非洲市場經驗談: EMBA校友李連輝的客座講演

國際事務室暨GMBA辦公室

撰文者／GMBA一年級Kitty Chow

10月23日GMBA很榮幸邀請到在非洲市場深耕數十年的客座講者——Jasper Lee先生來到「商業溝通」的課堂上，與學生們分享他過往在非洲的工作經驗。

Jasper不僅是日隆貿易股份有限公司的董事長，同時也是台大EMBA的校友。在演講中他分享了他在非洲從商三十年之久的種種經歷，無論是文化體驗、歷史探索、人權追求或是其他奇聞軼事，精彩的內容都使得今天的課程成為了學生們難能可貴的一次經驗。

Jasper Lee先生一開始是專注於拓展公司在西非的貿易出口市場，當時設定的目標是希望成為足以影響市場供給面的鈕扣最大出口商。由於非洲市場的消費者非常受低價所吸引，因此企業每每在銷售服飾、皮包原料、二手物品（如飾品、襪子、車子等）時，若能將價格壓到最低，就越能擁有市場優勢。儘管非洲市場的生態是如此，他還是提醒學生「維持商品的質量」對於企業能否永續經營是非常重要的關鍵。

Jasper也告訴同學們，他認為創業成功的關鍵便是「信任」，而這在非洲市場尤為重要。非洲的顧客在做生意時非常注重「名譽」以及「人脈關係」，若想在非洲市場闖出自己的一片天，與當地進口商打好關係是必要的。除了了解他們的商業模式，摸清楚這些客戶是否值得信賴也很重要，同時也要讓他們相信自己是他們的可靠合作夥伴。

結束演講的問答時間，學生們對Jasper的商業營運手法提出諸多深入的問題，他在一一回答完提問後鼓勵GMBA的同學們要勇敢在40歲前去創業，因為那是擁有野心與時間的最佳年紀，意即，學生仍有時間可以勇往直前地去面對挑戰與學習，但在事情不如預期的時候仍能保有退路

 

GMBA Guest Speaker session: African Markets Sharing

Written by GMBA student Kitty Chow

A guest speaker Mr. Jasper Lee was invited to share his experience of doing businesses in African markets in the Business Communications class on 23^rd Oct 2020.

Jasper is a NTU EMBA alumnus and was the former president of the GREAT GREEN INTERNATIONAL CORP.. Jasper generously shared his abundant experiences of being a businessman and explorer for 30 years, soaking up culture, studying history, searching for humanity, and enjoying anecdotes in Africa.

Jasper focused on building his exporting business in the West Africa market, as the largest button exporter who had the bargaining power in controlling the supply chain. He shared consumers in Africa market are highly price-driven, thus businesses selling garment accessories, raw materials for producing bags, second-hand goods such as garments, socks and cars in cheap price have high potential. While he reminded not to give up quality of products since it is still a key factor to keep the business running.

In addition, Jasper emphasized the most important factor of starting a business is ‘trust’, especially if you want to succeed in the Africa market. African customers put ‘reputation’ and ‘connection’ in high priority when doing businesses. Therefore, much effort is needed in building up relationships with the local importers, getting to know their businesses conditions and learning how reliable they are, at the same time, present to them how trust-worthy you are as a business partner.

During Q&A session, students showed their interest in knowing more of Jasper’s tips for successful business operation. Jasper encouraged GMBA students to establish their businesses before 40, since it is essential to be ambitious and allow room for failures. Besides, there would be sufficient time for business starters to accumulate experiences and knowledges, thus, to improve and keep trying.