Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Rome (Agenzia Fides)- Not only precious metals and stones, strategic minerals, oil, precious timber, exotic plants and animals but also the ‘brains’ of people well educated and highly skilled. Africa continues to supply the rest of the world, usually at a ridiculous price, immense riches, indispensable for the development of the most advanced nations.
An old problem rooted in colonialism and before that in the era of mercantilism, but which assumed has new and little known new aspects. One is the “brain drain”, people, mostly young and skilled, who instead of staying in their own country choose to work abroad. According to a recent UN report every year at least 70,000 highly qualified Africans leave the continent attracted by programmes of “selective immigration” launched by western nations.
This phenomenon deprives Africa of its best talents and contributes in no small degree to keep the countries of that continent in a spiral of underdevelopment and poverty.
Although not new, in recent years the phenomenon of emigration to western countries has assumed amazing dimensions. The number of professional Africans who emigrate abroad has tripled in the last 40 years producing a paradoxical phenomena which sees the United States with more Nigerian doctors than Nigeria itself.
The brain drain is especially serious in the sectors of science and technology, in which African countries are forced to fill the lack of local qualified personnel by having resource to western companies and technicians, putting a heavy burden on the nation’s economy and foreign debt. Moreover most foreign personnel are not trained to meet the effective needs of the local territory and people, and simply apply standards conceived for other environments.
The blame for the brain drain is put on programmes which allow the recruitment of young degree holders from anywhere in the world, allowing them to finish their specialisation in the West and obtain a first working experience. These programme in se are laudable since they elevate the grade of instruction of Africa’s best youth, but hardly any of these people lured by the high living standard in the hosting country decide to return to their own country.
To tackle the problem the African Union launched a programme to improve education and the United Nations created a series of incentives for African professionals who intend to stay in their own country. So far however these programmes have had little success. The root problem is to build efficient corruption-free state administrations able to fight favouritism based on tribal and ethnic membership. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 5/7/2006 righe 42 parole 484)
