The days when successful start-ups only came from Europe and the US are long gone. Entrepreneurs all over the world are launching game-changing businesses and organizations. They have high aspirations and ready to compete on the global stage.
In the past, the educated and successful from emerging economies would leave their own countries to pursue opportunities abroad that were not available at home. This paradigm is changing fast and expatriates from developing nations are flocking back to where they came from. I am one of those migrants. I grew up in Kenya, leaving when I was 18 to study and began my career in the US.
I never could have imagined how quickly things might change. Who would have that this it is not only possible to start a technology company in Africa, but it may even be easier and more successful than the US. Two weeks ago I traveled to Nairobi to open a software development center. Being in Kenya, in a place I thought I had left forever, made me unbelievably happy. Immigrants around the world are feeling the same as they go back to their homes to start and run the next generation of businesses.
In every city around the world you can find a class of highly educated, highly capable entrepreneurs building world-class businesses. They deserve respect; in some cases they are pushing the limits far harder than the developed world.
Here in Amman I see that same energy. I have found Jordan to be an amazing place to launch and run a business. What started out as an experiment with a Jordanian friend has now quickly blossomed into a 30-person software development company serving mostly American and European clientele. I now see Jordanians who have lived abroad coming home to start businesses that will compete on the global stage. This is an encouraging trend and signals a slowing of the brain drain effect, which has and still is plaguing developing economies.
Countries like Kenya and Jordan are where the excitement is. I encourage more of those who have left to come back; the field has been leveled and it’s time for all of us to play.