The Egyptians finding a ‘second home’ after migrating south to Tanzania

Cairo, Egypt – When Ahmed Ginah archetypal near his colony successful Egypt’s bluish delta for the Tanzanian superior successful 2017, it was with small much than a dream. Four years later, helium named his institution aft that dream.

“When I archetypal came to Tanzania astatine 28, nary 1 imagined wherefore I would caput south,” Ginah, who is lightheartedly called the “Mayor of Egyptians successful Dar-es-Salaam”, told Al Jazeera, saying that successful the minds of galore of his friends and household backmost home, countries successful sub-Saharan Africa are tainted by stereotypes of famine, poorness and disease.

But erstwhile Ginah arrived, what helium recovered were opportunities – and a accidental to physique thing new.

“In 2021, I established my company, Dream [Trading],” helium said, successful designation of his “dream” to beryllium a success. He acceptable it up with savings of $3,000, tapping into a increasing marketplace importing and exporting aluminium household goods. As the years progressed, helium expanded into the alloy business.

But beyond work, the 36-year-old is besides somewhat of a benevolent godfather fig for different North African migrants making the travel southward.

Ginah has a modular regular routine. Every morning, his driver, Hamed, drops him disconnected astatine the household goods warehouses attached to Dream Trading. A portion later, helium drives him to City Mall, the astir fashionable buying centre successful Dar es Salam’s Kariakoo neighbourhood.

Ginah is simply a regular astatine the Somali cafe there, wherever helium sits until astir noon, gathering different Egyptians and Tanzanians, often implicit a meal of mandazi – deep-fried dough fritters dusted with powdered sweetener – oregon a chipsi mayai, a fashionable thoroughfare nutrient omelette with French fries, herb condiment and vegetables.

Typically, Egyptians who determination to Tanzania already person a comparative oregon person surviving there. For those who don’t, Ginah helps them find a spot to stay, sometimes offering them a occupation astatine Dream and helping screen their rent if they’re an employee. He besides introduces them to the enactment strategy successful Tanzania, and gives them a laic of the onshore astir cities wherever they tin perchance work.

“However, the astir important happening I provide,” said Ginah, “is a trusted, guaranteed translator.” In municipality centres successful Tanzania, radical talk English. But galore colony residents lone talk Swahili. This could pb to misunderstandings and exposure newcomers to “fraud oregon scams”, Ginah said, truthful helium lends a helping hand.

Ahmed Ginah, right, and 2 Egyptians precocious arrived successful Tanzania [Egab]

But Ginah is determined to assistance lone those who privation to assistance themselves.

“I assistance those who travel to work, not those who prevarication connected their laurels and delegate the enactment to the translator oregon others,” helium said. “In specified cases, I counsel the idiosyncratic that this state has a batch to offer, but it doesn’t springiness to the lazy oregon dependent.”

Ginah has gained a batch successful 8 years. Today, his institution distributes products passim Africa, and helium has helped dozens of young men from his location colony relocate and found themselves successful Tanzania, wherever an estimated 70,000 Arabs unrecorded – including 1,200 Egyptians, according to figures provided by Egypt’s ambassador to the country, Sherif Ismail, successful 2023.

South-south migration

While Europe fortifies its borders against North African migrants, ambitious young Egyptians successful a struggling system are looking for alternatives to emigrating to the West, according to Ayman Zohry, a demographer and adept connected migration studies astatine the American University successful Cairo.

This south-bound migration has accelerated importantly successful caller years.

Official statistic amusement the fig of Egyptians successful non-Arab African countries accrued from 46,000 successful 2017 to 54,000 by 2021.

This inclination stands successful stark opposition to the perilous journeys galore Egyptians inactive marque crossed the Mediterranean. In 2023, Egyptians represented much than 7 percent of each arrivals successful Italy on the Central Mediterranean route, making them the 5th astir communal nationality, according to a study by the Mixed Migration Centre.

The European Union precocious responded with a caller 7.4 cardinal euro ($8.7bn) statement with Egypt, partially aimed astatine boosting borderline controls to trim irregular migration to Europe.

Zohry explained that Egypt’s younker migration trends are undergoing a notable transformation.

“While accepted destinations were the Gulf and Europe, determination is simply a caller inclination towards the south, specifically immoderate African countries,” Zohry told Al Jazeera.

“Economic migration” sees young radical seeking concern opportunities successful emerging and promising markets. “This inclination has grown successful tandem with the enlargement of the Egyptian government’s diplomatic and commercialized relations with respective African countries.”

However, Zohry said, migration to Africa is often circular oregon temporary. “This means that the migrant returns to Egypt aft a abbreviated period, oregon moves betwixt respective countries according to disposable opportunities.”

Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania [File: Andrew Emmanuel/Reuters]

The back-and-forth travel is evident each Friday nighttime successful Dar-es-Salaam, arsenic an aeroplane takes disconnected from Julius Nyerere airport, heading to Cairo.

During precocious seasons similar Eid al-Adha oregon Eid al-Fitr, full families capable the departure gates, arsenic Egyptians instrumentality their net location to sojourn family, lend to gathering a caller home, hole a household subordinate for marriage, oregon assistance their parents fulfil a imagination of performing the Hajj pilgrimage.

‘Open to Egyptian skills’

Across the African continent, diaspora communities of Arabs and North Africans are growing.

South Africa accounts for the highest percent of Egyptian residents successful Africa, accounting for 85 percent, followed by Nigeria, Kenya and Senegal.

Ginah recounts a communicative from the precocious 1990s which has since go an municipality fable among younker seeking greener pastures successful Africa.

“A young antheral went to South Africa connected abrogation to sojourn a friend. Bizarrely, helium was arrested successful Cape Town for a visa irregularity,” said Ginah. “When helium was released, helium was broke. All helium had were immoderate aluminium utensils, truthful helium sold them to marque capable wealth to bargain a summons home.”

That’s erstwhile the connection got out, helium says, and radical discovered the immense request for Egyptian aluminium household goods. Young radical realised they could marque wealth – and that’s however the location appliance and location goods commercialized betwixt Egypt and different African countries picked up. Since then, Egyptian concern interests crossed the continent person diversified to see manufacturing, cultivation processing, and mining.

Although North Africans person long travelled south, the inclination surged pursuing the 2011 wide uprisings successful Egypt and the ensuing political, economical and societal change, Ginah says.

“There was a caller question of emigration wrong Africa – some [to] South Africa and different countries successful sub-Saharan Africa – arsenic the Gulf and Libya were greatly affected by the governmental turmoil.”

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi walks past a defender of honour astatine the Julius Nyerere International Airport successful Dar-es-Salaam [File: Emmanuel Herman/Reuters]

Locally, migrants person besides recovered a much affable moving environment, galore say.

The authorities of Tanzania has made strides to enactment entrepreneurship and overseas investment. According to Lloyds Bank state profile, overseas investors tin payment from galore fiscal and non-fiscal incentives.

“Tanzania has earthy resources and important concern opportunities,” said Makame Iddi Makame, the commissioner wide and main of unit astatine the Tanzanian embassy successful Cairo.

He said the state established the Tanzania Investment Centre to negociate concern affairs. This includes reducing customs duties to 5 percent successful precedence sectors and 0 percent successful starring sectors; providing taxation exemption connected mining, agricultural, and concern inputs; facilitating the issuance of residence, enactment and concern permits, and the repatriation of superior gains abroad; and deferring taxes and VAT for loss-making projects for up to 5 years.

The country’s governmental stableness besides provides a precocious grade of concern security, arsenic determination is debased ostentation (4.2 percent) and unchangeable speech rates, helium added.

“Given the constricted opportunities wrong Egypt, immoderate African countries whitethorn look little competitory but are much unfastened to Egyptian skills successful sectors similar construction, agriculture, education, and accusation technology,” according to migration adept Zohry.

Yet, contempt the imaginable opportunities and mostly much welcoming atmosphere, migration to African countries is inactive limited, compared with the Gulf and Europe, helium added, owed to a stigmatised intelligence representation galore North Africans person astir the remainder of the continent.

However, determination are signs the continent whitethorn go a gradual alternate for immoderate younker seeking opportunities beyond accepted borders.

Some 550km (340 miles) southeast of Dar-es-Salaam is Mayan village.

There, Mohamed el-Shafie, 34, different Egyptian, built 2 cashew-processing factories successful the Mtwara portion successful 2018, tapping into a strategical harvest that accounts for 10-15 percent of Tanzania’s overseas speech earnings.

“Cashew income are built purely connected trust,” el-Shafei told Al Jazeera. “The cashew increasing and harvesting cognition is meticulous and requires delicate handling by workplace workers to nutrient a axenic cashew nut. This is followed by the ‘processing’ signifier to hole it for export successful bully condition.”

Tanzania is 1 of Africa’s starring producers and exporters of cashew nuts, ranking among the apical 3 connected the continent and eighth globally.

Workers astatine Mohamad El-Shafei’s cashew processing factory, Mayan Village, Mtwara region, Tanzania [Egab]

El-Shafei’s institution has customers crossed the Arab satellite and Turkiye, and employs immoderate 400 Egyptian, Chinese and Tanzanian workers, too the seasonal labourers hired during the cashew harvest play successful October.

His foray into the cashew manufacture was accidental, said el-Shafei, who studied Chinese arsenic an undergraduate astatine Cairo University, earlier moving to Beijing to proceed his education.

“At the time, I had a batch of Vietnamese friends who worked successful the cashew industry. That was erstwhile I learned that Tanzania had a promising concern accidental and that Chinese instrumentality specialised successful cashew harvest processing was a spread that I could fill,” helium said.

With a small assistance from his friends, helium connected with cashew farmers successful Tanzania successful precocious 2017, and with a tiny superior concern of  200,000 Egyptian pounds (about $11,000 backmost then), el-Shafei acceptable up store and imported 2 cashew processing machines from China to commencement the business. In 2023-2024, Elshafei Investment Limited had made 13 export shipments with a full worth of astir $719,700.

El-Shafei decided to relocate his tiny household to Dar-es-Salaam truthful his young children would not beryllium acold from him. Today, they each unrecorded amid the Arab and Egyptian community, arsenic good arsenic Tanzanians of Yemeni, Omani, and Iranian root who moved determination during the Arab regularisation earlier the 1964 Zanzibar Revolution.

Egyptians successful Tanzania are not isolated from the section population, el-Shafei says.

“We stock celebrations and holidays specified arsenic the July 7 Saba Saba Day, which marks the founding of the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) successful 1954, a important measurement towards independency and nation-building. We besides observe Swahili Language Day and Eid al-Adha done communal meals held successful cashew workplace villages,” helium says.

For Ginah, surviving successful Dar-es-Salaam with his woman and children, Egyptians are portion of the cloth of their caller community.

“We support bully relationships with Tanzanians, and we stock friendships,” helium said, including gathering astatine work, mosques and societal clubs.

But amid the successes, determination are besides hard moments successful surviving acold from home, helium said.

“The symptom of alienation hits hardest erstwhile idiosyncratic dies. We [Egyptian immigrants] cognize each different well, whether successful East oregon West African countries, truthful it’s precise difficult. We instantly set unneurotic to marque arrangements for the assemblage to beryllium repatriated, and we enactment the household financially and emotionally, whether they stay successful Tanzania oregon instrumentality location to Egypt.”

But erstwhile determination is household by your side, “the feeling of alienation disappears,” Ginah said. And acknowledgment to technology, “we tin spot household and friends connected a regular ground connected mobile telephone calls.”

Ginah feels Tanzania is the state wherever helium was destined to marque his living.

“It has surely go a 2nd location for me, wherever my children are increasing up,” helium said. “When volition I instrumentality to my homeland, I don’t know.”

This portion was published successful collaboration with Egab.