About African Business Collaboration

Utilizing the knowledge and experience we have cultivated locally, we provide information to Japanese companies interested in expanding into Africa, conduct joint demonstration projects, and suggest concrete plans for expansion and even collaborate beyond that.
Africa presents significant opportunities. Its landmass is approximately 80 times the size of Japan and comprises 54 countries. The continent includes regions with completely different languages and cultures, primarily English-speaking and French-speaking areas.
In this context, we provide practical support from the business consultation stage in order to firmly grasp business opportunities.

There are three major stages in the process.

To Africa – Information gathering, opportunity exploration, and market research

1. Obtain basic knowledge of Africa and determine the affinity with your business and culture.
2. Investigate whether your company’s business can contribute to local needs.
3. Conduct local research and marketing activities if there is a possibility of contribution.

2. In Africa – From pilot sales to full-scale business

1. Indirect entry into Africa through business tie-ups and agency contracts that do not require expatriation.
2. Full-fledged business startup with ownership of the company.

3. From Africa – Creating international business from Africa

1. Exporting business in Africa to overseas/Japan.

These two major phases are divided into three phases: “Interest” and “Business Creation in Africa,” as well as “Business Expansion from Africa” and support/cooperation.

Three Pillars of Support/Collaboration Based on Africa

(i). To Africa (support for companies interested in expanding into Africa)

Even if it is difficult to travel to Africa today, we have an office in Senegal with Japanese staff on site, so local activities are always possible.
We provide practical business support to help you seize business opportunities in Africa, which offers great opportunities.

We understand that it is difficult to get a grasp of local business through internet research, and it is difficult to know where to start in the vastness of Africa.
We mainly focus on French-speaking Africa and can provide detailed advice on this region, but we can also provide assistance in English-speaking and other regions in cooperation with local Japanese partners who have been doing business in East Africa and South Africa for many years.

　1. To gain a basic knowledge of Africa and the characteristics of each region, and to find affinities with the company’s business and culture

There are many entrances in Africa east, west, south and north. Among them, there are many areas that have become red oceans with many business competitors, such as China, India, and others that have made major inroads into the region.
We have established a local subsidiary in Senegal, and based on our experience of the many hardships and opportunities we have seen, we will provide you with basic information about Africa and its culture, with a focus on French-speaking Africa.
We will then listen to your company’s interests and the products and services you have, and give you advice on the most suitable region in Africa.
On request, we can also provide online lectures on Africa and business promotion tips.

　2. Investigate how your business can contribute to local needs

Basic information on African business is that it is difficult to match the African market with a product or service-in approach that assumes that Africa is the same as Japan because it is selling well in Japan.
It is important to take a market-in perspective, and by gaining a thorough understanding of local issues, it is possible to correctly grasp the premise of what the local people are really seeking in terms of products and services.
It is also important to investigate whether your company’s products and services match the needs and seeds of the local market in a way that is compatible with their lifestyles and businesses, and to offer them in a form that is renewed and adapted to African specifications as much as possible.

　3. Local research and marketing activities when there is potential for contribution

It is not uncommon for the price of Japanese products to be 5 to 10 times higher than equivalent products in the local market, but Africa is home to many different income classes, and we have experienced cases where business has flourished by targeting segments that differ from those in Japan.
Based on this experience, it is important to conduct research in Africa not only to learn about local issues, but also to conduct marketing research to ensure that commercial activities are as robust as those in developed countries. The informal sector market (undeclared business and income), which is unique to Africa, accounts for more than 50% in many countries, and there is consumer power that is not reflected in GDP and other figures provided by the World Bank and other sources.
While there are still people living on less than $1 a day, there are also many billionaires and millionaires riding the wave of Africa’s economic development, which is another aspect of Africa.

(ii) In Africa (support for companies doing business in Africa)

1. Indirect expansion into Africa through business alliances and agency agreements that do not require expatriation.

It is possible to develop business in Africa without expanding into the region on your own. In fact, it is possible to develop products and services in Africa by collaborating with major electric power companies and ministries and agencies, and having us take over their activities on their behalf. There are three possible patterns.

・Business and Capital Alliance Patterns
This is a way of advancing business in Africa with a business alliance agreement. We develop a business strategy from a medium- to long-term perspective that includes not only sales, but also market and product development. To this end, we conduct R&D and PoC, create joint businesses in cooperation with the partner country’s government, and collaborate with the Japanese government and the partner country, including the creation of new businesses tailored to the needs of Africa. We will also expand the new services and products developed by the project through joint efforts in sales, local support, and other areas.

・Distributor Pattern
If you already have a specific product or service, you can also contract with a distributor to sell your product or service to them.
The challenge is to have a reliable local distributor and after-sales service in Africa. We have our own sales network and support and maintenance system, so after consultation with Japanese staff, we can make a distributor contract.

・Joint Venture (JV) /　Special Purpose Company (SPC) establishment pattern
We can also jointly establish JVs for specific large-scale projects such as electric power and telecommunications.
We can also establish SPCs for solar power generation and hydrogen production projects in Africa.

　2. Start full-fledged business with its own advancement and ownership

We support your company’s entry into Senegal. When setting up a local company in Senegal, there are some very specific documents to be prepared in Japan and Senegal, and a firm grasp of these essentials will make it possible to establish the company smoothly to some extent. In addition, you will also need to consider various other factors such as accounting firms and labor and legal services. We have a wealth of experience in both setting up our own companies and setting up Senegalese subsidiaries for our clients, so please feel free to contact us for more information.

(iii) From Africa

1. Exporting business in Africa to other countries/Japan

In June 2022, we launched a new business called “TUMIQUI Power Digital Solutions” which realizes necessary power and necessary communication in necessary areas, triggered by the capital alliance with Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc. In addition, as a collaborative business with companies in other industries, we will produce and process agricultural products and super foods, which are needed in developed countries such as Europe and Japan, in Africa, open sales channels for agricultural products and goods to such developed countries, earn foreign currencies, and provide more stable supplies to other countries in Senegal. The Africa Business Creation Plan supports this by providing stable electricity and telecommunications. We believe that we can form an international business with synergy by joining hands with Japanese and other companies, government agencies, and international organizations that are looking at international business with Africa.

Africa in the Future

The market of 1.2 billion people will continue to grow and the business opportunities in Africa will only increase.

Africa’s current economic development is as remarkable as that of postwar Japan, and one year seems to stretch into a decade.
Africa has a vast land, young human resources, and many leaders, and in fact, the increase in investment in Africa is remarkable, with the amount of investment in 2021 reaching about 83 billion dollars (about 11.6 trillion yen), 2.1 times the 39 billion dollars in 2020. (Source: JETRO).

Africa is 80 times the size of Japan, and it is a fact that such money flows into urban areas, which leads to further social inequality. Therefore, our business is to deliver electricity and telecommunications to the remote areas of Africa and realize a world of inclusion of electricity and telecommunications, in other words, to make electricity and telecommunications available in rural areas where they are needed.

The current situation in Ukraine and changes in the global environment have suddenly brought “food security” into the spotlight. Although the vast land of Africa is an opportunity that could become a major breadbasket, many countries and companies are trying to do business in Africa in a piecemeal fashion, and many of these projects have not been successful.

Rather than conducting business with Africa as individual projects, we are proposing the “Agriculture as a Service (AaaS)” project, which is a multi-industry business partnership in Senegal that integrates agriculture, processing, distribution, storage, and export in Africa, to develop agriculture and industry as a source of global food security and food supply. This project is to develop agriculture and industry in Senegal as a provider of food security and food for the world.

However, Japan and developed countries should not bring their own ways to Africa, but rather create an African version of agriculture and industry based on the “human resource development” that Japan has been supporting and we have been doing in Africa. Japan will build a mechanism by supporting the mindset and commercial flow of Africa as a member of the international community, rather than as a stand-alone country. By doing so, we believe that the ecosystem of Africa, Japan, and the international community will come together to stabilize food supply and the economy.

As for the perspective of decarbonization and carbon neutrality, it is not just a matter of “thinking only in Japan,” but renewable energy is needed in Africa, and carbon credits can only be utilized outside of Africa. There are many issues that can only be solved through global cooperation. We will fight in the international community through business collaboration, and with an awareness of the keys to SDGs, ESG, and decarbonization, we will create diverse businesses with serious companies, ministries and agencies, international organizations, and the political, public, and private sectors of partner countries in a Hinomaru coalition of Africa With Japan. We hope to create diverse businesses with serious companies, ministries and agencies, international organizations, and political, public, and private entities in partner countries.

We are planning to start briefing sessions, study groups, and joint feasibility studies in Japan and Senegal as soon as possible this year, so please contact us if you are interested.