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OT: African Computer Technology Comes Full Circle
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[QUOTE]Originally posted by meninarmer: [QB] African Technology Brain drain Viktor Oduba While many African policy makers are in a panic about the "brain drain" - the departure of skilled professionals for more lucrative jobs and opportunities abroad, an analyst suggests how "brain drain" can be turned into "brain gain". The departure of scientists and researchers is holding back innovation, investment, jobs and high economic growth in Africa. It is estimated that up to 40 per cent of the continent's top professionals now live abroad, costing the continent over US$ 4 million in consultancy and expatriate fees. No pay no stay Most of the skilled Africans working abroad say that though they would like to come back home, many factors deter return. The professional fees and the salaries they earn abroad simply cannot be matched locally. Examination of the public sector pay structures in Africa reveals public sector employees are paid well below the private sector equivalents, unlike in the developed and high-growth Asian countries. Declines in public sector wages in Africa have been sharp and potentially troubling. How can public institutions retain professionals, researchers, and scientists, in the face of such sharp declines in average real wages? How can they attract and retain the best and brightest citizens when wages are systematically lower than which individuals could earn as equivalents or after training in the OECD countries? It is small wonder then, that for every 100 professionals sent abroad for training, 35 fail to return. Not only does this cost the continent millions in training fees, it creates a huge personpower deficit. The exodus however is not only limited to the public sector. The common problems transcend the private sector and include economic slump and job cuts, violation of principles of merit and competition in recruitment and promotion, perceived corruption and low respect for professionals. African professionals tend to migrate to Western Europe and North America. Many are dissuaded from returning home by the economic and political crises that have bedevilled the continent over the last few decades. Failing economies, high unemployment rates, human rights abuses, armed conflict and the lack of adequate social services, such as health and education, are some of these factors. The UN Economic Commission for Africa and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimate that 27,000 Africans left the continent for industrialized countries between 1960 and 1975. During the period 1975 to 1984, the figure rose to 40,000. It is estimated that since 1990 at least 20,000 people leave the continent annually. A brain drain is said to occur when a country becomes short of skills when people with such expertise emigrate. The UN Development Programme (UNDP) notes that in Africa, the loss of medical doctors has been the most striking. At least 60 per cent of doctors trained in Ghana during the 1980s have left the country. The phenomenon "is putting a huge strain on the continent," notes IOM Deputy Director-General Ndioro Ndiaye. To fill the gap created by the skills shortage, African countries spend an estimated $4 bn annually to employ about 100,000 non-African expatriates. "It is high time programmes and policies are put in place to reverse the devastating effects of the brain drain," she says. In his opening remarks, Mr. Sibry Tapsoba, Regional Director for West and Central Africa, International Development Research Centre (IDRC) pointed out that the human dimension to development was not just another addition to the development dialogue.He deplored the state of capacity in Africa arguing that four decades after independence, education and training had deteriorated across the whole continent. He observed that in most countries, capacity deficiencies were interrelated. Without an efficient and skilled public sector, the economic, political and social environment and policies necessary for sustained growth could not be effectively maintained. The continent lacked the necessary human and institutional capacity to compete with the other continents. "How can we keep the best of our minds," he asked, "if we continue to pay less to our top researchers and experts than the youngest unskilled military personnel and our security guards"? He stressed that Africa should value and treat its experts as it does its foreign exports, and urged the Conference to explore avenues for keeping African brains in Africa, and to seek the ways of making the contribution of those in the Diaspora relevant to the development needs of the continent. [/QB][/QUOTE]
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