Career twists meant changes were in store

How a Chinese bank worker ended up running his own supermarket in Africa

Working in the Bank of China international settlement section in Linyi, Shandong province, in 1997 - not long after graduating from college - Zhan Dong might not have foreseen life's twists and turns that would lead him to where he is today. He is running his own supermarket in Kenya.

After two years at the bank, a major flood devastated the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. The cause was attributed partly to deforestation.

Shandong Huasheng Group was then a leading building materials company in the province. Knowing that logging would be banned, the group decided to look for wood resources from other countries. It sent some people to Gabon to negotiate for a piece of forest. As the group lacked experience in foreign trade, it looked for someone to help train its staff.

The group happened to be Zhan Dong's client at the bank and he stepped into an advisory role, traveling with them to many African countries and helping, in the beginning, to prepare letters of credit for the importation of wood from Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. The longer he was involved, the more difficult it became for him to leave the group.

In 2000, he became an official staff member of the group on a five-year contract and stayed in Africa, together with a dozen new graduates recruited by Shandong Huasheng.

As a key member of the overseas expedition, he suggested the group not focus only on the wood business but on foreign trade generally. His suggestions gained the approval of his superiors, and he was subsequently assigned to oversee operations in nearly 30 countries in Africa.

Approaching the end of its contract, the group was unable to find somebody to replace Zhan, as many would-be candidates preferred to do business in Europe, the United States and Russia. Consequently, the African arm of the group withered and Zhan was asked to stay on in Kenya in an effort to rebuild the business.

Zhan said 2005 was a dividing line for world business. With enormous changes in the Eastern European market, many people flocked to Africa, which turned from a seller's market to a buyer's market. Under such circumstances, Zhan started to think of running his own business in Africa.

"I have been to many African countries, and most of them have Chinatowns," Zhan says. "I chose to stay in Kenya and start a supermarket because Kenya did not have a Chinatown for selling Chinese products."

He talked to his partner, Mei Hong, a woman who was already doing business in Kenya. The two agreed to create a supermarket business and sell Chinese goods.

Unlike other countries in Africa, there were no Chinese shops open in Kenya at the time except for those selling shoes and cloth made in China.

The two had to learn from the beginning. They went to government departments to learn all the details about running a supermarket. They gained generous support from the China Center, whose owner rented them a warehouse within the center.

Once started, the response from the Chinese community was exciting. As the Chinese population grew, the supermarket saw business boom.

As there were already many supermarket giant brands such as Nakumatt and Uchumi in Kenya, Zhan realized he needed to develop a new model to supplement others and serve a niche market.

"I decided to sell food with Chinese characters rather than daily necessities that were sold in other supermarkets," Zhan says.

He is clear that he wants to operate the supermarket for the long run and he must follow the rules and regulations of the country. For the past few years, he has spent heavily for government quarantine permits for all the Chinese commodities he wants to sell.

"Following the rules and regulations of a foreign country makes you feel at ease about running a business there," Zhan said.

panzhongming@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily Africa Weekly 03/17/2017 page27)