African 'prince' determined to succeed in Chinese e-commerce

29-year-old Wale is an international student in China's Huzhou Teachers College. He is starting an e-commerce empire of his own trading goods between China and Africa, according to Zhejiang Online. Further, a little-known fact about Wale is that he is also the grandson to the King of Benin’s Ketou region.

Wale works hard to bring more Chinese products to his hometown, the African country of Benin. [Photo: IC]

Wale’s business journey started when he sold mobile phones imported from China by his friends in Benin. Determined to continue to grow his e-commerce, Wale decided to go to China himself. 

After making up his mind, Wale soon applied to become a graduate student of Huzhou Teachers College. He chose Huzhou because his friends told him that the trade there is very developed and it is very close to Yiwu, the hub of wholesale.

Wale speaks frequent Mandarin now. [Photo: IC]

Wale now speaks frequent Mandarin and a bit of the local Huzhou dialect. He manages his business through social media including the popular Chinese chat app WeChat. He even started his own channel where he showcases his products using live-stream. 

Wale gets his orders not just from Africa but from across the world. He just mailed a wig someone ordered from France. The range of goods he sold grew from clothing items to TV sets.

One difficulty he faces is the long delivery time between China and Africa. He told Zhejiang Online that some items took 45 days to reach the costumer and if they are dissatisfied with the products it would be too difficult to return them. 

However, Wale is committed in his e-commerce business. With Africa a crucial part of the Belt and Road Initiative, he hopes that more products, such as gold and hazelnuts from the continent could be sold in China.