Power giants work with a local touch

Sinohydro Corp Ltd now has its first China-educated Angolan graduates working on construction sites in their home country and elsewhere. CHINA DAILY

Sinohydro started to develop the African market in the early 1980s. It has so far completed more than 160 construction projects, including stadiums, hydropower stations, dams, bridges and various buildings in 25 African countries. It has about 12,000 Chinese and African employees in Africa.

The company's worldwide revenue amounted to 18 billion yuan ($2.96 billion) between January and November. Africa accounts for more than 60 percent of the company's global market share.

Wei says Sinohydro will pay for another two Angolan graduates to take postgraduate courses at Wuhan University over the next three years, and will help more African students undertake degrees in infrastructure or related subjects in China, because the company believes it will show the public in Africa the fundamental benefits Chinese companies can bring.

"We have found some excellent workers in Africa," Wei says. "There are about 1,200 local workers who have been working with us in Ghana, Kenya and Angola for three or four years. We are willing to take them on to other projects, if they wish to go. We will sort out their working visa and they can pack their bags at any time."

To improve its localization strategy, Sinohydro has been building closer relations with local labor and suppliers. The ratio between local employees and Chinese employees is about 26 to one. While offering locals jobs, the company focuses on developing their skills and management abilities. There are opportunities for promotion to jobs as team leaders or section managers.

Sinohydro also provides African governments with access to finance through institutions such as the Export-Import Bank of China and China Development Bank.

"This is an important factor in why we have won a number of projects in Africa," says Sun Yue, senior consultant for Sinohydro. "We can discuss a particular project with a government and they show us why it is important. We can then have our own discussions with a Chinese bank. If they agree, we can continue, which definitely is a win-win situation.

"We are not only focusing on Africa's fast emerging economies, but have also entered the markets in Liberia, Cameroon, Togo and Benin in the past two years, where there is a need to build more large civil engineering projects, ports and hydropower projects."

In the long term, Sun says, China and Africa need to increase mutual trust in the infrastructure construction sector.

"We need to strongly implement the agreements on cultural exchange, international education, greener construction projects, quality training programs, investment assistance and the infrastructure commodities trade."