Global Entrepreneurship in FTP Series丨非洲小伙：将家乡特产带到海南

Kingsford John, from Ghana, just finished the market survey and is now preparing to import shea butter, chocolate, cocoa powder and African soap from his hometown to south China's Hainan Province next year.

最近，来自加纳的金斯福刚刚完成了市场调查，准备2023年开始把家乡的乳木果油、巧克力、可可粉和非洲黑皂大量进口到海南。

John, 31, came to Hainan in 2017 as a student, studying electrical and mechanical engineering at Hainan Normal University. Before graduation, he founded an international trading company in 2020 in Haikou, the capital of Hainan. Hainan officially launched the construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port in 2020. Eyeing a series of preferential policies, especially the zero tariff policy on imports, John felt it was a huge opportunity to start a business.

金斯福今年31岁，2017年他来到海南师范大学读书，学习机电工程专业。2020年6月，《海南自由贸易港建设总体方案》发布，海南正式启动海南自贸港建设。当时尚未毕业的金斯福看中海南自贸港一系列开放的优惠政策,尤其是进口“零关税”政策,他认为这是一个创业的大好机会。几个月后，他在海口成立了一家国际贸易公司。

"We import the shea butter, we add value to it, and we get some tax benefits, so it's a great deal for us," he said. “There are so many things in Africa that the world doesn't know about, and this is an advantage for me in bringing such products to Hainan," he added.

“我们进口乳木果油，进行加工增值，可以享受免税优惠，这对我们来说非常划算。”他说，“非洲还有很多世界不知道的东西,这对我来说是一个优势,我可以把它们带到海南,开拓市场。”

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, business has been hard over the past two years, and so John put a lot of focus on doing market research, especially on shea butter. He found that shea butter is quite popular in the American and European markets, and that it is very expensive there. "Either the production or the supply tends to be limited, while the demand is high," he explained. Shea butter is classified as one of the best products from Africa, as it is needed globally in cosmetics companies, the food industry, the pharmaceutical industry and also for personal care, John said. “However, the demand for shea butter is not so high in Asia, because a lot of people here don't know about it," he said. "So we want to bring shea butter to Hainan, and we will re-package it and then re-sell it to the Asian market."

由于新冠肺炎疫情影响，过去两年生意一直不好做，所以金斯福花了很多时间做市场研究.尤其是乳木果油市场。他发现乳木果油在美国和欧洲市场很受欢迎，而且价格非常昂贵。“因为产量或供应有限,市场供不应求。”他说，乳木果油被归类产自非洲的最好产品之一，可以用于化妆品行业、食品行业、制药行业,也可以用于个人护理。然而,亚洲对乳木果油的需求并不高，因为很多人不知道它。“所以我们想把乳木果油带到海南，重新包装，然后再卖到亚洲市场。“他说。

During his journey of entrepreneurship, John has encountered lots of problems, including the time difference between China and other countries, and the challenge of winning the trust of buyers. “Though the start-up period is not that easy, we are now making progress and break-throughs.” His company recently received shea oil orders from a big trade company base in Dubai.

在创业过程中，金斯福遇到了很多头疼的事情，包括中国和其他国家的时差，以及如何获得买家的信任。“虽然创业很难,但我们正在突破，正在进步。”他说，他的公司已经接到了来自迪拜一家大公司的乳木果油订单。

"Coming to Hainan is one of the best decisions I've made in my life so far," he said, adding that he had come to Hainan following the advice of an American friend, who used to live in Hainan.

“来海南是我迄今为止做过的最好的决定之一。"他说，他当初之所以来海南，其实是听了一位曾在海南生活的美国朋友的建议。

"After I arrived in Hainan, it felt right for me, a good fit, and what my friend told me about Hainan was actually true," he said. "The weather is great, the air is clean, and there are so many beautiful places to go, like Sanya, Wanning or Dongfang." Having been in Hainan for five years, he feels that it is indeed a safe and healthy place to live, and also a place where the people are very friendly and kind. He has made many new friends in Hainan and has fallen in love with the island even more with the passage of time. Besides focusing on his career, John loves to play football with his friends in his spare time.

“来到海南后,我觉得这里就像我的家一样，环境很宁静，"金斯福说，”有很多美丽的地方可以去，比如三亚、万宁和东方。“在海南生活了五年，金斯福在这里交了很多朋友，对这座岛屿的感情也更深了。除了专注他热爱的事业外，金斯福空闲时喜欢和朋友们一起踢足球，一起品尝当地美食。

John is quite confident about the future of Hainan and he believes that there will be massive changes in Hainan over the next five to ten years. "Hainan Free Trade Port is a big opportunity, and people who want to do business will start coming here and will establish their business here," he said. Meanwhile, he believes the existence of the free trade port will draw a lot of people to Hainan. "When they come, they will sleep in hotels, they will eat and they will probably buy our products."

金斯福对海南的未来充满信心，他相信在未来五到十年，海南将会发生巨大的变化。同时他相信自贸港建设会给海南带来更多人气。“当更多人来海南,他们会住酒店、吃饭，也可能会买你的产品。“

"My dream is to establish one of the biggest African brands in Hainan, and also in Asia," he said.

“我的梦想是在海南、甚至亚洲建立一个最大的非洲品牌。“他说。