Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire – Many young Africans who have studied in Europe are turning the dream of returning home to build a career or start a business into a reality. RFI spoke to Pierre Djemis, who organises forums in Abidjan and Paris to connect these repatriates with new opportunities, and with each other.
They are called “repats”, short for “repatriates” – young people who left their African homes, be they in Gabon, Cameroon, Congo or Côte d'Ivoire, to chase a better education or business opportunities in Europe and are now choosing to head home to put those gains to good use.
They speak of reuniting with their families, and contributing to the African continent's development.
In 2019, a survey supported by the French Development Agency revealed that 40 percent of members of the African diaspora were ready to return. Since then, the continent's economic appeal has only grown.
The study polled 800 people to identify the motivations, and the obstacles, for graduates and professionals in the diaspora who are considering working in Africa.
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The key finding was the sheer number who aspire to return. Almost 71 percent were considering going back to work on the continent, with 38 percent saying they were ready to return immediately.
In terms of location, West Africa was the most popular region among respondents, at 32 percent.
However, with many African economies still largely informal and labour markets tight, returning can be a challenge.
According to the United Nations, the number of people born to African immigrant parents in the diaspora could represent almost 20 million people worldwide. Many African countries are seeking to attract them, with return assistance programmes to support projects and business ventures.
'You can have a life here'
Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire are attracting a large number of investors and businesses. And the latter has seen a clear economic boom in the last decade.
In Abidjan, one man has made it his business to support repats coming back from Europe to Côte d’Ivoire. Pierre Djemis, a lawyer born in France, settled in his father’s country a few decades ago, and has since seen many more people express the desire to do the same.
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To support them, he organises forums for repats twice a year, one in Abidjan, another in Paris, with the next to be held in the French capital on 24 January.
“Today, people between 28 and 35 years old are excited when they see Abidjan,” Djemis told RFI.
“It is a pleasant city to live in, a modern city where you have all the comforts you find in Paris. You have the bakeries you find in Paris, the clothing stores you see in Paris. You have beaches, a comfortable lifestyle, cars in Abidjan that you don't even find in the 16th or 15th arrondissements."
He added: "You can have a life here, a vibrant life, a dynamic life similar to the life that one can find in Asia, in Shanghai, Hong Kong and so on. So, these young people also want to be part of that movement; it's the economic movement of the future.”
Djemis says he witnessed a first wave of parents who studied abroad in France, Germany, Switzerland or the United States and who returned to Africa in the 1990s as doctors, lawyers and civil servants.
Since then a second wave of repats who were born in Europe, grew up there and only know Africa through their cultural upbringing, but feel the desire to "return" to their parents' homelands, has emerged.
“Often, they believe there's what's called 'the glass ceiling', well known in Europe and elsewhere. At a certain level, they feel they can no longer access certain positions because of their background. And they believe they can be useful elsewhere, especially back home.”
Integration challenges
According to a study published in 2023 in the Revue Akofena journal, graduates' motivations for returning to Côte d'Ivoire include the search for professional opportunities, attachment to their country of origin, a desire to contribute to the country's development, and a sense of belonging to the Ivorian community.
However, they face significant challenges when it comes to professional and economic integration.
African graduates know that salaries are potentially higher in Europe. Many also struggle to adapt to professional environments that are different from the ones they studied or began their careers in. It can take months, if not years, to gain the trust of local partners. Others, meanwhile, face difficulties accessing financing for their investment.
Advisers like Djemis encourage these repats to lean on their networks gained through work or at university.
The study however notes that return migration is vital in terms of its contribution to the development of the countries to which these young people are returning.
It added that ultimately "their potential contribution... will depend on the ability of development policies to encourage return migration, facilitate the transition and create opportunities for their contribution".
