Lemna's African Adventures

Into Africa

The project that launched Lemna outside North America was a wastewater facility in Poland 20 years ago. A Polish sanitation company learned about Lemna’s technology at a trade show in Washington, D. C., and asked the U.S. firm to come help on a project in its home country.

Five years later, Ngo began making trips to Africa, making contacts in Kenya, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco to see if Lemna could do business there. The first project Lemna completed in Africa was not a water project, but rather a road construction job in Nigeria.

Ngo was willing to step outside his firm’s traditional expertise. These days, Lemna acts as the general contractor on any infrastructure project overseeing subcontractors. “In order to do that, we had to break out of the mold of specialization that most American companies are doing,” Ngo says. “We tend to be broader. We focus more on how to manage the project.”

Based on his experience, Ngo believes that doing business in Africa requires more time and patience than many American firms are willing to put into it. Government officials float in and out of office, and Lemna must explain a project’s rationale over and over again. Newly elected leaders may take a hostile attitude toward the United States and U.S. companies.

Then there are the cultural nuances. Sometimes Ngo and his colleagues get what appear to be exuberant, positive responses from African partners, only to later learn that “yes” can often be more of a polite acknowledgement than a definitive answer.

But enough Africans have said yes to Lemna to make all the challenges worthwhile.

Helping Build Nigeria

Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country, with 147 million people living in an area about twice the size of California. The Niger Delta along Nigeria’s southern coast line is a lush, low-lying area where many tributaries fan out and flow into the Gulf of Guinea.

“Right now, we’re building one of the biggest natural gas plants in Nigeria, and it’s about halfway done,” Ngo says. The project, a joint venture of American and Nigerian investors working with the Nigerian government, is located in the city of Satele, home to several foreign oil companies. It’s expected to open by the end of 2009.

When completed, the plant will process about 300,000 standard cubic feet of natural gas per day, which will be sold to an electrical generation plant adjacent to Lemna’s facility. Expatriate workers are helping construct and start up the facility; the technology, management, and operations gradually will be transferred to Nigerians. Ngo estimates about 200 permanent jobs will be created, including operators, guards, maintenance, and groundskeepers.