How remote working is starting to thrive in Africa

Africa’s remote scene is thriving. With the rapid growth of enterprises and small to medium businesses in the region, the demand for video conferencing is increasing. Tamilore Oladipo works as a content marketing manager from her home in Nigeria for kGoal, a health technology company based in California. Inspired by Jason Fried’s book Remote, and after further research into Remote Work, Tamilore found herself wanting to work fully remotely to further her career.

Having discovered the world of remote working, Tamilore started her own consultancy service called The Remote Path. She helps make remote work and the information around remote working more accessible to Nigerians and Africans. On her blog she explains how recruiters should not dismiss the talent pool in Nigeria because of their resilience and ambition to create a better future for themselves and their communities.

Tamilore used to think that remote working was only for those working in the technical industry, especially in her home country of Nigeria. She assumed that marketing and other functions needed to be done in an actual office environment, so the opportunity to work with others around the world was a compelling opportunity. Now Tamilore is keen to share her experiences and inspire young Nigerians to look beyond the traditional mindset they were raised with. Her article with 10 tips for your remote job search is a great way for others who need a little guidance when searching for work in this new world.

Having worked remotely for six months, Tamilore is now a huge advocate for this kind of lifestyle. It gives her flexibility to work and foster her creativity in different ways. “It’s the perfect fit for my work style and the flexibility allows my creativity to be nurtured a bit better,” says Tamilore. “With remote work, I’m not only able to choose when I work, but also the intensity level at which I do so (with minimal distractions) and the creative outlets for when I’m experiencing a block”.

“Remote work allows me more time and energy to put into personal projects, hobbies and leisure activities. I also have the freedom to choose where I want to work at any time which is a dream”

The main challenge that comes with working remotely for Tamilore is time management. “I love to sleep in, so I always have to schedule my meetings around that or exercise some serious self-discipline in order to adjust to time zones and everyone else’s preferred meeting times” says Tamilore. Besides this, she believes that self-discipline is important. “Discipline is the most important thing, followed by a love for the format and willingness to adjust to the differences it has from office culture”.

To her surprise, she found that a lot of work can be done within a quick call. “I’ve come to realize that it is common to work remotely in our industry. Collaboration tools are getting more and more sophisticated and 30-minute video meetings are more than enough for brainstorming sessions. Almost all execution, if not all, is possible with a good enough Internet connection and constant communication.” says Tamilore.

Throughout her work she is constantly meeting with different time zones. “I deal with the timezones by letting someone else decide. If something is important enough to have a meeting, then I can be ready, whether it’s at 6am or 9pm.” says Tamilore. She finds herself presenting quite often during these calls as well “In fact, that’s primarily what I do since a lot of my work involves content that I’ve worked on and need to explain”.

If you want to read more about our Stories click here