The Melbourne uni student doing business in one of the most dangerous countries in the world

MELBOURNE student Luke Westcott decided to do business in one of the world’s most dangerous nations, taking a huge risk.

Luke Westcott with FIFA President Gianni Infantino and the FIFA boss in a South Sudan jersey.

“WE thought we’d start in the hardest part of the world and go from there.”

That is Luke Westcott’s reasoning for his company focusing on South Sudan — ranked one of the most dangerous countries in the world.

The 23-year-old’s company AMS Clothing provides football jerseys to some of the poorest countries in Africa, with a focus on South Sudan.

So how did an Australian end up becoming the official kit supplier for 10 nations and a host of football clubs?

Strangely enough, it involved social media and MS Paint.

“I used to design jerseys on Paint when I was a kid. I did one for every country in the world at one point,” Luke tells news.com.au.

Years later, as a teenager, he was selling football jerseys on eBay and kept getting the same requests.

“Customers kept asking me for jerseys of obscure countries I hadn’t heard of,” he said.

“I looked into it and they didn’t have official suppliers, so I decided to start up my own brand and supply the teams myself.”

He put together some designs and got in touch with the football associations via Facebook.

He found that the likes of Nike and Adidas didn’t supply kits in some African countries because fans couldn’t afford to buy them.

South Sudan was the first to reply, but needed the kits ready in three weeks. The company was set up, designs created and the deadline made.

AMS Clothing, which Luke runs with Angelo Garcia, now supplies kits to countries such as Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia and South Sudan. Somalia is the next in line.

He started the company in his first year of university in 2014, and plans for it to become his main focus after he graduates this year.

All of the kits designed by AMS Clothing.

‘STUFF CAN GO MISSING AT CUSTOMS’

So what are the challenges of doing business in some of the poorest countries in the world?

Luke says kits going missing at customs without explanation and problems with payment had been issues.

“Of course it’s never easy doing business with some of the world’s less-developed countries. There are many considerations that need to be made that you wouldn’t even think about when dealing in more developed regions,” Luke told football365.

Corruption has been an issue within African football, but Luke says it hasn’t been too much of a problem yet.

“You send stuff through customs and it can go missing, sometimes it can be pretty major,” he said.

Currently the kits are made in China, but Luke is visiting Ethiopia next month to look at some factories to produce the products.

“The goal is to have our own factory in Africa that we control,” he said.

South Sudan FA with Luke Westcott unveil its new kit.

‘THE WORLD CUP IS THE GOAL’

Seeing his designs used in World Cup qualifiers has been a buzz for Luke, but his ultimate goal is having one of the countries qualify for the World Cup finals.

“But the main thing is having our kits worn in matches. Some companies just create jerseys that aren’t worn by teams,” he said.

“But the World Cup is the ultimate goal.”

He says AMS will focus on Africa and that one day creating a design for heavyweights Nigeria is his goal.

“I contacted Nigeria in 2015 when their previous deal ran out and sent them some designs. They got back to me, but ended up signing a big deal with Nike.”

But Luke says his company has advantages over the likes of Nike and Adidas.

“They have limitations on what designs they can do,” he said.

“But because we’re on a lower scale we have more freedom on the design and patterns.”

They aim to create kits that include patterns and symbols that represent the culture of the nation. They also try to get feedback from national team players and fans.

Kei Kamara celebrates his goal for Sierra Leone against Ivory Coast. Picture: Darren McKinstry

The Rwanda kit designed by AMS Clothing. Picture: Darren McKinstry

SOUTH SUDAN IS THE FOCUS

One of the newest nations in the world, South Sudan is regularly named as one of the most dangerous countries.

But AMS has decided to focus its attention on the country formed in 2011 and currently supplies the national team and the local league with kits.

Luke has travelled to South Sudan, joining a training camp with the national team and getting to know the coaching staff and players.

He even presented FIFA President Gianni Infantino with a South Sudan top.

He also manages the South Sudan FA’s social media pages and helps its players out with CVs and highlight reels.

“It’s one of the hardest places in the world to do business,” he said.

“We thought we’d start with the hardest place and go from there. But it’s also a good test market for us because there’s less competition.”

For a country devastated by civil war and split along ethnic lines, football has the ability to unite South Sudan.

“When the national team wins, the whole country celebrates,” he said.

“They all unite as one. It has huge tribal conflicts and a lot of issues in general.”

Luke says the company has the opportunity to make a “very positive impact” in South Sudan.