African wage!
Not everyone in Africa is a contractor earning $$$$$. In fact, contractors form a minority of all African registered pilots. The rest earn local currency.
Most African currencies dont exchange well when changed into Euro or Sterling and salaries are related to the cost of living in that country - considerably less than Europe. I worked in Africa for 15 years and made the move to the UK so I also have some experience on the subject. I used a temporary move to the Middle East to be able to afford the expensive and time consuming conversion to JAR.
Looking to China I think is good advise.