Cairo, Egypt: When Ahmed Ginah first departed his small-town in the northern delta of Egypt for the capital of Tanzania in 2017, he had little other plans. Four years later, he named his company after that dream.
No one could have imagined why I left Tanzania when I was 28 when I was first introduced to the country, according to Ginah, who openly translates as the “Mayor of Egyptians in Dar-es-Salaam” in the country.
But when Ginah arrived, what he found were opportunities – and a chance to build something new.
He remarked that he “dreamed my company, Dream]Trading” in recognition of his success in the year 2021. He set it up with savings of $3, 000, tapping into a growing market importing and exporting aluminium household goods. He eventually entered the steel industry as the years went on.
But beyond work, the 36-year-old is also somewhat of a benevolent godfather figure for other North African migrants making the journey southward.
Ginah follows a routine daily. Every morning, his driver, Hamed, drops him off at the household goods warehouses attached to Dream Trading. He takes him to City Mall, the most well-known shopping destination in Dar es Salam’s Kariakoo neighborhood, a while later.
Ginah is a regular at the Somali cafe there, where he sits until about noon, meeting other Egyptians and Tanzanians, often over a breakfast of mandazi – deep-fried dough fritters dusted with powdered sugar – or a chipsi mayai, a popular street food omelette with French fries, tomato sauce and vegetables.
Egyptians who relocate to Tanzania typically have a friend or relative there. For those who don’t, Ginah helps them find a place to stay, sometimes offering them a job at Dream and helping cover their rent if they’re an employee. He also informs them about Tanzania’s employment system and provides them with information on potential cities for employment.
“However, the most important thing I provide”, said Ginah, “is a trusted, guaranteed translator”. People in Tanzania’s urban centers are fluent in English. But many village residents only speak Swahili. Ginah said he lends a helping hand because it might cause misunderstandings and expose newcomers to “fraud or scams”
However, Ginah is determined to assist only those who wish to.
“I help those who come to work, not those who lie on their laurels and delegate the work to the translator or others”, he said. This country has a lot to offer, but it doesn’t give to the lazy or dependent, the person should be advised in such circumstances.
Ginah has gained a lot in eight years. According to figures provided by Egypt’s ambassador to the country, Sherif Ismail, who gave the figures to his home village, he has assisted dozens of young men from his home village to relocate to Tanzania, where an estimated 70, 000 Arabs live, including 1,200 Egyptians, in 2023. His company currently distributes goods throughout Africa.
South-south migration
Ayman Zohry, a sociology expert and expert on migration studies at the American University in Cairo, claims that ambitious young Egyptians in a troubled economy are looking for alternatives to emigrating to the West while Europe fortifies its borders against North African migrants.
This south-bound migration has accelerated significantly in recent years.
According to official statistics, there are more Egyptians than Americans living in non-Arab African nations, up from 46 000 in 2017 to 54 000 by 2021.
This trend stands in stark contrast to the perilous journeys many Egyptians still make across the Mediterranean. Egyptians made up more than 7% of all arrivals in Italy along the Central Mediterranean in 2023, making them the fifth-most common nationality, according to a report released by the Mixed Migration Centre.
The European Union recently responded with a new 7.4 billion euro ($8.7bn) agreement with Egypt, partly aimed at boosting border controls to reduce irregular migration to Europe.
According to Zohry, the trends in youth migration in Egypt are notable.
“While traditional destinations were the Gulf and Europe, there is a new trend towards the south, specifically some African countries”, Zohry told Al Jazeera.
Young people are looking for investment opportunities in emerging and promising markets as part of the “economic migration.” “This trend has grown in tandem with the expansion of the Egyptian government’s diplomatic and commercial relations with several African countries”.
However, according to Zohry, migration to Africa is frequently temporary or circular. “This means that the migrant returns to Egypt after a short period, or moves between several countries according to available opportunities”.
The back-and-forth flow is evident every Friday night in Dar-es-Salaam, as an aeroplane takes off from Julius Nyerere airport, heading to Cairo.
Whole families line the departure gates during the Eid al-Adha or Eid al-Fitr as Egyptians bring their incomes home to visit their loved ones, help build a new home, marry a member of a family, or assist their parents in achieving their goal of carrying out the Hajj pilgrimage.
‘ Open to Egyptian skills ‘
Arab and North African diaspora communities are expanding across the continent.
South Africa accounts for the highest percentage of Egyptian residents in Africa, accounting for 85 percent, followed by Nigeria, Kenya and Senegal.
Ginah relates a late-’90s legend that has since become a urban legend among African youth looking for more green space.
“A young man went to South Africa on vacation to visit a friend. He was reportedly detained in Cape Town for an irregular visa, according to Ginah. “When he was released, he was broke. He only had some aluminum utensils at home, so he sold them to get enough money to buy a ticket home.
That’s when the word got out, he says, and people discovered the huge demand for Egyptian aluminium household goods. Young people realized they could earn money, and that is how Egypt’s trade with other African nations increased. Since then, Egyptian business interests across the continent have diversified to include manufacturing, agricultural processing, and mining.
Although North Africans have long traveled south, according to Ginah, the trend grew in response to the 2011 widespread uprisings in Egypt and the resulting political, economic, and social changes.
“There was a new wave of emigration within Africa – both]to] South Africa and other countries in sub-Saharan Africa – as the Gulf and Libya were greatly affected by the political turmoil”.
Locally, migrants have also found a more friendly working environment, many say.
Tanzania’s government has made significant strides in promoting foreign investment and entrepreneurship. According to Lloyds Bank country profile, foreign investors can benefit from many fiscal and non-fiscal incentives.
The Tanzanian embassy’s commissioner general and chief of staff, Makame Iddi Makame, stated that the country has “significant investment opportunities” and “natural resources.”
He said the country established the Tanzania Investment Centre to manage investment affairs. This includes lowering the rate of customs duties from 5 to 5 percent in the most important sectors and 0 to 5 percent in the most lucrative ones, granting tax exemption for industrial, agricultural, and mining inputs, facilitating the issuance of residence, work, and business permits, and putting capital gains back on hold for up to five years in the case of loss-making projects.
The country’s political stability also provides a high degree of investment security, as there is low inflation (4.2 percent) and stable exchange rates, he added.
According to migration expert Zohry, some African nations may appear less competitive but are more open to Egyptian skills in industries like construction, agriculture, education, and information technology given the limited opportunities there.
Yet, despite the potential opportunities and generally more welcoming atmosphere, migration to African countries is still limited, compared with the Gulf and Europe, he added, due to a stigmatised mental image many North Africans have about the rest of the continent.
However, there are indications that some young people may start looking for opportunities beyond traditional borders while the continent may change.
Business opportunities, shared friendships
Mayan village is located about 550 kilometers (340 miles) southeast of Dar es Salaam.
There, Mohamed el-Shafie, 34, another Egyptian, built two cashew-processing factories in the Mtwara region in 2018, tapping into a strategic crop that accounts for 10-15 percent of Tanzania’s foreign exchange earnings.
According to el-Shafei, “Cashew sales are built solely on trust.” “The cashew growing and harvesting operation is meticulous and requires sensitive handling by farm workers to produce a pure cashew nut. The “processing” stage is followed by this step to get it ready for export in good condition.
Tanzania is one of Africa’s leading producers and exporters of cashew nuts, ranking among the top three on the continent and eighth globally.
El-Shafei’s company has customers across the Arab world and Turkiye, and employs some 400 Egyptian, Chinese and Tanzanian workers, besides the seasonal labourers hired during the cashew harvest season in October.
El-Shafei, who was an undergraduate at Cairo University and later moved to Beijing to pursue his education, claimed that his foray into the cashew industry was accidental.
“At the time, I had a lot of Vietnamese friends who worked in the cashew industry. When I realized that Tanzania had a promising business opportunity and that I could fill a need with Chinese equipment that was specialized in cashew crop processing, he said.
With a little help from his friends, he connected with cashew farmers in Tanzania in late 2017, and with a small capital investment of , 200, 000 Egyptian pounds (about $11, 000 back then), el-Shafei set up shop and imported two cashew processing machines from China to start the business. Elshafei Investment Limited received 13 export shipments totaling about $719,700 between the years 2023 and 2024.
El-Shafei decided to relocate his small family to Dar-es-Salaam so his young children would not be far from him. They all reside in Tanzanians of Yemeni, Omani, and Iranian descent who migrated there before the Arab government’s occupation of the area in the wake of the 1964 Zanzibar Revolution.
Egyptians in Tanzania are not isolated from the local population, el-Shafei says.
We celebrate and observe holidays like the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU)’s July 7 Saba Saba Day, which was established in 1954 as a significant step toward nation-building and independence. We also celebrate Swahili Language Day and Eid al-Adha through communal meals held in cashew farm villages”, he says.
Egyptians make up the fabric of their new community, according to Ginah, who resides in Dar-es-Salaam with his wife and children.
“We maintain good relationships with Tanzanians, and we share friendships”, he said, including meeting at work, mosques and social clubs.
However, he said, there are also challenging times when moving away from home.
“The pain of alienation hits hardest when someone dies. It’s very difficult because we [Egyptian immigrants] are well-known, whether they are from East or West Africa. We immediately band together to make arrangements for the body to be repatriated, and we support the family financially and emotionally, whether they remain in Tanzania or return home to Egypt”.
However, when you have family by your side, “the alienation disappears,” according to Ginah. And thanks to technology, “we can see family and friends on a daily basis on mobile phone calls”.
Ginah believes that Tanzania is where he’s going to live.
“It has certainly become a second home for me, where my children are growing up”, he said. I’m unsure as to when I’ll return to my home country.
Source: Aljazeera
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