When Microsoft board appointed CEO Satya Nadella to take
over at the helm from the long time CEO Steve Ballmer, The Indian media was
splash with several headlines. They all pointed to the increased number of
powerful positions that the Indian born immigrants were playing in The United
States. In August 2011, Time Magazine splashed the cover story ‘India’s Leading
Export: CEOs.’ It is estimated that a third of Microsoft employees are of
Indian descent. While many immigrants from Africa have not risen to the powerful
positions as the Indian immigrants, they too have occupied important positions
in Wall Street, leading universities, and even in Silicon Valley itself. There
clout has grown so much that The African Union has recognized them as a special
pillar of development in the continent. The AU secretariat has created a
special institute, to be headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, to specifically
research on the Africa diaspora remittances.
Many immigrants from Africa hold at least a college degree,
and are engaged in all sorts of economic activities. In a recent book written
by Amy Chua and her husband Jed Rubenfeld, ‘The Triple
