On the last day of May, the 3rd Working Group on SMEs was held at the Africa Business Council hosted by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI).
As a company selected by METI for its business supporter support program in 2020 and 2021, we also gave a speach.

Africa is a growing market with a large number of young people and a growing population.
It is becoming more and more important to understand the local needs and develop sales channels for Japanese products and services.

In this meeting, we will introduce the efforts of governmental organizations to support business expansion into Africa.
And we will also introduce the experiences of companies that have used these efforts to expand into Africa.

■Speakers
[Government agencies]
・JETRO
・JICA
・METI

[Companies doing business in Africa]
・STANDAGE Inc.
・And Africa Co., Ltd.
・KYC MACHINE INDUSTRY VIET NAM CO., LTD
・Kett Electric Laboratory
・TROMSO Co., Ltd.
・SAKURA-SHA K.K.

■Introduction of STANDAGE’s business supporter support activities

The main focus of the project was to match Japanese small and medium-sized companies with Nigerian companies.
However, it turned out that the differences in business practices, settlement and logistics operations were too difficult for Japanese small and medium-sized companies and that trade support was needed.
Therefore, in this year’s project, we acted as an importer and exporter and assumed the function of a trading company.
This enabled us to develop sales channels in Africa even with only domestic transactions.

We also learned the effectiveness of providing samples.
Not only online, but we also have a local warehouse to provide samples.
We are also conducting sales activities by combining offline sales where people can actually hold the products in their hands.

■Explanation of FY2021 Projects from JETRO and JICA

1.Introduction of the Africa Online Business Meeting in 2021

2.Africa Business Desk
This is a new program that will be established at JETRO’s Tokyo Headquarters this fiscal year.
The desk will provide support to Japanese companies in cooperation with the coordinators that JETRO plans to assign to 13 countries in Africa.

3.New Export Powerhouse Consortium
An initiative formed in 2016 under the leadership of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
JETRO’s concierge will serve as a contact point for inquiries and consultations regarding the various initiatives of JETRO, JICA, and other support organizations.

As the world’s population continues to grow, the percentage of the population in developing countries is increasing.
Developing countries also account for an increasing percentage of GDP.
Developing countries are a market with tremendous opportunities.
However, although Japanese companies are making progress in overseas expansion, in terms of the number of companies entering the market, Asia has the largest number and Africa has the smallest.

If you are interested in expanding into Africa, please check out the official websites of JETRO and JICA.
Also, if you have any questions about trade and logistics to African countries, please feel free to contact us.

【Contact Us】
4F Shiba NA Building, 3-6-10, Shiba, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan, 105-0014
STANDAGE Inc.
CEO: Akinori Adachi
COO: Kenta Omori
E-mail: info@standage.org