Showcasing Africa’s advantages
To make it possible, it is a priority to improve Africa’s image in investors’ eyes. Hai believes this can be managed by improving the “information asymmetry.”
“Investors outside Africa don’t know anything about African countries. Before I went to Africa, what did I know about Africa? If you’d asked me for a few words, I would have said war, disease, corruption and safari. Because that’s the Africa we know from the BBC, from CNN, from all the media.”
To challenge this image, Hai shares her African experience in investment forums around the world. “I worked very closely with then Ethiopian State Minister for Industry [Tadesse Haile]; I would call him at 10:00 in the evening. He would have a very busy schedule the next day, but he would meet me at 7:00 in the morning in his office to try to understand my problem. So for me, yes, there are a lot of problems in Africa in the early stage but if you have a minister willing to come to office earlier than the cleaner, that means a lot.”
The Made in Africa Initiative helps African countries discover what their comparative advantage is and provides them with the Asian manufacturing knowhow needed for industrial development. Hai says competitive labor is the advantage of many African countries. In addition, some have treaties with the United States and Europe that allow them to enjoy zero tariff on many imported goods.
“This is a big advantage because by shifting their orders from China to Africa, buyers in Europe and the United States can immediately enjoy up to 30 percent savings because of those duties,” she pointed out. Finally, geography is also an advantage for the continent, being closer to the European and American markets. The Made in Africa Initiative focuses on “quick successes,” like the Ethiopian shoe factory that got off the ground in three months. “We focused on making quick successes, within six months’ time [or] one year, so people can really see that it can be done quickly,” Hai said.
Last year, Hai went into partnership with Chinese textiles manufacturer Candy Ma to expand to Rwanda. She says the factory created 500 jobs. The businesswoman has also been a consultant for the Diamniadio Industrial Park in Dakar, Senegal. Impressed by her work, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization named her its goodwill ambassador.
“I am a beneficiary of China’s economic development and transformation,” is how she sees it. “And now I am actually moving from beneficiary to contributor in African development.”
Helen Hai has found her purpose. rachelrichez@yahoo.com