Chinese-inspired heroes bring light to remote areas

A group of workers in Kenya has followed the example of the popular Chinese novel Outlaws of the Marsh, which depicts the 108 heroes of peasant uprisings.

In Kenya, there are also 108 heroes who are striving to emulate Prometheus in Greek mythology - who stole fire from the gods and gave it to humans - by bringing light to people in remote areas of the country.

These heroes are three Chinese and 105 local staff workers at BETT Co, a subsidiary of Beijing Electricity Transmission and Transformation, that was registered in Kenya in 1999.

When the company came to Kenya, it aimed for the contract for the urban grid renovation project in Nairobi. In the process, it found that all of the electric poles in Nairobi were made of wood.

"BETT has more than 30 years' experience of producing concrete poles and has technicians and complete plants for the products," says Zhai Yanquan, managing director of BETT Co.

"The management of BETT decided to introduce the technology to produce concrete poles in Kenya," Zhai says.

In 2003, the company bought land and built a factory, and in 2004 it installed equipment. It opened for business in May 2005.

It won the first contract from Kenya Power in the same year to supply 25,000 concrete poles. However, business took a downturn afterward, since the Kenya market was not ready for the facility due to incomplete supporting components for installation.

Not until 2009 did Kenya Power resume purchasing the poles, because it had gradually realized their benefits - no maintenance is required - and support facilities began to be put into place.

That same year, Kenya Power decided that all newly built power lines must use concrete poles. As the only producer of concrete poles at the time, BETT Co supplied 100,000 between 2009 and 2014.

Business again hit a low point in 2015, as many competitors flocked to the sector and grabbed market share with low prices, which resulted in poor quality.

Early last year, public bidding favored quality over low prices, giving BETT a chance to win back the bidding. The company now produces between 22,000 and 25,000 poles per year.

The company has become a strong supporter of Kenya Power's Last Mile Connectivity program to erect concrete poles and send power to remote areas.

Dominic Ndaya, who has been with BETT since 1999 and is the company's sales and marketing manager, admits that in the beginning, there were three challenges for concrete poles: They were too heavy to install and difficult to transport and offload from trucks.

To cope with the problems, he says, the company sent six Kenya Power engineers to China in 2005 to be trained on site and gain the expertise. After they returned from China, Kenya Power sent local engineers to be trained in the factory.

Gradually, the advantages of using concrete poles were understood: They save the environment, create jobs and are cost-effective. These factors contributed to the growing business of the company, says Ndaya.

Benjamin Muli, an internal supervisor at BETT, ensures that production goes smoothly each day. During 13 years with the company, he went from being a general laborer to learning to install machines and operate cranes.

He says he became versatile thanks to the guidance of Chinese experts.

Everline Myatich, company secretary, is also thankful after two years with the company. By working with the Chinese, she says, she soon adapted to the environment and learned much.

She says the presence of the company has helped to greatly improve the social environment, since many local people lead better lives because they work for the company.

panzhongming@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily Africa Weekly 04/14/2017 page28)