An African city or how 5 repatriates experience moving to Africa
Synopsis
I discovered this African TV show – Ghanaian to be more precise – back when it came out in 2013.
The show explores African culture through the eyes of 5 African repatriate friends. They have moved back to Ghana. The series explores their adventures as new repats. It shows their hopes, their disillusions, and surprises as they re-learn about their African culture.
The characters
You have Nana Yaa, the Ghanaian who spent most of her life in the US, but finally decides to return home. She is the main character and the voice of the show. She’s the perfect example of a repat. She’s trying to find her place in a society she thinks she knows well but discovers there’s more to it.
Sade is the daughter of a megachurch pastor from Houston. She is Ghanaian-Nigerian. She is the most liberal of the 5 friends. And she’s not afraid to talk about sex and how she uses it for her pleasure but also to climb the social ladder.
Ngozi is the Charlotte of the group — Sex And The City reference. She is a churchgoer and hopes to find herself a good African man to marry one day. She struggles with her privilege as a well-off repat working in a foreign NGO.
Makena is a mixed English- Ghanaian lawyer. She struggles to find a job after moving to Africa. She’s often challenged on her African identity — not black enough, not Ghanaian enough.
And finally, Zainab is a successful entrepreneur. She’s the symbol of everything that is possible when you start your own business in an African country. But she also shows all the hoops and challenges you will have to go through to succeed.
What I love about the show
I have always been a huge fan of SATC — Sex And The City. So, when I saw the description of the show as “Africa’s answer to SATC”, I knew I was going to get hooked! And I was not disappointed. The show has all the elements I loved about SATC:
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The fashion: if you want inspiration for amazing, modern, and original African outfits, this is your show. I wish the show had an online store where some of the featured outfits and accessories could be purchased. They were so good!
- The irreverent talk: The show does not shy away from any topic other African shows usually avoid.
- African women sex lives — and not in a caricatured way —,
- It talks about the ethicality of foreign NGOs working on the continent. It shows the difference of how these NGOs treat their African workers versus their Western colleagues,
- All the topics are treated in a funny yet compassionate tone that made me laugh out loud and sometimes sniffle a bit.
- The sisterhood: the women in this African TV show support each other through ups and lows, cheer for each other, know and understand each other.
So, if you haven’t checked out this show yet, go look for it. The first season is available for free on Youtube. The second season is available here for $20, and is worth every penny!
African culture through the eyes of an Ivorian auntie: Blog
When I discovered this African TV show that had the main storyline based on a blog, I knew I could not miss it.
This African TV show is based in an upper-middle-class neighborhood in Abidjan. The main character is a retired auntie that decided to start her own blog.
The topic of her blog: The neighborhood gossip.
The aunty is the voice of the show. She never seems to be happy with her daughters.
In the first episode, she shamelessly fakes a heart attack to guilt one of her daughters into losing weight, while criticizing the other one for being too thin.
She’s the type of aunt that harasses you to have a boyfriend when you’re single, to get married when you’re dating, to have a child when you’re married, to have a second child when you have just one. You see the one I am talking about.
The other main characters of the shows are Alice and Luc. They are the auntie’s neighbors.
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Alice is a fan of social media and shopping. She’s married to Luc.
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Luc, the finance guy. He’s married to Alice. They have a dog named Pikachu.
The show is funny and light and made me miss the Ivorian humor.
Unfortunately, I was only able to watch the first episode on YouTube. The rest of the episodes are available here if you live in a country where the show can be broadcast. It’s also available for streaming on TV5 Monde. If you know of any other platforms, let me know!
The smart money woman or the financial lives of African repats after moving to Africa
“African women need to become the CFO of their financial lives and take control of the money they earn now instead of waiting for the income to increase in the future.”
Synopsis
I loved, loved this African TV show because it breaks another big taboo in African culture: money talk! More specifically female money talk.
The show is based on a book of the same name by author Arese Ugwu. It’s a different take on the typical girlfriend TV show.
It follows the lives of five Nigerian friends living in Lagos. Yes, these African women are fabulous, designer-dressed, and have great jobs. But this African TV show goes a little deeper than that. It talks about African women’s relationship with money, especially the younger generation. It depicts the struggle these five African repats have to manage their finances.
The characters
You have Zuri. She is a great marketing exec who lives way above her means. She gets a brutal reality check when her finances crumble.
Tami is the fabulous designer who built her business on her dad’s and sugar daddies’ money.
Lara is the successful sister. She has been traumatized as a young woman and refuses to ever be poor or vulnerable again.
Adekoa is the lawyer who kills it at work but struggles with her philandering waste of a husband at home.
Ladun is the stay-at-home wife who loves shopping. She will also have a cruel reality check when tragedy strikes in her family.
What I loved about the show
The show talks about the fact that all we learn (or don’t learn) about money comes from our parents and our family history. It is passed down to us as part of our African culture.
A lot of time we have to do the work to deconstruct and unlearn a lot of those things. Some examples of financially dangerous behaviors the show warns against are:
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Always helping family and friends even when we ourselves struggle financially
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Living above our means just to maintain appearances
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Not knowing where your money goes every month
Each episode of this African TV show contains a money lesson. But the show is still funny and non-judgmental.
I saw myself in those women. In one scene: the main character calls her mom and is put on the phone with one of the aunties despite her protests. If you have African parents, you lived those moments!
I particularly loved episode 6. It deconstructs the ultimate taboo in African culture: planning for one’s death.
It talks about how many people believe that making a will and preparing for your death is like inviting death; and how, in many African cultures, funerals have to be a big expensive affair to maintain status no matter how broke the family of the deceased is.
The show is available on Netflix and you should not miss it! The book is definitely on my reading list!
Continue reading part 2 of the article.
