JOHANNESBURG – It is 5:50 a.m. here in South Africa’s biggest city and the first glimmer of light has appeared. Dawn is breaking and the red-orange sun is rising perfectly from the tree-lined and studded horizon. Minutes turn into seconds and seconds turn into moments as the sun kisses the dark blue African sky. And in the stillest, stillest point in this turning and moving world, it happens – darkness ends and the bright yellow sun appears.
The sun’s ascent might as well be the perfect metaphor to describe taipan Carlos Chan’s business expansion here, his first foray outside Asia.
Mr. Chan, the country’s special envoy to China, is the low-key tycoon behind the Liwayway Group, the snack foods giant that owns the iconic Oishi brand.
Liwayway — which literally means “dawn” in Filipino — is the first fully Filipino-owned giant that is waving the Philippine flag here. It officially opened a manufacturing plant in nearby Centurion just last January to get a bite of South Africa’s growing market.
South Africa marks the ninth country where the Liwayway Group has set up operations after the Philippines, China, Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia and India.
Badge of confidence
The Philippine embassy in Pretoria is beaming with pride.
“We really consider it a milestone to have a big Filipino presence here with Liwayway. It shows the strength of the relations between the Philippines and South Africa,” Philippine Ambassador to South Africa Joseph Angeles told me in an interview here.
Amb. Angeles said that with Liwayway’s expansion, more Filipinos would be inspired to brave the South African market.
“Liwayway’s presence here is a badge of confidence. It means a lot to have such as successful businessman like Mr. Chan here...It’s fertile ground for other Filipino businessmen to follow,” he said.
I also talked to Consul Joselito Jacinto who said that there are other Filipinos doing business here, but they are mostly traders.
“But Liwayway is really FDI,” Jacinto said, visibly beaming with pride.
He said it is the first time that there is a big fully Filipino-owned factory here.
“We’re trying to increase Filipino products here in South Africa,” Jacinto said.
Both Angeles and Jacinto agree that Liwayway’s expansion in the country is such a “positive force.” They hope other Filipino investors will follow.
But Mr. Chan likes to stress that Liwayway is only just starting.
“We’re just new,” he says.
When he first visited South Africa a few years ago, he fell in love with the country, enough to immediately acquire land and decide to build a factory.
Africa, he said, has so much room to grow – a last frontier of sorts because all the other continents such as Europe and Asia are already mostly developed.
South Africa has a young population and a fast growing middle class. Indeed, the opportunities are vast, as vast as the country’s sprawling land.
Liwayway Food South Africa
We visited the factory of Liwayway Food South Africa outside Johannesburg. It is located in Centurion, which is part of the city of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality in the province of Gauteng.
Gauteng, which means “place of gold,” is the smallest province in South Africa, but is highly urbanized and is home to Johannesburg, the largest city as well as to Pretoria, the capital.
South Africa has a population of 55 million and roughly 12 million are in Gauteng, making it a fertile ground for Liwayway’s expansion in the country.
Gawgaw
The Liwayway Group has come a long way. It started as a family business selling repackaged laundry starch or “gawgaw” from the United States.
Mr. Chan’s father, Chan Lib, a native of Fujian province who moved to the Philippines in 1914 put up the small business with his wife. Mr. Chan, Lib’s eldest son, has expanded the small family-owned business into the giant food conglomerate that it is now.
But don’t be deceived. Liwayway gawgaw still exists. Mr. Chan said even as the market for laundry starch has shrank through the decades, the business remains – perhaps for sentimental reasons, posterity or luck, or all of the above.
Opportunities abound in South Africa and Mr. Chan is right in braving the market. It has an economy about the size of the Philippines, but only half the population. The road network is also good, at least from what I saw between Johannesburg and Pretoria and we didn’t experience a lot of traffic.
At 77, Mr. Chan’s energy seems endless. He is excited for things to come for his business here and in other parts of the world.
New day
The sun is out here in South Africa, casting shadows on the sprawling greenery and rolling hills. It is as picturesque as it can be. Like the sun, Liwayway will soon shine even brighter here as it has done across Asia; its rays will reach as far as possible, perhaps beyond the vast land and the hectares and hectares of mountains. It’s a new day for the Liwayway Group, a new chapter in its history. The Philippine flag is raised and it is waving majestically in the biting African breeze. This is no doubt Pinoy pride at its best.
Iris Gonzales’ e-mail address is eyesgonzales@gmail.com