People often go and visit people in Africa or welcome other people to visit them. When you arrive at the office after your morning round, you’ll most likely find large groups of people relaxing at the reception sodas.
When asking my secretary if we’d become the local bus stop, she just said: ‘They’re from the security company and are here for an audit’. The first thing I always do at moments like this, is to check my agenda and luckily I’m always right: it’s an unexpected audit, visits from people you’re not exactly waiting for and that just have to be squeezed in.
They’re always at the most unfortunate times and there’s not much to say, really. Maybe that needs some explanation. They need an hour extra to say the things they actually came for. They talk about their families, the farm they have with two cows, three goats and a couple of chicken, and ask me if I want to stop by for advice some time.
In the view of African people, Dutch people are always the expert when it comes to farms. Our chicken lay 50 eggs a week, cows give you a swimming pool full of milk, a fish has an average weight of 3,000 kg and we cultivate about 40 tons of potatoes from one soccer field, and so on.
What they don’t realise is that all vegetables they grow are leftovers of last season’s seedlings of bulbs. The very worst potato that he hasn’t been able to sell, was put back into the ground and strangely, this year’s season is disappointing again. Just like last year, and the year before. The chicken don’t lay enough eggs, the cows don’t give enough milk, and all because they only get dry grass to eat. No power foods. Well, they don’t have the money for that, so I understand their situation. Maybe we have to turn things around by first planting some good crops and then harvesting a lot. Then it’s another story.
A CEO from a very large exporter in the Netherlands paid us a visit last Saturday. I know him from the old days, and in such case you always make room in your agenda. I was taught about new possibilities, market chances and developments. And then I realise the big difference between Africa and Europe. I heard so much again, that I may visit the Netherlands soon.
Feico Smit,
CEO Royal van Zanten Uganda
