Understanding the Brain-Drain in the African Diaspora

According to the International Organization for Migration, about one-third of African professionals have left the continent, which constitute as over 10 million African mini-Diasporas as of the year 2000. 

The loss of Africa’s intellectual capital, called the “Brain-Drain”, has been one of the greatest obstacles to the development of the continent. Of the four major countries contributing most to the brain-drain; Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, and South Africa and recently East Africa region .Along with the economic impact of the brain drain, the social impact is depicted through the establishment of a two class society with a very small middle class consisting primarily of doctors and engineers. 

The brain drain will continue to give rise to poor leadership and corruption in Africa , unless Africa in the African Diaspora, especially in my generation, decide to lend a helping hand to our beloved continet.

Therefore, my research has identified four strategies for Africans living abroad to help reduce the brain-drain and improve the brain-gain with the underlying theme of knowledge transfer.

 1) Mobilization of Diaspora through virtual participation in investments back home,

 2) Formulating a National Diaspora policy involving the Africans government

, 3) Economic share-ship utilizing the dual citizenship status,

 4) Connecting Diaspora productively through temporary engagements in Africa. Some efforts must be used to recruit Africans abroad to reconnect with their motherland even for a short time to educate and share their knowledge with compatriots in the land of their origin.

The purpose of this research is to understand the cause of the African brain-drain, the socio-economic impact, and ways to reverse the effects of the brain drain, thereby creating a brain-gain. The study is based on literary reviews and my surveys and interviews of Africans between the ages of 18-45, which indicates that the Africans brain-drain is a product of both “internal” and “external” factors working simultaneously to push Africans out of their countries and pull them into developed nations respectively. Subsequently, skilled and educated Africans are attracted to the Western’s economic opportunities and what they believe to be an easy way of life. 

However, the brain-drain problem arises when Africans choose not to return to their native country. The data also suggests that Africans living abroad do not want to return back mainly due to the lack of an environment conducive for professional growth. In addition to this setback, political instability infused with corruption, and the frustration of dealing with the average Africans ’s tolerance of corruption and greed discourages people from returning. 

Thus, the brain-drain continues to increase with 23,000 professionals leaving Africa annually as estimated by the World Bank report I read with mixed feelings and disappointment the story which appeared in many Africans communities abroad .One of the victims Anita Namisango a graduate from Makerere University in the early 1990s said that the pain of being jobless after graduation, with no lunch and no rent, made her succumb to the allure of trying her luck abroad in search of greener pastures. 

“I had seen so many of my relatives travel abroad and become millionaires overnight by just cleaning toilets and doing other odd jobs”. Contrary to her expectations, Namisango confesses to have come face to face with the hard realities of life while in UK in search of greener pasture. She did all sorts of jobs such as laundry assistant, warehouse records assistant, packed fruits and vegetables, worked in elderly homes escorting the sickly to toilets and sometimes cleaned those who messed themselves up. 

She says some of these jobs were undoable and unwanted by the whites and they left them to the blacks. Unfortunately, Namisango is said to have lost all her hard earned fortune to dishonest relatives. I would assume this could have been a different story if Namisango had patiently waited to progressively build her career from Uganda. I think our society today is taking a wrong path by focusing on becoming millionaires overnight instead of consistently working towards their career dreams. I have heard of cases of professionals who travel abroad and end up changing their line of profession by resorting to nursing. 

When you try to dig deeper in these nursing programmes, you will discover that the issue is about taking charge of the elderly homes, the work despised by even the illiterate and semi-illiterate white community. Why then should our respected graduates always find themselves in this kind of humiliation in the name of making money overnight? To me it is simply a cycle of poverty that follows the black race wherever they live and work. 

It is a cultural mindset which is self defeating and very compromising in nature. Ugandans need to free themselves from these mind-created constraints by removing assumptions and restrictions. I have quite often interacted with some learned people who are resigned to fate and have shamelessly confessed to me; “For me even if it means going out to wash toilets…!” What kind of attitude are they portraying in the first place? I wouldn’t imagine washing toilets is the reason why such people went to school in order to acquire some skills. It is a big shame for our nation. 

These unfortunate Kyeyo stories are not only embarrassing and a major obstacle to our personal development but poisonous to African societies. Our leaders must find measures to this scenario and save the next generation. This is an area of national concern which the government and the parliamentarians should focus on finding solutions which benefit all nationals. 

Redesigning the education system as well as putting emphasis on career guidance in all institutions of learning will equip the graduates for job creation and career opportunities nationally, regionally and across Africa. For instance, the Rwandan government has opened the doors for doctors, teachers and the business community from Uganda and other East African countries. The Angolan government is in search of English teachers to transform their institutions. The young government of South Sudan will gladly embrace human resource from across Africa to support their national growth and development initiatives. 

 All these are opportunities which are staring us in the face which can progressively turn one’s life around without necessarily going to the west to endure all the hardship and human exploitation. It is one thing to travel out to study on scholarship offer and yet another story to go there in search of job opportunities. My advice is that we develop a value system for our careers and professionalism which are aimed at transforming Uganda and Africa as a whole. 

By refusing to take in advice and stubbornly going to the west to do all sorts of menial jobs, it defines your negative attitude about life, low self esteem (I am a poor African creature) and a clear statement that you have willingly dumped your valuable degree into the dustbins of the developed countries. In so doing you direct your would-be liberated mind back to the unfortunate state of illiteracy and poverty confinement which defined our forefathers. 

I am pretty aware of the foreign currency that trickles in annually which significantly contribute to our national budget yet this should not be achieved at the expense of our African unifying values, heritage, professionalism and human dignity. Let’s do something to save our African image. The Bible puts it clear that weeping may only last for a night but joy comes in the morning. Failure to find a job yesterday should not hinder your tomorrow’s opportunities. “I have not failed. I have just found 10,000 ways that won’t work”-Thomas A. Edison.