Webinar held on 3rd June 2021
Authors: Moses Owidhi, Josephat Okemwa and Mourine Chepkemoi
Background to the webinar
Innovation and development studies in Africa is an emerging field, and since early 2000, the field has been developing steadily. Innovation and Development (I & D) studies research is key to understanding the way science, technology, innovation and society interact. Such studies are key to enhancing the knowledge base available for policy makers and practitioners as they make decisions concerning future development paths in African countries. The establishment of AfricaLics in 2012 was a key part of efforts by African scholars and others to enhance innovation studies and the broader field of innovation and development studies on the continent. This webinar was the fourth in a series of webinars scheduled in 2021 to discuss the overarching topic “the development of I & D field in Africa”. It is informed by the understanding that “skills for innovation” in Africa and the challenges of ‘brain drain’: the so-called ‘brain drain’ is real in Africa and other emerging economies. Brain drain is the phenomenon of massive skilled labour migration from developing countries to developed and industrialized countries and applies continuous pressure on local human resource capacities for development in African countries.
Based on an upcoming book chapter, this webinar presented a comprehensive review of the challenges and opportunities resting on the role of highly skilled African migrants in African science, technology, and innovation (STI) systems. The keynote speakers were Dr. Gussai Sheikheldin and Dr. Agnes Lutomiah as the discussant who deliberated on this topic with a view to identifying lessons that innovation scholars can draw on to inform the future of I & D studies research in the continent. The webinar was designed to be interactive and engaging such that the participants are invited to freely express opinion about the topic of discussion during plenary, as well as the use of chat box.
Highlights from Keynote Speaker – Dr. Gussai H. Sheikheldin
- During the transatlantic slave trade era, young Africans were targeted to produce physical labor and that disrupted the lives and the historical process of African communities. This affected severely the human resource in the continent, not just the natural resources, by default that also contributed to under development of Africa.
- Before 2015, an increased number of migrants from Sub Saharan Africa was recorded. This was characterized by brain drain, which is a massive skilled labor migration from developing countries to developed and industrialized countries and has become a global issue.
- The concept of brain drain is contested because: the sending country fails to recognize that migrants are also carriers of social capital; it identifies migration as a major problem for economic development for poor countries; it diminishes the loss solely to migrants the tertiary education category and above, with little attention paid to younger age migrants, as well as second generation migrants; Brain drain underestimates the knowledge and expertise acquired by migrants abroad, which is most cases might have not been possible without the migration.
- The of Brain drain has resulted negatively impacted various sector of the economy, on the education front, African PhD holders outside Africa out-number those inside within thus resulting to shortages of teachers and instructors in higher learning institutions; on the health front, there is a huge disparity ratio of health professionals who advises developing countries to have at least one physician with 5000 patients; on the STI and R&D there is a significant shortage of skills over the African continent.
How the world responds to Brain drain
Since 1980s, a collective experience from many countries within and outside Africa have come out to deal with brain drain as demonstrated using the six R’s model.
- Return of migrants to their home country. Permanent return is the focus of most policies.
- Restriction of international mobility. This relates to restrictive emigration/immigration policies (e.g. explicit like in case of national trades).
- Recruitment of international migrants. This reflected in courting foreign workers (e.g. through tax incentives and simplified visa regimes).
- Reparation for loss of human capital (tax). Focus on compensating source countries, or emigrants directly submitting taxes to deal with externalities created by the immediate loss of human capital.
- Resourcing expatriates (Diaspora options). Significant resource if ongoing contact between academic and private sector institutions is fostered. Government and private sector initiatives seek to increase communications, knowledge transfer, remittances, and investment.
- Retention through educational sector policies: Creating a highly educated workforce begins with strengthening domestic educational institutions. A viable system that encourages graduates to stay with the system, through economic development: Giving people a reason to stay (or return) is doubtless the most effective policy.
Best practices from Africa
Rwanda has adopted an internationally accepted best practices by investing in information technology to increase the capacity to meet the demands of the labour market and become a hub of technology innovation in Sub Saharan Africa. It has also improved its anticorruption apparatus, attracting people from other African countries. In Ethiopia, there was the issuance of the yellow cards and introduction of investment incentives for the diaspora members. Nigeria developed a well professional association in the United States. These cases and available literature suggest that the African Brain drain overall works against the development agenda of the continent including the agenda of advancing STI and that measures that can be taken to address it.
Conclusions and recommendations
- African STI systems are continuously disadvantaged by Brain drain and this needs to change.
- For functional STI systems, it is highly valuable that different minds from around the world have access to each other.
- Immigrants from Africa and multiple countries come to produce significant technological progress and innovation in those countries.
- There is a need to address brain drain needs at national and regional levels through accurate, relevant data and evidence informed policies.
- Explore and utilize the six R’s approaches, including regulations incentives, programs and software systems.
- There is need to facilitate and encourage collaboration, scientists, engineers, researchers of the African diaspora.
- There is need to improve regulatory aspects for example dual citizenships investments and SME start-up incentives.
Reflections from the Discussant: Dr. Agnes Lutomiah
The discussant raised a few points in response to the keynote. Regarding on the impacts of brain drain on the economic development, from a broader knowledge economy perspective, brain drain has negatively impacted science and innovation and social economic and development. The human capital that is needed for the industry, higher education, the health sectors and poverty alleviation, year in year out, tend to erode through brain drain. Regarding the impacts of brain drain on Higher education, there is an assumption that increased number of trained people through higher education, results in improved innovation of a country. However, in the context of brain drain there is a negative effect resulting from leakages along the systems through migration to overseas. This affects the innovation that needs to be increased. There is therefore a need to restore African research and research institutions through coming up with strategies that focus on institutional and not just capacity building. Capacity building is important, but it must be embedded in a framework of building institutions of science and innovation in Africa. Regarding the impacts of brain drain on STI/R&D, it was noted that low number of the human capacity in STEM needed in R&D has affected the economic growth of nations. This can be enhanced through a dialogue on the role of social sciences when it comes to growth of a nation, the amount of funding the social scientists receive in supporting R&D when compared to STEM and the productivities. Regarding Mobility and the rationales, it was found that African researchers leave their countries for a number of reasons including, lack of research funding, poor facilities, poor intellectual stimulation, threats of violence, lack of opportunities for career advancement and employment, lack of good education for their children or for within their own country. To retain researchers, African governments should provide world class education and training opportunities, resources, funds, and necessary policies. For one to have sufficient resources, there is need to invest in sufficient amounts of GDP into R&D, however, some concern on retaining these graduates after attaining these advanced and expensive skills to return home whereas such skills and resources are not available is a challenge. To retain these skills, there is need to provide a conducive and right environment for scientists and health professionals to be able to produce and share knowledge. Other non-monetary incentives -the social environments, the political environments should be provided to encourage the returnees to return and contribute to the research productivity and healthy population. On remittances, several concerns arose: whether small percentage of the multimillion dollars remitted home by the immigrants be invested in R&D? Might this improve opportunities for the highly skilled individuals at home? Would this in turn spur economic development? Does the government have tools and polices in place to track these remittances? On Collaboration, there is need to understand the factors that can enable collaboration between the ‘’diaspora and the homeland’’?. It is important to note that foreign scientist from developing countries who are involved in R&D have more productive capacity as compared to the scientists in the home countries. This is because, of favorable contexts and conditions that enable science and Technology to prosper. These expatriates, scientists, academics, health professionals as well, scientists can contribute by sharing their knowledge.
Dr Gussai noted that to retaining skills in Africa would play a key role in economic development. It was noted that brain drain negatively impacts, Africa’s economic development. To retain skills that are built in Africa, institutional structures and policies should be setup and strengthened to support collaboration. Further, there needs to have non-monetary and non-research incentives and good socio-political environment for diaspora to return to Africa. The African Network for Economics of Learning, Innovation, and Competence Building Systems (AfricaLics) has a crucial role to play in making the African scholars who are within their network to be productive and relevant. This is one way to enhance skills retention. To this end, AfricaLics has contributed to skills development through the capacity building activities aimed at creating a pool of innovation scholars within the continent. In Enhancing STI system collaborations, there is need to engage, not just the African universities but also African institutes or actors that host scholars. Also, we can involve Research and Technology organizations (RTOs) as they play different roles in the STI system. RTOs include centres of excellence, and think tanks such as ACTS in Kenya, STIPRO in Tanzania. Further, RTOs play a key role in advancing and pushing the industrialization of newly industrialized countries, therefore, RTOs have a big role to play within the African STI system. There is need to organize policy engagements such as webinars which would contribute to rich engagement with stakeholders. TVET training or Polytechnic Institute’s in general have an impact in the society. Africa is still economically and technologically stagnated because the continent has exported a large number of skill with students going to study abroad to gain new skills that are needed in transforming and develop Africa’s economies. There is need to make use of local expatriates than relying foreign experts in constructing projects based in Africa as history has seen that this is an area, we are not doing good.
Overall conclusion
Brain drain is an issue and needs to be addressed in developing and retaining skills for economic development in Africa. It was observed that most African countries suffer from stagnation and requisite training and capacity building in higher education – from TVET to postgraduate should be encouraged. Further, training older skilled workers would enhance self-reliant economy more generally.
About the speakers
Dr. Gussai H. Sheikheldin, is a Research Fellow at Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy Research Organization (STIPRO), Tanzania, an African think tank that focuses on STI policy research and design for socio-economic development. With a background combining engineering, policy and development, his interest areas include technological change, sustainable design, industrial policy, and engineering education in Africa.
Dr. Agnes Lutomiah is a research fellow, at the African Centre for Technology Studies (ACTS). She is working under the Science Granting Council Initiative (SGCI), Strengthening the Capacity of Africa’s Science Granting Councils in the Use of Evidence in Policy and Decision Making (Evi-Pol) project. Dr. Lutomiah graduated with a PhD in Science and Technology Studies in 2020 at the Centre for Research on Evaluation, Science and Technology (CREST). Her doctoral research focused on the scientific production of scientists in the Kenyan science system. Her current broad research interests are: Higher education in Africa, bibliometrics, scient metrics and research performance.