HAIKOU — Kingsford John, who comes from Ghana, has just finished surveying the market and is now preparing to import shea butter, chocolate, cocoa powder and soap from his country to Hainan province later this year.
The 31-year-old came to the island in 2017 to study electrical and mechanical engineering at Hainan Normal University. Before graduating, he founded an international trading company in 2020 in Haikou, the provincial capital.
Hainan officially launched 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 presented a great opportunity to start a business.
"We import 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 products to Hainan."
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, business has been hard over the past two years, so John put his focus into doing market research, especially on shea butter. He found that it is popular in the American and European markets, and very expensive in both.
"Either the production or the supply tends to be limited, while the demand is high," he explained.
John explained that shea butter is classified as one of the most popular African products, as it is in demand globally by cosmetics companies, the food industry, the pharmaceutical industry and for personal care.
"However, the demand is not 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 repackage it and then re-sell it to the Asian market."
During his journey of entrepreneurship, John has encountered plenty of problems, among them the time difference between China and other countries and the challenge of winning the trust of buyers.
In order to communicate, he has to hold Zoom meetings with people from different countries that are interested in his shea butter.
"Coming to Hainan is one of the best decisions I've made in my life so far," he said, adding that he came on the advice of an American friend who used to live on the island.
"After I arrived, Hainan felt right for me, a good fit, and I discovered that what my friend told me 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 and Dongfang."
Having lived on the island for five years, John feels that it is a safe and healthy place to live and that the people are friendly and kind. He has made many new friends and has increasingly fallen in love with the island over the years.
Besides focusing on his career, he enjoys playing soccer in his spare time. He also enjoys the food. During Spring Festival, he makes dumplings with friends to experience traditional Chinese culture.
John is quite confident in the future of Hainan and believes that there will be massive changes over the next five to 10 years.
"The Hainan Free Trade Port is a great opportunity, and people who want to do business will start coming here and setting up businesses," he said.
"When they come, they will sleep in hotels, they will eat and they will probably buy our products. My dream is to create one of the biggest African brands in Hainan, and also in Asia."
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