The Digital Nomad space in Africa.

Over the past 5 months, I had the chance to speak to Tarryn Jollyn, Weh'yee Barkon and Gancalo Hall. All three may seem unrelated and foreign but their lives intersect on one key area, being or utilizing the digital nomad space. Not only that but they all work directly or indirectly within the African digital nomad scene.

Now being a digital nomad is not something new. If anything it has always been there yet the recent pandemic catapulted it into the prime-time limelight. The pandemic brought about work from due to stay home orders across the world and once travel restrictions were loosened, work from home turned to work from anywhere. With mostly the global north making use of this advantage. And recently there has been a general increase in digital nomads from other parts of the world as well...for reference just go on Facebook and search Digital Nomads + any continent/country.

And as a continent, Africa has also benefited from digital nomads, especially countries with good enough internet coverage coupled with cheap and inexpensive living costs. Tourist destinations such as Cabo Verde, Mauritius and Namibia have even jumped on board by creating visas specific to digital nomads with relatively easily accessible terms as well. And whether this is beneficial or not, is yet to be proven but working hand in hand with the communities directly receiving hte nomads the way Nomadx does is proving successful.

However, on the other side, Africans who intend to become digital nomads often find it an uphill battle due to the high costs of travel within and without Africa itself. And given the economic climate of and low living costs of some African countries, we fail to take gain form the dollar-advantage that the global north has. Tech Cabal did a wonderful piece explaining how earning foreign currency is better than local currency on the continent and how some Africans are choosing to work for foreign companies instead.

Not only is the cost of travelling high for Africans on the continent but companies in Africa have been slow to adopt the new work from home culture. To blame them would be to err on the side of the easy target but given the infrastructural issues facing a fully remote workforce, one can hardly argue with their stance. Internet usage has been slow to become a viable means of work for those in remote areas or even outside of urban areas. Coupled with even higher data costs than average, the continent has an uphill battle to overcome. If only the internet took hold as much as the cellphone and mobile money has, this would be a totally different paragraph.

At the same time, certain skills required for online work, such as coding, design work, marketing among others, have not been traditional career paths up until recently for the African youth. But the tide is turning on this, with companies such as Meta and Google offering subsidized or even free certification courses, it has proven to be an easy choice for people looking to development their skillset.

Now, besides all this doom and gloom, best believe as Africans, we will find our way through. Take Tarryn for example, if you listen to her story, she clearly saw a chance of enjoying the beauty of South Africa as a digital storyteller serving clients both inside and outside of the South African borders. She travels locally but enjoys hte same benefits as any other digital nomad. So, it is possible to work from anywhere if you look outside the box.

Weh'yee and the crew at Internally then solve the issue of connecting African remote teams to western companies by providing African remote teams to the rest of the world. Which means, after taking your free coding bootcamp certification from Meta, you can join Internally and start earning your foreign currency and travelling around your own country or Africa as a whole.

For those who are still lost on how to become a digital nomad and what the future holds for digital nomads, listen to my conversation with Goncalo Hall. And one key area that he points to is that of passports. We all know our passports. But that's the beauty of it as we can travel almost independently throughout regions in Africa with little to no visa hustle. And this trend is getting better and better each year as more countries welcome the idea of visa free travel for Africans across the continent.

And once you are done and want to solve your internet issues, just talk to Elon Musk's Starlink and stay connected whenever.

So, there is hope for the digital nomad from Africa. I also want to record my podcasts over a sunset facing the Great Enclosure at Great Zimbabwe. Ko ndini ndadi?