Maxwell Mukaria · Founder & Operating Partner

I bring China into African businesses — and I stay in as a partner.

The right factory partner, the machines or the product, the setup and the system to run it. I built my own company's China supply chain first — Cycle Africa Bikes, East Africa's leading Giant bicycles dealer. Now I do it with a small number of owners who have the capital and the market and want the China side done properly.

Apply for a China Verdict How it works For established owners with a named project. Not for people testing an idea.

Two directions. One partner.

MAX.INC is a China–Africa operating partner. We stand on both sides of the bridge.

Africa China

Factories, machinery, sourcing, manufacturing, supply chains. You have the capital and the market; we find the right maker, verify it, land it, and stay in the business.

China Africa

Market entry, distribution, partnerships, local operations, sales. Chinese factories and brands that want a serious African partner rather than another trading enquiry.

The Canton Fair mistake

Every year African owners fly to Guangzhou and come home with business cards and no factory. It happens the same way each time.

  • 1
    The card is not the price.

    By the time a product is on your floor in Nairobi it is roughly one-and-a-half to nearly twice the factory quote — freight, insurance, duty, levies, VAT, clearing, transport, breakage.

  • 2
    The tax stack is not "some duty".

    Duty, import levies and VAT on top of all of it add roughly half of the landed value again — and the duty rate depends on a tariff line most people never check.

  • 3
    Nobody checked the partner.

    No landed-cost sheet, no sample, no factory visit, no written terms. Cards, not a supplier.

What we do instead

Verify the maker. Know the landed number before a shilling moves. Get the partner's terms in writing. Land it. Stay.

Open-book always: you see the factory's invoice. Our share is a named line on it. The factory pays us nothing behind your back.

How we start

Three steps. Each one earns the next. You never pay for the big step before the small one has proved us.

1This week

China Verdict

A 60-minute call and a one-page written plan: what to build first, a landed-cost range for the first line, the top-3 risks, and a clear go / no-go.

USD 500 (≈ KES 65,000)
22–3 weeks

Partner Trial

Three vetted makers for your project · the true landed cost on your floor · a live video tour of the best plant with you on the call · one maker's written terms — price, credit, technicians or consignment.

USD 3,000–5,000 credited to the Build if you go ahead within 60 days
33–6 months, staged

Build

Partner terms signed · machines or first container landed · handover with the maker's technicians where the maker provides them · the systems to run it. You pay each stage on delivery.

Fixed fee, agreed in writing + an operating-partner share of 3–5% on supply for 2 years, shown on every invoice

I did it first

Cycle Africa Bikes, Nairobi — built directly with Chinese factories: the sourcing, the containers, the showrooms (the flagship on Dar es Salaam Road), the systems that run it.

2showrooms in Nairobi, including the dedicated Giant showroom
7brands sold — Giant, SAVA, CAMP, Cruztrek, NOOYAH, TWITTER, Phoenix
33–56%gross margin range on our China-direct bicycles, landed and sold
Open-bookthe way every one of our supply relationships is run
"You see the factory. You see the invoice. And I'm still here in year two."— Maxwell Mukaria

Apply

For African owners with a named project and the capital ready (revenue typically KES 20M+ a year), and for Chinese factories and brands looking for a serious African partner. Wendy from Maxwell's office replies within 24 hours.

Serious owners only. We answer everyone.
Please fill every field marked * before sending.

Received — thank you.

Wendy from Maxwell's office will reply within 24 hours on the WhatsApp number or email you gave. If your project qualifies, the next step is the China Verdict.