Africa’s brain drain crisis 'down' to lack of opportunities, researcher says
The subject of brain drain is increasingly becoming a burden on the African continent. More highly trained persons are migrating to other continents beyond Africa.
Despite massive improvement in training efforts in many parts of Africa, there appears to be a growing interest, particularly in the youth, to seek better opportunities to showcase their acquired skills and abilities. This drain of skilled human capital affects Africa's ability to achieve sustainable development goals and foster economic growth.
Lead investigator of Target Malaria in Burkina Faso Prof. Abdoulaye Diabaté highlighted inadequate opportunities for youth in African countries as a key contributor to brain drain.
According to him, African governments appear to be failing in the provision of the appropriate environment and opportunities in various sectors including the sciences to inspire growth.
“It all comes down to the opportunities you are giving to the youth. If they are on the continent, they are well-trained and you are giving them opportunities to practice, contribute, and make an impact in the country, even if they have opportunities elsewhere, they will go, learn, and come back, but if they don’t have any opportunities then it becomes difficult,” he said in an interview with GSW’s Wonder Hagan.
Citing his experience with his postgraduate studies, Prof. Diabaté noted that governments of respective African countries must create more opportunities and introduce comprehensive policies to guarantee professional advancement within the continent.
“At the end of the postdoc, basically I was offered to stay. I said thank you very much but I have to come back home because I’ve been trained here, and I know that I can make really good impact in my country and my continent than where I am now so I have to come back. I must admit that when I came back, it wasn’t easy at the beginning. It was very tough because you have challenges pretty much everywhere, but you have to stick to it, believe in it, and invest yourself in it this is what I did.
“It all comes down to the opportunities you are giving to the youth. If they are on the continent, they are well-trained and you are giving them opportunities to practice, contribute, and make impact in the country, even if they have opportunities elsewhere, they will go, learn, and come back, but if they don’t have any opportunities then it becomes difficult. This is why it is really important for the different governments on the continent to know that the youth are the ones who are going to make the change, they will bring the innovation so we have to give them the opportunity so that they know that they are useful to the country,” Prof. Diabaté noted.“
The African Development Bank projects that approximately one-third of Africa's highly educated citizens live outside the continent.
An African Youth Survey conducted in 2022 also indicated that 52% of Africans between the ages of 18 and 24 were seeking migration opportunities.
As governments make efforts to rectify the situation, experts propose that factors such as unemployment and conditions of service must be looked at to create an enabling environment for youth to thrive.
