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Brain Drain and Africa’s Development: A Reflection

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 May 2016

Soumana Sako
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Extract

The flight of human capital is a phenomenon that has been of concern to academics and development practitioners for decades. Termed the brain drain, it represents the loss of highly skilled professionals from a source country to a recipient country. Migrants leave one country for another as a result of strong attractions associated with differentials in living conditions, opportunities for professional advancement, and the existence of an environment that is conducive to peace and security. The term brain drain gained currency in the 1950s. Then it referred to emigration of scientists to the United States from countries such as Britain, Canada, and the former Soviet Union. Today, the concept is used to denote the flight of highly skilled professionals and academics from developing to developed countries.

Type
Part II: Conceptualizing Capacity Building and the Brain Drain
Information
African Issues , Volume 30 , Issue 1 , 2002 , pp. 25 - 30
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 2002 

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References

Notes

1. See H. Rapoport, “Who Is Afraid of Brain Drain? Human Capital Flight and Growth in Developing Countries” (a policy brief from Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, Palo Alto, Calif, April 2002).

2. See Bade Onimode, “Sociopolitical and Economic Factors in Capacity Utilization and Retention in Africa” (paper presented at the First Pan-African Capacity Building Forum, Bamako, Mali, October 2001); Sam Wangwe and Dennis Rweyemamu, “Human and Institutional Development in Africa: An Overview” (paper presented at the First Pan-African Capacity Building Forum, Bamako, Mali, October 2001).

3. It will be recalled that the issue of brain drain received attention in the 1970s. To deal with the negative externality of labor migration, a brain drain tax was recommended at a major international conference in Bellagio in 1975. The proposed tax was to be levied only on highly educated migrants and was be collected by the country of migration for a certain period. The revenues from such a tax, which were estimated then to be about US$750 million, were to be made available to the United Nations for financing development programs. The interest in the brain drain tax ended up being just an academic exercise. Policy makers never considered it.

4. World Bank, “Entering the 21st Century,” World Development Report 1999/2000 (New York, US: Oxford University Press, 2000)Google Scholar.

5. Logan, B.I., “The Brain Drain of Professionals, Technical and Kindred Workers from Developing Countries: Some Lessons from Africa-U.S. Flow of Professionals, 1980–1989,” International Migration 30, no. 3-4 (1992): 289–312 Google Scholar.

6. Russell, S.S., Jacobsen, K., and Stanley, W.D., “International Migration and Development in Sub-Saharan Africa,” World Bank Discussion Papers 101 (Washington, D.C.: The World Bank, 1990)Google Scholar.

7. UNECA, Regional Conference on Brain Drain and Capacity Building in Africa, Aide Memoir, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, February 22-24, 2000.

8. World Markets Research Centre, In Focus 2002, Africa.

9. Augustine, Oyowe, “Brain Drain: Colossal Loss of Investment for Developing Countries,” The Courier ACP-EU, no. 159 (September-October 1996): 59–60 Google Scholar.

10. John Ekaju, “Africa’s Tragic Brain Drain That Benefits No One,” The East African, April 2000.

11. Glass, Hayden and Choy, Wai Kin, “Brain Drain or Brain Exchange?” working paper, U.S. Treasury (Washington, D.C.: GPO, 2001)Google Scholar.

12. Savina Ammassari and Richard Black, “Harnessing the Potential of Migration and Return to Promote Development: Applying Concepts to West Africa,” working paper, Sussex Centre for Migration Research, Sussex, England, July 2001.

13. Koser, K., “Return, Readmission and Reintegration: Changing Agendas, Policy Frameworks and Operational Programmes,” in Return Migration: Journey of Hope or Despair? ed. Ghosh, B. (Geneva: IOM/UN, 2000)Google Scholar; Logan, B.I., “An Assessment of the Potential Application of the Transfer of Knowledge through Expatriate Nationals (TOKTEN) Programme in Sub-Saharan Africa,” Applied Geography 10 (1990): 223–226 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Ardittis, S., “The Assisted Return of Qualified Migrants to Their Countries of Origin: The UNDP and ICM Multilateral Programmes,” International Migration for Employment working paper, ILO, Geneva, 1985 Google Scholar; Pires, J., “Return and Reintegration of Qualified Nationals from Developing Countries Residing Abroad: The IOM Experience,” International Migration 30, no. 3/4, (1992): 353–375 Google Scholar; Ardittis, S., “Targeted Reintegration of Expatriate Brains into Developing Countries of Origin: The ECC-IOM Experience in Central America,” International Migration 33, no. 1 (1991): 371–388 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Strachan, A.J., “Government Sponsored Return Migration to Guyana,” Area 12, no. 2 (1980): 165–169 Google Scholar; and Abraham, P.M., “Regaining High Level Indian Manpower from Abroad,” Manpower Journal 3, no. 4 (1968): 83–117 Google Scholar.

14. Bankóié Oni, “Capacity Building Effort and Brain Drain in Nigerian Universities” (report for the Nigerian Institute for Social and Economic Research, May 2002).