Starr Forum: African Repats

February 4, 2016 - 4:00pm to 5:30pm
75 Amherst Street, Cambridge

As Africa's middle class starts to emerge, propelled by growth and urbanization, many diaspora Africans are choosing to return to the continent. Many of these returnees, known as "repats," are highly educated and skilled, and while they choose to take a chance on new opportunities back "home," the process of adjusting to mentalities and business practices can be brutal.

About the Speakers:
Moderator: Claude Grunitzky, a serial entrepreneur and MIT Sloan Fellow, is the founder of TRACE, and co-founder and editor-in-chief of TRUE Africa, a new media platform.

Joelle Itoua-Owona was born and raised in Douala, Cameroon. She moved across France, the UK and Germany in order to complete three Masters degrees focusing on management and strategy.

Devon Maylie spent three years in Johannesburg as a writer for the Wall Street Journal. She covered the region during a period of renewed optimism about Africa's outlook from foreign investors and the diaspora alike.

Gbemi Munis is currently in the Sloan Fellows MBA program at MIT. Prior to Sloan, she worked in the tech industry in US and Nigeria developing technical business solutions for enterprise customers in financial services, oil and gas, and consumer goods industries.

Jacques Jonathan Nyemb is a lawyer and policy advisor. He is currently at the Harvard University Kennedy School where he co-chairs the Africa Caucus.

Watch the video

Free & open to the public | Refreshments served