On December 18-19, 2024, the "2024 Global Globalization Forum • Shanghai" (GGF2024 Shanghai) hosted by EqualOcean, a new think tank for global globalization, came to a successful conclusion in Xuhui District, Shanghai. The conference will last for two days and one night, with a total of four full day global forums: Leaders Forum, Brand Global Forum, Overseas Insight Forum, and Emerging Industry Global Forum. 107 guests, 100 award-winning institutions, and over 3000 attendees will join forces to expand globalization, strive for "true" global expansion, and create a new chapter in global expansion in 2025.
On December 19th, during the roundtable discussion on "Africa - Decoding the Password of Chinese Enterprises" at the "Overseas Insight Forum", Pyxis Xinghui CEO and co-founder Long Zhiyun, CMB International Capital Executive Director Lu Shan, Roselake Ventures partner Zhang Lingxin, and China Africa Cross border Technology and Emerging Venture Capital Market Business Advisor Li Yixuan participated as roundtable guests. Yang Han, the host of "Africa Adventure", presided over the roundtable discussion. The following are the speeches of the roundtable guests.
Lu Shan: To start a business in Africa, you need to 'take off your shoes'
Lu Shan, Executive Director of CMB International Capital, has been engaged in VCPE investment for 12 years at Yunfeng Fund and Fosun Group. Since 2014, the first enterprise involved in overseas investment was acquired by ByteDance, participated in the planning of the "Win in Africa" venture capital fund, promoted and assisted many investment enterprises to expand overseas business, had first-line practice in North America, East Asia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and African markets, and was a firm believer in Chinese enterprises, Chinese models, Chinese intelligence, and Chinese supply chain overseas.
When exploring business opportunities and challenges in Africa, Mr. Lu focused his attention on sub Saharan Africa. He deeply realized that the weak links in the local infrastructure urgently needed to be addressed, and technological means could be the key to breaking through. Taking clean water and photovoltaic energy technologies as examples, stable clean water supply and sustainable electricity security can lay a solid foundation for the economic development and improvement of people's livelihoods in Africa.
However, the current situation of the African financial industry is not optimistic. The process of commercialization and monetization faces numerous obstacles, and data growth often falls into bottlenecks. However, Mr. Lu also discovered some potential business opportunities from it. On the one hand, Africans have relatively less life pressure and more abundant leisure time, which makes the gambling industry have a certain market fit in the local area; On the other hand, the lending business in emerging markets also shows promising prospects, as there is a high demand for funds locally, and the supply of formal financial services has not yet fully met market demand. However, it is worth noting that the development of the gambling industry must carefully weigh the potential social impact and negative effects it may bring.
Mr. Lu has brought a brand new perspective on corporate social responsibility and ESG issues. He believes that the current ESG standards are to some extent trade barriers set up by developed countries against developing countries, and for ordinary Chinese companies in Africa, there is no need to overly focus on the strict implementation of these standards at this stage. You can refer to the development path of enterprises in the early stages of China's reform and opening up. At that time, domestic enterprises were gradually exploring and improving the practice of corporate governance and social responsibility during their development process. Moreover, in some regions of Africa, government management is relatively loose, and many local enterprises have not yet followed ESG principles. However, some top Chinese enterprises already have high standards and norms. In this situation, ordinary enterprises can seek balance in their development, gradually improving their social and environmental performance according to the actual situation while pursuing economic benefits.
Looking ahead to the situation of Chinese enterprises going global in 2024, Mr. Lu recalled the scene of actively encouraging enterprises to go global last year, and now he has seen many enterprises taking action. But he also realizes soberly that there are significant differences between Chinese companies going global and Japanese companies. Japanese companies often focus on large-scale full industry chain enterprises when going global, and can obtain certain support from countries such as the United States in the international market, possessing strong resources and advantages. Chinese enterprises should adhere to a prudent strategy in the process of going global, avoiding unnecessary risks and losses caused by blindly following the trend and impulsive decisions.
Zhang Lingxin: Africa has enormous technological potential and is showing a diversified trend in going global
Zhang Lingshen, a serial entrepreneur and young investor. Master of Economics from Yale University, Bachelor of Actuarial Science from the London School of Economics (LSE), and the third phase of the Yabuli Growth Program. I have nearly a decade of experience in industrial mergers and acquisitions, equity investment, and corporate strategic management in Europe, Africa, and Asia. I have worked for well-known investment banks, institutions, and fintech unicorns both domestically and internationally, including Morgan Stanley and Health Investment Standard Bank Group、 Huatai International, Zhongyuan Consumer Finance, and others led the completion of nearly $8 billion in cross-border mergers and equity investment transactions during their employment.
In the field of financial technology in Africa, Mr. Zhang mentioned that about 70% -80% of people in Africa do not have bank accounts, which highlights the huge development space of financial technology in the local area. In the past four years, fintech startups have developed rapidly, but the overall penetration rate is still relatively low, only 5%. If other African countries can reach 15%, the scale of the entire African fintech industry will greatly increase, from the current about 10 billion US dollars to 50 billion US dollars, which fully demonstrates the huge potential and broad prospects of the African fintech market.
Mr. Zhang pointed out that the primary market for technology venture capital has undergone significant changes. The once almost non-existent entrepreneurial and financing environment has rapidly risen due to the significant increase in online penetration rate after the epidemic, and the financing scale has rapidly jumped from several hundred million US dollars to 4-5 billion US dollars. However, due to the deterioration of the international environment and factors such as the US dollar interest rate hike, the market has shown a trend of slowing down and cooling down in the past two years. In terms of investment industry, Fintech and Internet finance are undoubtedly the areas with the strongest ability to attract money, because their liquidation methods are simple and direct. Meanwhile, the majority of people in Africa have not entered the formal financial system and do not have bank accounts, making fintech a necessity for them. In addition to financial technology, e-commerce, Internet education, new energy and other industries have also attracted much attention in Africa, showing a hot development trend.
In addition, Mr. Zhang also shared his observations on China's phenomenon of going abroad. He found that China's model of going global is undergoing a profound transformation, gradually moving from the initial product and brand going global to the entire industry chain and value chain going global. In 2024, numerous service institutions will begin to go global, including law firms, securities firms, banks, certification agencies, etc. This trend reflects the continuous deepening of Chinese enterprises' overseas market layout. Digital infrastructure going global has become a major highlight, and IP going global has also shown a good development trend. They have successfully spread Chinese stories and Eastern aesthetics to various parts of the world, which not only helps to enhance the influence of Chinese culture, but also establishes a unique image for Chinese enterprises in overseas markets, becoming a direction worthy of encouragement and support in the wave of China's going global.
Long Zhiyun: The African market is fragmented and scattered, and higher gross margins should be pursued
Long Zhiyun, CEO and co-founder of Pyxis Star Hub, based in Nairobi. Pyxis is a fintech company focused on non cross-border payments, headquartered in Singapore. April has many years of experience working in African banks and payment companies, and has in-depth insights and experience in Central African trade and investment. April's vision is to help African small and medium-sized enterprises create a fair trade environment and effectively participate in international trade through technology and innovation.
Ms. Long first starts with the situation of emerging technologies in Africa, believing that Africa mainly focuses on popularizing existing technologies, such as AI. Although some companies are training language models, due to weak infrastructure and other factors, it has not yet become the main battlefield for technological innovation. In terms of commercial operations, for high gross profit industries in Africa, she pointed out using Kenya as an example that due to market fragmentation, dispersed population, and limited urbanization, the traditional high volume and low price model is difficult to implement, and should be targeted at those who have the ability to pay. Like new energy panels, although the cost is not high, they can be sold at a high price with the help of financial services, but this comes with many risks such as consumer credit evaluation, repayment ability, and after-sales service.
In terms of cultural cognition, Ms. Long views Africa from a new perspective and mentions the concept of slums described by Western media, which is actually similar to urban villages in China and is a transitional stage of urban development. New entrants to the world should have a more objective understanding of Africa. Regarding the monetization of traffic between Africa and China, she emphasized that there are significant differences between the two. It is easy to monetize traffic in China, while obtaining traffic in Africa is not difficult, but monetization is fraught with challenges. Taking collaboration with influencers as an example, African pan entertainment influencers need to undertake a wide range of advertisements in order to maintain their presence, while vertical influencers find it difficult to monetize.
For Chinese companies going global to Africa, she believes that the current market is not mature and large enterprises need to weigh carefully. However, young people and small teams can actively try because this place is full of opportunities. Despite facing many challenges, it has the potential to become an important market in the long run. Her speech provides diverse and practical ideas and experience references for Chinese enterprises to gain a deeper understanding of the African market, plan their strategic layout reasonably, and help them achieve sustainable development in the African market.
Li Yixuan: There is a new situation for Chinese to go to Africa, and the entrepreneurial mentality needs to be adjusted
Li Yixuan, a communication and business consultant specializing in cross-border technology and emerging venture capital markets in China and Africa, is based in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, and Rwanda. As The Dot Connector, she is passionate about connecting the ecosystems of Africa and the world. She has served at Norrsken, the first innovation incubation center in Rwanda under the Swedish Foundation, to organize the Africa Venture Capital Summit Africa Week, and has extensive experience in multiple Chinese overseas brands.
First of all, Ms. Li mentioned that the situation of Chinese people going to Africa has changed significantly after the epidemic, with an increase in the number of people, resulting in a "new Africa" phenomenon, which is different from the past and has a stronger sense of intergenerational. On the one hand, this change indicates more opportunities, and many people are seeking development in Africa due to the impact of the economic situation; On the other hand, there are also potential risks hidden, such as the government's seizure of Mexico's Chinatown, which may also occur in Africa. In view of this, Chinese companies in Africa need to pay attention to public relations maintenance work. In the past, Chinese companies were accustomed to making big money quietly or going through obscure channels, but this practice may lead to misunderstandings in the current environment, making people feel that the company is hiding something. In fact, companies should actively showcase themselves and adapt to the characteristics of the African market.
Ms. Li presented some unique insights on establishing connections with local communities in Africa. She believes that for outsiders who start businesses in Africa, establishing PR connections with the local community may bring potential benefits, making the general public feel more familiar or respectful towards entrepreneurs or businesses. However, in terms of attracting consumers, online channels and traditional media channels may play a greater role. In addition, in certain industries such as investment, publishing ideological leadership articles in local technology media can help quickly establish credibility within the industry.
Finally, regarding her attitude towards going abroad, Ms. Li stated that her mindset has undergone a significant change this year. Last year, there was an overall attitude of risking everything and thinking that if we don't go out to sea, we will be eliminated. However, after on-site investigation this year, we have become more rational. She emphasized the need to stabilize her foundation, first do what she is good at, and then try her best to do bigger things based on the actual situation, but always maintain rational decision-making, not blindly impulsive, and make appropriate choices according to her own abilities and market conditions.
Regarding the "Global Globalization Hundred People Association" (GGC100)
Since starting from within EO in 2018, EqualOcean has officially launched the "GoGlobal Committee of 100" (GGC100) at the "2023 Globalization Summit" (ESG2023) held in Shenzhen in June 2023. GGC100 is an organization jointly initiated by EqualOcean and hundreds of well-known entrepreneurs, investors, and scholars. From "gathering a hundred people" to "going to a thousand people together", from "dialogue industry" to "empowering the world". The "Hundred Talents Association" gathers elite members from all over the world, with the aim of serving Chinese enterprises' global expansion, and holds the "GoGlobal Forum of 100" (GGF) to complement the "Global Globalization Hundred Talents Association".
As of now, the GGC100 Global 100 has gathered over 500 elite members from overseas globalization, 1600 executives from overseas enterprises to share insights, and 20000 precise overseas globalization communities, covering industries including but not limited to new energy AI、 Fast selling products and catering cover the entire industry, with a total market value of 10 trillion yuan. The company has held 8 thousand person conferences, more than 20 industry salons, more than 10 elite events, and multiple study tours.
About the Global Global Hundred Forum (GGF)
The GoGlobal Forum of 100 (GGF) is hosted by EqualOcean and the Global 100, and is held annually in Shenzhen in June and Shanghai in December. Each conference lasts for 2-3 days and attracts over 2500 attendees, with approximately 70% being directors. It is the largest and most anticipated industry gathering in the field of global globalization. Welcome to contact EqualOcean staff to learn about cooperation methods.
About EqualOcean
EqualOcean is a new type of think tank and core resource linker that focuses on serving Chinese companies' global expansion and helping overseas companies or institutions seize development opportunities in China. With the mission of "connecting China and the world", our core advantages are having the strongest team in the industry, connecting the official and private sectors, connecting the technology Internet and "traditional industries", having a global vision and a global resource network. Established in November 2018, EqualOcean currently has products such as the New Overseas Research Institute, New Overseas Academy, Overseas Globalization Hundred People Association, Media Activities, and Huang Yuanpu Channel. It provides in-depth reporting and analysis in both Chinese and English, global strategy consulting, overseas market research, overseas benchmark study camps, overseas study tours, overseas conferences, and overseas closed door meetings. In 2024, the EqualOcean team also published a book called "New Overseas Wave", which sold 100000 copies.
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