4 reasons Chinese businesses are whipping the United States in Africa

Adesegun Oyedele, a professor at St. Cloud State University, gave a presentation Wednesday on how Minnesota companies should market to Nigeria, and his observations apply to most of Africa.

He said the U.S. has "already fallen behind" China in Africa. Here are a few of the reasons.

1. China is less restrictive with visas for traders looking to visit Chinese exporters.

Nigerian traders looking to visit the U.S. to meet with potential business partners face a huge challenge. Not so with China. "It's easier for Nigerian traders to get visas to China," Oyedele said.

2. The Chinese export-import bank is far more active in Africa than the U.S. Ex-Im Bank.

Overall, China's export credit agency authorized $153 billion in loans, guarantees and credit insurance for Chinese exporters in 2013. That compares to $27 billion in authorizations by the embattled U.S. Ex-Im Bank. Those are worldwide numbers but the ratios hold true in Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa, Oyedele said.

3. Increasing dominance of Chinese technical experts.

4. Chinese businesses are more adaptable and more aware of African opportunities.

"The people in this market (Minnesota) have more disposition to go to Europe," said Oyedele. And when American companies arrive in Nigeria, they are often less flexible about their processes. Chinese companies come in, find out how business is being done, and then adapt themselves. American companies are more rigid, he said.

The good news is that American-made products still carry a lot of cache in West Africa, Oyedele said, moreso than Chinese goods.

Another presenter at Tuesday's conference, held by the Minnesota Trade Office and the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, was Robert Preska, a trade manager for Lamex Foods, a firm in Bloomington.

Preska said his company has been doing business in Africa in earnest for three years, and he's now focused exclusively on West Africa.