Uk Based Ghanaian Richmond recently returned to Ghana from the UK and shared his experience in an interview with DJ Nyaami on SVTV Africa’s Daily Hustle Gh show. He revealed that he landed around 4 p.m. the previous day, using RwandAir with a 5-hour layover.
“I felt a huge relief the moment I arrived in Ghana. I feel okay now and I’m slowly getting back to myself,” he said.
Richmond described the reality of life abroad, explaining that many people in Ghana don’t understand how tough it is out there. “My big brother picked me up from the airport and said I had a good job here in Ghana, so why did I travel? But when I got to the UK, I never told him what I was going through. Life there is completely different—people pretend to be okay, but no one is truly free,” he explained.
He met both old and new ‘Borgas’ (Ghanaians abroad) and said most are struggling. “If you have a decent job in Ghana, there’s no need to leave it behind and travel,” he advised. He also mentioned a 45-year-old relative who is currently learning to operate a forklift just to travel, but Richmond believes he’ll regret it.
“I never saw any Ghanaian driving a big car in the UK—just Uber cars. Life abroad is not glamorous. If you’re not married, maybe it’s a bit easier, but if you are, it’s a different story. You might take your wife and kids there and things may not work out.”
Richmond added that many young men travel through school programs and end up using other people’s documents just to work, unsure whether they’ll even get legal residency in 10 years. Some end up confused about their relationships and future plans.
“You’ll never make more than the wealthy in Ghana by slaving away abroad. I brought the same hardworking spirit I had in Ghana and gave it to a white man for wages. If I had invested that effort into my business in Ghana, I would’ve succeeded.”
He recalled telling his father he wanted to return home. “He didn’t like the idea. He said there’s a money tree in the UK I should go and pluck. That’s the Ghanaian mentality—believing the UK is filled with easy money.”
Richmond estimated that he spent £12,000 to travel, and it would take him about 1–2 years to recover that amount through extreme cost-cutting. Realistically, with normal living expenses, it could take up to 3 years but he couldn’t recover that amount until he returned to Ghana.
“I came back with two girls—one from South Africa and one from Dubai. They both worked for months abroad and never got paid. People have this belief that traveling automatically brings wealth, but those warehouse jobs won’t change your life.”
He emphasized that his return wasn’t because he missed his wife and children, but rather a conscious decision to stay true to himself. “I couldn’t even recover the money I gave to the travel agent. There’s peace in Ghana, and yes, things can happen abroad—but you might never get what you hoped for.”
His final advice was simple: “Prepare your mind well before you travel. Life out there is not easy.”
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