↑ Li Guosheng shares life in Africa video screenshot
Red Star News Reporter丨Wang Yucheng, Yan Mochen, Lan Jing, Intern丨Ou Sichen, Shan Jiayun
Editor丨Guo Zhuang Responsible Editor丨Wei Kongming
Recently, a company in Shandong released a recruitment advertisement to recruit people with a monthly salary of 40,000 to be the director of a chicken farm in Tanzania, Africa, which caused heated discussions among netizens. According to Jiupai News reports, recruitment companies responded that the local environment is difficult and the technical requirements are high. We do not recruit young people under the age of 20 to be field leaders. The work of a technician also requires a certain amount of experience.
Some netizens jokingly said, "I chose to study at the age when I should have chickens", and some netizens were puzzled, is it really so simple to "pan for gold" in Africa?
Li Guoqiang, a Chinese who runs a chicken farm in Tanzania and the relevant person in charge of South-South Partnership Co., Ltd., shared his experience of doing breeding business in Africa on the short video platform. Li Guoqiang told Red Star News that in 2018, after he came to Africa for inspection, he decided to invest in opening a breeding base here and become a "non-drifter". Unlike small-scale retail farmers, the farm produces about 10,000 chickens a month to sell to buyers in the city.
Li Guoqiang said that operating aquaculture in Africa is different from that in China. It was a unique life experience. Achieving success can be rewarding, but it also requires overcoming difficulties large and small and being well prepared. "Africa's 'gold panning' is not easy, and it is not necessarily successful to come over as soon as your mind is hot." Li Guoqiang said.
↑ Hotly debated job postings Network screenshots
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Overcoming many difficulties, "Non-Drift" opened a chicken farm in Tanzania
Li Guoqiang from Foshan, Guangdong, was mainly engaged in the catering and entertainment industry before becoming a "non-drifter". The wife is a housewife and takes care of her 3 children. Li Guoqiang told reporters that he came to Africa to invest in the aquaculture industry because of the suggestion of a friend. This friend, a Canadian who participated in a study abroad program in Africa in 2016, thought that the development prospects there were broad after living for two years, so he invited Li Guoqiang and others to go to Africa to develop.
In 2018, Li Guoqiang came to Africa to conduct market research. After his expedition, he learned that the locals consume a lot of chicken and fish. The official language of Tanzania is English, and the language barrier is relatively small. Agriculture is the country's pillar industry, encouraged and supported by policies, and has considerable development potential. At the same time, Li Guoqiang believes that there is less competition between local enterprises, and enterprises can achieve benign operation after normal operation. After some thought, several people decided to develop the aquaculture industry in Tanzania.
After personal practice, Li Guoqiang lamented that it is not easy to do this business in Africa.
In 2019, Li Guoqiang and his partners submitted materials to prepare to build a factory in Tanzania. A few months later, the formalities were completed. They were preparing to travel to Africa when the epidemic struck, and many equipment needed to be transported by sea from the country to Tanzania, and the sea freight rate increased several times, which caught them off guard.
In September 2021, the breeding base was put into construction and encountered new troubles. The infrastructure of the site is not perfect, and the price of materials required for the construction of the base is higher than that of China, and the cost of construction is 2~3 times that of China. "If you need 10 million to build a factory in China, it may cost 30 million in Africa, so the payback cycle and other aspects must be recalculated." Li Guoqiang said.
Immediately afterwards, the price of feed rose, but the market price of chicken fluctuated little, resulting in a decline in profits, and the cost increased a lot. Li Guoqiang finally decided to buy feed at a Shandong feed mill in Tanzania. He is satisfied with the quality of the feed, but feels that it is still more expensive than the domestic price overall.
At the beginning of 2022, the farm began to operate, and encountered the problem of unstable power supply, which caused the equipment in the base to burn out several times. After Li Guoqiang reported to the local government, the power company helped Li Guoqiang replace the main circuit for free, so that it could be improved.
Finally, after various difficulties in the early stage, the farm gradually got on track. Li Guoqiang said that after the breeding base was built, the staff of the Chinese Consulate General in Zanzibar came to visit and helped them solve many problems. The local government is also very supportive of their work, and sometimes government staff come to visit the base.
↑ Li Guoqiang shares the work of the chicken farm Video screenshot
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40,000 monthly salary is not easy to get, African entrepreneurship is recommended to partner
On social platforms, Li Guoqiang used video to record his work: finding good land, negotiating prices, workers erecting wooden frames, laying cement, covering plastic sheeting, and putting boxes of chick seedlings into the chicken coop. After 1 month, the chicks are grown into snow-white adult chickens.
Li Guoqiang told reporters that the white-feathered chicken they chose to raise is an industrial chicken, which can be sold after about 1 month of growth, mainly sold to buyers in the city. An adult chicken is about 1.3~1.5 kg, the market price is about 3 US dollars, and when the festival is over, it can be sold for 4 US dollars. Mr. Li said the farm sells about 10,000 chickens a month, and the profit for one chicken is about $1. That translates to a monthly profit of about $10,000 from the sale of chickens.
Regarding the recruitment advertisement that caused heated discussions about hiring a chicken farm manager with a monthly salary of 40,000 yuan, Li Guoqiang said that chicken farm managers need to have the ability to be independent, and enterprises must have relatively high profits in order to offer high salaries. The monthly salary of local workers in chicken farms is not high, about a few hundred yuan. He recruits farm staff in China, with a basic salary of 15,000 yuan, and there will be a commission. Candidates are required to have a stable personality and at least two years of experience working in Tanzania. "The job advertisement promises a monthly salary of 40,000 (RMB) to hire a farm manager, and the candidate's ability and the profitability of the chicken farm are very high, which is not something that anyone can get." Li Guoqiang said.
Li Guoqiang suggested that starting a business in Africa is recommended to be a partner. Unsafe place, you can call a few more friends to go with you. If you encounter difficulties in all aspects of entrepreneurship, you can also discuss and solve them with friends, and share information.
Mr. Li remembers one time when his friend was eating outside the airport during a connecting flight in Ethiopia, a local came up to shake his hand and another snatched his phone and ran. The phone was a friend's work phone, containing Chinese mainland calling cards and binding many mobile banking accounts. The phone was robbed, which brought a lot of trouble.
To Li's delight, the local villagers enjoyed working with them. They go to the village to recruit workers, many villagers will actively sign up, and local government workers will help them coordinate. When Li Guoqiang went out, villagers, adults and children, would greet him. When the farm first started, there was no water or electricity, and the staff would ask Li Guoqiang if he was thirsty, and then climb the coconut tree to pick the coconut to quench his thirst. Aunts in nearby villages would also cook rice, bring squeezed mango juice, and come to the gate of the base to sell it cheaply to Li Guoqiang.
According to the Ministry of Commerce of China, there are about 20,000 overseas Chinese in Tanzania. According to the "Guidelines for Countries (Regions) of Foreign Investment Cooperation (2021 Edition)", Tanzania's overseas Chinese in Tanzania are about 6,000, which has decreased significantly. Li Guoqiang remembers that about 10 years ago, many "non-drifters" sold some small commodities and second-hand clothing to Africa and obtained considerable income. However, in recent years, due to the gradual disappearance of the "information gap", this business has not been so good.
Li Guoqiang believes that starting a business in Africa requires the preparation of a complete business plan and development plan. "Don't think of Africa as a gold rush. Coming over as soon as the mind is hot is not necessarily successful. Li Guoqiang said.
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