Kash360: Many of the Africa flying jobs, especially the ones with the UN, are contracted through a handful of South African operators: NAC, Balmoral, Naturelink, Solenta and a few others. Going to where these companies are performing their contracts will not prove fruitful. You need to talk to them at their HQ in South Africa. The problem is that these companies prefer to hire S. Africans with S. African licenses. Also, most of these companies are not hiring.
The truth is that the way the industry hires and trains its pilots has changed completely in the last 2 to 3 years. It's all about pay to play now. The truth is that unless you have a family member or extremely good connection, then it will be difficult to get a job. The other option is to get a Type Rating and pay for 300 hours line training and then apply somewhere. I know man, this is messed up, but this is the cold reality that is called an "aviation career."
Go do an internship at Boeing or Airbus with your degree and make a load of money and buy a damn plane! A huge part of breaking into this industry has nothing to do with skill....it is simply luck and a huge supply of money.
You think the global recession is treating the industry porly now? Just wait until Greece, Spain, Italy and Portugal default on their loans and the Euro collapses. That will make this recession look like a picnic.
Damn it. Get the hell out of the carwash and seriously look at putting your damn engineering degree to work! You can fly....it does not have to be a career. Work hard in aeronautical engineering - make money - buy a plane - hell...you can even buy a pilot shirt and hat if you want. Forget about the pilot career...for the time being. It kills me to see you neglecting your engineering background!