“In everything you do in this life, just have money—especially if you’re a woman.”

I speak to Lily on a frigid Thursday morning, from my apartment in Abuja. It’s 3 AM WAT, and I’m wearing a fluffy blue wool sweater that’s begun to fray. The room is almost completely dark, illuminated only by the glow of my laptop screen open to Google Meet, and the flashing colours on my mouse.

Lily tells me her room is brightly lit, a room in the heart of Lagos, Nigeria, where she has been living since she got back from Kenya. Lagos is warm, Lily says, and the memories of Lagos’ humid ember months make me briefly recoil.

In my room in Abuja, the fierce harmattan breeze punctuates our conversation, whistling sharply as Lily and I begin to explore her experience as a digital nomad who has spent the past five years exploring 10 African countries.

At first, we exchange quips on why we’re both awake and willing to meet online mid-morning. I say it’s a hazard of my job, a by-product of managing a daily newsletter scheduled for 6:30 AM every morning. Lily’s response is similar. As a freelance remote digital marketer, travel consultant and digital nomad, she often works well into the night or wakes up early to get some work done. 

I decide to kick off the conversation here—by asking if late nights, early mornings, cross-country travels and multiple streams of income were part of the future Lily dreamed of as a child.

TC: Is this what you’ve always wanted to do? To travel Africa and immerse yourself in different cultures? 

Lily: I guess you could say that. Let me share something funny. You know those chewing gum packs that came with stick-on tattoos of girls wearing short skirts and colourful bras? That’s what I wanted to be growing up. 

For the longest time, that was my goal and I kept repeating it until someone told me those girls were prostitutes who move from place to place. 

In the end, though, I guess I could say I achieved that, seeing how hard I use a part of my body—my brain—for money, and what I’m doing right now as a digital nomad.

TC: And what does being a digital nomad mean to you?

Lily: So I’ll give you a typical example. This year, I’ve mostly been in West Africa, but last year, I was in Kenya for most of the year, and I even took a good trip to Tanzania. 

I travelled across Kenya, I went to almost every state in Kenya. And I hosted well over 30 people in Kenya during that time. So as a digital nomad, this means that I’m not in one place. Typically, I get like an Airbnb or I look out for unique properties. I spend the week doing my work on my computer and when my weekends are free, I spend that time exploring. 

My idea for travelling is what I like to call “slow trips”. I don’t believe in visiting a country and spending a few days there. I encourage slow, sustainable travel which involves spending a reasonable amount of time in a place before you leave and immersing yourself in the locations. I understand that this is not possible for everybody, which is why personally, I chose to be a digital nomad.

TC: That sounds expensive, I imagine.

Lily: So a typical budget for a month like that would be like $4,000–$5,000. It’s actually a lot of money; you could probably travel across Europe a few times with that same budget. 

So yes, it’s expensive. But I will say this, it’s easier when you get out of Nigeria. That’s the hard part. But running through most of Kenya and Tanzania is cheaper, and you don’t have to worry about your safety. But if you’re a budget traveller, you can survive on less. For some perspective, bus tickets from Nairobi to Tanzania cost less than $30. And if you want to fly to Rwanda or Uganda, you book your tickets ahead for about $580.

There are ways to drive down costs and you’ll even find services offering these budget trips, but they’re not things I encourage.

TC: Why not? Wouldn’t cheaper budgets help people travel more?

Lily: They would, but then you won’t really be experiencing anything. For example, if you’re going on a five-day budget trip of ₦500,000 (~ $1,100) to Mombasa, you’ll spend most of your time in your hotel and doing everyday activities like bowling. You shouldn’t go to Mombasa just to bowl!

I feel like people work hard for money, and they should enjoy spending it too. If you want to go on a trip somewhere, why are you going there to sit in your hotel room? I would rather you take your time and get you experiences you’ll remember.

TC: And that’s what you did in Kenya last year. What was that like? 

Lily: I was in Kenya for six months, living in a house by the beach, and it was the dream!

The weather is fantastic. It’s cold in the mornings, almost all year round too. I mean, you don’t need an AC in Nairobi. Every day, I woke up to pray a prayer of gratitude because it just was unreal. I had a dog that I took on walks in the evening; I was living like Picasso, you know. I’d be on my balcony overlooking the water, eating some fruit. Yeah, it really was the dream. But it was also expensive. I should warn you. 

TC: How much are we talking about here?

Lily: I lived in a two-bedroom at the time and my rent was $250 per month and it was an unfurnished apartment. Fully furnished apartments in that place went for $2,000. It was a little town so my living expenses day to day weren’t high. Groceries for like two weeks would be about $100. And I was learning to windsurf.

TC: Was the expense why you left?

Lily: No, I had other things to attend to. Besides, everything was going really well and I was afraid I was living in a bubble. I didn’t want to be there when it burst, do you get what I mean?

And something strange did happen, but I only really put it together at the end. I had a neighbour who stole the keys to my apartment and would always break in to chill in the house when my friends and I took trips to other parts of Kenya.

TC: Oh, that’s alarming. 

Lily: Don’t get me wrong; Kenya is super chill. Our houses are so close together neighbours could jump onto our balcony and open the doors from inside if we ever locked ourselves out.

This guy—who I met only once—lived across the street from us, apparently. He even helped out with my dogs once. I didn’t find out about the break-ins until I asked the security guard to help feed my dogs while I was away. He met the guy hanging with two women. The guard didn’t report it to me because he thought the guy was a friend.

We never did catch him in the act, and I eventually had to move, but I learnt he was a minister’s son who was a known degenerate in the area.

Other than that, Kenya was superb. I’m looking forward to my next trip.

TC: Is there any place you’re not looking forward to? Any place that’s off your list?

Lily: Definitely Togo! I had two near-death experiences there. 

First time was in 2018, I think. I fell on my head at the waterfall. Second time, I was involved in a high-speed chase between the gendarmerie—the police—and my taxi driver.

TC: You really have done it all. Waterfalls, beach houses, and now a high-speed chase?!

Lily: No, no. It wasn’t anything like that. Carrying fuel around, in Togo, is a crime and my taxi driver had done just that. The police tried to apprehend him and he took off.

They chased us around town for almost two hours. And the worst part was neither the gendarmerie nor the driver understood French so we really couldn’t tell what was going on.

In the end, when he finally stopped, I came out with my hands up. 

TC: Okay, now that’s exciting. Is it your worst travel experience though?

Lily: Oh, no. That honour belongs to Mali and Tanzania. They need to do better.

So far, I’ve been to ten African countries excluding Nigeria—Ghana, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Togo, Tanzania and Mali. 

There’s a devil in the border officials at Mali. In my first trip to Mali, they almost arrested everyone in my travel group, simply because we were Nigerians. They literally pick out Nigerian passports at immigration and harass the holders. We had to pay those motherfuckers ₦10,000 (~$25) each before they let us go.

It’s the same in Tanzania. Border officials are discriminatory as fuck. Some clients have also had to pay $250 in bribes just because they were Nigerians. The last time I was there, they held us up for four hours, checking my visa and asking how I got it approved. I didn’t have to bribe my way through but I did miss my bus.

TC: What about the places you loved the most? I imagine Kenya is top on the list.

Lily: You’d think so, but Kenya is not No. 1. Senegal is first on my list and Kenya is second. 

My first time in Senegal was my budget road trip. On the bus trip from Mali to Senegal, we met a woman—Sarah—who basically took care of us all the way. She didn’t speak any English, we didn’t speak any French, but yet, she looked after us all the way and helped us navigate discriminatory border officials. When we got to Senegal, she took us to her home to shower and fed us breakfast before helping us find a hotel. She even negotiated the deal for us.

And that’s how it mostly is in Senegal; there’s a strong sense of community. It’s easy to get robbed in Senegal, I must say, but there are more people looking to help you than rob you.

And the sunsets, oh Senegal’s sunsets are unreal. There’s so much happiness in the air. You see kids laughing and learning how to surf. Did you know that Senegal has the largest surfing community in Africa?

But I guess these are the highlights of being a nomad. 

TC: But what are the lowlights then? You’ve spoken about language and immigration. Are there any more? Maybe food?

Lily: I actually draw the line of my adventurous sides at food. I have never tried local cuisines and I don’t think I should be ashamed to say it.

When I’m on trips, I find myself cooking a lot. I love English breakfast so once I have pancakes, bread, butter, eggs and coffee, I’m good to go. There’s also an abundance of meats and fruit everywhere, so I can get by on both while I’m on the road.

For lowlights, I guess it would be the strain it puts on relationships. It’s hard to find a place or someone to call home with for when I’m on trips, I like to immerse myself in and that means I communicate less. 

It’s all worth it though, for the experience.

TC: How do you afford all this? Just so anyone who wants to walk this path has a blueprint to follow.

Lily: The first thing I’d advise is to have multiple streams of income. I do three things. First, I’m a freelance digital marketing specialist, and I’m also a travel consultant which is where I curate trips for people, and finally I have a concept store online called Unrefhyned Studio where I sell things I’ve upcycled from my trips. 

Right now, from all these streams, I earn about $1,500–$2,000 per month. It’s not like I enjoy doing multiple things, but I enjoy the security that comes with having money. 

In everything you do in this life, just have money—especially if you’re a woman. 

I’d also advise—if you’re going to toe this path—that you have money that can last you three months. Life can happen at any time and any disturbance can render you nonfunctional for weeks. Money will shelve you during these times, it will keep you safe.

And finally, don’t put yourself in situations that you can avoid. Do your research, and like they say, when in Rome, do as the Romans do.

If you enjoyed this edition, please share it with your networks on Twitter, WhatsApp, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Telegram. If you’re a Digital Nomad, and you’d like to share your story, please email me at timi@bigcabal.com or fill this form.

For the past three years, TechCabal has been exploring why Africans have migrated out of their homes with the Digital Nomads flagship. From the first article, we have delved into the human angle and tried to discover why Africans travel in search of opportunities that will advance their tech careers. 

The digital nomads we’ve spoken to have given several reasons for their decision to look for career opportunities outside their home country. The most frequent reason given is the financial freedom that jobs at international companies offer. It is not difficult to see why that has been the case. 

Why Africans are leaving home

Most international companies pay remuneration in foreign currencies, which, when converted to African currencies, results in a significant increase in monthly earnings. The rising inflation on the continent—the average inflation rate across sub-Saharan Africa reached 9% in August—has led to several currencies like the Nigerian naira, the Ghanaian cedi, and the Sudanese pound rapidly losing value.

Lola Salehu, a product designer, left Lagos for Dubai, where her monthly expenses dropped and her salary was multiplied by eight. Similarly, a pastor who works as a data annotator for a US-based company said the job allowed him to pursue pastoring without having to rely on the offerings of his congregation.

However, money is not the only reason that people decide to become digital nomads. Sometimes the allure of self-fulfilment that comes with working for highly regarded international companies plays a part in people deciding to move abroad. A Unilag graduate working at the Goldman Sachs office in London said that he loved working there because it felt like he was finally living his dream. 

These multinational companies also offer career advancement opportunities that a nomad might not have originally had access to in their home country. Subomi Salami, a product manager at Meta, realised this and decided to apply for Meta’s Rotational Product Management (RPM) Programme, which led to her getting her current job because she had always had this goal to start her career in big tech companies and then figure things out from there.

The decision to become a digital nomad is not always driven by desire, but rather by necessity. This rings true for the African students stuck in Ukraine at the start of the Russia-Ukraine war. Due to their proximity to the war and fear for their safety, they had to leave. In their talk with TechCabal, they said, “on the third morning, the tremors woke us up. Everything rattled, and the whole building shook. We didn’t even think twice, we packed our documents, and a few other things, and left.”

In another edition of Digital Nomads, a Nigerian said that frequent negative interactions with the police influenced her decision to leave Nigeria for the United Kingdom. After she was stopped twice in one night by the police and had to pay a bribe in exchange for her freedom, she knew she had to leave the country. “I knew then that I couldn’t do this anymore,” she said.

The quality of life outside their home country also motivates people to become digital nomads. For the Nigerian who decided to leave Lagos for Abidjan because “Abidjan is a Lagos that works”, his decision to move his entire family was spurred by the quality and ease of living he experienced in Cote d’Ivoire.

A businesswoman who left Nigeria for Tunisia said that she experienced two different Africas when she got to Tunis. “I wish it could be the same in Nigeria. Since I came to this place, electricity has been constant, water is constant. Everything works when you pay your bills.”

How does this affect the continent?

The increase of digital nomads might help improve the quality of life and experience for the Africans that take this route, but it is a worrying development for the continent as a whole. The majority of these digital nomads are skilled workers whose contributions could have helped the development of Africa had life here been kinder to them. The mass exodus of talent from the continent has led to several concerns about brain drain, and how it might negatively affect the continent. 

“The people that are leaving are not those that have no jobs. You find all sorts of people across banks, telcos, and consulting firms leaving,” Rasheeda Seghosime, COO of Africa Foresight Group (AFG), a talent recruitment startup, told TechCabal. According to a survey conducted by the Africa Centre for Strategic Studies, the majority of African migrants already living in or travelling to Europe were either employed or enrolled in school when they left Africa. Considering that Africa’s nascent tech ecosystem has experienced accelerated growth and a boom in funding between 2018 and now, it becomes even more worrying that skilled workers and students are leaving in droves. 

It is not all gloom though, as most of the startup founders currently building Africa’s tech ecosystem were digital nomads in the first place. Samuel Akintunde, the founder of AltSchool and TalentQL, told TechCabal that by getting exposure from other countries, Africans can help their home country develop. “Let people travel, make money, connection and partnerships, have access and learn new technologies. It’s useful to the ecosystem. You can’t build global talent by locking them up locally,” he said.

Akintunde’s stance is justified when considering companies like Bloom, a Sudanese startup whose founders met in London. Bloom is enabling Sudanese people hold USD and spend as they go in local currencies. The country recorded a 359.09% inflation rate in 2021. Similarly, Iain Usiri, the founder and CEO of Ramani, a Tanzanian startup, told TechCabal that the exposure that he got as a product manager in America gave him the necessary expertise to build his company. 

While the rate at which Africans are leaving is worrying, the hope is that with time, these Africans can come home to help develop the continent. 

A sure way to succeed in the ever-changing world of tech is to find roles that suit one’s archetype, skills and passion.

Subomi Salami is a prime example of a career transition expert, as she has held roles in different fields, from management consultancy to product marketing to product management. Salami studied economics at the university and was on her way to becoming an economist or accountant when she started taking internships. In her second year at the university, she landed a management consultancy internship at KPMG, and by the next year, she secured a marketing internship at Google. She enjoyed Google’s work environment and the perks and became fascinated with the tech world. Soon after, she decided to pursue a career in tech. 

However, after she graduated from University, getting a job at a well-known tech company wasn’t a walk in the park. In the meantime, she got a job as an account manager at Softcom, a Nigerian tech solution company, where she sold the company’s tech tools to clients looking to scale. 

While at Softcom, she learned about product management from a friend and became interested in switching to that field when she did more research on what it entailed. However, she didn’t know how to. Eventually, she found out about Meta (formerly Facebook)’s Rotational Product Management (RPM) Programme—an 18-month programme that allows professionals without degrees or tech industry experience to transition into project management at Meta—and applied. After weeks of rigorous preparation, she aced the job interviews and got the job. 

Salami, now working from Meta’s office in London, is grateful for her career transition. Along the way, she was able to move countries, multiply her earnings, and improve the quality of her life. We caught up with her to discuss her process of transitioning into the different roles she has held. 

How did you get into Meta?

Back in January 2020, at the beginning of the year when everyone was planning out their lives, I doubled down on my job applications. I was interviewing for three product marketing roles at Google, thanks to the connections I made during my internship. Then COVID happened in March and Google paused my applications. But I was pretty optimistic I would get one of those roles. During COVID, I was working in a sales role, but it required meeting people so sales were low, especially in March, April and May. I had a lot of time on my hands so I continued applying for jobs. 

I had heard about product management, but I wasn’t really sure what I needed to do to become a product manager. It sounded like a more interesting role than product marketing, which I had experience in. I started trying to check how I could work as a product manager. Because I’ve always had this goal to start my career in big tech companies and then figure out things from there, I started applying for product management roles at Google and Facebook (now Meta). I applied for Meta’s Rotational Product Management Programme (RPM), went through a three-stage interview process, got an employment offer in October 2020, and resumed in June 2021.

What were the roles you held before Meta?

My first ever job was as a management consultant intern at KPMG, after which I joined Google as a  product marketing intern. At Softcom, I was a tech salesperson, so I worked with clients and sold the company’s products. When I joined Softcom, I was asked if I wanted to work in sales or marketing, but despite having experience in marketing, I chose sales because I wanted something that would allow me to speak with random people and build some of the soft skills that I wanted to have. I also loved the person who was heading the sales team, so I wanted to learn from him. 

How do students stand out and snag high-level internships as you did?

The first thing is research, a lot of people don’t have access to information. A lot of people don’t know there is a Google internship that happens every year. It’s the lack of access to information that people need to combat first. The second thing I’ll say is to become an interesting person. You can do this by reading books, watching documentaries, and TV shows and learning things outside of your course. It will help you have good conversations because, at the internship level, a lot of my interviews were very conversational. The only reason why those conversations were interesting was that I knew certain things. So, it is good to have knowledge about different topics and random things, it allows you to be well-rounded. 

Was that the same for the Meta interview?

It was a bit different. Those conversations still happen and still help. But a product management interview is similar to a case interview. So they ask you specific questions. There are two types of questions you can be asked: product sense and product execution. A product sense question might be a question on how you would build an apartment building for blind people. But of course, the question will be related to the work of the company you are applying to. You have to figure out how you scale things down, prioritise, and identify risks. Overall,  the conversations typically happen within the confines of these questions. 

What piqued your interest in product management?

To be honest, I just thought it was a cool job. I think back in 2020, I met a product manager in Nigeria and got to know about product management, but I didn’t know what he did. Then we had a conversation and he told me about his job. I felt it was cool and decided that it was what I wanted to do. I started doing more research into it. While working at Softcom, I always wanted to move closer to the tech part of things. But l was not technical at all. I initially thought product managers have to be super technical. I mean, if you’re working with engineers, you probably have to know how to code or understand some of these programming languages, or maybe you have a computer science degree so that you can understand their work. When I spoke with my product manager friend, I realized that there’s so much more to product management besides being technical. It doesn’t hurt to be technical but it is only a small part of the job. The role became more appealing and sounded like a good place to be in tech. Moreover, I was getting tired of sales and marketing. 

How then did you make your transition to product management?

Meta’s RPM programme is a good way to transition into product management, but it’s hard to get into. When I applied, I didn’t think I would get in. It was at the bottom of my list and I applied to make sure I covered all bases. My initial plan was to transition internally and work as a product manager for at least a year or switch workplaces to work as a product manager within Nigeria or study for a tech-related Master’s and then go on to become a product manager.

Those are long paths

Yeah, that was the long path. But that was all I could see. I really wanted to leave Nigeria and I wasn’t getting a job. So I thought of doing a Master’s degree. At the bottom of the list was getting a job. I don’t know why I stood out in the resume or CV stages, but it helped that I did practice a lot, as I had never done a product management interview before. Something I believe is that when you want something really bad, it shows. I practiced with a lot of people and the people I know that got in were those that wanted it really bad and did lots of practising as well. Since I had done a lot of interviews in the past from my job search, I was pretty confident with the idea of interviews. I had learned basic interviewing etiquette and just kind of how to hold the interviewer’s attention. 

How was settling outside the country and into a Big Tech company?

It was tough at first because it was a big change, even though I felt it was less tough because it was something that I had been anticipating for quite a while. It was tough because I had a new job in a new company, in a role I had never done before, in a place I had never lived before. There were a  lot of new things and adapting to the changes that brought took a while. Most of my immediate family still lives in Nigeria. I was homesick for a bit. I went back home after five months.  But making friends wasn’t difficult for me. A lot of my friends from Covenant had moved here as well, for school and jobs. So it wasn’t that hard to make friends even though the building of that community was slow. But I’m at the point where I’ve built a strong community here and I don’t feel lonely. In terms of my career, it was hard, because, for the first few weeks or months, I could not tell what a product manager did. I was so confused. The RPM programme turned out to be the best way to transition because there was a lot of support to figure out things.  

How did it help your career financially?

Using ₦750 Naira to £1 as the exchange rate, I would say I multiplied my earnings by at least 12 when I moved. Although, I will say money was not my biggest motivator when I was trying to get the job. If money was my only motivation, I probably wouldn’t be as passionate about product management because there are other easier ways to make money than being a product manager at Meta.

You sound like you enjoy your current job.

Yes, definitely. I don’t think there’s anything I could be doing as a job besides this. Maybe if there was an option of not having a  job, I might consider it. I haven’t seen any other roles that align with my natural skills: conflict mediating, talking to people, providing clarity and being proactive.  

What would you say is the best thing about your job and working at Meta? 

The best thing about being a product manager is that I’m the person that’s responsible for making sure we’re working on the most important thing for the user. That we’re constantly thinking back to who we’re building for, and why we’re building what we’re building. I feel like that’s such an important role. In a lot of companies, very few people do that. I was going to say the best thing was talking to people but it can get tiring. I do like that, but it’s not the best thing, it’s a good part. You get to speak to so many smart people from different backgrounds and build relationships. You make friends on the job because you have meetings with some people once or twice every week. The best thing about working at Meta, it has changed my life. I had always wanted to work in this type of environment. The culture here is very inclusive, welcoming, open and transparent. The benefits are great, you feel like you are taken care of.

What advice do you have for people who want to make a similar transition?

I will say always go the extra mile because most people don’t, so this already cuts out a lot of people and leave very few people to compete. If you really want something, do your research, and go the extra mile, you can switch from being an account manager, or a content writer to whatever role you want in tech. I transitioned from a regular account manager and I think anyone can do it. 

When I was applying for this job, I remember attending the information session. I also reached out to the recruiter about five days after I applied and hadn’t heard back. Then the recruiter responded to my message and said she had sent me an email for an interview. I felt like she saw my message, checked for my application, and probably liked my CV and felt I was a good fit. Most people don’t do that. Those were extra steps I took because I really wanted the job. After I got the interview invite, I did over 50 mock interviews. And because my favourite mock partners were in other time zones, I was sleeping late. Just to be clear, I don’t think anyone needs to do that number of mocks. But it shows how much I wanted it. I don’t know if doing 50 mock interviews helped me get the job but it probably helped me get more comfortable with interviewing and with the interview format. And I got the job, right?

If people see my process, they would understand what it means to want something. A lot of people say they want to transition into tech, get a relocation job or become a leader in their field, but the truth is that they don’t want it badly enough. Because if they do, they will figure out how ways to achieve these goals.

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We’re open to applications for Digital Nomads from across Africa. If you’re an African that is working or studying abroad or travelling the world, or someone that just transitioned into tech, kindly fill out this form.

Many of these students—19,000 of them African—had left their home countries for the relatively cheap education in Ukraine. Most international students in Ukraine can survive on $6,000 per year, a stark contrast from countries like the US where international students would need about $10,000 per year to survive. 

For some African students like Fortune whom we spoke to in March, the war brought an abrupt but expected end to a seven-year journey. For others like Kemi*, it meant yet another pause on getting her medical degree, and losing a business that brought in at least $1,000 a month.

And so when we speak to Ariyike* on a Friday evening, eight months after the onset of the war, we expect morose responses and a sombre chat. What we find, however, is the proverbial silver lining hiding within the many stormy conflicts brought on by the Russo-Ukrainian war.

TC: Tell us, what was running through your head when the war began?

It wasn’t unexpected, I’ll tell you that. I was starting my third year of medical school, but I hadn’t paid my fees yet. I remember my mom saying we should wait for things to take shape before we made any further commitments.

When the whole thing finally happened, I didn’t think we would get out honestly. I’m super pessimistic about these things, so I didn’t think we would get out at all or even get off the continent, but we did.

TC: How did you get out, and what did it cost? Some people paid up to $1,000 to get cabs to take them to nearby cities. 

I think I was luckier than most. I don’t think I spent a thing while leaving Ukraine. 

I found someone locally—a friend of a friend—who had a car, and he’s the one that drove us to the train station; then we go into the train for free. But when I got to Poland, I spent a hell of a lot of money on trains. And then I got duped renting a false AirBnB.

In total, I spent about $300 on trains, hotels and food in Poland, but I was only there for a few days. 

TC: So you didn’t lose a lot?

I wouldn’t say I didn’t lose a lot. I mean, my laptop is still in my apartment in Kyiv with most of my clothes. Because I didn’t think we’d get out, I packed winter clothes for the cold: heavy jackets, boots, and blankets. 

Luckily, we got out so now I’m in Nigeria, but I have nothing to wear. Every time I reach for something to wear, I spend time rummaging through my wardrobe before it hits me that I left them in Ukraine.

TC: Will you ever go back for them? The things you left?

Go back?! To what?

I have friends whose landlords sold their stuff weeks after they left. My landlady is nice, I’m lucky, so best I can do is find a way to get her to send them to my friends in Hungary. But I’m not going back to Ukraine. 

I still have PTSD from my time there. I don’t think I’ll ever want to live in a European country where English is not the first language.

TC: Whoa, PTSD? 

Let me explain it this way: the second I got back to Nigeria, I felt free, you know. Like I could walk on the street without anyone gawking at me. In Ukraine, black people have to hide themselves in public places, because Ukrainians criticise us for every little thing we do.

For most people that grow up in Nigeria, we don’t understand racism; we live in environments where every single person around us is black. I think when we get to these places, we don’t catch on to these little things that are actually racist microaggressions because we don’t understand them. Ukrainian students punch holes in walls and no one bats an eyelid, but international students get fined and kicked out for the littlest things.

We understand otherisation, yes, but not racism. In Ukraine, I had to be hyper-aware and when I finally got back to Nigeria, my muscles unclenched and I felt relaxed.

And that’s the feeling I’m looking for in anywhere else I want to go.

TC: Did that feeling last though?

Yes, it did. 

My people gave me time and space. I guess they didn’t really talk to me about it because they didn’t want me to worry about my future or be emotional.

And that’s their fault because once I noticed, I started putting my plan together.

TC: I swear a melodramatic ghen-ghen sound just popped into my head. What plan?

I never wanted to study medicine, and I think God finally agreed with me.

Even before talks of the war started, I was already trying to convince my mom to let me leave medicine. Medical students in Ukraine write a qualifying exam in their third year so my mom asked me to wait till after the exams before we continued the conversation. I knew it would never happen, and I was already thinking of how difficult my fourth and fifth years would be.

So when the war came and I found myself back in Nigeria, I put myself together and started putting together plans to study a course I actually love.

TC: And what’s that?

I love writing, and I want to be a journalist.

I’ve actually been interning with a Nigerian newspaper since I’ve been back. But yeah, journalism is my passion and I want to study it.

TC: And your mom agreed? Willingly?

She didn’t have much of a choice this time. The first thing she did when I got back was to call all the schools she knew and ask for details on how I could transfer into 300L in Nigerian universities. They all told her the same thing: I’d have to start over from 100L.

Besides, my school—Kyiv Medical University—wasn’t releasing my transcript. They don’t want any of their students to leave so they’re holding onto all transcripts. They made a deal with a Polish university so all the students have to move to Poland to continue schooling.

I didn’t want to do that so I was out of options for medicine.

TC: How did you convince her this time? Parents aren’t exactly pliable for these kinds of things.

It took a lot of talking and walking.

First, I took evening walks with her every day for a whole month and reiterated my plan to study journalism in Canada. 

You see, I’d gone online to research schools I wanted to apply to, places I’d live in, and internships I could take. I planned my whole journalism career up to PhD level and when she saw the detail and how focused I was, she finally agreed.

TC: Wow, that sounds brilliant…and expensive.

It is. It’s going to cost about $26,000 CAD ($19,000) to leave my medical degree behind and start fresh in Canada.

My tuition is about $22,000 and we’re paying it in full because it gives us a better chance of getting the visa. We’re also paying about $4,000 for a few months of housing, and stuff.

There’s also this weird rule that says we should have ₦20 million ($45,000) transacted in your sponsors’ account for a six-month period, but that’s not money we will spend.

But it’s all worth it. Escaping Ukraine, the years I spent clenching my fists, even the years of medical school, it’s all worth it. 

I’m finally going to do what I love.

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Gideon*, a 24-year-old software engineer, who has worked with a prominent investment firm, fintechs and numerous other startups, was well into his career when he decided to seek employment abroad. With six years of experience under his belt, he set out to get a relocation job. He endured months of rejection before eventually landing a job in Germany. But the job came at a cost: a pay cut of about €30,000.

Currently, Gideon is out of a job; he was laid off from his job earlier this year at the beginning of the global tech downturn. But he is gearing up to start another job and is hoping to increase his earnings.

We caught up with Gideon, who is based in Berlin, to discuss why he decided to take a pay cut to live the life of his dreams in Europe, how he is navigating Europe as a young African, and how the job market is treating him in Europe. 

Why did you choose to emigrate to Germany?

For the most part, I think it was my most interesting job prospect at the time when I relocated. I knew that I was at that point in my career where I think I’d done enough to be considered for relocation jobs. I had worked at a bunch of Nigerian startups, and remotely for companies outside the country. I felt I’d seen everything in the Nigerian tech ecosystem, so to speak. I was looking for my next challenge and looking to be paid better. I applied to different companies and did a bunch of interviews. And the most interesting one was the company which brought me to Germany. I got the job offer in June of last year, and I eventually relocated in November.

How did relocating help your career?

It’s generally tougher to get a remote job in Nigeria or Africa. Except, you go through programmes, like Andela or Toptal. When I was laid off earlier this year, I signed another contract the following month. Before I signed my new contract, I did over 20 interviews and spoke to over 30 companies. Recruiters reached out to me for most of these interviews and I only had to apply for three or four.  The truth of the matter is, if I were sending the application from Nigeria, I would not get such favourable responses and have a variety to choose from. I eventually had to choose between three solid offers. Because I’m in Europe, I’m able to negotiate for better salaries. There was a pay range I wanted and I knew I could hold out till I got it. This was because I knew that I had a wide range of options to choose from.

 What was the relocation process like for you? 

The process was generally straightforward. Although, the relocation process for me was a little bit longer than normal, mostly because I do not have a university degree. For most people, the process is completed in three months, but for me, it took about six months. 

Adapting to the changes that come with relocation was not exactly easy. Before Germany, I’ve only ever visited the Benin Republic once. So it was not easy transitioning from Nigeria to Germany, from the weather to food, culture, and people. I know a friend, with whom I moved on the same day; he got tired and moved back to Nigeria. It was that tough. The initial months were tough and lonely. Even though I had a bunch of acquaintances, I didn’t particularly have friends. 

What were those initial months like?

When I moved, there were still locked downs and coronavirus restrictions, and generally, people were indoors. You had to use a mask in public areas.  It was required that everyone got two vaccinations and a test that was done within 48–72 hours or three vaccinations (called 3g Plus) to access public places too. 

I also moved at the beginning of winter. Up until then, I had not been exposed to [cold] beyond air conditioners in my Lagos home, which peaks at 16 degrees. At some point in December, I had to experience minus-17 degrees. When I was in Lagos, I didn’t cook. Instead, I used a food delivery service. But when I got to Berlin, there were no services like that, and moreover, there were not many Nigerian or African restaurants around. So this means that I had to eat food I was unfamiliar with. I threw away a lot of food I did not like. 

There were good parts too though; I was able to concentrate at work. I took walks late at night and it helped. When spring came, and there was a lot more sunlight, people became a lot friendlier. Restrictions were eased, and a lot more places were open for people to access, which made me feel better.

Can you tell me how your quality of life has improved since you got to Germany?

Yes, it has improved but there are trade-offs. While in Nigeria, I had a lot of friends, could easily make more, and was well-known in the Nigerian developer community but, here, I don’t have the support of such a community.

I also get to spend less on emergencies, which sort of makes it easy to plan. There’s access to credit. If I need money, I can take an overdraft from the bank because I work with a salary that is stable. It will be restructured in such a way that I can pay over a long period of time. There is also the ease of access to different places I can travel. Yesterday, I was talking to my friend about visiting another European country, and I already booked a flight for Friday to visit. I mean, it’s costly, but then it’s not as costly as you impulsively booking a flight from, say Nigeria to Ghana, or say Nigeria to any other African country. There is the quality of the internet, and there is electricity. There is security. I mean, you can walk at almost any time. Those generally improved my life. 

How have your earnings changed from Nigeria to Germany? 

While in Nigeria, I was earning around ₦3 million per month after tax. But when I moved to Germany, I moved for a salary base of €64,000. Germany’s taxes are generally around 39-42%. This means that I was ending up with less than I was in Nigeria. But then I knew I had to take it for a better life.  Thankfully when I left the company that facilitated my relocation, I had passed probation, which means that I had a three-month notice period. So the three months notice period meant that although I was laid off, according to German employment laws, I was entitled to a salary despite not working. 

This new job, which I’m yet to resume at, will give me a €20,000 base salary bump and a 15% additional bonus.  

Sounds good. But you implied you were earning more in Nigeria?

Yes, I was. I was working two jobs. My annual gross was ₦33 million per year for one of the companies and then for the other company, it was  ₦10 million. So that was a  ₦43 million gross salary across both jobs.

Wow. That is about €100,000 annual gross.

Yeah, correct. But that was pre-tax. Over ₦2.2 million and ₦700,000 monthly gets to me every month after taxes. 

After paying taxes, over €70,000 got to me in Nigeria. When I got to Germany, because I’m paying 42% tax, out of my €64,000 base salary, it is about €38,000 per annum that gets to me. 

You did mention how a lack of degree stalled your relocation process. Has it always affected your career?

Earlier in my career, I had to do a lot of freelance work to build things for people. I had to take on internships, and I also had to go through the technical writer role. In Nigeria, there were not many companies that were open to people who did not have degrees working for them. So it meant that there were only a few companies I could work with. With such a limited pool, it was initially tough. But once I worked at a US company, and a couple of startups. It also helped that I was a technical writer, a lot of developers used my articles to build things and understand engineering concepts. All of these made me authority and added credibility to my name. Once, I interviewed at a Nigerian fintech company, all through my interview until I got in,  they thought I had a degree until I told them I didn’t. I don’t even have a degree listed on my resume.

Every now and then, it comes into play the fact that I don’t have a degree. I was asked different questions at the embassy about why I didn’t complete my degree. If I get an offer in the US, I would not be able to take it. If an individual wants to relocate to the US on an H1 B visa, the individual needs either 12 years of experience or a four-year degree. I do not have 12 years of experience yet, which means I will not be able to get a relocation job in the US. While searching for a job overseas, I almost got a job offer from a company to join a company in the Netherlands, but they refused to continue the hiring process when they found out I had no degree. I did not continue with two or three interviews because of my lack of a degree.

But it’s not much of an issue like it used to be because I have experience working at big companies. Over the years, it has become easier to take my word for it.

How would you like to break your monthly expenses?

I pay €1,260 per month for my apartment. It costs €50 for the internet. I pay about €40 for insurance. I pay another €60 for electricity.  

Well, I do spend a lot on transportation. Because I still take Uber a lot I’ve not gotten used to using public transport. There was this certain month when I spent over €1,000 on Uber. But then I had to do a lot of running around when I was trying to get my apartment. But on average, I spend about €300 on transport. 

I buy food in bulk, my last order cost me about €345, and on average it is €400.

How much gets to you after tax every month?

At my previous job, it was €3,200. At my next job, with a base salary of €84,000, I will be collecting €4,200 post-tax every month. 

Why then did you leave Nigeria?

I knew the tax implications of moving away from Nigeria. I saw a post the other day, where someone said leaving Nigeria is a “frustrating necessity, not a desire”. It was the same for me. Nigeria was not working. I had just resumed work at a fintech company when the Lekki toll gate killing of October 2020 happened. But I was unable to work. I was literally having panic attacks. The idea that people were killed a few streets away from mine was scary. 

If Nigeria were working, I would stay, because I was earning more in Nigeria. But I thought to myself, one thing that I have to do for myself is to have a residence outside Nigeria.  I might be depressed because I do not have a support system, but at least I’m able to do my best work. I’m able to enjoy the money that I have without being labelled a fraudster or having to deal with the menace that the police are.

*Name changed to protect source’s identity.

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For this edition of Digital Nomads, TechCabal spoke to two former electrical engineering students from the University of Lagos who found jobs in London immediately after graduating from university. They reveal how they both managed to get jobs at Goldman Sachs after their summer internships the previous year, how much they earn, and their overall experience. 

TC: What was the application process for the internship like? 

Ezra*: The first time I heard about Goldman Sachs was in 2017 when someone in a class above me got an internship. I was interested because they took them to London. I’ve been applying since 2018 but didn’t get in until last year. I think that I didn’t get in because of a knowledge gap and my little technical depth. 

Last year, my preparation paid off because I started moving with groups of applicants for the internship. I spent a lot of time in 2020 learning algorithms and applying to other international companies like Google, Facebook, and Bloomberg. In my opinion, this all helped me to know how to prepare for interviews. It took a lot of patience and perseverance, but it paid off in the end.

Temi*: By the time I learned how to code during the lockdown, I already knew everything there was to know about the Goldman Sachs internship programme and had made up my mind to apply. I knew three people that got the internship in my department, so I knew that it was possible to get in. 

The first person I knew that got the internship got it in 2018, and everyone knew he was the most intelligent person in his class. The second person I knew was the most intelligent person in my class, so at the time, it felt like the opportunity was reserved for the smartest guys and was not within my reach. The third person I knew that got it was not the most intelligent guy in my class. That was when I figured it was within my reach.

The lockdown gave me the privilege of time, and I used that time to learn Python, then decided that my best path to the internship was through frontend development, so I learnt React and JavaScript. I also knew that I would need to learn data structure and algorithm fundamentals, so I read books every day during the lockdown. After all this, I built a portfolio and applied and got the internship. 

What was your experience like transitioning from being a student at Unilag to working in London? 

Ezra: First off, I think that the anticipation and the moments prior to leaving Lagos and working at Goldman outweigh the actual experience. People make it seem like you’re in heaven, but after a while, heaven feels pretty normal.

I love working at Goldman because it feels like I’m finally living my dream. I always felt so proud to take a picture of the office every day before I swiped in. I had worked towards this for years, but at one point, I wanted to come back to Lagos. There were a lot of cultural differences, and I missed my friends most of the time. 

Temi: For me, it’s been nice. Luckily for me, I share an apartment with two of my friends from Unilag, and I have a lot of family here in London, so I don’t feel too homesick. There’s a huge japa* wave that has brought a lot of people from Unilag to London, so I also get to meet a lot of familiar faces. 

It has also been nice to have my own money. Before I got a job, I used to think that people that bought the latest iPhones were wasting money, but now that I can afford it, I pre-ordered the latest model. 

I also like the fact that my team is multicultural. This has given me more context for what is happening worldwide and made me more of a global citizen. My team members here in London are primarily British, but we also have branches in New York and India, and I always look forward to the daily meetings we have. 

TC: What has been your biggest challenge? 

Ezra: I had a lot of anxiety during the confirmation period. My manager did his best to calm my nerves by assuring me that I was one of the best interns that had worked at Goldman, but the pressure was a lot. It felt like at every point you were being watched, and I didn’t know what the verdict was. Luckily for me, I had a lot of people that had gone through this stage and were willing to help out. 

There were a lot of Unilag people, and I don’t think you can appreciate that until you get to the London office. Right now, Nigeria is synonymous with Unilag in London. Most of the time, when I told people I was from Nigeria, they automatically assumed that I was from Unilag. I think this can be attributed to how, back in university, the application period felt like a group project. Everyone helped each other, and now in London, once you mention that you’re from Unilag, everyone assumes you are smart! 

TC: Tell me about the financial aspect

Ezra: I think it kind of balances itself out. Initially, when I got to London, I was surprised by how much I was spending on food, but then I realised that I was earning millions of naira, so it didn’t hurt too badly. The Nigerian in me still converts my expenses to naira, and I am shocked all the time. The prices in London can initially catch you off guard. I remember the first time I bought food from the cafeteria, and it cost £30. That was the last time I didn’t eat from home. 

I got paid twice during my 10-week internship. They paid me after the first six weeks and again after the last four weeks. My first payment was almost £6,000, and the second payment was £3,000. You also get £1,000 in tax relief and some bonuses, which makes the total amount over £9,000 after taxes. The company also pays for your flight and your transport fare from the airport. 

I haven’t resumed full-time yet, but my total yearly compensation as an analyst is about £80,000 before taxes, with a relocation allowance of £7,000. 

Temi: After my internship, I had about £4,000 or £5,000 in my account. In London, I spent about £3,000 on rent alone and over £1,000 on food; and I spent money on shopping for gifts for my family and friends. As a full-time staff member, my monthly salary is about £3,330 post-tax. 

My current rent is almost £1,000, and I send about £300 to my family in Lagos every month. I am currently building my wardrobe, so I spend about £300 on clothes.  My monthly budget for food, groceries, and transportation is £300–£400, but I always exceed the amount. I also try to save £1,000 a month towards my mortgage.

TC: What are your plans for the future?

Ezra: For now, I am not interested in looking for another job at another tech company. I like working at Goldman Sachs because of the culture and because I get to work in the finance sector. I hope I get to work here for a long time so that I can improve my skills.

Temi: I plan to leave London because the tax rates here are too high. The more you earn, the more your tax increases. I am just waiting till I get my citizenship, and then I will relocate. I might move back to Nigeria or Canada. I have not yet decided; I am waiting till I reach that bridge. 

Names were changed for confidentiality reasons.

Japa: a Nigerian slang that means to relocate abroad

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“It’s very obvious that my quality of life has improved since I left Lagos.”

A wake-up call in Nairobi

In Nairobi, Salehu was enticed by the city’s welcoming nature for tech workers, steady electricity, “intentional” design, nightlife and even recycling habits. These qualities persuaded her to stay two months longer than planned. “I had a nice time there. During my time there, I realised that Nairobi is similar to Lagos but a lot better. It was similar to Lagos in terms of the nightlife and people not being so far off.”

After returning from her Nairobi trip, she only spent a few weeks in Lagos before she moved to Dubai, where she has been for the past four months. 

“I think that moving around a lot has gotten me excited. The prospect of, you know, being able to like work remotely, from wherever I am,” she said.

Dubai calling

For Salehu, who now works as a design and product lead at Flick, choosing Dubai wasn’t difficult. Apart from enjoying a tax-free income and increased job opportunities, Dubai also offers her the chance to travel to tens of countries around the world. But that’s not all; Dubai has offered the most exciting opportunities for fun.

According to Salehu, the cost of living in Dubai is also very favourable to her. Despite spending money having fun at different fun spots every other weekend, Salehu’s monthly expenses range between $1500 and $2000. 

In a previous interview, Salehu said that she loves the intentionality in Dubai’s design and applies it to her design process. She found Lagos unworthy of similar emulation. 

“Let’s paint a picture. In Lagos, my apartment was close to the roadside, so whenever I was working or having meetings, I constantly had to deal with noise from cars, the mosque down the street, the church right behind, or the church two streets away,” she said. “But I don’t have to deal with all of those anymore, which means I’m able to work with a much calmer mindset, be more organised in my work and filled with inspiration.”

In Dubai, Salehu raved about the ease of looking out of her window and seeing “ a body of water, buildings with unique designs or life going on around in a way that has been so carefully put in place.”

Her stay in Dubai, she admitted, has increased her productivity. She is able to take up more meetings and is much calmer with work because she doesn’t have to worry about power or network issues. Unlike Lagos, where she worked for long hours and still got less done, Dubai has enabled her to achieve more at work with less time. 

Growing up, Salehu was reserved and didn’t get to do a lot of stuff, but as an adult, she has fallen in love with adventure and has seen a “huge world out there” that she wants to experience. Now, Salehu spends her weekends swimming, Kart racing, playing volleyball, tennis, golf, and she is looking to start flying Yoga soon. 

Salehu wouldn’t mind changing her Nigerian passport because it makes her travelling process harder, but she is still stuck with it. For one, she has to apply for a Schengen visa to go to Spain in September. But she has made progress in creating a way to ease her experience and that’s by becoming a resident of Dubai, which makes it easier to access 140 countries in the world as opposed to applying from Nigeria. “To apply to the UK from Nigeria, the last time I checked, I would have to wait for about 24 weeks.” 

Salehu Dubai’s employment visa won’t need to be renewed until 3 years from now. This differs from the freelancer visa which guarantees a stay for up to a year, a family visa which guarantees a stay for up to 3 years too and an entrepreneur visa, which allows foreigners o register startups, that is valid for up to 5 years. But all of these visas do not guarantee permanent residency as applicants must renew their current visas every few years. 

Salehu’s work-life balance is healthier because it “places less emphasis on struggling and serves as a break from the Lagos hustle culture,” she said. “It’s just a good mental shift. I’m able to think about other things that I might enjoy outside of work.”

In Dubai, she spends only 23% of her monthly earnings, in contrast to the 40% she spent back in Lagos. (She earns 8 times more in Dubai than she did in Lagos.)

A permanent home in.…

In September, Salehu will be visiting Spain for the first time. It will be a work trip and an opportunity to explore the country.  A coworker who lives in the country had previously recommended it to her, especially for its relative affordability.

But Salehu is still considering living in the UK because she has a large community of close friends from Nigeria there. She also wants to visit the Netherlands but that trip might have to wait until next year. 

Salehu is not lonely but she would love to make more Nigerian friends abroad in the coming months. She has a group of foreign nationals she hangs out with and a number of her friends from Lagos visited Dubai in the past month. “ I don’t miss Nigeria but I miss the people,” she concluded. 

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When writers Ope Adedeji and Chika Jones decided to apply for the UK Global Talent Visa, both thought the process would be like all other visa applications—grueling and 3 months long, filled with insurmountable documentation, and lingering interviews. 

They couldn’t have been more wrong. In 2020, the UK instituted the Global Talent Visa which allows leaders or potential leaders in the fields of academia and research, arts and culture, and digital technology, to work in the UK for up to 5 years, without a sponsor or a job offer.

“I was surprised,” said Adedeji to TechCabal in an interview. “From start to finish, the whole process probably took about 2 months. And from an application perspective, I was most surprised about how effective it was.”

Jones’ surprise was that a 5-year residence visa existed for writers. “Visas like these are usually reserved for STEM careers or even tech professionals. Writers and poets like me usually focus on fellowships or masters’ degrees,” he commented in a Twitter Space he and Adedeji held earlier this year. 

Jones’ own application process, from submission to approval, took a total of 2 weeks, but he’d taken 5 months to plan, and the only major delays he experienced were with his medical tests.

Adedeji and Jones are just 2 out of many Nigerians who have taken advantage of the Global Talent Visa to leave their home countries to work abroad. In fact, Nigeria ranked third for the total number of applications processed for the visa in 2021 while South Africa ranked 10th. 

Many more are looking to take advantage of this opportunity, and if you’re one of them, here’s how 2 exceptionally talented individuals japa-ed with the UK Global Talent Visa. 

Exceptional Talent v Exceptional Promise

The first stage of applying for the UK Global Talent Visa is getting endorsed by any of 6 relevant endorsing bodies.

Unlike other visa applications where you have to book interviews at consulates, the Global Talent Visa has 6 governing bodies that review applications from applicants who can bid for the visa under 2 circumstances: Exceptional Talent or Exceptional Promise. 

People who apply under Exceptional Talent are established leaders in the fields of academia and research, arts and culture, and digital technology. They have won prestigious awards, appeared in notable publications, and have many years of experience under their belt. 

Applicants under Exceptional Promise have a record of outstanding work in their field over a 5-year period. They are intentional about developing outstanding international track records. 

Each of the 6 endorsing bodies has its own requirements for the Exceptional Talent and Exceptional Promise, and you can check them out here. 

Adedeji and Jones, both of whom have glowing track records of excellence in writing, applied for the visa under Exceptional Promise for arts and culture, which is open to creatives with careers in literature, dance, architecture, fashion design, film, and animation. The documents they needed were basic: passports, tuberculosis test results, and more importantly, 3 recommendation letters from organisations and people established in their fields.

“I’ve been published in quite a number of notable magazines and publications over the years, and I also had a few literary awards to my name. I’d also been a speaker at some literary festivals, so all I had to do was gather these in a document and submit it to the Arts Council,” Adedeji said.

When she first heard of the visa, Adedeji, who is also managing editor at Paystack, had thought endorsement would be the most difficult part of the application process. “I was sceptical at first because I thought I probably didn’t qualify. After reading a bit more and speaking to people who’d already gotten the visa, I realised I had a chance, and I took it.”

Adedeji mentioned that she collated links to her appearances and awards, her published stories, and news mentions in a Google Doc. “That’s all it took,” she said. 

Jones concurred, adding that the process is less stressful than people think it is. “Visas are notoriously difficult to get, and so people don’t even try. But with this, it wasn’t as mind-numbing as I thought it would be.”

The UK Global Talent Visa website states that endorsement takes about 4 weeks, but both writers got their arts and culture endorsements within 2 weeks. 

Funfere Koroye, a design engineer whom TechCabal interviewed for an earlier episode of Digital Nomads, applied under Exceptional Talent. His route was a bit different from Adedeji’s and Jones’. While the creators had to apply to the Arts Council England, the endorsing body for arts and culture, Koroye had to apply to Tech Nation, the endorsing body for digital technology. 

Under the digital technology option, people with technical and business skills can apply for endorsement. 

Koroye already had over 8 years of experience building and designing products, and even building a startup, NuPay Technologies.  All he had to do was dust up his resume, gather the links to sites like Figma and GitHub which highlighted his projects, and submit them to Tech Nation. Koroye’s application was so successful he was also invited to become an ambassador for Tech Nation. “My job as an ambassador is to create more awareness about the visa,” Koroye said. “Across Africa, not a lot of people know about the visa, so I’m here to spread awareness and give people information about their applications.”

After getting endorsed, all the professionals had to do was get their tuberculosis test results, schedule a date for biometric capturing, and submit their applications. Adedeji, who had already been living in the UK for her masters’ at the time, did not have to get a tuberculosis test or buy a ticket.

“My process took 5 months because it was difficult to get my tuberculosis test, but that was the only stressful part. Everything else was pretty smooth,” said Jones.

And the best part…

The whole process costs about £2,000, said Jones who applied with and moved with his wife.

“But it can be more expensive, depending on how many years you apply for, and how you’re moving.” The visa itself costs £623—£456 for endorsement and £167 for the visa application itself. You’ll also have to pay £624 per year for every year you plan to spend in the UK for up to 5 years. 

“For me, the costs for endorsement, health insurance and biometrics all added up to about £3,500,” said Adedeji. 

The best part about the Global Talent Visa, according to Koroye, is that awardees don’t have to be in the UK all year round. The visa only requires awardees to stay in the UK for 6 months out of every year they have applied for; the rest of the time can be spent in any country of their choosing. “It just opens you up to a more expansive world,” Koroye said. 

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After discovering that his fellow students were making money online, Mafole decided to join them; he spent hours learning digital skills. But this distracted him from attending classes. As a result, he failed his first-year university exams and was expelled from the university. He didn’t sulk, though. Instead, he started applying for opportunities at different companies. At first he was rejected by many companies he pitched to because, according to them, he wasn’t skilled enough. 

He pored over online courses on YouTube, Udemy, and other educational technology platforms to learn more about digital marketing and social media management. After upskilling, he resumed his search for jobs. This time around, he was successful; a startup in Dar es Salaam hired him as a social media manager. 

But 4 months into the job, he quit. His confidence in his skills had grown, and he was receiving multiple offers for lucrative digital marketing and design gigs. 

In 2020, he decided to become a full-time freelancer. That same year, he registered on online freelancing platform, Upwork, and since he joined, he has earned at least $4,000 from gigs—over a dozen times more than the country’s upper range TZS 315,000 ($135) for minimum wage. He has been awarded a top-rated badge (for earning more than $1,000 on the platform). 

Shortly after he began making money on Upwork, he began sharing his freelancing journey online, which helped him build a large online following and get invited to speak at events.

In the last decade, the Tanzanian digital ecosystem has evolved as more Tanzanian citizens have access to digital services.  In 2010, just 18.5% of the country’s population had mobile phones. That number has grown 6-fold to reach 82% or 50 million people in 2021. Similarly, mobile internet penetration has grown 5-fold from 2.9% or 3 million people in 2010 to 25% or 15 million people in 2021—with 12 million new mobile internet subscribers added over the decade. Within this period, the East African country has seen significant economic growth—average annual GDP growth of 7%—which has improved the lives of its citizens. This growth and improvement in quality of living can be traced to the use of digital technologies to improve access to key services such as education, agricultural market information, healthcare, financial services and employment, through digital technologies. 

In recent years, Tanzania has seen heavy investments in fibre infrastructure in recent years to connect more Tanzanians to the internet. Back in 2016, the government updated the Tanzanian National ICT Policy of 2003, in what serves as a recognition of the contribution of the ICT sector to promoting socio-economic development in the country. 

Digital technology is poised to help Tanzania in achieving its developmental goals. Already, the mobile industry contributes 5.2% (or $5.2 billion) to Tanzania’s GDP, and employs 2.6 % (or 1.5 million) of its total population.

But despite having an impressive 2.6% unemployment rate, millions of young Tanzanians remain unemployed, and the skills of those that are currently employed risk becoming obsolete in the coming years if they don’t book their place in the digital economy. 

From university withdrawal to helping thousands of unemployed

During his one year away from school, Mafole discovered that a communication degree could improve his chances of getting higher-paying gigs. So in 2021, he returned to the University of Dar es Salaam to study communication.

One day in May 2021, another enterprising Tanzanian, Leyla Mohamed reached out to him, out of the blue, and encouraged him to spread his impact further by training young people on digital skills. This led them to co-found an initiative called Tanzania Digital Trailblazers later that month, a series of virtual events to bring awareness of digital skills to young Tanzanians. 

After 3 months, the co-founders changed the initiative’s name to one in Swahili, Sanuka Kidijitali (roughly meaning, “Get informed fast about the digital world”) to help people easily recall the name better. This time around, they added physical monthly digital skills training events to the mix. This helped Sanuk Kidijitali train over 300 people on digital skills such as writing, digital marketing, and blockchain; guides to get jobs on freelancing on job platforms such as Upwork, Fiverr, and LinkedIn; using video conferencing platforms such as Zoom and Google Meet to speak with clients, and other digital tools such as Canva and Wix for various digital tasks. 

Sanuk Kidijitali has a 3,000-strong community of young people in various Telegram groups that it is training and connecting to opportunities. It has also spread its awareness through its newly developed university outreach programme to university students across Tanzania, starting from the University of Dar es Salaam. 

Sanuka Kidijitali launched a podcast, The Founders Confessions, where its co-founder Mohamed, speaks with startup founders in Tanzania to start and increase conversation about the digital economy in the country. Mafole is the country director of  Social Media Day Tanzania, an event which took place last Saturday, on July 2, at the Nkrumah Hall, University of Dar es Salam. It brought together digital entrepreneurs for networking while offering them upskilling sessions. 

“Our plan at Sanuka Kidijitali is to reach as many youths as we can, as we currently reach 5,000 plus, but one day we will hit our target of 100,000 per year,” Mafole, who is also Sanuka Kidijitali’s chief operating officer (CPO), told TechCabal.  

“We have an employment problem and digital jobs are a solution to this problem, but university students can’t use computers and unemployed graduates do not have digital skills,” he said. 

Mafole said that dozens of Tanzanian youths have connected with his story and have been inspired to upgrade their lives by learning digital skills. After discovering that only 18 Tanzanian freelancers have earned over $1,000 on Upwork as compared to Kenya’s 300, he realised that his country is playing catch-up. “My task is to help people who don’t have digital skills build them and also help those that do identify and navigate freelancing platforms to get jobs,” he explained. 

But it is not all rosy, Mafole warned. Tanzanian freelancers still have to deal with inaccessible payment gateways or cut-throat transaction costs, high data pricing, and bad internet connection. And that’s not all. They also have to deal with societal stereotypes. “Many Tanzanians still see freelancing as an extra job and not as a real job. When you tell people you are a freelancer, they make you feel like you are unemployed,” he said.

In an hour-long conversation on Google Meet, Koroye shares with TechCabal how he’s ended up earning £5,000 per project working as a freelance hardware engineer. 

First, what exactly does a design engineer do? I’ve heard of graphics designers, UI/UX designers, and even art directors. Design engineering is a first for me. 

It’s exactly what it sounds like: we design the hardware of things; how they look, how they feel, and the materials used. We’ll direct the look and feel of the things you use, from laptops and phones to shoes and even toys. 

So you guys are basically architects, but for everyday objects. How does one become a design engineer?

With a design engineering degree, you’re taught a facet of things. I should say that design engineering, as a degree, is not specific to one industry. You have to specify what industry you prefer while doing the course. Typically, in America where I studied, there are 4 industries for design engineers: furniture, footwear, transportation, and the tech industry. But within the Big 4, there are subsets like jewellery, bags, even boats.  Regardless of the industry you specialise in, it all starts on pen and paper, as with any design work, whether UI/UX engineering or hardware engineering. You draw out the idea that you want to create, make a 3D version of that design, and a prototype of the 3D design is created at the factory. Most times, the prototype is a mould that’s used to create the pattern of hardware. Companies everywhere use design engineers. Nike and Adidas both hire design engineers and product designers to help them make their shoes. The funny thing is that the UI/UX folks have stolen product design from us; design engineers are the true owners of the term product design. 

Is design engineering what you’ve always wanted to do though? Or is it something you stumbled upon?

Yes! I’ve always dreamed of being an inventor. When I decided on becoming an inventor, there weren’t really any options in Nigeria to help me achieve that goal so I had to look elsewhere. I looked at the US, I looked at Europe, the UK, and then finally settled on San Francisco. I was 17, in 2007, when I first made that journey, so that in itself was a bit crazy because I had never travelled out of Nigeria prior to that point. And, you know, that was the beginning for me. 

So what was your first professional experience as a design engineer like?

My first real professional experience had me move all the way to China to intern for a shoe manufacturing company, and I loved it. In my last year in school in the US, I transferred to my college’s campus in China, and I fell in love with the country. There, I interned as a junior designer for a shoe company. Then after I graduated in 2012, I left the US and moved to Italy for a bit to work as a shoemaking apprentice which is also a part of design engineering. So with my first professional experiences, I dabbled a bit in a few aspects of design engineering. 

Wow, the US, Italy and China in your early career.  How long were you in these countries?

In the US, I was there for 5 years, but I had to leave once my student visa expired. I lived in Italy for a year, and in China, I’d say a total of 4 years. My first year in China was as a transfer student. Then, after I left Italy, I moved back to China to work for the same shoe company I had interned with. During that period [I was] shuffling between China and Nigeria. I finally had to leave China in 2016. 

Oh, why did you leave? Sounds like you loved China.

It was difficult to get residence in China. China’s work and business visas only grant you 30 days’ residence, and after it expires, you have to go back to your country and reapply. You and your employer can apply for a temporary residence permit, but that often takes 6 weeks to process and even then is not a sure thing. Around the time I was there, the Chinese government also had strict rules, something to do with Nigerians flouting the rules, so it was even difficult to get Chinese employers to sponsor you. So after shuffling for a few years, my re-entry request was declined and I found myself back in Nigeria in 2016. 

That must have been hard, moving back to Nigeria full-time right after your career had taken off. 

Not really. Like I said, I was already shuffling between Nigeria and China so it wasn’t really hard for me to adapt. When I got back, I was applying for jobs in the most random of places. But I got an email one day from Tecno Mobile and they wanted me to join their design lab as a phone developer and industrial designer. The job gave me enough time to freelance in my role. That’s actually what led me to start specialising in one area of design engineering—tech-enabled handheld devices.  So yeah, leaving China was sad but it put me on the path I am now which has seen me even found my own tech startup.

And how was the money through all this? How much does a design engineer earn?

It’s different for everybody, of course. When I was at Tecno, I was earning about ₦400,000 (~ $1,500) a month and this was in 2016, I believe, and I was 26 at the time. And it wasn’t exactly ideal because I initially asked for ₦800,000 ($3,000) a month, but they wouldn’t agree. After I left Tecno, I worked in other places where I was earning about ₦800,000–₦1 million ($3,800) a month. This continued right up until the pandemic when I moved to the UK. For freelance projects though, it depends on how much input they need for me, but it’s at least £5,000 per project. I’ve earned as high as £20,000 for a project. 

Oh, so your taste for Nigeria didn’t last very long then. What changed?

COVID came, basically. I’d visited the UK before but I never really saw myself living there. But around the time the pandemic was winding down, I decided to build a hardware product for the LPG industry called Nugas (Nupe energy). Sadly, it didn’t take off but we did get some funding and traction. So it just dawned on me that I needed to leave Nigeria and get a different perspective on building products.

How did that pan out? 

Short version, I’m now a Visa Ambassador for TechNation, the company that endorses visas for UK’s Global Talent Visa in the digital technology industry. So I’d say it really worked out well. 

And the long story?

I had to think about how I could get into the tech space in London. That’s how I came across the Global Talent Visa and TechNation which is open to tech people with no less than 5 years of tech experience who can add to the UK economy. The great thing about this is that there are 2 categories, Exceptional Talent, for recognised leaders, and Exceptional Promise, for emerging leaders. And the requirements were quite minimal: I needed a stellar CV, a reference for good work, and my name in the press. And you know the best part?

Airport food?

Err, no. The best part about the Visa was that I wouldn’t need to stay in the UK for the duration of the Visa. The Global Talent Visa only requires you to stay in the UK for 6 months out of every working year you’ve applied for, and you can apply for up to 5 years. It means that I have 6 months to explore other countries, and do more things. 

So you’re basically the poster boy for digital nomads. What’s been your favourite part of it?

I’ve worked in 5 countries now, but I’ve visited almost 20. To date and project, my favourite has to be my time freelancing for a solar hardware solar company in Tanzania called Jaza Energy. They DMed on LinkedIn and said they were looking to create the Tesla battery pack for Africa. So they flew me out to Zanzibar where I lived for a couple of months, all expenses paid. I think that’s one of the beautiful parts of being a digital nomad; your profile is out there on the internet, you’re not just in Nigeria, or wherever you are; you have access to the whole world. As long as somebody is willing to give you work somewhere. You literally are a citizen of the world, you know?  I’ll say Zanzibar is my favourite place I’ve been to. But China is my favourite place I’ve lived in.

As an ambassador for TechNation, I also get to help other people experience this. It’s a non-monetary role but my job is basically to create awareness about the Visa and help applicants craft their applications.

What’s your least favourite part?

I’d say it’s been settling somewhere legally. As Nigerians, we often use studying to gain entry and residence in different countries. Lately, that has become more difficult. Even today, people have a hard time settling even after doing STEM degrees. 

Finding a career path has also been tricky because no matter what you study, you still have to sort of pick where you want to see yourself within that industry, especially in the tech industry.

But it seems like you’ve found a trajectory that works for you. Are there any fears you have?

Like everyone else, I’m afraid of failure. What if I don’t live up to this, this whole tech bro thing, you know? I’ve got a number of eyes on me, and people who often reach out to say they want to do what I do. But I’m still afraid of failing, which is normal. 

Everybody in the tech industry knows that in order to succeed, you have to fail a few times. We don’t discuss it enough but that fear is there in all of us. 

* Dollar rate is equivalent to Nigeria’s exchange rate in 2016. 

If you’d like to share your digital nomad story, please reach out to me at timi@bigcabal.com.

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