Building a bridge from China to Rwanda

Rwandan-owned business consultancy in Guangzhou flourishes as commerce picks up between the two countries

Margaret Liang says that even though her hometown, the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, has had an influx of Africans, she did not know any of the newcomers.

"We live in the same city, but we lived our lives in parallel. There was no crossroads," she says.

But six years ago she was introduced to a company run by an African entrepreneur, and her initial hesitation vanished.

She says that after she accepted a job with the company as a translator - she speaks English - it was just like working for any other boss.

Now her life is intertwined not only with the local African community, but also with Rwanda, about a seventh the size of her home province, Guangdong, which is next to Hong Kong.

Liang's adaptation to a new role has paralleled the growth of her company, Guangzhou Jacaju Consultancy Co Ltd, which has prospered by functioning as a bridge between Africa, especially Rwanda, and China.

The company provides a variety of services related to setting up businesses and trade logistics. They provide information about business opportunities, assist with the travel of African businesspeople to China, help in obtaining Chinese visas and work permits, and handle freight forwarding to Africa.

Nzamwita Vianney, chief representative of the company, says its main customers are eastern Africans, especially Rwandans like himself.

Jacaju's headquarters is located in Dubai and the owner, kanamugire Claver, is a Rwandan who started a similar business in Dar es Salaam in 1986.

After the connection between the Middle East and eastern Africa became much closer in the late 1990s, the owner moved the company to Dubai in 2000.

Between 2000 and 2004, the business went smoothly and helped satisfy the growing market back in Africa. But things deteriorated after the global economic crisis started in 2007.

"It could collapse at any time, so we had to find a way out. By then, China was a booming market and we regarded it as a top priority to shift our business focus, so we opened our office in Yiwu and Guangzhou in late 2009," he says.

Yiwu is a city in Zhejiang province, not far from Shanghai.

"We were actually a bit scared that he opened two offices in a strange country at the same time. But he was confident that the whole world was doing business with and looking at China."

Vianney was left alone after doing one week's market research with his boss in Yiwu, and he did not know where to start or how to prepare to do business in China until he met an Indian agent, who told him about the specific procedures to set up a company.

"When we were in Dubai, we used to do everything by ourselves, but I was told that here in China, many things must be done by locals. So my experience inspired me to focus on some similar things to help more Africans establish their businesses in China," he says.

Rwanda is a largely agricultural, landlocked country, and its trade heavily relies on ports in neighboring Kenya and Tanzania.

Many Rwandans want to travel to China to buy products, but there was no company offering specific information to help them, Vianney says.y

Also, because of Rwanda's small market, many traders could not fill an entire shipping container with goods for back home. They were facing risks of having their shipment canceled due to loose container shipping, which might shake their confidence and business opportunities. Vianney says his company would let Rwandans in China know that goods could be combined in one container if necessary.

From 2010 to 2014, the company's volume of shipments jumped from 20 containers a year to more than 100, and the number of customers doubled.

Vianney sees himself not only as a facilitator, but also as a witness to both countries' economic development and the changing patterns of Rwanda's development.

Unlike some African countries where entrepreneurs mostly import textiles from China, Rwandan businesspeople are most likely to buy building materials from China including tiles, steel bars and plumbing goods, followed by clothing.

"And they like to buy industrial machinery from China. Although the growth (in machinery sales) is small, I've already sensed the change," Vianney says, adding that this is a good indicator of domestic development and future trends in Rwanda.

He says the business gives him a perfect chance to research market opportunities in both China and Rwanda. He planned to get involved in other business activities after the consultancy work, but soon realized it is too challenging to manage them at the same time.

Vianney has decided to focus on his current business and wait for future expansion when the opportunity arises.

"The Rwandan community in Guangzhou is a relatively small one, only around 80 people, but this is already a big increase compared with 2010 when we came to Guangzhou," he says.

The growth has resulted in some competition - another consultancy aimed at Rwandan business appeared not long ago, but Vianney takes it as a good sign, that more Rwandans are coming to do business with China and the volume is going to get bigger.

The company is playing a bridging role for both sides, but so far he has not seen investors putting money into Rwanda. Vianney says his country is thirsty for foreign investment and his company is in an advantageous position to play a key role in introducing Chinese investment.

Liang says she has seen the steady progress Jacaju has made in the past six years as the company name has become more familiar to customers in both China and East Africa, thanks to the growth of the Rwandan market.

"I used to work for an Arabic boss and I can see the difference in the market demand from Rwanda and the Middle East. What we think is good for the Chinese market probably is not an ideal choice for them, so identifying the market demand and then matching it to right traders is vital," she says.

Working with Africans was a new experience, but Liang says it is a process of understanding a new culture and then communicating and bridging it with the Chinese culture and business environment.

Initially her Rwandan boss was so engrossed in the details of the process that things were run in a way that was divorced from the Chinese culture and system around them, she says. That brought them many handicaps in terms of accomplishing their mission.

"After some communication and lessons learned, the Chinese staff are now enjoying more flexibility and have missions with clear goals. We know how to deal with Chinese businesspeople and how the business environment is here, so trust and communication have made our business efficient and successful," she adds.

Liang, 28, the most senior Chinese staff member with the company, thought about quitting years ago because she was not clear about the company's prospects and her future with it. But as time has passed, things have improved and now she is quite committed and confident about it.

Liang says this is just the beginning of the company's development and she is ready to take a bigger role to help bring more business to both sides.

lilianxing@chinadaily.com.cn