Green Cards and Greener Pastures; The lasting effect of the Brain Drain on the Africa (is not) Rising Narrative.
‘Brain drain’ is hardly a new phenomenon, there are countless studies examining the causes and detrimental effects of Africans leaving their homes to settle in developed countries. From the lack of strong institutions at home to the availability of well-paying jobs in developed countries, concerned observers have chronicled all the reasons for Africans seeking greener pastures in the Western world. Consequently, the danger of continued loss of talent is gaining less attention at a time when African governments need to act decisively to stop the bleeding.
Perhaps, the phenomenon should be viewed through the lenses of this idea: Africa (is not) rising.
Recently, the Africa Rising narrative — created by outside observers and perpetuated by Africans — has captured the hearts and minds of the world. With democracy steadily taking root in the continent, technological innovation on the rise, and the discovery of sought-after natural resources, educated individuals are expressing a desire to return.
Conversely, the inherent flaws in the Africa Rising narrative is evidence that the levels of Africans leaving not only remains high, but also has damaging effects on the continent. Although many countries in the continent have not experienced the worst effects of the phenomenon, countries like Ghana are still at risk.
In a TEDxTalk titled, ‘Is Africa really Rising?’ Ali Mufuruki challenged the Africa Rising narrative by pointing several flaws. Chief among the issues were: The lack of energy security to support manufacturing, high transportation costs of raw and processed goods within Africa, and the inability of African countries to create and maintain electricity generation. He essentially argued the Africa Rising narrative fails to take these flaws into account.
Two years ago, Liberia was struck with an Ebola outbreak, which then evolved into an epidemic because the country’s hospitals and healthcare facilities were overwhelmed. Today, “it is estimated that more than 50 percent of Liberian health services are provided by nongovernmental organizations rather than by the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare. Despite millions of dollars in annual donor budget support, up to 35 percent of health care is financed out of pocket from Liberia’s population.”
Another flaw which the Africa Rising narrative fails to account is the amount of money that countries in the continent are losing on an annual basis. Nick Dreaden, in ‘Africa is not Poor, we are stealing its wealth’, reiterates what has now become a consensus, that the continent is being robbed blind. He explained that African governments have opened up their economies to foreign direct investment without implementing safeguards to prevent large corporations from sending all their profits to other countries. He also cited that “Ghana is losing 30 percent of its government revenue to debt repayments, paying loans which were often made speculatively, based on high commodity prices, and carrying whooping rates of interest.”
Further, the article explains that most African countries lose a lot more money when multinational companies engage in foreign direct investment operations and send their profits to other countries.
Even though the aforementioned problems occurred in different places in Africa, there is one common thread: Lack of the necessary expertise. In Mufuruki’s argument on the flaws of the Africa Rising narrative, he cites Africa is being held back by the lack of essential infrastructure. In Liberia, one may argue that the availability of doctors may have helped reduce the scope of the Ebola outbreak, perhaps preventing the infectious disease from becoming an epidemic. In Ghana, policy makers who have the necessary experience and interest of the nation in mind could help create policies that would account of the possibility of capital flight and sustained revenue loss.
Admittedly, this piece is not an indictment on Africa’s socio-economic progress thus far. Ghanaians and Africans alike are doggedly working to improve the current state of affairs. The commercial airline industry is improving in quality as competition increases; more Ghanaians are starting to find new ways to fund and sustain small to medium size enterprises, and large transportation and infrastructure operations are taking place as we speak.
In addition, African governments have been using grants to fund research and development programs in order to create an environment of curiosity. Some governments, like Rwanda, have created formal science R&D policies, whereas higher educational institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa are developing curriculums that pay particular attention to science and agriculture research. All of this is done in order to create more opportunities for Africans without having to leave the continent.
Yet, the expertise gap continues to grow as perception of Africa’s Rising seems to dominate more conversations. In Ghana, we all know someone — be it a relative, a friend, a co-worker — who has left the country to seek a better life in a developed country. Some enroll in universities, gain employment after graduation and chart their journey to a permanent life abroad through citizenship. Others submit an application into the coveted green card lottery in hopes of being selected.
According to the Pew Research Center, Ghanaian nationals submitted the highest number of applications to the green card lottery for Fiscal Year 2015 (Latest numbers available). Yomi Kazeem from Quartz Africa remarked at the figures because those applications, “based on US State Dept. data analysis by Pew Research, would account for around 7% of Ghana’s population of 25 million.”
Many of these individuals would go on to support their families back in Africa by sending money as remittances to provide their relatives with some level of comfort. Quartz reports, “Each year, over $30 billion in remittances is sent to sub-Saharan Africa by some 30 million African migrants living in the diaspora. The cash transfers help households pay for housing, healthcare and education, boost foreign reserves, and even compose a significant part of the GDP in some countries.” By this, one could argue that the brain drain benefits African countries, but not when Sub-Saharan Africa has one of the highest transaction costs for remittances (which by the way, surpasses official development assistance) and multinational companies are continuously plundering the continent’s wealth.
Though there are many reasons for this development, the country is losing the best and the brightest stars to developed countries because Ghana either lacks the necessary educational infrastructure or the forward-thinking mindset to support not only the doctors, the lawyers, and the architects but also the creatives, the fashion designers, photographers, writers etc.
To many, the dire effects of brain drain may not be a high among your list of priorities. However, examine the current state of affairs at home, in your country’s public institutions, the expediency of the government and the general motivation to improve conditions.
Worse, look beyond the shores of our blessed country where epidemics that could have been avoided have destroyed the fabric of the community and ask yourself one question:
“Is Africa actually Rising?”
