Malawi can address brain drain

It is not surprising that Malawi and other African countries are complaining about brain drain. It is of our own making, as warning signs have been there all along that Africa will continue to lose its people to greener pastures.

Yes, Africa is bleeding. Much of its lifeblood, composed of well-educated individuals who could help tackle its toughest problems, is flowing away. This haemorrhaging of engineers, doctors, teachers, nurses, businesspersons, scientists and others with extensive training constitutes Africa’s brain drain. In a continent where relatively few attended elementary school, let alone college, these individuals on whom society has often spent a disproportionate amount of its resources to educate are taking their valuable skills elsewhere.

The impact has been enormous. Many hospitals and centres cannot function because doctors and nurses have gone to Europe or America. Schools often lack qualified teachers. The list of projects and programmes deferred because capable individuals are not available seems endless.

African militaries are not immune to the problem. From the upper echelons of the services where strategic decisions are made, to the lower echelons where technical equipment must be maintained, the lack of qualified individuals in the armies and air forces is being felt. Loss of educated individuals on the civilian side also affects military capabilities.

Fewer businesspeople generate taxable revenue, fewer engineers design roads and other critical infrastructure, and perhaps most damning of all, fewer educated people are available to serve in government jobs and provide, among other functions, important civilian oversight of the armed services.

There are numerous reasons well-educated individuals are leaving Africa. The overarching one appears to be that they make more money in the West compared to their homelands. By international standards, salaries in many African countries are quiet low, especially for professionals such as engineers, doctors and nurses. They realise their economic worth is much greater outside the continent and are leaving in droves, enticed by the greater economic opportunities elsewhere.

To think of these individuals selfish for leaving a continent that desperately needs their expertise for the chance to earn better salaries would be a mistake. Estimates are that many of these people send nearly 60 percent of their salaries back home so that relatives and others can purchase food, pay school fees, care for aging parents, buy medicines, establish income generating projects and support a myriad of other worthwhile causes that would go unfunded if the individuals did not go to foreign lands in search of higher incomes.

It is not just the chance for higher income that entices educated Africans to leave their homeland. In many African nations, there are often jobs for university graduates in their chosen major at any salary. After years of studying engineering they may find themselves selling newspapers, after years of studying medicine, perhaps they are driving a taxi. With ready access to foreign media advertising, the need for people with their skills, it Is understandable why they often choose to leave. Upon arriving in new lands they often find that not only are their skills in demand but also they have access to technologies their native countries could only dream of acquiring.

Wars, both internal and external to nations, and political persecution have also contributed to the brain drain. Repressive regimes sometimes target highly educated individuals because of their outspoken candor; it is safer to criticise a crazed dictator from the streets of London than from the streets of their homeland.

The brain drain is a safety valve, allowing disgruntled individuals to migrate rather than foment dissent in their native lands. Of course, if one feels that certain countries are in need of more dissent, and possibly even a revolution, an exodus of educated individuals is a negative.

Individuals who might have agitated for change in their native African countries, but moved to Paris, London or New York, can still have influence in their homelands, but their voices and actions can somewhat be muted. While the repression and corruption that led to the Arab Spring were long in development, often a local event suddenly triggered the actual uprising. Thus, it appears that leaders must be nearby to capitalise on such events. For example, in Tunisia, as soon as Mohamed Bouazizi, a street vendor whose wares were confiscated by the police, set himself on fire, local protests erupted. Tunisians who were in France, England or the United States were obviously too far away to be part of the initial uprisings.

By leaving Africa, agitators for change for the most part put themselves out of reach of the repressive governments they are agitating against. Their influence and ability to spontaneously capitalise on local events is markedly diminished.

Although the migration from Africa reduces the population pressures on the African environment, the loss of engineers and technicians, especially civil engineers and water technicians, means there are fewer people with the requisite skills to tackle the numerous environmental problems facing the continent.

Being one of the youthful Africans trained outside Africa for over eight years, I observed that the desire for working in your home country is diluted by the ‘intellectual package’ that one receives. In most cases, when one is graduating, offers are peddled before you. The options ride in your veins. Actually, your academic pilgrimage might influence your choice. I observed that motivation is another key factor. At Harvard University, government officials from different countries would come and support their students even if they were not under the sponsorship of government; they would influence them to go home after their studies; it was an honour. Many went back to their countries not because they would receive a lot of money but because they were motivated.

However, not so with Malawian students in diaspora. Meeting Malawian doctors in diaspora was the most painful thing in my life. Five of them confessed to be oncologists, yet currently Malawi has only one oncologist working in the country. Asked why they choose to live abroad, their answers were obvious: We need money and motivation!

Professor Gary Urton, Dean of Anthropology at the University of Harvard on our graduation: “There is no joy that can surpass serving your own country even if it costs your life. There is more joy when you see success drawing a smile when you grow old—that is like planting a tree where your grandchildren would hide under it a century to come. What good can joy bring from all decorations you may receive from a foreign land but is not translated into your homeland? I urge you to go ye and serve thou nations.”

In conclusion, brain drain can be reduced if African governments show interest in pursuing those in diaspora. Students studying abroad must be assured of motivation not based on money only but attention. A native is more likely to adhere to the laws of the nation and pay tax.

Most contracts in Africa are offered to non-Africans; hence, revenue is lost as money is sent outside the continent. Most engineering firms working in African countries are ‘imported’, thereby amputating local engineers.