Fillemon Shilongo has been in Germany for almost five months, but the 23-year-old economist from Namibia still hasn’t become accustomed to the food. “Germans eat a lot of vegetables,” he says in surprise. But the snack bars here have something much better: “Doner kebab!” Fillemon’s mouth waters at the thought of the Turkish meat speciality. Fillemon is at his computer concentrating on the next printing assignment for Daimler AG. A new vehicle handbook has to be printed. He’s working in the digital printing section of the media and communications service provider Sommer Corporate Media in the Swabian town of Waiblingen thanks to the “Students’ Experience Programme” (STEP) run by SAFRI, the Southern Africa Initiative of German Business. The initiative is supported by leading German business associations (BDI/DIHK) and the German-African Business Association chaired by the former Daimler CEO Jürgen Schrempp. For five months Fillemon and another seven students and university graduates from southern African countries are gaining practical experience with German companies, including Thyssen Krupp, Daimler and Dornier Consulting.
“It’s a huge opportunity for me,” says Fillemon, who feels in his element in his black suit, blue-check shirt and blue tie. His dream is to be a “real businessman” one day. “This internship is giving me the chance to learn from German colleagues and to pass my experience on back home.” Fillemon is in fact describing the idea behind the STEP project: the initiative’s objective is to advance the business qualifications of southern African students and young managers, to promote the integration of southern African countries in the world economy and to expand business relations with the 14 Southern African Development Countries (SADC).
Since 2005 students from Botswana, Madagascar, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe have been coming to Germany. Students can apply from the areas of engineering, controlling, logistics, sales and marketing, business studies and information technology. “We want to enable the young people to establish a good living and to help develop society,” comments Georg Beuerle as he describes the initiative’s basic concept. The head of the SAFRI office in Stuttgart is convinced that the efforts benefit both sides: “Most of the young professionals get a job afterwards,” he says. “And German companies who invest in South Africa can rely on finding qualified people in the country.”
Nokuthula Zungu has an internship in the production materials purchasing department at Daimler AG. The 23-year-old business administrator from Durban in South Africa convinced the selection team at an assessment centre and a few months later was aboard a plane destined for Stuttgart. “I was incredibly excited,” she says. A new culture, a foreign language and the start of professional life awaited her. She says Germany signalled the future, because she knew how valuable this internship would be to her professional career in South Africa. Nokuthula received her first minor culture shock when she stepped into the underground train. “People don’t greet you when you get into the train,” she says, then laughs. “It was weird, they were all so wrapped up in themselves, reading newspapers, listening to music,” she recalls. In South Africa it’s unimaginable to sit next to someone without greeting them or joining in a conversation, but in Germany it’s quite normal.
Nokuthula’s first day at work brought a huge challenge: a full-day meeting – in German. “That was really tough, but it was good experience for someone like me who’d come straight from university.” Her nicest surprise came during a visit to Stuttgart’s television tower where she enjoyed a spectacular bird’s-eye-view of the city and the surrounding countryside together with the STEP group. Alongside language classes, integration courses and workshops, cultural experiences are an important part of the programme: a trip to the university town of Tübingen with boating in a punt, a visit to the Stuttgart State Opera or eating Swabian pasta specialities, such as spaetzle and Maultaschen. Not to mention the snow: Nokuthula is unlikely to forget the very first snowball fight of her life.
What 23-year-old Balomeletsi Bafedile finds particularly impressive about her German colleagues is their ability to separate work from their private lives. “When they’re working, they’re totally concentrated on what they’re doing,” she says. Balomeletsi comes from Botswana where she graduated in business studies. She’s gaining work experience in utility vehicle sales at Daimler’s CharterWay International. There’s a German grammar book on her desk and posters of large trucks on the walls. Like all of the STEP internees she has a personal supervisor. Looking after an internee from southern Africa was a new experience for Silke Stubenrauch. “It’s an intercultural exchange at work,” says the manager and recounts how Balomeletsi gave a talk to her colleagues about her home country. “That was really useful, because since last year we’ve been represented in South Africa,” says Ms Stubenrauch. Similarly, Balomeletsi says her visit to the production plant was a really exciting experience. “It’s fascinating to see how those innumerable robots assemble a giant truck.” She proudly lists the things she has learnt: “I now know how to plan marketing budgets, how to prepare Powerpoint presentations and how to deal with international customers.”
At the moment Fillemon doesn’t know what he will be doing after his internship. He’s hoping to have as much luck as his STEP colleague Nokuthula who already has an internship contract with Daimler’s subsidiary company in South Africa. “I’d like to build something up in Namibia,” he says zestfully. He says the internship has built up his self-confidence: “If I can dream a dream, then I can put it into practice as well.”
