Tackling the brain drain African authorities need to endorse a “3Rs” brain drain strategy: They must first work for the Retention of skilled Africans in Africa by implementing the necessary institutional reforms to value them, reward them, develop and challenge them. Second, they must look to Reversal by encouraging and supporting those Africans in the diaspora who do wish to and are able to return in the short-term, for instance, through the use of International Organisation for Migration (IOM) schemes, etc. Third is Retrieval in which African authorities tap into the knowledge, resources, contacts, networks, ideas, etc of those Africans in the diaspora unable or unwilling to return to Africa permanently. African governments must continue to place their concerns about the brain drain on the agenda when negotiating with overseas development co-operation partners. They must argue for specific schemes that enable the African diaspora to participate more actively and effectively in Africa’s development. For instance, harmonization of immigration and development policies is essential, and this harmonization should lean towards fewer not more restrictions on the movement of people. At the same time, African governments should not be overly nationalistic in relation to concerns about the brain drain. Regional integration means that any African in the diaspora should be considered part of the valuable pool available to contribute to Africa’s development. African governments should also pursue negotiations with NGOs and multilateral agencies to explore how best they can make more effective use of the African diaspora’s human resources. Where NGOs have genuine reasons for posting expatriate staff to Africa – these should be very rare these days – they should take more seriously their responsibilities to help build Africa’s human resource capacity by looking to reconnect the African diaspora living on their doorsteps with Africa’s development.
Posted on: Fri, 26 Dec 2014 23:57:06 +0000
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