African women abroad seriously seeking husbands

Why are many African women abroad now seriously looking for husbands or serious partners? Why are they single in the first place? What kind of men are they looking for? How do they feel being single? Etc. To understand and unlock these and other puzzling questions, Emmanuel Sarpong Owusu-Ansah, a lecturer and an investigative journalist in London, conducted a survey on 244 African women, married and unmarried, aged between 21 and 40 in England, UK. Quite disappointingly, only 150 out of the 244 women approached did respond to the initial questions. 25 out of the 150 initial respondents, then willingly and confidently provided profound information on single African women abroad. Of the 25 women who agreed to be intensively interviewed, 15 were single, 5 were in serious relationships, and 5 were married. They were from Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Sierra Leone, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Tanzania, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and South Africa. The term ‘single’ or ‘unattached’ as the respondents explain, does not necessarily mean living without sex. It only refers to people who are not married or who do not have “serious” partners.Important Statistics 92(approximately 61%) out of the 150 respondents described themselves as single or unattached; 31 (representing 21%)were in serious relationships, and only 27 (forming 18%) were married. Those in the Prime Years group (21-25, 22%), Vital Years group (26-30, 27%), Borderline group (31-35, 32%), and the Danger Zone group (36-40, 19%). Note, that because of the small sample size, the fallacy of generalization may be committed if these statistics or findings are viewed as a perfect representation of the real situation in England or the West. The Reasons so Many African Women Abroad are Single Perceived shortage of decent men in the West: Almost all the women interviewed shared the opinion that it is quite uncommon to come across single men with good character these days. Many African men also prefer women who have legal status that they can benefit from; hence, they tend to get married to westerners rather than Black African immigrants. The words of a respondent say it all: ‘The truth of the matter is, we do not have a very wide selection of African men to choose from as we (the single women) outnumber them (the single men) in this country. Disappointingly, the few that are available tend to date and marry people of other races usually to get legal status.’ Again due to lack of trust for western-based African women who are generally perceived to be arrogant, argumentative, disrespectful, non-submissive and dishonest or unfaithful, other men go to look for women partners in their various home countries. Tribalism/Ethnocentrism: Some African families have “blacklisted” certain tribes and/or countries, and would just not tolerate the idea of their children getting married to someone from these “blacklisted” societies. It has in fact become an abomination in many African countries for people from certain “rival” tribes to get married. Sadly, beautiful young women are missing the opportunity to get married to men they love, all in the name of tradition or tribal hatred. As one Ghanaian respondent mentioned: ‘There is this guy who loves me so much …. I love him too, but I know my parents will be gutted and disappointed in me if I tell them that he is from … (country withheld)… I’m just scared.’ Spending Prime years pursuing educational and Career goals: It might sound quite harsh, but one revelation made is that the best moment for most women to get suitable partners or husbands is when they are in their Prime. Hence, the need for them to capitalize on their young age, looks, and fertility to get the kind of man that they want. For religious, academic or educational, as well as career or occupational reasons some young women dedicate less time to socializing and searching for that “decent man.” By the time they realize the need to have families, age had already caught up with them; and as looks or b