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Reviewed by Asher Syed for Readers' Favorite
Rizwan Haider’s It Began in Africa begins in 1979, when the twenty-two-year-old Pakistani banker leaves Pakistan for a posting in Gabon. Arriving in Libreville and uncertain what awaits him, Haider enters a career that will repeatedly return him to Africa for decades. His banking assignments place him inside political events that people elsewhere encounter through news reports, giving him firsthand experience of how institutions function under unfamiliar conditions. As his responsibilities take him across the continent, Haider learns to judge situations by the surrounding realities instead of their appearance. Years later, that accumulated knowledge guides his decisions when circumstances seem chaotic, making the memoir an account of how experience in Africa transformed his understanding of the countries where he lived and worked.
In his memoir It Began in Africa, Rizwan Haider offers a thoughtful account of international banking across African countries. Haider writes accessibly, moving naturally from anecdote into formal explanation, so his recollections gain context from the institutions surrounding them. In Gabon, Haider’s decision to submit his resignation after an overbearing manager demanded unreasonable hours shows how professional self-respect can alter a workplace, especially after younger colleagues follow his lead. Years later, preparing a Canadian business delegation for Angola, Haider trusts local knowledge when official booking channels fail, showing readers why sound judgment depends on understanding how systems operate in practice. Haider makes these lessons useful by explaining the reasoning behind his decisions, giving readers a way to apply his experience to unfamiliar circumstances. Original in perspective, this memoir will appeal to readers interested in international banking careers shaped by experience across Africa over many decades. Recommended.
