Comments on: So Here’s the Thing About Relocating to Africa

By: Patrick

Patrick — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 22:22:58 +0000

Hey mwangj,
Is downloading forbidden in OZ? torrents, sharewares, etc…?

By: What Everybody Ought to Know About Immigration and Njeri’s Guest Post - The Displaced African

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 13:13:12 +0000

[...] Do you ever intend on immigrating back to Africa? Don’t leave this to chance. Be fully aware at all times of whether or not you will and your [...]

By: Mwangi

Mwangi — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 04:05:45 +0000

@nancy: Thanks for educating me. From the little I have gathered,Latin America and the Carribean has an amazing history from the point of view of struggle and power coming from the grassroots. Thanks for the education…..

By: nancy

nancy — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 20:42:09 +0000

Red Indians, Amer-Indians, East Indians, West Indians….those Europeans were intent on finding the Indies. Thank Christopher Columbus for this confusion. In Guyana (beside Venezuela, north of Brazil), there are people from around the world, the indigenous population, (pushed into the rainforest) Chinese, Portuguese, and Indians (from the sub-continent) all brought to work the plantations as bound labour following the abolition of slavery, and African-Guyanese, the descendants of slaves. In short, almost everyone in the Caribbean was shipped because of their labour, nothing more. And now we kill and fight each other, out of fear and misunderstanding. I look to South Africa (the Truth and Reconciliation Committee) for inspiration, but without truth we can’t have reconciliation.
Sorry for the rant. The situation pains my heart.
Keep up the good work.

By: Mwangi

Mwangi — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 11:51:33 +0000

@nancy: I didn’t even know that there were Indian and African people in Guyana? This truly is a huge world…….Are they from the same race as the native Americans or the same race as the Indians from the Indian sub-continent? As for African people, did they go there as slaves?
It is amazing how ridiculously easy it is for people in power to sometimes use differences between us to divide us. That is probably one of the biggest problems we have ever faced and will continue to face until we take that bull by the horns and unequivocally stand up to it.

By: nancy

nancy — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 03:47:27 +0000

very interesting post….as a Guyanese woman born in the USA (i.e., 2nd generation) i found it very interesting. My family is from Guyana and I would like to move back, even though I was born in New York. But the problem in Guyana (South America) is the racial divides between the two largest populations of African and Indian descent. We all know the reasons stem from colonialism, but without the white man as a common enemy we have ended up fighting each other. One side will never vote for the other, and the situation feels hopeless. Colonial divide and rule have left us all in a mess.

By: Mwangi

Mwangi — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 06:57:25 +0000

@Ken: Thanks for sharing. I just thought I would talk briefly about one small point you brought up about our nation being one of copycats. I think quite often we speak of this as though it’s a bad thing. I think an analysis of Western success shows that being copycats is an extremely intelligent way of going about things:
a) People who teach NLP teach about modelling succesful people in behaviour, thoughts and action
b) Copywriters use swipe files
c) Consultants consult on business models using other models of business that have succeeded as their templates.
So I think imitation of success, being more than flattery is a virtue, but I digress.

To expand on some of the stuff you were talking about, I would love to hear your thoughts, considering you have experience on taking outsourcing and call centres to Africa. With the ridiculously slow Internet speeds aside, it appears as though the virtual outsourcing model would work especially when money is held in escrow by a third party and only released to the contractor once the person doing the job has approved of it ( ala Rentacoder which is a great service if you have never used it). It would be a great way to redistribute financial wealth, if Africans who have office functions could virtually outsource them to their people at home…perhaps?

By: Ken

Ken — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 05:11:47 +0000

Hi Mwangi,
Well, I will be brief, I am talking from personal as well as experiences of our neighbors in Tanzania and Uganda.
Money especially if you are financing any sort of project will be open to abuse and is often abused by those back home. This is not limited to friends, for it also includes immediate family members, well, that hurts the most. The moment some individuals receive this money used to finance the business endeavor, they immediately rush to the nearest bar to baptize their recent financial windfall or in your absence will try and get into our all to well known get rich, poorly thought of schemes.. (Please search on Kenya Imagine an article on ‘Kenya the copy cat nation’) with the hope of making a quick buck!! For fear of appearing to be too cynical I am generalizing, as there are too many examples, both good and bad.
What I realize now is any form of short term businesses e.g. retail, would be very hard to run remotely despite having someone who appears trust worthy running the show. What this means is that businesses or any form of investments that require little of no day to day running or supervision would be perfect for those out side the country especially if pure profit is the primary motive. If anybody has success stories in the retail area, please share with me..

In Summary what I would encourage anybody and everybody to engage good lawyers, draft proper legally binding agreements, draft clear business plans or objectives with any local party back home… we have to set high professional standards from the get go or else you will realize why they say ‘Money is the root of all evil’….

By: Mwangi

Mwangi — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 15:42:29 +0000

@Ken: Hello, good to have you back. The discussion definitely took some great twists and turns. Indeed it does seem that for the well connected people or people who come from wealthy families, particularly if they are boys, it is a no brainer. For example, I heard of one of the sons of a top people in the Kenyan government already has his business set up and its running though they haven’t even completed their undergrad, that doesn’t stop them from getting paid. So, I think definitely, if you are well connected, a lot of the time it’s a no brainer, why live in more egalitarian societies when you can go home where your wealth will result in your being worshiped.
How does the money change people? Specifics would be fantastic….
Yes, Africa when it’s all said and done is still a pretty corrupt and inefficient place to conduct ethical business so it’s definitely something to think about should you chose to return.

By: Ken

Ken — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 08:42:15 +0000

Mwangi Ken here!! Great discussion!!!
I am sure quite a number of those in the diaspora have battled with this question, I am still battling with it myself as the hairline recedes. Reason being there are too many factors to take into consideration especially if you are not from the ‘well connected’ social circles this has nothing to do with your exquisite credentials, but has all to do with what is your last name and who do you know if you are looking to get employed…on the other hand if you aim to start your own gig, I take it someone will have some real money to back them up, tenacity, a good business plan, good business practices and discipline…

Just a word of caution if anybody is planning to jump into businesses, money, especially in your absence, will change people in the worst possible ways, if thinking of any business venture please please please get some good lawyers to watch your back irrespective of your business partners…AND get each and everything in writing, nyumbani some people are averse to paperwork after all we are talking of a money making and not some form of charity…