Rwanda is a long way from China. In terms of distance, culture or business, there is no getting away from this fact. So when Jean-Pierre Gashagaza decided that China was the best place to buy machinery and materials, he knew he needed help.

"We had a very big problem," the managing director of Rwandan-based construction company NPD-COTRACO, told ChinAfrica. "We were dealing with the Chinese and had a problem of communication. Sometimes our English is not a very good tool to communicate with."

Gashagaza said with China being so far and unknown it was also always going to be tough sourcing the equipment. He soon realized he needed the services of a China-Africa specialist and hooked up with Mahamat Adam, Chairman of Africaccess, a firm specializing in China-Africa business dealings. It quickly became a winning combination.  

"They have helped us to find where to buy those machines," said Gashagaza, adding that Africaccess was invaluable in helping with export documentation and shipping to Africa.

Bridging the gap  

The irrepressible rise of trade and investment between Africa and China has triggered the gradual rise of a new business phenomenon: China-Africa consultants.

Industry insiders estimate there are only between five and 10 such consultants operating in China. "You will find very few officially registered companies that are really doing this, in terms of facilitating trade or investment. [Very few] that are really professional as such," said Adam, who first came to China in 1999 as a Cameroonian student before co-founding Africaccess in 2005.

African and Chinese business communities face significant challenges in dealing with each other, despite the goodwill and enthusiasm that exists. First there is the obvious problem of distance. Then there is the question of being familiar with the other culture, a crucial aspect in business networking. China-Africa consultants make it their job to know these ins and outs and play the intermediary between the two business cultures.

Adam said that a classic example of this is the tradition in Chinese business of first taking a potential client out to lunch, a custom that he says does not really exist in Africa. He also points out that the methodology of conducting business is more developed in China. This is particularly true of banking and payment methods, quoting and calculating costs.

Tebogo Lefifi, South African international business specialist with experience in Africa, Britain and China, is founder of Afric@work, another China-Africa consultancy firm.

She says the gap in the psyche of Chinese and Africans is quite wide. "There's a whole lot of things: culture, administration, and geographic and economic dimensions that you have to look at. Usually [the client] knows enough about their own products, but they don't know how to maneuver around the regulatory environment in China."

She says her role is largely about providing an introduction to the world of Chinese business. "When you [are a consultant] looking at a market-entry strategy [for Africans coming to China], you are basically giving people an understanding of the local China environment, the regulatory environment. What do they need as a market entry strategy? What is feasible? What is easy? Because China has a very unique way of how you set up a business."

Matchmaking 

Lefifi said that often the role of a China-Africa consultant is to bring together parties with compatible needs.

She recalls working on a project where she and her colleagues introduced an African construction-development project that was seeking Chinese capital and a Chinese investor looking for opportunities in Africa. "Basically, they would not have found each other because their projects were a little bit of a mismatch, as the project was too small for the Chinese investor. But then they saw it as a way of understanding or testing the country that they wanted to work in."

 But this is about more than matchmaking. The new breed of China-Africa consultants is a jack-of-all-trades. Firms such as Africaccess and Afric@work specialize in trade, promoting investment, organizing promotional events, product marketing in China or Africa, research, market assessment and raising capital. And that's just for starters.

As Jean-Pierre Gashagaza can attest, it pays to have an insider in the Chinese business world. "It's very important to have someone inside China. When we need to source machines, it is difficult for us when we are in Africa. Communication by email and even by phone is not easy, but when they [the consultants] are there in China its'very, very easy for us."

What Makes a Good China-Africa Consultant?  

Mahamat Adam said that, above all, a China-Africa consultant must have a good understanding of China, which means having a good understanding of the language. Adam explains that his ability to speak Chinese has made all the difference in winning trust within Chinese business networks. He also said business people should look for a China-Africa consultant who is part of an official institution and a registered business.

It is crucial for a China-Africa consultant to have a healthy network of contacts. If you want to come and do business in China, you need a consultant "who can get you to the right people."

Tebogo Lefifi said that diverse backgrounds also allows consultants to succeed in China-Africa business. This is particularly true of technical professionals. She is currently working on a deal involving power plant acquisition and one of her fellow-consultants is a former engineer, making him perfectly suited to consult on the deal.