Don’t move to Africa relying on Apple products.
Macbooks and iPads for living in Africa? Leave ‘em home. Here in small town Namibia, my MacBook and iPhone have turned into the bane of my existence. Outside of capital cities, its hard to find replacement parts or get repairs on them. And this is the case across the continent (and side note: take it from me, China shop chargers will send your iPhone into a tizzy!). Most Africans are using Windows programs and computers and Samsung phones. So, wondering how to move to Africa and stay plugged in? Think twice about your Apple gadgets.
2. Road safety is a major prob.
I initially moved to Namibia blissfully unaware of the car accident stats. I was clueless about how dangerous driving habits were not only in Namibia, but across most of Africa. According to the World Health Organization, Africa is the continent with the highest number of road accidents despite having the least number of vehicles. There’s the dangerous overtaking, speeding, and overall reckless driving. Even I’ve had a few close calls on Namibian roads myself.
Here’s a little secret. There have been times that I’ve been living in Namibia illegally. Not intentionally though. Just because Namibian immigration can take foreeever (in my Cardi B voice) to process documents. So when you move to Africa to work, you might try to get ahead of the game and submit your work visa docs early. And you’ll still find yourself in a state of limbo—where one visa has expired and immigration can’t tell you when your new one will be ready. Or, they just lose your paperwork altogether and you’ve got to start from square one.
4. Even you can be an entrepreneur.
No matter where you live in Africa, you’ll be surrounded by a sea of innovation and development. And with that comes a ton of entreprenurial opportunity. Several great biz opportunities have landed in my lap. However, I never saw myself as an entrepreneur, so, the idea of “starting a business” was terrifying to me. I underestimated myself and missed out on some potentially revolutionary business opps.
Don’t move to Africa to work and be afraid to veer off from the 9-5 world. Americans moving to Africa shouldn’t be afraid to leave the corporate mindset behind. But also don’t move to Africa just to be rich and exploitative. Just know that entrepreneurship is a way of life here—you’ve got to grab it by the horns and not look back. Moving to Africa as a Black foreigner? You may not get the welcoming you expected.
Many African Americans moving to Africa arrive on the continent in a state of utopia. It’s like a 400 years late welcoming home. The hard truth? I have met Africans who didn’t quite embrace me. There aren’t a huge number of Americans moving to Africa.
6. Don’t go crazy trying to “be” a local.
My first visits to my Namibian inlaws village were pretty interesting. They’d be cooking over fires, planting crops, herding cattle… Just a bunch of manual labor all.day.long. But the kicker? They were working under temps close to 100 degrees! I started to compare myself to them and felt like I looked lazy. So, I started milling around too but burnt out QUICK. Now, I accept that I don’t have the same stamina for aspects of rural African life. I make some effort to take part in their culture and chip in here and there. This is enough.
7. Avoid payday crowds like the plague.
In some African countries, many employees get paid at the same time of the month. So, a lot of folks end up doing the bulk of their shopping at the same time. Supermarkets, post offices, banks, ATM lines, malls… they become semi-chaotic and there are long lines everywhere. There was a time I’d get caught up in the madness—standing in a bank queue for a good hour just to make a quick deposit! Now I know to avoid running errands at the end of the month. Way less headaches!
8. Your English may not be their English.
You’re a native English speaker living in an English speaking African nation. Chit chat with locals will be a breeze right? Wrong! Some people will find your accent difficult to understand. My sentences got lost in translation many times during my first year living in Namibia. I was speaking too fast and not enunciating my words for the person’s ear which was trained to Namibian English accents. Now, I’ve learned the signals that silently scream, slow down! Like someone saying “yes” when I ask them how their holiday was.
Moving to Africa is exhilarating! But homesickness is inevitable.
When I moved to Namibia, I was on a travel high. My old life back in NYC was the last thing on my mind. I mean, I was living in Africa! Life doesn’t get much more cooler than that. But all travel highs must come to an end. And when mine finally did, I just about fell into a depression. I wish I had mentally prepared myself for the possibility of dealing with homesickness; because when it hit, it hit hard! And I was all the way in Africa, faaar away from home.
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