I met Chidi a diaspora AfroNouveau at a networking event in Atlanta. Harvard MBA. Six-figure consulting job. US citizenship. Blue passport.
He was working three side hustles, sending 60% of his income back home, living in a tiny apartment, and turning down a startup opportunity because “what if it fails?”
He had escaped the cage. But he was still living like he was trapped.
This is the pattern I see everywhere through Time Africa—AfroNouveau diaspora who made it to “places of possibility” but are still operating in survival mode.
They won. But they don’t know they won. So they’re still playing the losing game.
The Survival Mode Operating System
Most diaspora are running this script:
The Survival Mindset:
- Work multiple jobs (more = more security)
- Send majority of income home (you’re the lifeline)
- Avoid all risk (can’t afford to fail)
- Think addition, not multiplication (save $50/week, never 10X)
- Accept whatever pay offered (grateful just to have it)
- Live far below means (comfort = guilt)
- Never ask for raises (don’t rock the boat)
This made perfect sense back home where one mistake could destroy a family, infrastructure was unreliable, and safety nets didn’t exist.
The problem? You’re not in that environment anymore.
You have access to capital, reliable infrastructure, recovery systems, global networks. But you’re still running the old program.
It’s like having a Ferrari and only using first gear.
Learned Helplessness: The Psychological Trap
Psychologist Martin Seligman discovered “learned helplessness”—when you spend so long in environments where trying doesn’t work, your brain learns: Don’t even try.
In environments where:
- Hard work doesn’t lead to success (corruption wins)
- Merit doesn’t matter (connections > qualifications)
- Planning is pointless (systems collapse)
Your brain learns the cage is always locked—even when it’s not.
So you arrive in the West with access to everything you lacked, but your brain still says:
- “They’ll never fund me”
- “It will fail anyway”
- “I don’t belong here”
- “Play it safe”
The door is open. You’re still crouched inside.
The Blue Passport: The Tool You’re Not Using
That passport in your drawer represents:
Access to:
- 185+ countries visa-free
- Global banking and credit
- International investment opportunities
- Business credibility worldwide
- Networks previously inaccessible
Most diaspora use it for:
- Going home once per year
Almost nobody uses it for:
- Building businesses globally
- Accessing capital across jurisdictions
- Creating international credibility
- Networking in previously closed circles
You have a skeleton key to the world. You’re using it to open one door once a year.
The Honest Reality: Strategy Without Shame
Let’s be direct: Currently, the West offers more access to wealth-building tools.
This isn’t saying Africa is inferior or you should abandon the continent. This is pure strategy.
Western Access (Right Now):
- Capital is easier to access
- Infrastructure is more reliable
- Tech ecosystems are more mature
- Global markets are more proximate
The Strategy: Use easier access HERE to build power THERE (and everywhere).
Chinese diaspora do this—build wealth in the West, invest in China. Indian diaspora do this—succeed in Silicon Valley, fund Indian startups.
AfroNouveau diaspora? We work three jobs and send remittances. We survive. We don’t leverage. We don’t thrive.
The Shift: Survival to Thriving
1. Audit Your Survival Scripts
Ask honestly:
- Am I working multiple jobs because I need to, or because survival script says “more work = security”?
- Am I avoiding entrepreneurship because it’s not viable, or because survival script says “risk = danger”?
- Am I living in poverty despite six figures because of strategy or guilt?
Distinguish survival behaviors that made sense then but don’t now.
2. Recognize Your New Tools
You now have:
- Credit systems (can borrow capital)
- Bankruptcy protection (failure ≠ life over)
- Investment accounts (wealth multiplication)
- Reliable infrastructure (can build without collapse)
- That blue passport (global access)
Are you using them? Or storing them like trophies?
3. Invest in Yourself FIRST
Standard Pattern: Earn $100K → Send $60K home → Live on $30K → Save $10K → Build no wealth → Stay stuck
Thriving Pattern: Earn $100K → Invest $30K in yourself → Live comfortably on $40K → Send $20K home → Save/invest $10K → Build multiplying wealth
The guilt says: “How can I invest in myself when family needs help?”
The reality: If you never build wealth, you help at survival level forever. Build wealth first, help at transformation level later.
What helps more over 10 years?
- Sending $60K/year indefinitely, staying broke?
- Building a $10M business, then deploying capital systematically?
4. Take Calculated Risks
In survival mode: Any risk is catastrophic.
In thriving mode: You have recovery systems.
Business fails here?
- Bankruptcy exists (fresh start possible)
- Safety nets exist (won’t starve)
- Can get another job
- Failure teaches what MBA can’t
You have infrastructure for recovery you didn’t have back home. Use it.
5. Think Exponential
Survival thinking (Addition): Save $50/week = $2,600/year
Thriving thinking (Multiplication): Invest $2,600/year at 10% = $46K in 10 years (compound interest) Start business earning $200K = 10X income Build passive income = infinite help to family
Stop thinking “how do I add $10K” and start thinking “how do I 10X my wealth?”
6. Leverage Globally
Use your passport to:
- Register business in US (credibility)
- Access capital in Western markets
- Hire globally (location arbitrage)
- Sell everywhere (185+ countries)
- Build wealth here, deploy systematically there
Stop using it like a travel voucher. Use it like the strategic tool it is.
What This Looks Like: Chidi’s Transformation
Before (Survival Mode):
- Harvard MBA, $150K income
- Working 3 side hustles
- Sending $90K/year home
- Living on $40K (poverty despite six figures)
- Avoiding startup (too risky)
- Building zero wealth
After (Thriving Mode):
- Took startup opportunity (calculated risk with safety net)
- Reduced remittances to $30K/year (still meaningful)
- Invested $50K in himself
- Business grew to $2M valuation in 3 years
- Now sends $100K+/year back (more than before)
- Building generational wealth
He still helps family. He does it from multiplied wealth instead of self-destruction.
The Honest Talk About Responsibility
“But my family needs money NOW. I can’t wait years to build wealth.”
I understand. Family responsibility is real.
But consider:
Option A (Survival Forever):
- Send majority forever
- Stay unstable
- Help at survival level indefinitely
- Never build leverage
- One disaster (job loss, health) = can’t help anyone
Option B (Thriving Long-Term):
- Send less initially (but meaningful)
- Build wealth for 3-5 years
- Help at transformation level after
- Create leverage for MORE people
- Build resilience for sustainable help
Which genuinely helps more over 10-20 years?
And honestly: Are you helping, or enabling?
Sometimes sending money indefinitely prevents family from developing capabilities. Your survival mode keeps them in survival mode too.
What if instead of $60K/year forever, you:
- Sent $20K/year for expenses
- Invested $30K/year in building wealth
- Used wealth in 5 years to fund family businesses, education, appreciating assets?
Short-term relief vs. long-term transformation. Choose wisely.
You Didn’t Come This Far to Stay Small
You escaped. You got to places where thriving is possible. You won access to tools millions would sacrifice for.
Don’t waste that victory by staying in the cage.
You didn’t cross oceans, endure discrimination, navigate hostile systems, work beneath your capabilities, sacrifice years—
Just to keep living like you’re still in the place you escaped.
Your family didn’t support your journey so you could work three jobs forever. Your ancestors didn’t survive so you could merely survive in a new location. You didn’t get access to possibility so you could play small.
You came to THRIVE. So thrive.
Build the wealth. Take the risks. Leverage the tools. Think exponentially.
Then—and only then—you can truly help at the scale your family deserves.
The cage door is open. You’re already free.
Now act like it.
Collins Ero is the founder of Time Africa and The Alt, where he teaches diaspora how to update their operating system when their environment changes. He believes you didn’t come this far to stay small. Connect: @TheAlt | @TimeAfrica