6 career questions for a local staffer in Africa

Prove yourself at home first. This is the first piece of advice Anthony Ngosi, team leader for one of Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa’s projects, would give to a young African interested in working elsewhere in Africa — or elsewhere in the world. Ngosi grew up in Malawi but has since worked in nine African countries during his nearly 20-year development career. Ngosi has worked for various NGOs, INGOs, and consulting firms in Malawi, Zambia, Burundi, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan, Uganda, Niger, and Kenya. Devex caught up with Ngosi while visiting a small marketplace outside of Meru, Kenya, where the project he manages is implementing training for agro-dealers. Here’s what he had to say about his career and how opportunities have changed for Africans interested in working in development, as well as his advice for others. What’s one of the things that you feel has led you to where you are in your career now? The key factor that really helped me for my first job was having a foreign language. Having studied in France, I was fluent in French and there was an opportunity to go and train some of our partners in accounting and financial assistance, which I was very accustomed to. They needed someone with French language skills to go to Burundi, so they asked me to go out for a weeklong training, which led to another consultancy and then a six-month consulting contract. I was national staff at the time for the International Foundation for Election Systems. Studying in France might feel unrealistic for some. What about those who stay in their home country to study? The bottom line: Even if you study locally, just add some language skills. A lot of international organizations are looking for young Africans who have various skills — whether finance or technical — but with a language such as French, Spanish or Chinese. Did you always know you wanted to work in agriculture? Would you advise someone to pick a specialization within development? Everybody has different passions and it’s good to go for what really excites you. If you’re sure that you’re passionate about HIV and AIDS or orphans and vulnerable children, for example, then pursue that path. But if you’re not very sure, I’d suggest going into the general development sector, work in the various sectors, learn about health, governance, humanitarian aid … then see what excites you the most. For me, I’d started with an administration and financial background. I thought that it was a bit too monotonous for me, looking at numbers, doing accounting and admin work. I wanted to do program work, so I started off helping wherever I could, going beyond my financial duties and helping program people. Finally, when there was opportunity within the program sector of our project, they asked me if I was interested and I joined. What else helped set you on a path to an international career? Working for an NGO in my home country was another important step toward my international career. Work hard and go the extra mile every time there’s a task, meticulously and thoroughly and get it done on time. Create a rapport with the people that are managing the programs. If they see that you are actually somebody that gets things done well and on time, they’ll remember that later when other opportunities arise. How important has networking been to the advancement of your career? Networking has been important. At the beginning, I only really related with people working within the NGO that I was employed with. Once I transitioned to working in other countries, that’s when I realized the importance of having networks. For example, there is a job that I got in 2009, and this was from somebody that had worked with me back in Malawi in 1999. We maintained that connection and they knew what I was doing, my growth … we’d been keeping each other updated. Because of that, I got an opportunity that was a big step for me from being a country director to managing eight countries in East and Southern Africa. Compared to when you started your career, have you noticed any changes in opportunities for Africans to take on leadership roles in development? I think right now things are much better in terms of opportunities for Africans to go into management and leadership positions within the development sector. Back then it was quite difficult. I think right now, whether it is at a country level or regional level, most agencies are looking at having people from within the continent to hold leadership roles. There are also a lot more courses in universities that are preparing students better for the development world. Update Nov. 4, 2019: This article has been updated to clarify language.