40: Chapter 40 The Crisis in Tanzania

"This is not just a factory; it is a school.

We will also build an Africa Digital Skills Training Center within the industrial park, training 500 engineers and technical workers for Mauritius and surrounding countries every year.

We will cover all expenses, teaching these people for free how to manufacture, disassemble, and replace mobile phone parts. We understand the principle that it is better to teach a man to fish than to give him a fish.

In the future, these individuals can join our after-sales channels, or they can establish their own mobile phone specialty stores. No matter what they choose, we welcome it."

The applause from the audience grew even more enthusiastic. Investing in a factory was a good thing, but cultivating talent was the truly long-term commitment.

Only technology is the most important thing.

Of course, Transsion wasn't that charitable; they wouldn't waive tuition fees entirely, but there would still be some corresponding other fees. After all, this was Africa, and they weren't his own people...

Mr. Adebayo spoke briefly before handing the stage over to the Minister of Industry of Mauritius.

This Minister of Industry was a practical man; he had never expected Transsion to place its first factory in the newly developing Mauritius.

He had originally intended to attract investment, but the result... this was simply a pie falling from the sky—no, that wasn't right, this was a cake!

After stepping onto the stage, he couldn't stop smiling: "We in Mauritius have always maintained an open attitude towards foreign companies. Over the years, there has been quite a bit of private foreign investment, but not many technology companies.

Especially technology companies willing to train technical workers for us.

But Transsion has done it.

To support such an excellent foreign enterprise, Mauritius has decided to replace all official equipment for relevant government personnel with Transsion Power Max! The first batch will be 10,000 units to support our enterprise."

This was a very clever statement; it not only supported the investing enterprise but also demonstrated their confidence in local manufacturing.

Of course, they also had their own little motives.

After all, only by making Transsion the official phone of Mauritius could its sales continue to grow, ensuring this factory wouldn't leave and would instead grow even larger.

After the groundbreaking ceremony, Mr. Adebayo accompanied officials and relevant reporters to view the planning model, explaining the main operations of this factory to them.

In the future, this facility will mainly manufacture the T80 and T1, as well as take on part of the production capacity for the Power Max. If the technology is recognized by headquarters, it will undertake even higher-end models in the future.

Most of the factory's production capacity will supply the market in Mauritius and surrounding countries.

During the introduction, his phone vibrated constantly. Most of the messages were congratulations, though a small portion expressed hope that Transsion would set up a factory in their countries in the future.

But one message made his smile stiffen slightly.

This message was a text from Minister Mohammed of the Tanzanian Ministry of Investment. Shen Fei had emphasized to him last time that this person was a difficult character.

Later, he had also communicated with Minister Mohammed, and as for the conclusion: Well, the boss was right. This guy had no idea of his own worth.

This text message was even more outrageous: "Mr. Adebayo, I am very disappointed.

When you held the press conference here previously, we were very cooperative. Furthermore, your company's big boss personally promised to prioritize building a factory in Tanzania. Why has it now become Mauritius?

We need an explanation."

Mr. Adebayo found an excuse, left the crowd, and called back.

"Minister Mohammed, listen to my explanation..."

Tanzania was quite important to the Africa market, so he still attached considerable importance to this matter.

It was just that their attitude seemed to take themselves a bit too seriously...

"Explain what?" The voice of Minister Mohammed on the other end of the line carried a hint of anger.

"Tanzania gave you the best land policies, the most favorable tax rates, and the fastest approval processes. We just wanted you to cultivate related industries, yet you turned around and went to that small island nation.

This is an insult to us, and you will definitely pay the corresponding price."

"Minister, the site selection was the result of comprehensive consideration." Mr. Adebayo tried his best to keep his emotions from becoming too volatile; after all, today was a joyous occasion.

"Mauritius has better port conditions, making it very convenient to export to South Africa, Madagascar, and even China. Moreover, we can utilize more mature electronic industry support here, which can save us costs."

"So Tanzania is not worthy." Minister Mohammed interrupted him and directly threatened.

"Mr. Adebayo, let me tell you. If Transsion cannot offer satisfactory compensation, Tanzania will impose a 10% special tariff on all Transsion products.

Also, the approvals for your stores, permits for promotional activities... as well as related grassroots marketing activities, will all encounter some difficulties.

I heard your grassroots marketing team paints advertisements on people's walls without their permission. This behavior seriously infringes on others' rights...

We must impose corresponding penalties."

A naked threat.

Mr. Adebayo took a deep breath. He had not expected that someone who could become a minister of a country would be so unreasonable.

But regarding the imposition of tariffs, Transsion would certainly not foot the bill; in the end, the ones who would get hurt would only be...

It was just that blocking store approvals and the advertisement issues would cause them a certain amount of impact.

Although Transsion had paid the advertising fees.

"Minister, Transsion has over 150 stores in Tanzania, employs over 1,700 local staff, and pays over 700,000 USD in taxes to Tanzania every month.

If you really do this, it won't just be Transsion that gets hurt, but also Tanzanian consumers and the job market."

This was Mr. Adebayo's trump card. Hiring a large number of local personnel, while the wages offered couldn't compare to foreign enterprises, was already double the local income.

This was his greatest source of confidence.

He clearly had not expected the other party's stupidity to exceed his imagination.

"Then you can just try and see." After saying this, Minister Mohammed hung up the phone.

Mr. Adebayo held his phone, his expression a bit grave. Ever since he became the actual person in charge of Transsion's Africa region, very few people had spoken to him like this.

Originally, the probability of building a factory in Tanzania was 50%, but now with this uncertain factor, the probability of building the factory dropped directly to 20%, or even 0%.

Of course, he also understood Minister Mohammed's anger. Tanzania really wanted to develop its own technology enterprises and had extended an olive branch to Transsion.

The conditions offered were suitable, but the related supporting requirements were a bit excessive. Furthermore, business decisions cannot rely solely on sentiment; Mauritius's comprehensive conditions were indeed superior.

More importantly, this was the boss's strategic layout; building a factory in Mauritius could better serve the surrounding markets.

But now, Tanzania's reaction was more intense than expected.

He hurriedly reported the situation to the boss.

Shen Fei's reply came quickly: "Try your best to appease Minister Mohammed, and at the same time, transfer all their accounts out.

Leave the rest to the gray market merchants?

Remember, those people are not our employees, so we don't need to take responsibility for the corresponding after-sales service."

Mr. Adebayo's eyes lit up.

This move was brilliant. On the surface, it was appeasement, but in reality, it was abandonment.

He was just preparing to call Minister Mohammed back when his assistant hurried over.

"Vice President, just received news: Bird Mobile has launched in Tanzania."