CAUSES OF AFRICAN BRAIN DRAIN.
In the 1960s most of the African countries became independent, with the former
Portuguese territories in 1975. In 1995, the last colony in Africa – South Africa –
achieved majority rule. With accession to independence there was a marked change
in the pace of migration. The first development plans and those subsequently
adopted, accentuated existing disparities between urban areas which enjoyed the
benefit of investment and rural areas. In some countries the most elementary
freedoms were denied, giving rise to mass exodus of people unprecedented in the
history of Africa. The gap between the economic and social development of different
regions within countries and of different countries inside and outside Africa, has
continued to widen over the years.
3
Brain drain is a migration of professional people(as scientists, professors, or
physicians) from one country to another, usually for higher salaries or better living
conditions. Despite the clarity of this definition, most efforts to halt the brain drain or
reverse the process, especially in African countries, seem to pay little attention to
economic and social imperative to brain drain, and instead, centre on appeals to the
spirit of nationalism and patriotism. In extreme cases, some governments threaten to
hire foreign professionals as replacement labour for those who left-a more
complicated and costly option.4
Political Turmoil: Political turmoil is linked to the failure of economic development.
As pressures of poverty, rapid population growth, disease and illiteracy and
environmental degradation mount, they produce a volatile cocktail of insecurity.
Resulting war, civil strife, state – sponsored terrorism, riots and other forms of
political violence can lead to the displacement of large numbers of people as
migrants, refugees, or asylees. In the late twentieth century, compared to previous 9
centuries, more wars are taking place, and they are lasting longer and causing more
devastation. According to Papademetriou both internal and regional conflicts, often
based on religion and ethnicity, are precipitating unprecedented high levels of
international migration.
5
Economic and Political factors: The economic and political factors associated
with international migration that have so far been discussed so far forces on the lack
of economic development and political stability in many Third World countries. They
are the major push factors in migration.
The push factors are circumstances in the home environment that make a person
think about leaving his normal place of abode for another part of the same country,
neighbouring countries, or for a more distant place like the United Kingdom of the
United States.
6
Pull Factors i.e. those that draw people to particular destinations, are equally
important. The post – World War II expansion of the industrial economies of
Western Europe and North America (especially the United States) has led to
immigration policies in these countries designed to meet a burgeoning demand for
cheap labour. Globalization has made possible a massive transfer of resources like
technology and capital; labour has become another form of large-scale resource
transfer; Although more than half of recent international migration flows are between
developing countries, the flow from the Third World to industrial nations has grown to
unprecedented levels. That developed countries are a magnet for the world’s
migrant is evident from statistics. In 1990, half of the world’s migrants (excluding
those naturalized, which would increase even more than the number in developed
countries) were in industrial countries: 15-20 million were in Western Europe, 15-20
million were in North America, and 2-3 million were in the industrial nations of Asia
(e.g. Japan, Taiwan).
This globalization phenomenon has not escaped the attention 10
of Deepak Nayyar, who observes that: the process of globalization is bound to
exercise a significant influence on the push-factors underlying international
migration. It would decrease emigration pressures if it leads to a convergence of
levels of income between the industrialized countries and the developing countries.
But it would increase emigration pressures if it leads to a divergence in levels of
income between the industrialized countries and the developing countries. Similarly,
it would decrease emigration pressures if it leads to a reduction in poverty, an
expansion of employment opportunities and an improvement in the quality of life for
the people in developing countries. But it would increase emigration pressures if it
leads to rising poverty, growing inequality, worsening employment prospects and
deterioration in the quality of life of people in development countries.
8
In summary it should be realized that the globalization of economies, lack of
development and political stability in Third World countries, and immigration policies
that reflect the need for labour in the receiving industrialized countries have thus far
been proposed as the major factors explaining international migration from the Third
World to the developed countries e.g. USA, UK., etc. But these alone do not
adequately explain why certain countries or individuals, not others, dominate
migration flows nor do they explain the particular destination choice of migrants.
As earlier discussed, economic globalization, lack of development and political
instability, industrial nations’ immigration policies, and linguistic and historical ties are
major factors that account for Third World immigration to developed countries in
general. The same factors enable us to understand African immigration to Europe
and the United States of America.
Sub-Saharan Africa, like most other developing regions, has been integrated into the
global economy primarily as a source of cheap primary goods and cheap labour.
Initially, African labour was exploited within colonial boundaries but after World War
II African labour was often actively recruited by ex-colonial European powers as
competition for more expensive European labour. For example, France gave its
former African colonies favoured nation status and formed agreements with such
African states as Senegal, Mauritania, and Mali to promote labour migration. By
1960, about 20 000 Sub-Saharan Africans were in France; 12 000 in the late 80s.
The British were less hospitable to immigrants from their former African colonies.
Beginning in 1962, Africans in England were denied full social and political rights.
They were subject to four immigrant control and three race relations outs that
gradually withdrew their citizenship rights. Pass laws and voucher systems were
introduced in order to “terminate black settler immigration and to introduce
repatriation. In 1971, the British passed an immigration act to expressly limit
immigration from its former colonies.
It can, therefore, be said that Sub-Saharan Africa has generated significant global
flows of migrants in the post-war era, mainly to ex-colonial states: Nigerian,
Tanzanian, Ugandan, Asians and of late Zimbabweans have migrated to the U.K.,
Central and West Africans to France; Zairians (Congolese) to Belgium. However,
the OECD has argued that these movements are dwafted by regional migrations
within Africa. Regional labour have flowed primarily to Nigeria, South Africa, Gabon
and the Ivory Coast. The main countries of emigration have been Zaire (now Congo),
Angola, Mozambique, Cameroon and Botswana as well as all of the North African
Nations, though rarely have their emigrants crossed the Sahara. The scale of
migrants of West Africans to oil-rich Nigeria is most sharply revealed by the level of
expulsions that occurred after the economic downturn of the early 1980s. South
Africa has provided the other major pole of migration, where a long established
tradition of labour importation to the goldfields for the Transvaal continues to
operate. Migrants have come from Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique and
Zimbabwe for over a century. Since the 1960s these migrants have declined as
indigenous trade unions have strengthened their hold on the labour market. Foreign
workers in the mining industry have declined from over 600 000 in 1960 to fewer
than 400 000 in the late 1980s and numbers continue to fall. However, such is the
economic disparity between South Africa and its Northern neighbours that
unorganized and illegal migration continues, disappearing into the vast, unpoliced
townships of urban South Africa.
10
Political Instability
Political instability is linked with and exacerbates the economic crisis of the African
continent. Two-thirds of all the victims of war during the 1980s were Africans. In
1991 alone, military conflict affected one third of Africa’s fifty-four countries. As of
1994, Africa has surpasses Asia as the world region with the most refugees. Of the
ten countries in 1995 with the most people living as refugees eight were in SubSaharan Africa.
Figure 1 gives a breakdown of causes of conflicts surveyed in Africa. From the
findings, the major causes of conflict are economic and political. Competition for
resources and ethnicity are significant causes of conflict. Ideological factors and
religion are also clearly discernible causes of conflict
In the 1960s most of the African countries became independent, with the former
Portuguese territories in 1975. In 1995, the last colony in Africa – South Africa –
achieved majority rule. With accession to independence there was a marked change
in the pace of migration. The first development plans and those subsequently
adopted, accentuated existing disparities between urban areas which enjoyed the
benefit of investment and rural areas. In some countries the most elementary
freedoms were denied, giving rise to mass exodus of people unprecedented in the
history of Africa. The gap between the economic and social development of different
regions within countries and of different countries inside and outside Africa, has
continued to widen over the years.
3
Brain drain is a migration of professional people(as scientists, professors, or
physicians) from one country to another, usually for higher salaries or better living
conditions. Despite the clarity of this definition, most efforts to halt the brain drain or
reverse the process, especially in African countries, seem to pay little attention to
economic and social imperative to brain drain, and instead, centre on appeals to the
spirit of nationalism and patriotism. In extreme cases, some governments threaten to
hire foreign professionals as replacement labour for those who left-a more
complicated and costly option.4
Political Turmoil: Political turmoil is linked to the failure of economic development.
As pressures of poverty, rapid population growth, disease and illiteracy and
environmental degradation mount, they produce a volatile cocktail of insecurity.
Resulting war, civil strife, state – sponsored terrorism, riots and other forms of
political violence can lead to the displacement of large numbers of people as
migrants, refugees, or asylees. In the late twentieth century, compared to previous 9
centuries, more wars are taking place, and they are lasting longer and causing more
devastation. According to Papademetriou both internal and regional conflicts, often
based on religion and ethnicity, are precipitating unprecedented high levels of
international migration.
5
Economic and Political factors: The economic and political factors associated
with international migration that have so far been discussed so far forces on the lack
of economic development and political stability in many Third World countries. They
are the major push factors in migration.
The push factors are circumstances in the home environment that make a person
think about leaving his normal place of abode for another part of the same country,
neighbouring countries, or for a more distant place like the United Kingdom of the
United States.
6
Pull Factors i.e. those that draw people to particular destinations, are equally
important. The post – World War II expansion of the industrial economies of
Western Europe and North America (especially the United States) has led to
immigration policies in these countries designed to meet a burgeoning demand for
cheap labour. Globalization has made possible a massive transfer of resources like
technology and capital; labour has become another form of large-scale resource
transfer; Although more than half of recent international migration flows are between
developing countries, the flow from the Third World to industrial nations has grown to
unprecedented levels. That developed countries are a magnet for the world’s
migrant is evident from statistics. In 1990, half of the world’s migrants (excluding
those naturalized, which would increase even more than the number in developed
countries) were in industrial countries: 15-20 million were in Western Europe, 15-20
million were in North America, and 2-3 million were in the industrial nations of Asia
(e.g. Japan, Taiwan).
This globalization phenomenon has not escaped the attention 10
of Deepak Nayyar, who observes that: the process of globalization is bound to
exercise a significant influence on the push-factors underlying international
migration. It would decrease emigration pressures if it leads to a convergence of
levels of income between the industrialized countries and the developing countries.
But it would increase emigration pressures if it leads to a divergence in levels of
income between the industrialized countries and the developing countries. Similarly,
it would decrease emigration pressures if it leads to a reduction in poverty, an
expansion of employment opportunities and an improvement in the quality of life for
the people in developing countries. But it would increase emigration pressures if it
leads to rising poverty, growing inequality, worsening employment prospects and
deterioration in the quality of life of people in development countries.
8
In summary it should be realized that the globalization of economies, lack of
development and political stability in Third World countries, and immigration policies
that reflect the need for labour in the receiving industrialized countries have thus far
been proposed as the major factors explaining international migration from the Third
World to the developed countries e.g. USA, UK., etc. But these alone do not
adequately explain why certain countries or individuals, not others, dominate
migration flows nor do they explain the particular destination choice of migrants.
As earlier discussed, economic globalization, lack of development and political
instability, industrial nations’ immigration policies, and linguistic and historical ties are
major factors that account for Third World immigration to developed countries in
general. The same factors enable us to understand African immigration to Europe
and the United States of America.
Sub-Saharan Africa, like most other developing regions, has been integrated into the
global economy primarily as a source of cheap primary goods and cheap labour.
Initially, African labour was exploited within colonial boundaries but after World War
II African labour was often actively recruited by ex-colonial European powers as
competition for more expensive European labour. For example, France gave its
former African colonies favoured nation status and formed agreements with such
African states as Senegal, Mauritania, and Mali to promote labour migration. By
1960, about 20 000 Sub-Saharan Africans were in France; 12 000 in the late 80s.
The British were less hospitable to immigrants from their former African colonies.
Beginning in 1962, Africans in England were denied full social and political rights.
They were subject to four immigrant control and three race relations outs that
gradually withdrew their citizenship rights. Pass laws and voucher systems were
introduced in order to “terminate black settler immigration and to introduce
repatriation. In 1971, the British passed an immigration act to expressly limit
immigration from its former colonies.
It can, therefore, be said that Sub-Saharan Africa has generated significant global
flows of migrants in the post-war era, mainly to ex-colonial states: Nigerian,
Tanzanian, Ugandan, Asians and of late Zimbabweans have migrated to the U.K.,
Central and West Africans to France; Zairians (Congolese) to Belgium. However,
the OECD has argued that these movements are dwafted by regional migrations
within Africa. Regional labour have flowed primarily to Nigeria, South Africa, Gabon
and the Ivory Coast. The main countries of emigration have been Zaire (now Congo),
Angola, Mozambique, Cameroon and Botswana as well as all of the North African
Nations, though rarely have their emigrants crossed the Sahara. The scale of
migrants of West Africans to oil-rich Nigeria is most sharply revealed by the level of
expulsions that occurred after the economic downturn of the early 1980s. South
Africa has provided the other major pole of migration, where a long established
tradition of labour importation to the goldfields for the Transvaal continues to
operate. Migrants have come from Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique and
Zimbabwe for over a century. Since the 1960s these migrants have declined as
indigenous trade unions have strengthened their hold on the labour market. Foreign
workers in the mining industry have declined from over 600 000 in 1960 to fewer
than 400 000 in the late 1980s and numbers continue to fall. However, such is the
economic disparity between South Africa and its Northern neighbours that
unorganized and illegal migration continues, disappearing into the vast, unpoliced
townships of urban South Africa.
10
Political Instability
Political instability is linked with and exacerbates the economic crisis of the African
continent. Two-thirds of all the victims of war during the 1980s were Africans. In
1991 alone, military conflict affected one third of Africa’s fifty-four countries. As of
1994, Africa has surpasses Asia as the world region with the most refugees. Of the
ten countries in 1995 with the most people living as refugees eight were in SubSaharan Africa.
Figure 1 gives a breakdown of causes of conflicts surveyed in Africa. From the
findings, the major causes of conflict are economic and political. Competition for
resources and ethnicity are significant causes of conflict. Ideological factors and
religion are also clearly discernible causes of conflict