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12 Aug 2024Venturing into Africa, Igniting Youthful Passion on the New Frontier of Photovoltaic Energy Storage
With KEDA Smart Energy establishing its "Two Shan (Foshan & Ma'anshan) and One Sea (Overseas)" development strategy, Africa has become a crucial pivot for its market expansion. Against this backdrop, the post-90s Mr. Ji SUN set foot on this opportunity-laden African land on March 5th of this year.
Having spent 3-4 years living in the United States, language has become one of Mr. Ji SUN's significant advantages. However, in developing business in Africa, beyond language, the key is "diligence". Over the past nearly 5 months, his schedule has been packed, with no exceptions for weekends. According to him, KEDA SOLAR is currently conducting business mainly in East African countries such as Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. With the official establishment of KEDA SOLAR in Kenya on May 18, KEDA Smart Energy's business expansion in African countries has taken a faster and larger stride.
Against the backdrop of the burgeoning Building-Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) market in Africa, Mr. Ji SUN arranges his work according to the specific characteristics of his customers. From Monday to Friday, he focuses on visiting local African customers; on weekends, he visits Chinese customers residing in Africa. He visits at least one client per day, and when schedules are particularly tight, he sometimes travels to three different locations in a single day.
In the quest to develop business in Africa, it is essential to bridge cultural gaps and strive to integrate into the local culture.
"When visiting customers in Africa, it is important to show sufficient respect during interactions," he emphasizes. To this end, Mr. Ji SUN consults with long-term resident Chinese in Africa and researches extensively to gain a deep understanding of local cultures, such as Maasai and Muslim cultures, to avoid awkward communication mishaps.
Additionally, he stresses the importance of adapting to local customs for anyone involved in international business development. "In Africa, conversations often involve a lot of joking, and communicating in a friendly manner can be highly effective," he notes. Moreover, he quickly adapts to the prevalent challenges of heavy English and French accents in Africa to ensure effective communication.
Embracing Opportunities, Pursuing Dreams in Africa's Vast Market
As Africa's urbanization accelerates, power shortages and instability have become major impediments to its economic development. Last year, Zambia experienced nationwide power cuts lasting up to 12 hours daily due to insufficient water levels at the Kariba Dam, which hindered hydroelectric power generation.
Additionally, Africa's relatively underdeveloped grid infrastructure results in low coverage, high transmission losses, and frequent power supply instability. The continent's reliance on a limited energy mix further exacerbates the challenge of insufficient power supply. Due to these shortcomings, many regions in Africa face exorbitantly high electricity prices, placing an additional economic burden on local residents and businesses.
In stark contrast, Africa boasts abundant solar resources, with most areas receiving some of the highest average annual sunshine hours globally. Such an abundance of sunlight in Africa presents a unique opportunity for the photovoltaic industry. This is also a key consideration and prerequisite for KEDA Smart Energy's expansion into Africa.
Mr. Ji SUN currently lives and works at the KEDA SOLAR in Nairobi, Kenya. During the company's early days, they experienced frequent weekend power outages and had to rely on diesel generators. However, since installing KEDA SOLAR's own residential energy storage products, they have not faced any power cuts. This success has boosted Mr. Ji SUN's confidence in the company's product sales.
"Our target customers are clearly defined. Our energy storage system(ESS) products cater to high-income individuals in the African Great Lakes region who can afford to mitigate frequent power outages and high electricity costs. For commercial and industrial customers, we offer photovoltaic energy storage and charging system solutions or distributed photovoltaic power station construction plans. These ensure that a significant portion of their operational electricity needs are met, addressing issues like production halts, high defect rates, and elevated electricity costs due to frequent outages." Facing the opportunities and challenges in Africa, Mr. Ji SUN is full of ambition and confidence.
With Confidence and Determination, Moving Forward Toward Goals
Driven by determination and resilience, Mr. Ji SUN has established himself in Africa, carving out a new career realm. Furthermore, he has propelled KEDA SOLAR to rapidly become a new force of the photovoltaic energy storage sector in the region.
Before being assigned to Africa, Mr. Ji SUN felt a mix of uncertainty and apprehension about this unfamiliar land, compounded by the stereotypes formed through information. He admits, "Before coming to Africa, I was unfamiliar with the living and working conditions here and lacked direction for business development. I was indeed quite concerned." Upon arrival and after quickly acclimating to the environment and business, Mr. Ji SUN increasingly saw Africa as a treasure trove of untapped resources, especially for the photovoltaic energy storage industry.
"Africa is truly a blue ocean for the new energy sector. With a high demand and abundant opportunities, coupled with our excellent products, I believe that with KEDA Industrial Group's platform, we can achieve great success here!"
Thanks to the team's efforts, recent projects include those with Xinhua News Agency's Africa bureau, Eastland Hotel (the largest Chinese hotel in Nairobi, Kenya), and China Square (the largest Chinese supermarket in Africa), as well as local projects like the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority and the Kenya Port Authority. This young KEDA professional, selling sunshine in Africa, has embarked on a new chapter of his life internationally, taking a more solid step toward his dreams.
(KEDA SOLAR)
