Tears of blood flow from her sad eyes
Her neigbors watch, all confounded
But they can not hear her sad cries
Dignity is gone, beauty is lost
Her face turned towards the skies
Her children have left her dark and desolate
What shall we do? Mother Africa cries
© Shawn A, 2008
Everyone knows the value of a good mother. And every good child knows that whatever good fortune he achieves in life, tribute must go back to the hands that fed him when he was small and insignificant.
For as many who recieved their nature and nurture from the bosom of the dark continent, and for as many whose origins can be traced to Africa, it is only right that honor be given to whom honor is due. What manner of offspring would, in the time of his prosperity, forget the home he came from and spend his fortune for a foreigner? Imagine a daughter spending her earnings only on the family of her husband, neglecting the needs of her own people. Such a one would be attracting a curse. Abi I lie?
Specifically today, I'm talking about the societal phenomenon popularly called "Brain Drain", the migration (loss is a word I'd rather use) of Africa's intellectual resources to other countries.
“The emigration of African professionals to the West is one of the greatest obstacles to Africa ‘s development". United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA)
“By failing to offer greener pastures for its own intelligentsia, [Africa] is committing suicide.” Professor Edward Ofori-Sarpong Pro-Vice Chancellor, University of Ghana at Legon
The problem of brain drain has reached quite disturbing proportions in certain African countries with Ethiopia ranked first in the continent in terms of rate of loss of human capital, followed by Nigeria and Ghana.
Over the past 10-15 years, about 50% of Ethiopians who went abroad for training did not return after completing their studies. According to the IOM, Ethiopia lost about 74.6% of its human capital from various institutions between 1980 and 1991. While Ethiopia has 1 full-time economics professor, there are more than 100 Ethiopian economists in the United States.
According to the estimates of the Presidential Committee on Brain Drain set up in 1988 by the Babangida administration, Nigeria, between 1986 and 1990, lost over 10,000 academics from tertiary education institutions alone. Total estimates, including those who left public, industrial and private organizations are over 30,000. 64% of Nigerians in the United States aged 25 and older have at least a bachelor’s degree.
In 1997 only, more than 1,000 professionals left Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwe National Association of Social Workers estimates that 1,500 of the country’s 3,000 trained social workers left for the United Kingdom over the past 10 years.
Basically. African countries are funding the education of their nationals only to see them end up contributing to the growth of developed countries with little or no return on their investments.
See the rest of this document-http://web.ncf.ca/cp129/factsandfigures.pdf
Also check out-http://www.emeagwali.com/interviews/brain-drain/education-in-africa-brain-drain-problem-worldnet-africa-journal.html
Lack of adequate and skilled human resources has been identified as a major barrier to effectively tackling the heavy burden of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria in African countries. In the health facility where I work for instance, we barely manage to get by on the grossly inadequate numbers of staff we have presently. How easier it would have been to achieve our targets, and deliver optimum quality healthcare to our HIV positive clients if skilled hands in adequate numbers were on deck.
Of course we cannot ignore the issues that underlie this phenomenon. Mother Africa is bedevilled with problems that make "staying at home"very unattractive for those who have the will and the means to escape to greener pastures. Various factors are responsible, such as poor wages, unsatisfactory living condition, under-utilization of qualified personnel, discrimination in appointments (as seen in african countries) as opposed to better working conditions and career opportunities, sufficient funds and support for research, higher standards of living and political stability (in more advanced countries), to mention a few.
These are heavy issues that cannot be ignored. However the question then should be not how to stop the brain drain, but how to turn its effects in favor of Mother Africa.("then it should no more be called brain drain but brain gain")
I have very recently being conducting a personal study on human resources strategies for attracting and retaining suitably qualified personnel in the public sector of african countries. Details of the study will be published in subsequent posts( so help me God).
However I would like responses to the question of human resources and brain drain as a factor in the development of various sectors of our existence. Is the trend irreversible? How can we alter the effects of this drain?
How can we console Mother Africa, wipe away her tears and restore her dignity and beauty?
