A highly educated couple from southeastern China have built a thriving business selling diapers in Africa, generating an impressive annual revenue of 3.2 billion yuan (US$450 million).
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Shen Yanchang and his wife, Yang Yanjuan, were top students at Harbin Engineering University, one of China’s prestigious institutions. After graduation, Yang became an associate professor in engineering, while Shen took a position as a procurement manager in Nigeria.
However, after two years of enduring Africa’s intense heat and the threat of malaria, Shen returned to China. The turning point came when a Nigerian supplier asked him to source goods worth US$200,000 from China. This request revealed a significant gap in Africa’s daily necessities market, igniting the couple’s entrepreneurial spirit.
In 2000, they started a small company in Guangzhou, initially focusing on exporting essential goods and building materials to Africa. By 2004, their venture had transformed into Sunda International Group, which opened its first overseas branch in Ghana.
Having established a strong presence in the African market, the couple were struck by the sight of many local mothers using rags and leaves as menstrual products, an issue they found both unhygienic and degrading to women’s dignity.
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Western sanitary products were often too expensive for most African families.
In 2009, Sunda launched its own brand, Softcare, specialising in baby diapers and sanitary pads tailored for Ghana and other African countries.