MEMORANDA
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE
NOVEMBER 2003
CBCAfricarecruit submission to the international
development committee inquiry into migration and development will
focus on the main on "brain drain versus brain gain".
Overview
CBCAfricaRecruit is a product of the
Commonwealth Business Council. It consists of FindaJobinAfrica.com
(www.findajobinafrica.com) the online job search engine its network
of recruitment associates inside and outside Africa and AfricaRecruit
(www.africarecruit.com) Africa
Recruit is an innovative service delivery vehicle with its focus
on Africa's
Human capital resource requirements, critical skills redirection
and transfers required
to build robust and enduring productive capacity
throughout the continent.
"AfricaRecruit
provides an opportunity for dialogue among relevant stakeholders
on issues of concern to Africans living outside the continent.
I am delighted to express my support for this initiative and urge
Africans in the Diaspora as well as leaders of the private and
public sector to do all they can to support it."
President Olusegun Obasanjo,
President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Chairman, NEPAD
Implementation committee.
On the 12/13th March
CBCAfricarecruit organised a successful Africa Career/Recruitment
fair in London United Kingdom (see website www.africarecruit.com.
Over 3,000 jobseekers and over 20 recruiting organisations attended
the high profile event. The event was covered by international
and national media organisations such as CNN inside Africa, BBC
World, Financial times and many others
Background
Brain drain can be described as a
situation where educated and skilled personnel loss is greater
than the ability to replace or produce these personnel resulting
in a shortage of skills. Few would dispute that shortage of skills
is a critical constraint on investment, job creation and improved
public services. This problem is most acute in Africa. Approximately
40% of all African professionals have left the continent's shores
over the decades since decolonisation. This means that upwards
of 5 million doctors, teachers, engineers, technicians and mangers
are living and working elsewhere. African immigrants to the United
States, for example, boast some of the highest educational attainments
of any immigrant group.
The facts speak
- Between 1985 and 1990 Africa lost
over 60,000 middle-level and high-level managers to Western economies.
- About 23,000 lecturers from African
universities also continue to emigrate each year.
- Every year 23,000 graduates leave
Africa for opportunities overseas, mainly in Europe.
- The emigration of technically
skilled people has left 20,000 scientists and engineers in Africa,
servicing a population of about 600m.
In many ways, the loss of skills could
be counted as Africa's foreign assistance to the developed world!
These communities retain strong ties
back home, and their skills and talents are vital ingredients
of the NEPAD. Africans in Diaspora already account for 85% of
structured Foreign Direct Investment in Africa. In some constituent
republics of the African Union remittances account for half of
the Nations Gross Domestic Product.
It is estimated that Africa receives
approximately $3 billion in remittances from Africans in the Diaspora
each year through the official or formal channels. This accounts
for no more than 50% as much more goes through the informal channels
such as person to person
Practical Response
In order to take practical steps to
address this, the Commonwealth Business Council and NEPAD Secretariat
have established AfricaRecruit to provide a platform for debate
with the African Diaspora on how to contribute to an Africa-wide
human resources/ skills strategy, and ensure that governments
and employers work together to make skill transfer and employment
opportunities easier to match. The African Union (AU) has
expressed its appreciation for the initiative, which supports
the AU's policies on the role and contribution of the Diaspora.
The initiative aims to develop:
- A global data base of skilled African professionals/technocrats
in and outside Africa
- Strategic alliances
with various global organisations such labour advisers, head-hunters,
recruitment agencies, professional bodies and education institutions
in mobilising skills for Africa
- To portalise jobs in
Africa using a global platform (www.findajobinafrica.com)
- To facilitate and manage
employers recruitment process through www.findajobinafrica.com
by matching employers with the most appropriate recruitment agency
- To work in partnership
with organised business in mobilising human resources for Africa
- To create a platform
to engage citizens of African in the formation of human resources
policy
AfricaRecruit has thus set a number
of key objectives.
First, to enable private and public
sector African employers, and global companies with footprint
in Africa, to work together to boost skills inflow into key managerial
and technical areas.
Second, to create the largest interactive
database of job seekers and job opportunities for Africa as a
resource for companies and governments.
Third to foster debate in Africa and
internationally with the African Diaspora on how to contribute
to an Africa-wide skills strategy - to change attitudes and perspectives,
and to ensure that governments and employers work together to
make skill transfer easier including opportunities to self employed
Africans
The aim is to find ways turn the
historic phenomenon of the "brain drain" into a "brain
gain" - utilising the experience and knowledge of the Diaspora
in the revitalisation of Africa.
AfricaRecruit was launched by the Chairman of the
NEPAD Steering Committee, Professor Wiseman Nkuhlu in London in
March 2003. More than 3000 African professional attended the
first event. Some of the practical outcomes include:
- Recruitment and relocation of Africans - over
sixty job placements have been achieved as a direct result of
the event
- Awareness of job opportunities and employment
in Africa by skilled personnel
- Recruiters sourcing from the large untapped "talent
pool"
- Obstacles and challenges to employment in Africa
highlighted with some practical and innovative solutions put forward
- Development of the African Diaspora market place
- to date AfricaRecruit has 758 African Diaspora organizations
on its database. The organizations vary widely and centre on various
capital such as financial; intellectual; political and intellectual
capital
The huge number of Africa's professionals
now living outside the continent naturally makes an engagement
with the Diaspora a key NEPAD objective. This requires fresh ideas
on how to energise the relationship between Diaspora communities,
employers and governments. These professionals are some of Africa's
greatest but least recognized resources. These communities retain
strong ties back home, and their skills and talents are vital
ingredients of the AU and the New Partnership for African Development
(NEPAD).
It is estimated that Africa receives
approximately $3 billion annually in remittances from Africans
in the Diaspora through official or formal channels; with as much
again through informal person to person transfers. In some countries
remittances account for half of the national income, a recent
survey of the African Diaspora carried out has shown the following:
- 75-80% of those surveyed did majority
of their schooling in Africa
- Most had very little work experience
in Africa before leaving the continent
- A majority intend to return back
to Africa in the 0-7years
- Those who do not intend to return
left because of insecurity and political reasons
- A majority of those surveyed live
in Europe and North America
- A majority of those surveyed send
money home to family averaging at US$200 a month
- The money sent to family was mainly
for consumption and personal responsibilities, and usually sent
by hand or international money transfer.
But while it is possible
to talk about numbers of African professionals, in the many millions,
who live outside their country of birth each number, of course,
represents a person, with a family, in a community - and there
are many Diaspora communities not one. Numbers are huge and it
would be wrong to try to simplify how people can assist the continent's
renewal: Skills is one area, investment another, creating partnership
business development yet another. It is important to listen to
how best to access this resource, and provide practical ways in
which people can contribute.
Conclusion
The mobility of skills and capital
between Africa and Europe does contribute towards building skills
capacity, transfer of knowledge and capital to Africa. This can
acts as a developmental strategy if a cohesive strategy is adopted
between "donor" and "host" country.
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