The unexpected business case for leaving South Africa?

I recently got back from Cape Town, where i attended wordcamp and 27 dinner, The day i was leaving i happen to bump into Max Kaizen. We had an interesting discussion on an upcoming panel discussion “The unexpected business case for Staying in South Africa“. The panel discussion will be held at South African Business School Expo on the 3rd of September, it’s designed to change or question the perception that you have to leave South Africa to make it “Big”. The panel will be made up of Branko Brkic (Editor, Maverick), Mike Stopforth (CEO, Cerebra), Paul Jacobson (New Media lawyer, Jacobson Attorneys) and Joshin Raghubar (Aspen fellow/ CEO, iKineo) and facilitated by David Donde (journalist, GQ and presenter 567/702). For more details and to register visit Epiphany and i will be attending as well.

I find myself asking the question though, Is there a business case to leave South Africa?

From personal experience, i can say without a doubt that working in a different country with different cultures and viewpoints definitely has it’s advantages. You come back home with a wealth of experience and most likely capital to start a business. I did a quick poll of some friends who have done stints overseas and a number of them have started their own business in a variety of fields from ICT to manufacturing, to retail.

The point being that, the advantage is skills transfer back into South Africa and an Injection of Capital into the economy. The problem though comes in when people leave, without the goal of ever returning. How do we solve this problem? This i believe is a larger macro issue, crime and perception need to be tackled.

What are your thoughts, Is there a business case to leave South Africa, with the goal of returning?

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