The only way is Cameroon! Germany?

I would dare to say that we all know Germany, be it because we have been in my country of origin or because we enjoy driving the cars, drinking the beer or have a lovely electronic equipment of some sort. If we don't have any of the above mentioned, then we have at least admired the Germans and their products for the seal of quality. Travelling the world being German you are always confronted with a wow effect and people assume you must be extremely strict, very well organised, super punctual and everything you do, you do it with precision. Which I must smirk at, because that pretty much describes my style of work and perfection is my absolute aim. But being Cameroonian I add a twist of African charm to it and I share a laugh even during business hours. Whereas we Germans tend to wait until its Feierabend (official end of working day).

At the moment Germany is desperately trying to get into Africa with a bunch of people, who form a very funny amount of clubs to charm over the Africans. But this mismatching is something I have now seen in a lot of European countries. To my disbelief in countries such as the UK and France with their long history of colonisation, with large communities of highly professional Diaspora Africans, governments and investors choose to go for their white, middle aged to very aged expats. This is probably the safest way for the governments and for investors as they have very little interaction with the diaspora in their own countries. Before you get upset, half my family is white, middle aged or very aged males and they would not dare to come out and bring people to Africa. They encourage me to do so.

Now, why is there so little interaction between, for instance the German Mittelstand who contributes to the absolute lion's share of the German economy and the African diaspora in Germany. I would dare to say that in the case of us Germans its probably the freight of the unknown? Africa is very exotic to say the least for the majority of the Germans. I am not going to say that the lack of interaction has racist roots but Africa is the dark, the unknown, the chaos, the hunger, the dark skin, the dances, the black whole. Germans don't know much and are not well informed especially not about french speaking Africa. Now most of the people in Germany in key positions that are around 40 years of age today will have grown up playing "who is scared of the black man?" or eating "nigger kisses" which is to this date a huge debate in Germany if it's racist to say?

This, there, is telling you the drama and the inner battle for most of the Germans. The export books are filled to the brim and they don't really need to invest in Africa or export to unknown territories so they thought. However, Corona, China and considering the average German woman has only got 1.2 children which won't help pay for pensions when those mid 30-40s are in retirement. We already have an enormous problem in Germany finding new experts in many areas.

Now here is the thing though!

I am from Cameroon as well and I can tell you that we are an army of individual combatants. We excel and many of us Cameroonians are already working in Germany and many more will come with their incredibly smart brains and work in Germany. Because we Germans are desperately in need of a new generation of experts, we now have a skilled immigration act, enabling a faster and less complicated hire from countries outside of the EU. We are 20 millions Cameroonians and now around 25000 Cameroonians in Germany.

Cameroon is a beautiful country with a lot of investment opportunities. It' s a country with very beautiful nature, blessed with mountains, the sea, savanna, forests. Sitting in the CEMAC area, it is a hard to access country from outside. With as many as 225 local dialects most people will find it hard to connect to one another in any other than in the official languages which are mainly French and a little less English.

By far I would dare to say that Cameroon is one of the most known countries and one of the hardest to understand. Even us Cameroonians joke that if you understand Cameroon you have not understood anything. Unlike the Malians , Senegalese or Congolese who come to Europe as blue collar workers, we Cameroonians mostly come to Europe mainly to study and as white collar workers. This is the reason why Cameroonians rarely have the same set up of collective helps and support systems within their diasporan communities. A fact that does not impact us overachieving. We Cameroonians are particularly hard on one another but when we make it, we make it very big. This common harsh treatment that we give each other from a young age is almost like a test to make sure, we make it later in life and nothing will phase us.

To this date, we have 25000 people from Cameroon living in Germany. Those are mostly highly professional working for Siemens, Bosch, Airbus and many other German companies. Why are we not coming together; the Germans and the Cameroonians? Why spend money on very horrendously expensive and questionable consultations that lead nowhere with consultants who have been to Africa long time ago or don't even speak the language or any of the local languages? People that have absolutely no interest in the thriving of Africa but their own pockets? Thus connecting with someone from Cameroon will give you a first step into Africa. Real knowledge of the country, real insides!

Cameroon has brought out the finest professional workforce and they either work in key positions or in positions that will enable you to break down the barriers and de-risk your investment in your business activities with Cameroon, or other CEMAC countries.

Most of us will know Roger Milla who is still active as a business man and lives in Montpellier, Vera Songwe who is the first woman to head the U.N.s Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) at the level of Under Secretary-General or Rebecca Enonchong who is a female pioneer for women in Tech, Achille Mbembe the author? There is also Gwendoline Abunaw @Ecobank Cameroon, John Butt @Conduit Ventures, Jules Samain @GuarantCo, Joseph Ingwat @Moody's Analytics Serge Esso @Glenco Advisory, Alain Nkontchou @Enco Capital, Baba Ahmadou Danpullo, Paul Fokam Kammogne, Gilbert Kadji @Kadji Academy, Acha Leke @McKinsey, Joseph Eyok @Allianz Congo, Ernest Dikoum former CEO CAMAir Co, Alex Epale Lawyer & Consultant @Afrexim Bank, Norbert Belinga Customs Douala, Alain-Thierry Mbongue Ebollo @Afrexim Bank, Nadine @PwC in Sub-Saharan Francophone Africa and the list of high flyers with super brains is endless. The UK's City & investment banking jobs are filled with professionals from Cameroon. Banks such as Citi Bank, JP Morgan, HSBC, Royal Bank of Canada, many of the professionals from Cameroon will and can act as the first step of demystifying your ancient ideas. More than ever Cameroonians are to be found between the two worlds of opportunities, looking at our CVs you will understand that language is certainly not a problem approaching us. Its time to stop the excuses for us Europeans and especially us Germans to get in touch.

We Germans no longer need to pay membership fees belonging to clubs that will have all the right answers on paper but have no clue when it comes to the on the ground reality. We Cameroonians are not perfect and we have a lot of work to do when it comes to decolonising and looking in the mirror; especially when it comes to gender equality. However with all our imperfections it's safe to say that we are the most dynamic diaspora that is excelling and going above and beyond.

Its time we Germans approach this excellence? Germans and Cameroonians make a good team when they meet in the middle. This is what I have known all my life as a Cameroonian and a German and I am looking forward to more cooperation in the future.