Making Africa | Reloaded is championing farming land ownership by the African Diasporas in Africa

Shared Value. Shared Profits. Sustainability by Sustainable Hills.

Food security is a global priority and Africa's Diasporas members are encouraged to go into farming and shift for environmental friendly lifestyles that guarantees the future we want for us and future generations.

Due to Africa's land grabbing by greedy multinationals and elites, African Diasporas can no longer afford the best arable land as prices are steadily increasing, we believe in the pooling of resources to bring Africa land back in the hands of the African people.

We are launching Sustainable Hills, a pilot farming project that will be operated as a cooperative, based on the pooling of skills and resources. Making Africa| Reloaded is putting a team together to start the project in Q1 2020.

My observation about how Chinese migrate to Africa made me rethink about the strategy that the African diasporas must apply to compete with foreigners on the continent, in order not to be turned into Capitalism slaves who do not own assets.

Bear in mind my dear Afro readers, owning the house you are sitting in, do not make you an asset owner. While you are sitting on your couch IN the house You own in Africa, does not mean that money is working for you.

It is unfortunate that Africa's embassies throughout the world are pushing Africans from the diasporas to get into debt to buy estates in urban areas instead of agricultural land.

The message your home country representative abroad has for your is as followed: Buy gorgeous functional homes that remind you of your Western world life, put the 20 000 USD or any relevant down payment with a local bank and get the so-called life your are dreaming for.

So when the African diasporas are getting ready to relocate to Africa, they gather their hard earned 20 000 USD or so and start looking for a job that will allow them to pay the several hundreds of USD/month that will pay for the mortgage. Or they will look for a Western expat who will be able to pay that level of rent. But it is not guaranteed that they will find that high paying job or attract the high paid expat to rent the house.

During the same time, this is what Chinese migrating to Africa are doing:

They migrate in teams. They do not play the individual card as Africans do.

They flock to Africa in groups. They pool resources and rent shared houses. They do not borrow money as the Africans, who get loans at skyrocketing rates of +20% as it is the case in certain African countries.

They have a solid support system and it is them against the Africans. They eat together and are on the same schedule and focus. They are there to make money and build empires.

Their value proposition is backed by dozens of their people and they've got each other back against Africans who have a scattered economic power.

Making African Reloaded is advocating for Africans to reload their core ethos when it comes to wealth creation. Going solo is no longer an option on the continent. Even couples are struggling.

Let me tell you the story of my friend who got married in Africa a couple of years back, she started a business with her husband. After 2 or 3 years, when their business took off, it got to the stage where they were winning high profile contracts, but this is when they started facing challenges, increasingly pressured and choked by the politics and cliques at play on the continent. They tried to withstand as a power couple with many tears and prayers, begging suppliers and governmental bodies to get their invoices paid.

Today the business is no longer in existence.

My friend relocated back to Europe with her husband and their shattered dreams. While they were struggling in Africa, there was no support system for them. Everyone there, was in 'Me', Myself' and 'I' mode, or survival mode, trying to make it, in their single, isolated struggle. My friends were left to figure out by themselves with the risks and efforts spread only between them two.

The level of damage that this kind of experience can bring to people is still to be told.

Not only their dreams have been destroyed but their vision is no longer there. How can we Africans, belonging to the richest continent on earth live as slaves in Europe, eating out of the oppressor hand?

Chinese are relocating in group, most of us who travel regularly to Africa, are used to see them renting houses that they end up occupying by the 10 if not more. They manage their businesses together and involve as many of their people as needed.

We also know that they champion bootstrapping as a business model an would by no means get into a loan with an African bank. Because they know better.

It is not our role to sustain African banks. African banks do not care about you, they won't hesitate to strip you of your belongings if you miss your mortgage payment. So why not change the way we do things for African people best interest?

Another entity that does not care about you is the government, be it in the Western world or in Africa. The government does absolutely not give a $%& about you and your children. The proof is that currently you barely own your means of production. The government credit rate you, throw you some peanut money and discard you when they do no longer need you. So why deprive yourself of a better approach to life?

This is what we do at Making Africa|Reloaded we are focusing on approaches that are working for us FIRST. Us, the people.

Would my friend's experience have taken a different turn if her business had a more solid support system? Was there a better way to spread the risk and cash flow requirements between additional stakeholders to keep the business afloat?

How can the African Diaspora 'gang up' to overcome some of the nasty realities at play on the continent?

At Making Africa | Reloaded, we believe it is the time to become more 'violent' in our mindset and apply some of the Chinese 'getting together' stamina in our mix.

Do you realise what the African elites are doing? They have no interest in making your life easy when you relocate in Africa, especially if it means that your vision is leading you to be independent from them or if you are positioning yourself as a challenger on the market.

One of the president currently in office once said that he is more than happy that the African diasporas of that specific country, lie about the situation in the country to get asylum status in Europe. In other words, it is a relief for him, that we, the African diaspora are playing the slave and beggar cards in Europe so that he can somehow keep the African cake for himself and his clique.

So what are you waiting for? Let's put our brains and money together and challenge the status quo.

#africa #farming #entrepreneurship