Many young Africans desire to chart their career paths outside the continent, but for Ghanaian entrepreneur and leadership development expert Fred Swaniker, Africa is the best place for an African to succeed. The Silicon Valley graduate and founder of the African Leadership Academy in South Africa outlined three reasons why Africans studying abroad should return home to work.
Read his letter below:
Last week I found myself back in Silicon Valley at Stanford University where I did my MBA. I was privileged to attend a talk given by my friend Strive Masiyiwa (one of the entrepreneurs I admire). I encourage you to view the full talk on Strive’s facebook page. After Strive had given his talk, a couple of the students in the audience asked a question many Africans studying abroad almost always ask at such events: should they stay abroad or should they go back home?
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I have studied in America twice. Each time, I had to come back to work on the continent within 3 months of graduating (the first time was for my undergraduate degree at Macalester College in Minnesota and the second time was after my MBA at Stanford University in California). My decision to come home as opposed to staying in the USA ultimately came down to 3 considerations:
