CAMAL opens office in Shenzhen to serve growing Africa demand

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CAMAL Group loading cargo in Guangzhou, China for our client in Ivory Coast.

CAMAL opens an office in Shenzhen as we continue to improve our services for our Clients. The Office will give access to Guangdong province especially, Guangzhou, Foshan, Zhuhai and environs. Shenzhen is a transport hub in China as it has one of the best modern ports in the Country Shenzhen being one of the most fast growing cities in China, there are many opportunities which CAMAL has identified and delegated them to the new office. The port will see to it that;

  • CAMAL clients will see improved lead time due to the efficiency of port activities in Shenzhen.
  • The goods imported from China through CAMAL get to the clients in good shape because of the improved modern way of handling containers.
  • There is smooth loading of cargo to client’s destination.

Port of Shenzhen consists of facilities in the following areas: Da Chan Bay, Shekou, Chiwan, Mawan, Yantian, Dongjiaotou, Fuyong, Xiadong, Shayuchong and Neihe this means that the loading of any cargo procured from the mentioned places will get to the port in due time.

CAMAL has been doing business in China for a long time; the firm understands the distribution of manufacturers and suppliers in different parts of China. From Shenzhen office, CAMAL will be able to help clients procure from the following cities,

  • Guangdong Zhongshan: Machinery and electronics, Packaging, Lighting,
  • Dongguan: Electronic products
  • Guangzhou: Automobile
  • Shenzhen: Electronic products
  • Yunfu: Stone, Kitchenware

The advantage of using Shenzhen office for your procurement purpose include:

  • CAMAL has a technical team which has lived in China and they have deeper understanding of products in this part of China.
  • CAMAL will do the negotiation on your behalf so there will be no language barrier between you and the supplier.
  • CAMAL will help you inspect the cargo before it is shipped to ensure you have the right products.

The firm will also ensure that the clients who have interests in technology are best served by the institutions which have specialized in that field. CAMAL has seen the need to be part of the firms pushing for advancement in technology because this is the only way firms out there will focus on cost cutting at the same time being efficient in production. Shenzhen office is  also connected to a chain of construction machinery suppliers i.e. the yellow machines and also construction materials i.e. tiles, prefabs and many more.

Other than assisting the clients to procure from Shenzhen and other cities in China, Shenzhen office will assist it’s the client to carry out successful trips to the supplier. These trips are aimed at assisting the client to meet the service provider and understand how the business can cut cost by procuring from China.

Shenzhen Port. Picture Courtesy of Wikipedia

Shenzhen office will be headed by CAMAL’s head of Operations Mr. Razack Magagi. Feel free to reach out for  by writing to shenzhen@camaltd.com

If you are looking for a China sourcing agent or need assistance finding sourcing agents in China, please do contact us and we may be able to help you or point you in the right direction.

KNCCI Marsabit County gets investors from China courtesy of CAMAL

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CAMAL recently organised a trip to China for KNCCI Marsabit Chamber where the delegates had special interests in getting investors and also meeting suppliers. The 5 days trip was aimed at value addition to the Chamber and the office in China delivered beyond expectation.

CAMAL facilitated- KNCCI Marsabit and Guangdong Chamber of Commerce, B2B meeting with Chinese investors. The firm witnessed Signing of an MOU, exploring business cooperation and investment areas in Marsabit County. The talks held were aimed at identifying potential business opportunities from Marsabit

KNCCI Marsabit signing MOU with Chinese investors courtesy of CAMAL

 

The Chamber also had some interest in meeting construction material suppliers in China. CAMAL took the delegates to a company where they showed special interest in procurement of construction materials such as tiles, prefabs materials etc.

 

KNCCI Marsabit meeting with Chinese construction, energy and building materials companies.CAMAL also took KNCCI Marsabit to visit Solar panel factory. The Chamber had requested CAMAL to facilitate this meeting as they had a project which involved solar energy and they wanted to know where they can get them from. The meeting was successful with the supplier promising to work with CAMAL to deliver high quality products to the Marsabit County as soon as the order is placed.

KNCCI Marsabit Visit to Solar Panel factory in China courtesy of CAMAL

CAMAL will continue to organise such trips for the client to understand better opportunities and how CAMAL can assist them to procure from China after or during the trip. CAMAL’s value addition include;

  1. Identification of reliable suppliers for our clients;
  2. Carrying out factory due diligence  on behalf of the Client;
  3. Engaging with the potential investors;
  4. Advising the Client on how to procure Products from China;
  5. Facilitating preliminary discussions by having an interpreter who understands Chinese and English well to get rid of language barrier.

CAMAL attends the China International Import expo (CIIE)

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It is a significant move for the Chinese government to hold CIIE to give firm support to trade liberalization and economic globalization and actively open the Chinese market to the world. It facilitates countries and regions all over the world to strengthen economic cooperation and trade, and to promote global trade and world economic growth in order to make the world economy more open.

CAMAL attending China International Import Expo

 

Countries around the globe have been pushing for Balance of Trade. CAMAL has been attending forums which are aimed at trade improvement with China. CAMAL is currently attending the first CIIE in Shanghai China with a goal to solve Export problems to China. President Xi Jingping opened the event and gave a keynote speech with main points being:

  • China will  ease barriers for the following industries

Financial services, Agriculture, Mining and Education

  • China will Increase purchase of Imported goods by lowering the tariffs involved
  • China will create a better business environment with reasonable system of rules including punishing intellectual property violators. China would work to protect the interests of foreign companies.
  • China will import as much as $30 trillion in goods and $10 trillion in services within the next 15 years.
  • China intends to make Shanghai the world’s leading financial centers by the year 2020

The event has had thousands of companies attending from various countries. Kenya being one of the countries, there is a national exhibition going on with an aim of winning more market for the Kenyan products i.e. coffee.

Kenya showcasing products and services in Shanghai during CIIE

From this event, CAMAL intends to assist more people to export to China. The firm has deep understanding of demand cycles in China. CAMAL will therefore find the right market for products in China. CAMAL will also add value to the exporters to China by doing the negotiation on the clients behalf.

CAMAL’s Managing Director attending to a client in Shanghai during CIIE

 

What Will the US-China Trade War Mean for Africa?

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Ethiopia’s economy is in a period of transition; much has been privatized, but major sectors remain under government control, such as financial services and telecommunications.  Alemu sees the trade war as an incentive to continue economic reforms: “[I]t is the moment of truth for Ethiopia to rethink its trade practices and become a full participant of international and global trade to benefit from [the] U.S.-China trade war.”

On the other hand, a leading authority in Nigeria, Africa’s largest country by population, finds opportunity for his country as a result of the trade war.

If one casts the trade war as simply a confrontation between the world’s two largest economies, then the trade war “would impact the global economy negatively,” Director General of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry Muda Yusuf told This Day Live.

But, he continues, out of this comes a positive opportunity for Nigeria.

Increased tariffs on Chinese goods going into the United States “will create supply gaps in the U.S. market.” In other words, exports from other countries become “more competitive” thanks to the tariffs on China. Yusuf sees this as an advantage favoring Nigeria.

“Within the context of the African Growth and Opportunities Act [AGOA], this situation presents new opportunities for Nigerian export in the United States market,” Yusuf says.  It remains for Nigeria to position itself to take advantage of the opening.

According to the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD), AGOA is a “unilateral scheme of preferences dating back to 2000, and has served as the bedrock of trade relations between the U.S. and sub-Saharan Africa. It grants eligible African countries duty-free access to the US markets for thousands of products.” The law is currently extended to 2025.

By utilizing AGOA mechanisms to fill the partial vacuum that may be created as a result of slowing exports from China to the United States, Nigeria (in Yusuf’s case) and dozens of other sub-Saharan countries could take advantage of the U.S.-China trade war in areas where they have the ability to produce competing goods.

In addition, Chinese investors themselves may look for “alternative destinations” for their own investments, in order to circumvent tariffs on goods originating from China.  That, of course, depends on the quality of the investment environment that Nigeria can provide.

An executive from the Hong Kong-based Standard Chartered Bank also sees opportunities for African countries opening up in the Chinese market. As Reuters put it, summarizing Carmen Ling, Managing Director and Global Head of RMB Solutions, “China is likely to boost imports from African countries as it seeks new sources of commodities in the wake of a trade war with the United States.”

“We believe that countries like Kenya and Nigeria will benefit because China will look to import more from Africa; some agricultural products from Kenya, some oil products from Nigeria,” Ling predicted.

Suggesting a longer-term effect of the trade war, Ling added, “Trade flow patterns will change because China will need to look for new trade partners.”

Even in this small sample, it’s clear that African analysts see a mixture of harm and opportunity coming their way as the result of the trade war between the United States and China. Harm comes from the potential of China dumping cheap products into domestic African markets, and concerns over the possibility of reduced export opportunities to China due to soft demand. But there is also optimism about opportunities to fill the exports gap to the United States, and even to fill some commodities export gaps left by the United States in China itself.

But perhaps the most lasting positive consequence of this trade war could be to energize African policymakers and stakeholders to redouble efforts at economic reform, as Ethiopia’s Alemu suggested. The trade war may provide African countries with even greater incentives to reduce dependence on major country investments and aid, and to create investment environments that allow countries like Uganda, Nigeria, and Ethiopia to become part of the global supply chain on their own terms, rather than on the terms of others with differing and even conflicting long-term interests.

To complete reading this article please visit the original page The Diplomat

 

CAMAL-end to end procurement solutions.

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  • CAMAL has continued to assist clients from various parts of world to source from China. The firm understands  every business is striving to cut on cost during its procurement cycle without going for low quality products. CAMAL is a solution finding firm for such businesses.
  • CAMAL has built relationships with the manufacturers in China and has the ability to find you the best suppliers in China. Recently, CAMAL conducted a factory visit in Shanghai to inspect the quality of the product before shipping them to the client. This was for a client who procured weighing equipment  in bulk for supermarkets.

CAMAL– Inspecting the cargo before shipping

  • CAMAL has rich experience in procurement. The firm has technical experts who understand Client expectation. The engineers in China will ensure the client get what our client ordered. CAMAL often co-operates with international third party inspection agencies such as SGS to ensure the factory is competent in production.
CAMAL- Confirming product before loading
  • CAMAL also offers advice on the best loading ports when procuring from China. CAMAL has done successful shipping from China, this puts CAMAL in a better position to advice the client the best port to use depending on the nature of the products being shipped.

Are looking for a China sourcing agent or need help finding sourcing agents in China, please contact us and we may be able to help you or point you in the right direction.

What is the progress on China-Africa Cooperation?

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There is great need to monitor the progress of China-Africa cooperation. In the recent past, people across Africa have been having different opinions concerning the benefit, losses and worries of China investing in Africa. CAMAL being on the forefront of procurement from China and investment advisory, the firm has been analyzing these relations closely since they started. The success of these relations will be realized by making Africa better in terms of development.

CAMAL’s Managing Director Mr. Walter Ruigu has a deeper understanding of China economy.  Being a first class procurement firm, CAMAL believes that  from a macroeconomic perspective , China-Africa trade relations continue to boom in both directions. The future of the trade looks positive because the two parties are complimenting each other.

  • It is true to say that the RMB depreciation against the USD has affected business in one way or the other . China has benefited because the exporters are working with RMB but they are being paid by USD which higher.
  • China market being one of the largest consumer of the soybeans from USA, has been suffering because of the high tariffs that USA has imposed on the produce. China is now looking for other sources where they can be getting the soybeans as an alternative to the existing problem. Africa however has not yet tapped the full potential of these supplies as the areas which produce this commodity is under the terrorists Boko Haram in Nigeria.
  • Russia is giving land to Chinese for them to be able to cultivate and export more to china. The existing trade war is changing the global supply chain.
  • Africa should work on quality and standard products if the exports from the continent will be  accepted in the Chinese market.
  • There are strict laws in China concerning what they are importing. Actually, if china gets faulty products, they can end the supplies  from that country because of a single firm which has not meet the standards. China has had these restrictions to protect the local industries. The restrictions do not necessarily affect Africa, the restrictions cut across the globe.
  • China just like any other country has companies that are producing with an aim of making profit.In China, there has been a mindset of targeting high volumes and low profits. There is also large fragmentation of Chinese private owned companies wanting to do business with Africa. Most firms are looking for specific projects and business opportunities.
  • There is a lot of competition from other countries i.e. Turkey, India and Russia especially for the industrial Chemicals; the depreciation of the RMB has made the prices competitive.
  • The reason why the numbers have gone down in from the macro perspective is China’s economy has shifted from one that was focused on fixed asset investment to one that is now focused on domestic consumption. Long before this happened, the commodities were moving from Africa to China to feed the economy. A good example is Angola which used to export petroleum to China but this has decreased but this situation does not mean the relations are worsening, this is only getting better.

You can listen to the whole interview and get more insight about the matter. Courtesy of Eric Olander for Africa-China reporting Project interview and Managing director

CAMAL makes an entry into Namibian Market

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CAMAL Visits Granite mines in Namibia- photo courtesy of CAMAL

CAMAL has continued to make strides in the international markets by connecting various suppliers to their markets. More firms across the continents continue to trust CAMAL for market sourcing and potential client identity. In the recent past, CAMAL has been moving across the continent trying to identify the resources in Africa and how countries can improve international trade for our clients.

Even with global offices in China, Kenya, Singapore and Zambia, CAMAL has seen the need of expanding its roots so as to meet the client’s needs in procurement, commodity trading and investment advisory. Mining industry has been receiving support from governments because it is a sector which if exploited well, will contribute to the well-being of the country. A good example is South Africa where mining is a key contributor to the economy.

Namibian Granite Mines -photo courtesy of CAMAL

CAMAL made its first entry in Namibian Mineral market in September 2018. The bonds CAMAL has established in China over a period of time, made it easier for CAMAL to locate and find white Granite market in china for Namibian miners. Granite exists in different colors. There is White, Black, Green, Red, Blue, Brown and Pink Granite.Granite is used in buildings, bridges, paving, monuments, and many other exterior projects. Indoors, polished granite slabs and tiles are used in counter-tops, tile floors, stair treads and many other design elements.

Granite Mine – photo courtesy of CAMAL

CAMAL organized a successful trip from china to Namibia where white Granite is in huge deposits. The client needed a supplier who CAMAL identified and helped the client to inspect and do the negotiation on their behalf. There is a Chinese proverb which says that, ”A closed mind is like a closed book; just a block of wood” this proverb means that there is need to explore new opportunities and knowledge in a business. This is the reason why CAMAL has continued to build relationship with mining firms across Africa

CAMAL will continue to bring suppliers and market together for a better trading grounds. Central Governments should ensure that mining sectors are developed and implement technology advancement as far as mining is concerned. With improvement in technology, Africa will steadily increase the export of finial products made from granite which will positively impact the economy. CAMAL continues to help and share advice on what needs to be implemented for minerals to be of greater benefit to the African Continent. For all your procurement needs, CAMAL is the best there is in trade. We will help you to cut cost and increase profitability in the long run. 

 

 

CAMAL attended F0CAC2018 in Beijing.

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Forum on China-Africa Cooperation 2018 was held in Beijing where various Heads of State from Africa represented their countries in this forum. Chinese President Xi Jingping opened the forum on 3rd of September 2018. Most Africans were eager to know how their countries would benefit from these relations.  CAMAL attended the opening ceremony where Xi Jingping delivered a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the 2018 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.

Africa Heads of states during FOCAC2018 in Beijing China

Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged $60 billion in financing for projects in Africa in the form of assistance, investment and loans, as China furthers efforts to link the continent’s economic prospects to its own. Some of what $60 billion will do can be broken down to:-

  • Xi said the figure includes $15 billion in grants, interest-free loans and concessional loans, $20 billion in credit lines, $10 billion for “development financing” and $5 billion to buy imports from Africa.
  • He added that he will encourage companies to invest at least $10 billion in Africa over the next three years.
  • Xi said China was planning initiatives in eight areas, including providing $147 million in emergency food aid, sending 500 agricultural experts to Africa, and providing scholarships, vocational training and trade promotion opportunities.
  • President Xi Jingping promoted Beijing’s initiative to build ports and other infrastructure as a tool for “common prosperity” in a world facing challenges from trade protectionism.
  • China will implement 50 agricultural assistance programmes, provide 1 billion of emergency humanitarian food assistance to African countries affected by natural disasters, send 500 senior agriculture experts to Africa, and train entrepreneurs in Agri-business.
  • China pledged it will implement 50 trade facilitation programmes for Africa, as well as undertake 50 projects for green development and ecological and environmental protection.
  • Tailor-made programmes to train 1,000 high-calibre Africans will also be put in place. 50,000 government scholarships and 50,000 training opportunities for seminars and workshops will be offered.
  • On the other hand, 50 medical and health aid programmes for Africa will be upgraded.
  • Xi said that we should build a China-Africa community with a shared future that promotes harmony between man and nature. The Earth is the only place which we mankind call home. China will work with Africa to pursue green, low-carbon, circular and sustainable development and protect our lush mountains and lucid waters and all living beings on our planet.

China has continued to push for cooperation with Africa to help the African states achieve economic independence in the long-run.This initiative has been achieved by financing projects in Africa. A good example is the infrastructure development where china has continued to bring modern technology in this sector. The presidents in attendance were positive that Africa was taking off towards a better future of economic growth.

CAMAL Group has been doing business in China for more than 8 years and has seen China’s economy grow overtime. FOCAC2018 has opened many opportunities where people from Africa will be  allowed to do business in China. CAMAL has helped some of it’s clients  get foreign investment from china hence creating a positive economic impact.

CAMAL will continue to bring serious investors to Africa and also help the African produce get market overseas. As Xi jingping finished his speech he  insisted by saying that there is need for China and Africa to work together in order to conserve the environment, CAMAL continues to push for environmental hygiene by organising trips where African countries can come to China and benchmark on environmental conservation and how china manufactures the waste treatment plants. With the growing African population, there is need to take care of the environment at all costs.

As the bond between China and Africa becomes stronger, there is need to evaluate  the economy and check the available opportunities in the market because Africa has untapped potential. There are many benefits which can be reaped by business firms, investors and organisations that are in their take-off stage matching towards economic independence. This phase will spearhead development in countries which will channel the loans for development purposes. We just hope that the loans will bring productivity because it is a debt which will be paid later even though president Xi Jingping said that China will write-off some loans for some countries depending on how the economy is doing.

 

CAMAL makes its entry into Ethiopian market

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CAMAL’s MD, Walter Ruigu interviewed by Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation on opportunities for Ethiopian companies in/with China

 

CAMAL saw a lot of opportunity in Ethiopia especially from the industrialisation drive from government.

China Trade Week Vice President Sean Xiao and CAMAL MD and Sales Manager at CAMAL’s booth. CAMAL sees Ethiopia as a key regional market

CAMAL looks forward to working in Ethiopia.

For any inquiries, please email: info@camaltd.com

CAMAL participated in China Trade Week Kenya

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The CAMAL team participated in the annual China Trade Week Kenya 2017.

CAMAL Booth

There was a large interest by Kenyan firms in finding Chinese partners and China procurement.

CAMAL’s MD, Walter Ruigu gave a presentation on China’s macroeconomy and changing procurement trends especially their impact on African countries

CAMAL acquired new procurement and advisory clients at the event and we plan to participate every year.

For any inquiries, please email: info@camaltd.com