Mkosti,

Great to hear that you are planning to enter the local market, i however have to highlight and hope that you can separate the issues here, to enter ANY market, there is the need for one to have local knowledge/partners; this is sometimes reflected in law too (sorry, sijui ya Kenya..).

Back to our question, depending on the magnitude of contracts unatafuta, there is always the possibility of doing business without any 'corruption'..then again, is being taken out to lunch/basketball/football game by a (potential) client corruption, or unethical...then again, what exactly is corruption????

Sorry, i split hairs for a living...

@iKenya: Yes we are in some countries where you need a local partner to register, but we easily go around that by not registering there and use the home registration or register in a nearby country. The main mode of expansion so far has been registering local branches and then employing local engineers. The corruption I was talking about was giving bribes for tenders, giving part of the company to politicians' sons etc. This was common in the Moi error, but my research has shown that it is far from eliminated even now. Any thoughts or experiences on that?

@murenj: Yes, I understand China has the lion's share and it is hard to compete against them because of their low prices and the support of their government. The government gives loans on condition that the contract goes to their companies, not to mention the bribes they throw around.

What we do is not something for end-consumers but rather business to business. We make and install towers, masts, satellite paraboles etc. We have even done construction of buildings for telecom companies and I think we can diversify more into low-cost construction when in Africa or even renewable energy. Our main clients have been broadcasters, telecom companies and governments.

Does anyone know of companies which make for example masts and towers in Kenya for safaricom?

Thank you for your insights.

main vendors are Ericsson, Nokia Siemens, Huwaei, ZTE...they are usually given the contracts to do full scope, (Towers + Electronics) in which case they outsource the civil works for towers to 3rd parties. Otherwise tower contracts also go direct to 3rd parties e.g Linksoft (http://www.linksoft.co.ke)

Hope that helps...

Thank you very much guys. These replies help a lot. Papa Investor, thanks for the tip on linksoft. A quick look at the link tells me what they do is exactly what we do @yuleyule. 1. Are linksoft politically connected? Yeah I think a JV with a local partner would be the best option in a high-risk target country. We will have consultants checking out the country risks and determining the viability of the entry. My job will be to make an entry strategy if it is decided that we go through with it, but it will start in the summer I am just giving myself a head start. We have worked with Ericsson and Huawei in other countries so it will not be hard to get references there, the issue is with the Kenyan companies and government. If they follow the rules then I will just have to find out about linksoft and their strengths and weaknesses when formulating our entry strategy. 2. It seems that linksoft have had it easy since they started, or are there any other serious competitors?

What yuleyule describes is what happens normally, the smooth or text-book way. 3. But does it always work like that or it is normal to have those under the table deals?

We deal with the civic works mostly, but like linksoft we have a series of partners who are big players in almost everything which has to do with outdoor transmission and broadcasting and we call upon them whenever necessary.

Again thank you guys this helps a lot, and if you have any other thoughts please do not hesitate.