A Modern African Nomad

This is a very interesting book and a MUST read where experiences, thoughts, and memories have been put together in an invitingly humorous and advisory manner. For some scenarios, it is as if my very own experience is being narrated. That describes the extent to which I can relate very well to many of the struggles, challenges, and experiences reflected in this book.
Thank you for the book and to those who haven’t read it, I am certain you will have at least a bunch of things to learn. -Amazon Review

A Modern African Nomad:
From Africa To The Diaspora And Back

If you’ve never been to Africa, you can’t imagine the opportunities and challenges its people face on their way to success.

Often, African young people must leave their homes and roam the world to expand their horizons. From the pages of this book, you will draw life lessons that can transform your own life.

The author, Debbie Peters, is a Zimbabwean woman who has traveled the world, studied for advanced degrees in London and Los Angeles. She has also succeeded in several entrepreneurial careers. She is part of the modern African migration to the Diaspora.

A Modern African Nomad tells the story of:

How an African successfully navigated her way to Europe and later to the US through study.
Building a successful career and life in the US for a decade, networking in the Diaspora.
Surviving and thriving as a black woman, including dating and single life in NYC.
Long distance job-hunting and making the transition back to Africa.
The challenge of repatriation and re-integrating into African society after 10 years away.
Navigating different corporate cultures in Africa and building a professional network around the globe.
Becoming an expatriate in Nigeria and dealing with life in a challenging environment.
Learning to operate in different African countries and the variety among them.
Starting over again by going back home to Zimbabwe after 16 years away, reverse culture shock.
Maintaining relationships with friends and family scattered all over the world.
Staying current with the international business trends as an African professional.
Entrepreneurial ventures in Africa under difficult economic conditions.
The love of travel and becoming a world citizen who is at home anywhere.

Debbie Peters has always loved education and also loves her beautiful homeland. Although she had to leave Africa twice for advanced degrees, she always came back home to Zimbabwe.
Her first adventure abroad was to earn her Master’s degree in pharmacology at the prestigious King’s College in London and she returned home immediately after.

In 1998, she went to the US for an MBA. When she finished in 2000, she was advised to stay because the Zimbabwean economy was declining fast. It was 10 years before she found a promising job in South Africa, but another six years to work her way back to Zimbabwe. Going back home is important to Africans in the Diaspora, but the challenge is how to do it. Every African country is different, and in some ways Africans are less familiar other African countries than they are with countries abroad.

Debbie has always enjoyed blogging. Her “African Gist” blog was very popular as her readers followed her adventures in Nigeria. Travelling from and within Africa is often difficult, but Debbie chronicles the challenges of African travel with interesting detail and humor.

As a serial entrepreneur, Debbie is facing the challenge of trying to start a modern African business while working from Zimbabwe where the economy is again falling into decline. Her network extends all over the globe, and her life is no longer just restricted to Zimbabwe. She is a keen social media practitioner with a presence on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

This exciting life story is not only for Africans. As Debbie explores what is needed for a black woman to survive and thrive in diverse cultures, you will also learn ways to surmount your own challenges in a highly competitive global economy. Wherever you call home, you may need to expand your vision beyond traditional borders and build a life many never consider possible. You can learn important principles from Debbie’s struggles and successes. The first step is to scroll to the top of this page and click that orange BUY button.

About the Author

Deborah Nyasha Peters, Debbie, is a Zimbabwean woman who can only be described a global citizen. Her travels began with high school trips abroad to Europe, where she caught the travel bug as she studied in Zimbabwe then UK. During her Master’s degree in pharmacy at King’s College in London she enjoyed being in a multi-cultural background. She also got the benefit of working in foreign countries. A keen entrepreneur, she went back to Zimbabwe to open a couple of pharmacy but the country soon descended into the highest hyperinflation in history so she took the opportunity to move the US for her business studies.

What should have been a two-year stay for studies in the US ended up being 10 years, as Zimbabwe no longer offered opportunities for professionals to return. By 2008 the right opportunity to move to South Africa presented itself so Deborah reinvented herself as an expatriate in Africa. She later got the privilege to work in Nigeria as well as to travel all over Africa before coming full circle by moving back home to Zimbabwe.

This should have the end of her journey, except that the Zimbabwean economy started to decline again forcing another wave of emigration as professionals leave to seek greener pastures. Debbie’s book, ‘A Modern African Nomad’ explains why Africans leave the continent in modern times and the challenges they go through in the Diaspora. It also describes the lack of belonging that Africans experience upon their repatriation home after living abroad for many years.

Debbie made her own tribe of friends abroad who she feels connected to no matter where she is now and she goes to great lengths to maintain contact with them, especially through social media. She has a vast international network which she grow through her travels, studies and work around the world.