At the end of May, the 3rd meeting of the "Working Group on Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises" of the Africa Business Council, hosted by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, was held.
Our company, Standage, also took the stage as one of the companies selected for the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry's Business Supporter Program for fiscal years 2020 and 2021.

Africa is a market that is expected to continue growing, with a population growth trend that includes a large young population.
In the new circumstances brought about by COVID-19, it is becoming increasingly important for Japanese companies to leverage online resources to understand local needs and develop sales channels for products and services in which they have a strong advantage.

This meeting will introduce the government agencies' initiatives to support businesses entering Africa this fiscal year, and will also feature presentations from private companies that have utilized these initiatives, sharing their experiences in entering the African market.

The meeting also served as a platform for sharing and discussing what kinds of initiatives companies supported by projects from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, JETRO, and JICA have actually implemented, as well as what government agencies were able to and were not able to do in terms of support.

■ Participating Companies
[Government Agency]
・JETRO
・JICA
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Technology and Human Resources Cooperation Division

[6 Companies Expanding into Africa]
STANDAGE Co., Ltd.
And Africa Co., Ltd.
Koyo Machinery Industry Co., Ltd.
Kett Scientific Research Institute Co., Ltd.
Tromsø Co., Ltd.
Sakura Co., Ltd.

■Introduction to STANDAGE's Business Supporter Program Activities

In our business support program, our main focus was on matching Japanese small and medium-sized enterprises with companies within Nigeria.
However, differences in business practices and issues related to payment and logistics operations make trade difficult for Japanese small and medium-sized enterprises, revealing that trade support will be necessary in the future.
Therefore, in this year's project, our company, Standage, will act as both an importer and exporter, fulfilling the functions of a trading company, making it possible to develop sales channels to Africa even with domestic transactions only.
Furthermore, having learned the effectiveness of sample provision from last year's project, this year's project features not only online sales but also offline sales that combine online sales with on-site sales, where customers can actually handle the products by having warehouses on-site to provide samples.

■ Project briefing for FY2021 from JETRO and JICA

①Introduction to the 2021 Africa Online Business Matching Event

Medical device field (Application period closed) from June 1st to 11th.
June 23rd - July 7th: Mechanical Engineering (Application Closed)
Agricultural equipment and materials (registration open) from July 27th to August 4th.
Comprehensive fields other than the three fields that will be conducted first from late September to early October

➁Africa Business Desk
This is a new project that will be launched at JETRO's Tokyo headquarters this fiscal year, in which JETRO will work with coordinators that it plans to deploy in 13 African countries to support Japanese companies.

③New Export Nation Consortium
This initiative was formed under the leadership of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry starting in 2016.
JETRO's concierge will act as a point of contact to handle inquiries and consultations regarding the various initiatives of support organizations such as JETRO and JICA.
In addition to its concierge services, JETRO's core business is providing support through experts.

As the world population grows, the proportion of the population in developing countries is steadily increasing, and consequently, the proportion of GDP accounted for by developing countries is also growing.
Despite developing countries being markets with enormous opportunities, Japanese companies are expanding overseas, but in terms of the number of companies, Asia accounts for the largest number, while Africa has the fewest.

If you're interested in expanding your business into Africa, be sure to check out the official websites of JETRO and JICA.
Furthermore, please feel free to contact us if you have any questions regarding trade and logistics with African countries.

[Contact Information]
Shiba NA Building 4F, 3-6-10 Shiba, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-0014
STANDAGE Co., Ltd.
President and CEO: Akinori Adachi
Executive Vice President/COO: Kenta Omori
Press Contact Email: info@standage.org,