Homecoming Revolution Christmas evening

I was very fortunate to be invited to the Homecoming Revolution year end Christmas party, held this evening in Rosebank, Johannesburg.

It was not only an opportunity to catch up with old friends and acquaintances that I first met in London in 2007 at the 2nd London Event last October, but also a very fulfilling experience spending time with other South Africans who have retuirned from prolonged periods spent overseas.

Homecoming Revolution (HCR) managed to secure Ben Zander as a guest speaker, and he spoke of the ideals, energy and passion that South Africans exhibit on a daily basis and in the most routine of circumstances, and how he has enjoyed experiencing South Africa on each of his previous 8 visits to the country. He was truly inspiring, energising "Homecomers" as we mostly were, and giving a very positive message from the point of view of an outsider (an American citizen) It was also the first opportunity I have ever had to sing a Christmas Carol, with an international conductor at the piano!

It was a very memorable event, reminding me once more of the invredible things that await the returning South African. There are many negative messages being distributed around the world with regard South Africa and the "situation" here.

But there is no other place on earth just now that affords one to make a very real difference.

I am very appreciative to the HCR team for the invite, and look forward to working with them again next year.

A shift in marketing to returning ex-pats

You may recall that a few days ago I made a big hoo-hah about being a published author, and that I had a testimonial printed in the September issue of SA Promo Magazine… Well if you looked at it, and looked closely at page 78 of the magazine, you will notice a very interesting advertisement. It appears that St Andrews School for Girls, a private school in Senderwood, Johannesburg, is going to be exhibiting at the forthcoming HCR Woza Ekhaya event in London .

And not only St Andrews, but other schools are going to be present too. St Peters (Sunninghill) and St Johns College (Houghton) are also confirmed exhibitors. Admittedly, this does start to look like the guest list to the Last Supper - but it was always going to be private schools that would go down this route with regard marketing their brand.

There definitely is a twofold reason for their involvement. Firstly, a recruitment drive to attract back to South Africa the ex-patriot teacher population.
But secondly, and to my mind more interestingly, this represents an opportunity to market to ex-pat parents in London and the UK, who are concerned at schooling for their children when they return.

To me this marks a very interesting shift in the marketing and focus of attracting South Africans back to South Africa.
Not only will companies continue to market to the young professionals who have been over in the UK for only a few years – but the scope is being broadened seemingly, focusing on those who have been overseas for several years, who have perhaps begun families, and are now at a point of considering returning with their families.

It will be interesting to know what responses these schools get from parents at the HCR event.

Is there a gap in the recruitment market?

I was very interested to find my Homecoming Revolution Testimonial posted on the HCR blog this morning, but read with more interest some of the comments that had been posted - a whopping 12 comments, which on an article I have written, I find awesome.

But many people express the same view - when talking to recruitment agencies in South Africa from overseas, most people seem more willing to show you the door. "Come see us when you arrive" is the general comment back.

It is interesting that when I moved over to the UK in 2002 I used a service called "First Contact" (or 1st Contact) and they set me up with some really cheap hostel accommodation, a briefing session at their offices about the UK and London, and most significantly, assisted in me opening a bank account. Without their help I would have had severe difficulty getting that bank account, and everything that follows.

In the same way, when returning I would have had problems opening a bank account for myself. Fortunately I still had accounts open from when I lived here.

But with an increasing number of senior staff and experience and skills disappearing overseas, it seems significant that there are no agencies set up to assist getting these people back.

There were SEVERAL time during my drivers licence saga that I could happily have returned to the UK - where things just seem to work.

There must be a gap in the market here that someone is overlooking.

Counting the Cost of living

Recently, the Telegraph in the UK published an article relating to food price inflation. Within that article was a basket of groceries that were priced up based on the prices at a variety of UK supermarkets.

A friend of mine who writes the Homecoming Revolution blog, used that information to compare the cost of living in South Africa to that in the UK, and came to a very interesting conclusion.

However, Paul used a direct financial comparison, utilising a exchange rate of the Pound to the Rand to compare the South African and UK grocery baskets. That got me thinking – I once was told about the Big Mac Index, and I wondered what happened if the same baskets were compared not in monetary terms, but in terms of common items available in each country.

Rather than guess the Big Mac price in each country, I researched the cost of a 2 litre Coca Cola and the cost of a litre of petrol. Here are my results:

Cost of basket in UK – £27.03 (average per table)
Cost of basket in South Africa – R336.83 (per Paul’s research – Pick n Pay)

2 litre Coke:
Cost in South Africa: R12.00 (from my local Spar)
Index*: 28.07
Cost in the UK: £1.49 (per the Tesco Price Check website)
Index*: 18.14

1 litre of Petrol
Cost in South Africa: R10.20
Index*: 33.02
Cost in the UK: £1.149 (per the PetrolPrices.com website - using London as a base)
Index*: 23.53

*Index represents the cost of the basket, divided by the cost of the item – in other words the number of the item that equates to the basket.

On this basis South Africa turns out to have a higher cost of living, as the basket equates to MORE of the item.

But then again these are just statistics…. And I am sure that 10 other people could find 10 other calculations and 10 different results…

Starting a Revolution

It's that time of year again...

Homecoming Revolution, a non-profit organization, sponsored by First National Bank, aimed at encouraging and helping South Africans living abroad to return home, is once again hosting its annual "Wosa Ekhaya" London Event.

I attended this event last year at the Kensington Olympia, and found it a very worthwhile endevour. The London Event is an excellent opportunity to find out all you need to know about returning or immigrating to South Africa.
Personally, attending the event provided me with an insight into what was going on within the job market, as I had been out of the country for five and a half years, and the enviroment had changed.

It also provides excellent nwetworking opportunities, not just with potential employers, but recruitment agencies and property consultancies. I made some great contacts, some of which helped when I relocated back to South Africa, and some of which assisted once I was here.

I would really commend this event to you if you are thinking of relocating back to South Africa, or just want to know more about what the current market is like in South Africa.

Woza Ekhaya takes place at the Kensington Olympia Conference Centre, London on Saturday 4th & Sunday 5th October 2008.