"Yeah. I also saw it when I got off the plane. The infrastructure here is too weak. We have started to build smart roads in China, and even the coverage rate of ordinary roads here is very low." Guo Chu said empathetically, "But this It also shows that the market prospects here are huge.”
"But business is hard to do!" Bai Tongxi took him to the temporary living area and said, "In the past few months, we have encountered too many troubles. And they are things we have never thought of before in China."
"It's even worse now that the progress of the project has completely stopped and we can't continue! If this continues, I think our group will leave Nigeria!"
"So serious?" Guo Chu frowned.
"This is not serious. What is serious is that not only is the water in the bamboo basket empty, but also a loss of blood!" Guo Chu said this with a somewhat angry tone.
Zhongnan Construction Group just entered the African market last year and first carried out infrastructure construction in an area of Kaduna State, Nigeria. The project includes a long-distance highway, a mid-way transport railway and partial urban construction.
Starting last year, they began sending workers and construction machinery to Nigeria and recruiting local workers to start construction. But more than nine months have passed, and their progress has not reached one-third of what they originally envisioned, but their expenses have already been more than three times the budget!
"The construction conditions here are so bad that I have never seen it in the first half of my life!" Bai Tongxi complained, "The government management here is extremely chaotic. Just running various procedures and managing all aspects has cost us a lot. effort."
"Even so, our safe construction conditions cannot be guaranteed. Robbers and thieves often come out and steal from us. Three workers were injured last month, and one worker almost died. Now he is sent back to China to recuperate. The workers The mood is not good, and many workers want to go back to China.”
"And our construction machinery. Once, several large machinery were directly snatched away by gunmen, and the loss reached tens of millions!"
Bai Tongxi was full of bitterness. After staying in peaceful China for a long time, he felt unhappy everywhere.
Although Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa, its security management is very poor. Because of issues such as poverty, tribes, and beliefs, armed conflicts occur in many places from time to time.
As for robbery and extortion crimes, they happen almost every day. In the eyes of criminals here, foreigners are "rich people" and are more likely to become their targets.
These days, the people of Zhongnan Construction Group have suffered a lot.
In order to integrate here, they also specially trained local people as bodyguards and laborers. Unfortunately, these people's role is limited. Those local workers almost come here to earn a living, work as foreigners, paddle boats, and run away when they are in danger. The group is still the one being cheated.
Bai Tongxi took Guo Chu to the construction site. They were riding in a modified off-road vehicle. The doors and windows were bulletproof, and there were bodyguards with guns in the vehicle. This made Guo Chu really feel that traveling here was indeed a bit dangerous.
What they were looking at was a railway built to transport mineral resources. Nearby, there is a huge tin mine, which is also mined by a Chinese company.
The front half of the railway is okay, it has been built, and workers are responsible for inspection and maintenance every day. When it came to interruption, the construction stopped here and no workers started working.
When Guo Chu and others arrived, they found several black people stealing things at the construction site. The black bodyguard in the car immediately got out of the car and shouted at them with a gun, and they fled in a hurry.
"These black people are poor people from nearby villages or tribes, and they often come to steal things." Bai Tongxi said in a helpless and sad tone, "It won't work if we call the police. They can't control themselves and can't help us. If We injured them, but they found a lot of people in the tribe and came to us to cause trouble."
"Once we injured several thieves, but we lost tens of thousands of yuan. Do you think this is still true in the world?"
"It really doesn't make sense." Guo Chu patted him on the shoulder and said, "Thank you for your hard work."
Bai Tongxi continued: "The construction here has been stopped. It is because of the robbery and injury incident not long ago that some workers are unwilling to work here. Several of our excavators, cranes, etc. were also robbed, and some To be redeployed.”
"And if safety cannot be guaranteed, it will be difficult for us to start work."
Guo Chu asked: "How do others do it? Those other Chinese companies."
"Not all places are so chaotic." Bai Tongxi said, "In some places the security is not bad, and some companies have hired their own security teams. As long as there is no large-scale armed conflict, there is basically no problem."
"We also tried to do this, but found that it didn't work at all. I was afraid that someone was deliberately causing trouble. When we first came here last year, one of the local black bodyguards we hired died!"
"This project is so difficult! The situation in China is so good, sometimes I even want to go back to China to work."
Guo Chu knew that Bai Tongxi was under too much pressure during this period, so he comforted him: "Am I here to help you? No matter how difficult it is, we must complete this project. We have invested so much, and giving up halfway will be a huge loss! "
"Besides, this is also a way for us to accumulate experience for projects in Africa. Africa as a whole has such a big market. It would be a pity to give up like this."
"We have to redeploy workers and machinery from China." Bai Tongxi only complained a little, but never thought of giving up.
"I'm afraid that I will encounter the same situation again."
"You don't have to worry about this. We just ordered a batch of new equipment from Pengyun Machinery. When the order arrives, I will transfer it directly here. I guarantee you will be surprised! The problem of labor shortage should be easily solved." Guo Chu He said, "You just said that someone might be causing trouble on purpose. What exactly is going on?"
"There is a Gora tribe nearby, which is relatively strong, and their chief is also quite domineering. When we build nearby, we have to pay 'benefits' to them. But their chief is a little too greedy and thinks we don't give enough. He once hinted at threatening to cause chaos for us, and I suspect it was him." Bai Tongxi explained.
Guo Chu knew him well. Bai Tongxi always spoke conservatively, so he was a little suspicious. That was almost a certainty. This problem is really difficult to solve.
Nigeria is not a truly modern country. There are many tribes in the country. In some areas, tribal chiefs have considerable power and even have their own armed forces. Armed conflicts between tribes are not uncommon.
Even if the local government allows them to build here, they have nothing to do if the nearby chief wants to cause trouble for them.