Whenever I am in the UK or travelling in the Netherlands and rest of Europe, I at times see parked/unused road construction equipment which would bring good income to owners if those machines were in Sub-Sahara Africa.
The obvious reason why those machines are idle is because the overall infrastructure sector in Europe is developed which is totally the opposite in Sub-Sahara Africa.
In East Africa which is my origin, there are many opportunities for Engineering/Construction/Maintenance services in the Roads and Water sectors. European Construction Companies deserted Africa many years ago and left a vacuum which has been filled by success hungry Chinese Companies. One reason why Chinese have been successful in Africa is because they are good at taking risks and have less fear compared with Europeans who are largely dissuaded from going to Africa because of the images which they watch on TV screens and also because of the stories of corruption which they hear. However there are a good number of Western Companies who decided to stick with Africa and who are doing extremely well.
If those skeptical European Engineering Companies can cast aside their fear, come to Africa and find trusted local knowledgeable business people to work with, I am sure that some of them would make much more money than what they currently earn in Europe. Sub-Sahara is still a virgin when it comes to infrastructure development.
I divide my time between Uganda and UK and can assist any European Engineering Company who may want to gain market entry in Uganda in the following ways:
1. Registering a Limited Company
2. Identifying a place to be used for both an admin office and as a parking yard for equipment
3. Recruitment of an initial sharp sales team who can be sharpened further through training but preferably managed by someone from Europe
4. Identifying a reliable trusted local Engineering Company to partner with for local content compliance purposes
5. If necessary, helping in tender bidding processes which most Foreigners in Africa especially those from the West find very difficult
In my view UK Engineering Companies should take advantage of the available support from UK Export Finance (UKEF), UK Government Department of Business and Trade (DBT) and other Agencies to come to Sub-Sahara Africa and take up the immense opportunities available in developing the infrastructure sector.
Besides Engineering and Construction Services , Equipment/Machine Tool Hire Service in Sub-Sahara Africa is also something that can bring good money to owners of those idle machinery which I see parked and rusting across Europe. Sub-Sahara Africa still needs a lot of those machines and tools which are currently considered out of date in Europe.
