Sending money back home when you are working or volunteering in Africa

There are a lot of people who travel to Africa for a vacation, but these people come home after a few days. The people who work in Africa or volunteer in Africa are paid a salary that is not necessarily meant to support their life in Africa. That money should be sent back home to help your family, but this might be a confusing process for you. Use the steps below to learn how to transfer money back to America as you work or volunteer in the heart of Africa.

What Does A Money Transfer Do?

A friend can transfer money to Africa when you are working overseas, but many people don’t think about sending money back to America. When you are working or volunteering in Africa, you should send a portion of your salary home to your family.

You can send cash back to the States that will be picked up by a friend or family member at a transfer office. You might ask for an electronic transfer that will send money to a bank account, and you might need to convert local currency into American dollars when sending money back home.

How Do You Arrange The Money Transfer?

You must find a transfer company that is close to where you volunteer or work. These companies have small offices that allow you to transfer money to Africa or back to America. You can convert your money to American dollars, or you may have American dollars to send home. You pay the amount you want to send, cover the fee for the transfer, and determine where the money should go.

If you are converting an African currency like the South African rand or Burundi franc into American dollars, you must ask about the exchange rate. You want to get the most favorable rate that you can find, and that means you should try a few transfer companies in the area. When you find the company that charges the lowest rates and offers the best exchange rates, you can start sending money back home.

Who Is Working In Africa?

Cummins, Caterpillar, GE, WalMart, Google, and Archer Daniels Midland have been expanding in Africa. The African market is saturated with companies that want to invest in growing cities, helping communities modernize, and finding new customers. Each company is filling a gap in the growing African economy.

Cummins makes truck parts for the vehicles that transport goods across Africa from Casablanca to South Africa. Caterpillar makes construction equipment that is used as cities are developed in Mozambique and Zambia, and a company like GE helps small airlines lease places in counties like Ghana. Managers and laborers must be sent to Africa to handle each new project, and these people make a salary that might be sent home to America.

WalMart is opening stores in Africa because they can offer low prices to locals and American workers. Archer Daniels Midland works in agriculture, and they want to open plants in Africa that can support local farms. People who work for these companies go to Africa for an adventure, but they need to send some of their salary home to the people who need it.

What About NGOs Operating In Africa?

An NGO is a Non-Governmental Organization. These organizations are often charities that provide services to the African people. NGOs like the Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, and Human Rights Watch are just a few operating in Africa. The Red Cross handles disaster relief, the transport of clean water, and restoration of villages that have been destroyed by floods, fires, and wars.

Doctors Without Borders sends licensed American doctors to Africa to provide medical care that is not available in the most rural areas of the continent. Plus, Human Rights Watch sends monitors for elections, officials to review prisons, and government liaisons who will work with elected officials.

The people who manage projects for these charities are paid a salary that can be sent back to America. If someone is volunteering for these organizations in Africa, they may be paid a small stipend that they will send back to their family in America. Because these workers are often in the more remote parts of Africa, they must use a transfer office that allows them to send cash back to the States. Plus, these transfer offices do not require an Internet connection to complete the transfer.

Conclusion

Sending money back home from Africa is a major consideration if you are planning on working in Africa or volunteering. You may be in a place where you are paid cash, and you can transfer that cash back home. You may be working in a remote area that does not offer a strong Internet connection. You can go to the transfer office to send money back home, and you can shop for the best exchange rates, lowest fees, and best customer service.