Born in France but looking for a future in Africa

Menka Gomis was born in France, but has decided that his future lies in Senegal, where his parents were born.

The 39-year-old is part of a growing number of French Africans leaving France, blaming the rise in racism, discrimination and nationalism.

BBC Africa Eye has investigated this phenomenon – dubbed a “silent exodus” – to find out why people like Mr Gomis are disillusioned with life in France.

The Parisian has founded a small travel agency offering packages mainly to Africa, aimed at people looking to reconnect with their ancestral roots, and now has an office in Senegal.

“I was born in France. I grew up in France, and we have certain realities. There has been a lot of racism. I was six and at school I was called the N-word. Every day,” said Mr. Gomis, who to school in the southern port city of Marseille, says the BBC World Service.

“I may be French, but I’m also from elsewhere.”

Mr Gomis’ mother moved to France when she was just a baby and cannot understand his motivation for leaving family and friends to go to Senegal.

“I am not leaving for this African dream alone,” he explains, adding that it is a mixture of responsibility he feels towards his parents’ homeland and also opportunity.

“Africa is just like America at the time of… the gold rush. I think this is the continent of the future. There is still everything to be built and developed here.”

Ties between France and Senegal – a predominantly Muslim country and former French colony, once a major hub in the transatlantic slave trade – are long and complex.

A recent BBC Africa Eye investigation revealed migrants in Senegal willing to risk their lives during dangerous sea crossings to reach Europe.

Many of them end up in France, where a record number of asylum seekers applied for asylum last year, according to the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (OFPRA).

In total, around 142,500 people applied and around a third of all requests for protection were accepted.

It is not clear how many of them will choose to make the reverse journey to Africa, as French law prohibits the collection of data on race, religion and ethnicity.

But research shows that highly qualified French citizens with a Muslim background, often children of immigrants, are emigrating quietly.

Those we met told us that attitudes towards immigration in France were hardening, with right-wing parties exerting more influence.

Since their appointment last month, Prime Minister Michel Barnier and Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau have pledged to crack down on immigration, both legal and illegal, by pushing for legal changes at national and European level.