in Benin.

Su said Hualong always keeps its social responsibilities in mind. It has donated money and materials to local groups in need. It donated $20,000 and built a canteen for a girls' middle school in the Upper West Region in 2006, and helped with the maintenance and renovation of a 3-kilometer road in Accra in 2011.

"We will continue building local infrastructure and devote resources to public welfare establishments in Ghana, for the sake of Ghana's social, economic and cultural development and China-Ghana friendship," said Su.

Twenty years of devotion to his career and the enterprise's operation in Ghana has also won Su accolades. Not only was he nominated by the China Enterprises International Development Association as a "China excellent entrepreneur", he also was selected as vice-chairman of the China-Africa Business Council. Ghana's president also made Su an honorary citizen.

When asked for advice on what Chinese enterprises should do to win business opportunities in Africa, Su said priority should first be given to localization in the host country. Chinese companies doing business in Africa should strictly abide by local laws and regulations, respect local customs and habits, and learn to cultivate local management and technical talent, he said.

They also should be aware of local laws to protect their legitimate rights, he said.

Hualong has about 3,000 employees, both Chinese and Ghanaian, that include senior engineers, engineers, senior mechanics and workers of all kinds.

In the past two years, the company achieved annual revenue of more than $140 million and each year has created hundreds of jobs in local communities in Ghana.