Coming to Dubai is a dream for us-Cameroonian

In just 19 months of working in Dubai, Cameroonian Martin Melima is a proud son and brother after investing his hard-earned money in assets back home for his family and in his siblings’ education.

“Coming to Dubai to work is like a dream most parents in Cameroon have for their kids. Almost all of them want their children to aspire for a better life abroad,” Melima, 25, a barista, told Gulf News.

Melima came to Dubai in 2014 after graduating from university. He studied business administration and was recommended by a friend to work in Dubai.

“When we graduated, we started searching for greener pastures in developing countries around the world. From there, we realised that the UAE is the most welcoming country in the world, where it is easier for humble people to make their living here and plus there’s no tax,” Melima said.

“That’s when we started to fall in love with Dubai.”

Melima is just one of the hundreds of Africans from west Africa and other parts of the continent who have flocked to Dubai in recent years.

A steady influx of Africans from non-traditional markets in East Africa like Kenya and Uganda, are coming in and filling in jobs in various sectors, especially in the food and beverage.

Melima said many of his compatriots only started coming to Dubai after 2008 because agents back home then charged exorbitant fees for a UAE visa. Now that direct transactions can be made with Dubai travel agencies, travel has become affordable and accessible to all.

Around 50 per cent of the staff of Hind Al Mulla, owner of Home Bakery where Melima works, are Africans, mostly from Cameroon, while the others are from Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. The rest of the staff are Filipinos, although Al Mulla aims to recruit other nationalities as well.

Al Mulla said she does not base her hiring standards on skin colour but on the candidate’s skills. But she noticed that Africans can handle criticism better, which gives them an edge over others. “They’re [Africans] very loyal, they speak very well, some of them actually speak French, the Cameroonians, specifically,” Al Mulla said.

“If one customer has a little bit of an outburst, I don’t want them to break down and cry. I want someone who has a strong personality, is confident, thick-skinned, and is understandable.”

Besides the food and beverage industry, Africans are also getting into other industries like hospitality, transport, and security, Mohammad Shariff, president of the Tanzanian Association, told Gulf News.

Shariff said the UAE’s open-door policy is a push factor for the influx of Africans and other expatriates to the country in recent years.

“If I’m a Tanzanian in Dar es Salaam and I want to go to Ethiopia, I have to walk to the Ethiopian embassy to ask for a visa. If I want to come to Dubai, I just take a phone, call my travel agency, book a ticket with a visa, within two to three hours, I will get my visa and ticket and go to Dubai. So this is the flexibility of the UAE government in receiving people from all over the world,” Shariff, who has called Dubai his second home since 1984, said.

Shariff said trade links between his country and other east African countries with the UAE have been existent since the ’60s.

“There’s no hassle here. They don’t mind where you’re coming from, be it Africa or Asia. It’s a cosmopolitan city where your colour or nationality is not a matter of concern and you will be treated like everybody else,” Shariff, also the project manager – Master Planning at Dubai Sports City, said.

Acting Tanzanian Consul-General Ali Jabir Mwadini said besides the relative ease in getting a visa, increased connectivity between African countries and the UAE also helps. Emirates and Etihad fly daily to Dar Es Salaam and FlyDubai has flights to Tanzania, too.

With all these conveniences, plus the addition of the presence of African missions in the UAE, travelling to Dubai to look for a job spread through word of mouth.

“Once you have a good number of people from a certain country working in the UAE, these people would be like the agent for others in their home country. They will give references of people they know from back home,” Mwadini said.

Tax-free salary, Mwadini said, remains every expatriate’s dream. A Tanzanian here receives thrice as much as what he would receive for the same job if he were working back home. But though pay is high, standard of living is also high. That is why balancing expenses with income is important.

All these are true for Melima who describes his journey in Dubai so far as unpredictable.

“Dubai has given me all the hopes and dreams I have wanted in life. Now, I’m just trying to dream bigger. I am proud I now have some assets in my country. I have land and I have helped my younger brother finish university,” Melima said.

“Dubai is now my second home. While working here, I want to have my own house in my country. I also want to be successful like the others [who migrated] before me.”