One of the continents impacted the most by the global “brain drain” is the second largest in the world: Africa. With 54 different countries within Africa and over 1.1 billion inhabitants, the diversity and factors involved in this overall trend can only be generalized. Nevertheless, there are patterns and reasons that give us insight into understanding the migration of talent in Africa.
Brain Drain in Africa
The worrisome part about Africa’s migration is the amount of skilled professionals leaving the country, especially when most of the countries already struggle with skill shortages. We learn more from an article found at Quartz Africa, called: “How Severe is Africa’s Brain Drain?”, written on January 21, 2016 by Scott Firsing, as it explains,
“ …African migrants have doubled between 1980 and 2010 reaching 30.6 million…A 2013 United Nations report shows one in nine Africans with a tertiary education – 2.9 million people were living in developed countries in Europe, North America and elsewhere. This is a 50% growth in the past 10 years, more than any other region in the world.”
This trend has been ongoing since the 1950’s, as a paper written in 2008 by David H. Shinn (Adjunct Professor, Elliot School of International Affairs) called: “African Migration and the Brain Drain”, explains:
“The British Royal Society coined the term ‘brain drain’ to describe the outflow of scientist and technicians to the United States and Canada in the 1950s and early 1960s…Of all the world’s regions, Sub-Saharan Africa has experienced the most serious negative repercussions.”
Some countries within Africa fare better than others when it comes to retaining skilled workers, as we learn from a list found on Mail & Guardian Africa from August 2015. The top five countries when it comes to retaining talent are:
- Rwanda
- Seychelles
- Ivory Coast
- Gambia
- Mauritius
And the top 5 countries experiencing the worst brain drain are:
- Burundi
- Algeria
- Mauritania
- Chad
- Guinea
Key Factors for Migrating Talent
Many factors are involved in migration, yet the key factors for African talent leaving aren’t too difficult to understand.Wikipedia explains some of these key factors:
“Although it has abundant natural resources, Africa remains the world’s poorest and most underdeveloped continent, the results of a variety of causes include corrupt governments…human rights violations…failed central planning…high levels of illiteracy…lack of foreign capital…frequent tribal and military conflict.”
This isn’t to say Africa doesn’t have areas of growth and opportunity, yet, in general, these problems have been the key factors in contributing to the brain drain in Africa. The industries and fields hit the hardest by this severe trend are: healthcare, IT, finance, science, and engineering. According to the Quartz Africa article,
“This movement and crisis is most clearly shown by examining Africa’s medical field…between 30%-40% of the estimated 600 doctors who graduate in Kenya annually leave the country after completing their internship…”
Solutions for Retaining and Attracting Talent in Africa
Finding viable solutions to retain talent and attract foreign talent to Africa needs to be a joint effort by: governments, industries, educational institutions, and NGOs. The advance of technology, integration of a global economy, and a growing willingness of talent to migrate internationally for work – are all helpful trends for Africa’s future.
The variables within each country determine how successful the industries within that country are in retaining and attracting talent. Political stability and competitive career incentives are needed before most international talent will respond positively to employment offers; these will also help retain Africa’s native talent.
There has been some positive efforts, as we learn from the Quartz Africa article,
“African governments and initiatives run by various NGOs are promoting the ‘reward’ and call on Africans to return home. This includes the New Partnership of Africa’s Development and the Homecoming Revolution.”
Besides the joint efforts of governments and NGOs, individual businesses can take advantage of growing remote work possibilities, as well as initiating their own global recruitment campaigns. Africa has unique attributes many foreign professionals would like to experience, even with the challenges discussed before.
Summary
Fully understanding the migration of talent in Africa isn’t possible in one article, yet this overview does highlight some key aspects of the challenges this large continent faces. Where there’s a challenge there’s opportunity, and international recruitment promises to create this opportunity for businesses and industries that can successfully manage it.
The Network is a good place for African businesses to start looking for international candidates, in order to fill in gaps the brain drain has left. The Network partners with over 50 major job boards to find top talent in over 130 countries around the world.
African businesses can partner with us to streamline their international recruitment efforts by dealing with: one point of contact in their country, one currency, and one contract. Top talent and skilled professionals are more willing to relocate internationally for work than ever, and The Network can help African businesses facilitate and streamline the recruitment process.
