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Launch HN: Manara (YC W21) – Connect Middle East engineers with global companies

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Launch HN: Manara (YC W21) – Connect Middle East engineers with global companies

#31

Post by ilianam »

filleduchaos wrote: post #27
Jugurtha wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Regarding payments, this has been coming up and we’ll need to pick your brain as we develop solutions. My contact information is in my profile. I'll forward to some people I know who had several problems with that. The last one I talked with worked with a company in the U.K. with the restriction the "worker" had to have a bank account in their country of residence, not in any other country. Explanations on exchange…

> What I also meant by payment problems is the disparity between the conversion rates in banks and on the streets. This is also a problem where I live (Nigeria). It's exhausting explaining black/parallel currency markets to clients/employers in countries with more stable currencies. Way too often I get the knee-jerk reaction that I'm doing something shady/illegal.

I know, right?! People who haven't experienced it don't get it. I think the knee-jerk reaction impacts Nigerians especially unfortunately. (My parents used to live in Nigeria and when my dad tried to buy something on eBay, they froze his account. Later when he lived in Venezuela, people were more sympathetic.)

So are there any solutions we should be looking into beyond cash transfers / Western Union? Are any startups working on this problem?

Re: Launch HN: Manara (YC W21) – Connect Middle East engineers with global companies

#32

Post by filleduchaos »

Jugurtha wrote: post #28
filleduchaos wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What I also meant by payment problems is the disparity between the conversion rates in banks and on the streets. This is also a problem where I live (Nigeria). It's exhausting explaining black/parallel currency markets to clients/employers in countries with more stable currencies. Way too often I get the knee-jerk reaction that I'm doing something shady/illegal.

filleduchaos, that's a badass handle. > It's exhausting explaining black/parallel currency markets to clients/employers What's the delta like there between parallel/official rates?

It fluctuates depending on how far up its own behind the central bank has its head, but usually isn't too bad - it can stretch out to ~1.5x while the official "market" is in denial, but usually stabilises at about 1.2x to 1.3x depending on currency and source.

I've settled on maintaining a domiciliary bank account (denominated in USD) - SWIFT transfers take a few business days, but that's not a problem for steady income and clients can usually be persuaded to eat or split the fees. Plus it's easier to tell people I prefer to receive and hold USD than to explain the state of the economy. Also WorldRemit recently added same-day direct-to-bank deposits of USD in Nigeria-based USD-denominated accounts; I've only received money that way a couple of times though.

Re: Launch HN: Manara (YC W21) – Connect Middle East engineers with global companies

#36

Post by tyingq »

Sounds like a terrific idea. I saw the growth of this sort of thing in Argentina and other South American countries once some companies started investing time and money there. A fair amount of the popularity was attributed to sharing highly overlapping time zones with the US. I imagine this has a similar advantage for European customers.

You may get some mileage out of talking with Globant (https://globant.com) or a similar company in South America to hear what their experience was. They have a different model, but do a lot of the same things you've outlined.

Re: Launch HN: Manara (YC W21) – Connect Middle East engineers with global companies

#37

Post by temp2933 »

Speaking from the employer side, can you possibly mention some salary levels? I know the topic is sensitive and difficult, but giving some indication here or on the website would be great. This is hopefully competitive with other low-cost locations for react//dashboards/enterprise-java etc

Re: Launch HN: Manara (YC W21) – Connect Middle East engineers with global companies

#39

Post by golemiprague »

Jugurtha wrote: post #4

Hi, Laila. Congratulations on the launch. I'll share this (Algiers, Algeria). One of the problems people here have is getting paid from companies abroad. I think it would be good to conduct interviews with people who may be having the same problem, and either offer a solution or explain it on the website. Many people work as freelancers, and the way they get their money is Herculean. Also, many, especially here, neit…

Well, she can't base it on the region because she doesn't want to include Israel, or at least Hebrew speaking Israeli Jews, so must limit it by language.

Re: Launch HN: Manara (YC W21) – Connect Middle East engineers with global companies

#40

Post by filleduchaos »

ilianam wrote: post #31
filleduchaos wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What I also meant by payment problems is the disparity between the conversion rates in banks and on the streets. This is also a problem where I live (Nigeria). It's exhausting explaining black/parallel currency markets to clients/employers in countries with more stable currencies. Way too often I get the knee-jerk reaction that I'm doing something shady/illegal.

I know, right?! People who haven't experienced it don't get it. I think the knee-jerk reaction impacts Nigerians especially unfortunately. (My parents used to live in Nigeria and when my dad tried to buy something on eBay, they froze his account. Later when he lived in Venezuela, people were more sympathetic.) So are there any solutions we should be looking into beyond cash transfers / Western Union? Are any startups…

There's https://sendcash.africa - it uses cryptocurrency to facilitate transfers to (Nigerian and Ghanaian, but there are plans to expand throughout West Africa and beyond) bank accounts from anywhere. It's powered by Buycoins (YC S18) - maybe you could look into working with them?
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