February 1, 2005

CareerNation.com Reversing The African Brain Drain

Victor Madubuko, founder and CEO of CareerNation.com was a student at Christ the King College in Onitsha, Nigeria when a friend sent him a postcard of New York City’s world famous Twin Towers. The image of those two buildings reaching up to meet the clouds unlocked a desire within the young student to discover the heights of his own personal potential. Madubuko’s destiny seemed to be tied to the Twin Towers when years later, he found himself reporting for his first day of work at the postcard perfect monuments. Unfortunately, September 11, 2001, his first day on the job, was the last time he saw the buildings standing. Piles of rubble that were just recently walls, furniture and friends meeting for coffee, challenged Madubuko to make meaning of his own narrow escape. The postcard he had carried from Onitsha to New York was lost in the devastation. In its place, remained a painful question. "That day" he said, "I asked myself why I was here. Why was I standing here in the middle of New York City, just barely cheating death 5000 miles from home, all for the sake of a decent job?"

Similar questions have plagued economists, politicians, educators, and people doing business in Africa for decades. Why is it so hard for talented Africans to find decent jobs in their own countries? Why is it becoming harder for employers doing business in Africa to locate African talent, especially as increasing numbers of us are dispersed throughout the globe? With his new lease on life, Madubuko resolved to answer those questions himself. He opened an online human resource service company-CareerNation.com.

In two short years, CareerNation.com has become one of the leading destinations for employers looking to staff their offices in Africa, and workers in the African Diaspora looking for career opportunities on the continent. CareerNation.com has attracted the attention of employers and talented workers in the United States, East, West, and Southern Africa, Eastern Europe, Asia, the Pacific, and other areas. CareerNation.com lists opportunities in a number of fields ranging from biotech to tourism. Well known clients include the African Union in Addis Ababa, Deloitte Touche Johannesburg, Bidco Oil Refineries in Kenya, Washington Mutual, American Express, IBM, and New York University Medical Center among many others.

"More than anything" Madubuko says, "I see CareerNation.com as a service agency. We make connections between workers, corporations, and government agencies that are committed to working and doing business in Africa." The three basic services that CareerNation.com provides are professional recruitment, a resume database for employers, and online job posting.

Employers who register with CareerNation.com have access to thousands of resumes from qualified applicants, and the option to receive periodic notices of potential candidates. CareerNation.com clients can rely on having job candidates prescreened according to their specifications. They can also rely on quick and responsive customer service from CareerNation.com staff. U.S. companies have used CareerNation.com as part of their diversity recruitment strategy. Major African employers like the The African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF); have used CareerNation.com to reach the large pool of talented expatriates in the West.

From its two offices in New York and Abuja, CareerNation.com operates on a global platform. Madubuko reports that a job seeker in California was recently able to land a job in faraway Abuja. Another job candidate in Port Harcourt found a job much closer to home- in Port Harcourt!

What’s New for CareerNation.com?

When asked what’s next for his growing company, Madubuko said, "Given the positive response to the company, we felt it was a good time to start some face-to-face dialogue about human resource issues in Africa. We are holding our annual CareerNation Expo this spring in New York City. The main thing we wanted was to bring together policy makers in Africa with investors from around the world and job seekers as well to figure out what plans are in the works for making African economies friendlier to employers and African Diaspora talent. It’s going to be a kind of pow-wow on the African Brain Gain. "

The CareerNation Africa Career Expo-USA will take place from April 21-22, 2005 at the New York LaGuardia Airport Marriott Resort in New York City. Approximately 1500 professionals and 50 corporate and public sector employers from the African continent and the United States will be attending.

On the first day of the Expo there will be an Africa Brain Gain conference highlighting African corporate leaders, company information sessions, and presentations, a series of panel sessions, and an award banquet where CCA (Corporate Council on Africa) president Steven Hayes will address the participants. Other speakers during the day will be Hon Professor Peter Anyang' Nyong'o, Kenya's Minister for Planning and National Development, and professionals who will address the conference on what its like to work in Africa. They will talk about compensation and benefits, career opportunities, and quality of life issues. The second day of the Career Nation Africa Career Expo will be taken up with an international job fair and pre-scheduled job interviews. Candidates looking for jobs in Africa and the US will be able to schedule interviews for that day.

Preparing for all of this is hard but gratifying work for Victor Madubuko. His journey from Onitsha has been long and winding. But it has brought him an International Law Degree from the Russian People’s University, Moscow, and Master of Science in Human Resource Management from the New School University in New York City. He is fluent in Russian and African Languages including Yoruba, Ibo and Hausa. He is also a certified Professional Human Resources (PHR) Executive with entrepreneurial and business development experience over a wide range of organizations including Toxbro Holdings Moscow, Consolidated Edison, NY, Urban Institute DC, and N-Glory Development Inc, Abuja Nigeria. Victor Madubuko and CareerNation.com have come a long way indeed. If CareerNation.com fulfills its mission, we’ll soon find him safely back in Africa running a global online human resources company right from Onitsha, where it all started.