Despite her wish to go back to Senegal, Binata stays in Spain. She believes many Africans think the same but don't dare to return. They feel ashamed, and failure is not well perceived back home. Binata: 'Not many parents will accept that their children come back because they haven't made it in Europe'.
Scared to go home
Political problems and violence back home are also reasons to stay in Europe. In Matonge, the Congolese community in Brussels, many people wish to go back to Congo, but few turn this dream into reality. Durane, a computer engineer and a member of former president Mobutu's party, tells to Radio Netherlands: "I had no choice but to leave. I would have been killed if I had stayed. And it's the same for many of us. That makes it hard to return, much as we want to."
Success
Just like fortune seekers trying to find a better life, many educated Africans like Binata leave their home countries. But this 'brain drain' seems to be slowly going the other way. Kofi Ansah, a Ghanaian fashion designer, studied in the UK, but after 20 years in Europe decided to bring back his expertise to his homecountry: "I came to help try to develop the clothing textile industry. And I thought, if we could do it right, it could help our employment situation", he explains to the BBC.
Do you like your job? What holds you back and what made you decide to stay or to go back? Tell your story here
