Webmasters in Africa?

[tadpole90]

Hi, I am cross eyed form trying to find a payment processor, who will accept me. I have been through most of the ones listed on Cozy, but you need to reside in USA, EU, or Canada.

1. I am currently in Zambia, and cannot register an online business because they are not recognised here.

2. My Bank account is also here, with an International bank.

3. I had a South African Bank account, but it was closed as it became dormant and they would not resuccitate it as I could not produce a S. A Utility bill in my name.

4. My website is hosted in USA, and I only target overseas countries.

5. I use a South African VSAT ISP which shows up with a USA IP unless a trace route is done



Has anyone got any suggestions, or a way I can get
around these obstacles?

Any help would be much appreciated.

[January]

You've got a few options here. You can open a bank account in the USA online. I recommend Schwab because they don't require that you deposit money to open the account, require no minimum balance, etc.

You can set up mail forwarding within the USA. The company that I've used in the past is Mail Link Plus; they used to be US$4 per month, but I think that it's US$10 now. They give you a Las Vegas address to have cheques sent to. You can then have these forwarded to you in Zambia, or possibly work something out between the mail forwarding service and a US bank to have your cheques sent there. If you want to have cheques sent to you in Zambia, I'm sure that you already know to use a courier service like FedEx. (I think that DHL no longer operates within the USA but I could be mistaken.) The mail forwarding service will also provide you with a US address to use for anything that might require one.

Good luck! My wife and I are currently looking into retiring in Mexico very soon, so I'm in a similar situation as far as receiving payments goes.

[tadpole90]

Hi January,

Thanks very much, I had thought of using Mail Link plus, but was under the impression that no bank account could be opened in the USA, unless you presented yourself physically. I am going to look up Schwab now.

Thanks again and I hope You and you wife will be happy in Mexico!

[Cozy Monica]

I want to retire in Mexico rather soon myself, but the problem I thought would be more pressing is that pornography is illegal there, last I read.

[January]

You are correct--it is both illegal and common. I figure that as long as it's all contained within my hard drives, I should be okay. It is nearly impossible for police to get a search warrant for your home due to strict privacy rights.

I wouldn't recommend going to Mexico if you're planning on producing pornography, especially if you're thinking about involving locals. I knew a guy in Tijuana who went to jail last summer for producing pornography. He was taking pictures of Mexican girls and one of them went to the police. On the news after his arrest there were pictures of a huge cache of Playboy magazines the cops had seized from him, all laid out on a display table at the police station like they do for major drug busts. Fortunately I don't own any printed porn. I actually never had any interest in it until I started looking into it as a business, LOL.

[January]

Sorry; double post.

[phuckbunny]

You should talk to Razor. I left the New Banana Republic of SA a long time ago and can only sympathize.

[Cozy Monica]

I just know that the last thing I ever want to do is spend time in a Mexican jail.

[sunfunbill]

I'm sure I'm going to sound naive, but why would you want to go to Mexico with all the drugs and violence they have there? You Monica just said yourself that you would never want to spend time in a Mexican jail.

Canada seems like a nice place, and seems more relaxed about a lot of things than the US. I'd go there, except it's too damn cold! That's why I moved from Vermont to Florida.

Australia I think would be great to live, nice weather and a more laid back government.

[January]

There are parts of Mexico where I definitely wouldn't want to live. I could say the same thing of the USA. Mexico is so huge and has such dramatic regional differences that it may as well be at least three different countries (that's how I tend to think of it, anyway). Different weather, different food, different music, different language.

My wife and I are moving to Guanajuato, GTO, where my we've both said that we feel safer than we do in our hometown in the US. I have no hesitation at all about walking anywhere in town at night, something that I can't say of a lot of places that I've lived in the US.

I couldn't agree with you more about climates. I think that people who move to Canada are crazy.

[sunfunbill]

Ahh yes, this is what I thought. You just can't generalize any place. I think Miami should be nuked off the map. But I feel very safe in Orlando, just a 3 hour drive away. Reminds me not to put too much stock in what the news says.

[Cozy Monica]

The media has created a strange world opinion about Mexico that doesn't jive at all with what the country is really like. Like has already been said, it's a huge place with lots of places that are perfectly safe, just like at home.

We've had gangs doing drive bys and the odd shooting around here, but that doesn't stop people from coming to visit me in my home city. So why would I not visit Mexico just because there had been some crime in the country?

Mexico is BEAUTIFUL and there are wonderful people there. The food, the language, the landscape.. it's amazing. I've driven across the entire country and can tell you that it's so varied and stunning... you can find just about anything there.. from deserts to jungles and everything imbetween.

I absolutely adore Mexico.

[Mr. Lovepants]

Media creates a strange world opinions about just about everywhere.