What Should We As Individuals, Groups And As A Collective, Be Doing?

I was recently asked by someone ‘What should we be doing?’

This was asked in relation to moving to Africa.

I had to give this some careful thought.

I’ve wanted to move to Africa for a long time.
Ever since early childhood, my yearning to visit Africa was strong.

My first visit to Africa was to Sierra Leone in 1993.
The visit was so good that I returned several times over the following year.

In 1994 I got malaria and was very sick.

My family suggested that I go back to England. So I did.

After settling back into UK life, I got myself into a good position and was able to settle down and enjoy a fairly good life.

And the yearning for Africa lessened.

For the next few years I explored I.T. and became good at it, excelling in computer networking, server support, user support, website design and internet marketing.

After several years of working in the UK I realised I was now leading my parents life.

What I mean by this is, they came to the UK and built good lives for themselves, but had to dedicate their time to unwittingly building the UK economy while caring for the family and themselves.

I wanted to build the African economy.

So the best place for me to be was in Africa.

I relocated to a nice quiet part of Ghana, where life is slow and there isn’t much influence from the outside world.

….Now, here is where I get into ‘what should we be doing?‘

As said earlier, my skillset includes website design and internet marketing.

I can do that from anywhere in the world as long as I have an internet connection.

Here is my advice to anyone who wants to make the move to Africa, but does not know when or how they will be able to.

START PREPARING.

Do what you can with the things and resources you have available now.
There is a saying, ‘You already have what you need, to take the next step’.
And that is very true.
NO MATTER HOW THINGS LOOK, YOU ALREADY HAVE WHAT YOU NEED TO TAKE THE NEXT STEP.
Sometimes we think we need money or a thing, it might be that we just need to think of the situation differently.

Example.
I need money and can’t do anything until I get the money.
Alternative thought:
Ok, using my existing skills and opportunities, what can I do to raise an additional income?
Try and look at problems as opportunities to create new and exciting solutions. Also try and remember, that simple is best.

Speak with the people in your family, your friends and your network to see what they think of you moving to Africa.
You might be surprised at their responses!
Their responses might also open up new avenues, ideas and opportunities that you had not thought of.

Try and start a business that you can take anywhere and still have an income.

I started my website design and Internet marketing business, well before I came to Ghana.
When I left I was worried that my income would not be enough.
My worries were misplaced.
Because things are far cheaper here and there are less distractions, you spend less money and also don’t need the type of income you need in the UK or USA.
This is probably my top tip, START AN INTERNET BASED BUSINESS.
(Visit this link to get some ideas of businesses that you could start).
START IT EVEN IF YOU ARE IN FULL TIME EMPLOYMENT.

JUST DO A COUPLE OF HOURS A WEEK, TO BEGIN WITH.

As long as you are being consistent, you will see progress.

Begin looking at different African countries on the Internet.

Watch videos, find websites and listen to what the people of that country say about it.
But remember, your experience will not necessarily be the same as theirs.

People will often tell you about how expensive things are in their respective African country.
When you do the currency conversion, you will see how much cheaper the things often are.
Their experience is based on the income that they are used to.
Your experience does not have to be that way.
If you want to and take the correct steps, you can be living on a UK or USA income while living in Africa, if that is what you want to do.

Look at the available jobs in your desired African destination.

Is the salary going to be enough after considering that prices are sometimes much lower over here than in the UK or USA?

Start looking at schools, colleges and universities etc. if you need to.

Don’t wait until it’s too late or you might miss the beginning of term. When is the beginning of the new terms?
Is it the same as the country that you are in now?

Accommodation is one of the biggest issues we face.

Start looking at hotels and other forms of accommodation such as AirBnB.

Personally, I recommend using your existing social media groups and connections to try and find accommodation that is owned by someone like us!

We should try and keep our money circulating in our own communities.

I reccommend visiting Africa for 3 and a half months.
Many people say that is impossible because of work commitments etc.
My reply is, ‘so how do you expect to move to Africa when you are not in a position to take 3 months away from your job?’

And yes I agree, 2 weeks, 3 weeks or a month is great, as a fact finding holiday!

But a good test is 3 and a half months.

It might seem like an odd suggestion, but from my experience, the 1 month, 2 months, and 3 months point, each have a different affect on your mind.

After 1 month I was thinking, ‘I’ve had a great holiday so far, time to start getting some work done!’
After Month 2, ‘I’ve had a great holiday so far, time to start getting some work done!’
Seriously, that is what happened!

I was enjoying the heat and relaxation so much, that I had to remotivate myself to start laying some roots.

At the 3 month point I was panicking a little because there was so much I still had to do.
At 3.25 months, I had to start getting my mind mentally prepared to return to the UK as my journey was coming to an end.

My point is this. Start preparing yourself NOW.

Just do what you can.

Start saving money.
Investigate flight prices.
Review hotel prices.
Speak to your contacts who know the country you are thinking of relocating too.
START AN ONLINE BUSINESS.

And don’t underestimate the power of ….

THE TELEPHONE.

Get on the phone and call people.

And most of all… overstand that you will be in a foreign country.
You will not be in the USA or UK.
Don’t expect people to bend to your USA or UK way of doing things.

To summarise ‘What Should Black People Be Doing?’

PREPARING.

You can do it, no one can tell you – you can’t prepare.

Also if people try and dissuade you from moving to Africa, ask them to
Explain all of the benefits for a black person living in the current political and social situations taking place in the USA and UK.

After they have answered that, ask them to
Explain why Ludacris, Samuel L. Jackson, Queen Latifah, Steve Harvey, Wesley Snipes, Idris Elba and other black A-list celebrities are moving to Africa.

We hope you enjoyed this article.
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