Can brain circulation be the upside of brain drain

It was inevitable that the aspect of brain drain would be touched upon at the just concluded First Africa Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) in Nairobi.Creation of wealth was one of the underlying themes at the forum, premised on the necessity of Africa having the “ability to innovate and apply the relevant technology to industries and productive sectors.”“Ability to innovate and apply” is the key phrase, of which brain drain has presented one of the challenges due to the loss of local talent to greener pastures mainly in the US and Europe. It is estimated that at least one-third of Africa’s scientists and technology graduates were living and working in developed countries in 2009, according to the Network of African Science Academies.With so many working outside the continent, it seems self-evident that brain drain must have an effect on Africa’s development. It is presumed that stopping the brain drain would retain and grow the local human resource pool, and therefore increase innovation towards wealth creation.The presumption leads to the question: what are the pros and cons of brain drain? There are those who claim that the concerns over brain drain are over rated, citing at least two scenarios of which it can be beneficial.The first scenario suggests what has come to be known “brain circulation”. The second is the remittances to the home country from the Diaspora, where money is sent to invest or assist family and relatives amounting to significant foreign exchange earnings for the home country. Brain circulation describes the phenomenon where expatriates return home to work or set up enterprises in their home countries, utilising what they have learnt in the Diaspora. Chinese and Indian tech entrepreneurs returning to their home countries provide some of the best examples, while South Africa is among the very few on the continent to exhibit this phenomenon. Without much to show for it, it may seem that the two scenarios are only worth considering for their potential impact on the continent. It is also doubtful that they can compensate for the overall effects of brain drain in the face of rampant poverty and minimal innovation and technological output.Aside from lack of much evidence on the effects of brain circulation, recent reports in the media suggest disappointment that despite huge remittances to the EAC region not much can be seen of it on the ground.For many on the continent, therefore, retaining the local human resource pool offers the best recourse towards wealth creation. Some of the challenges towards accomplishing this have been pointed out.It has been pointed out that the absence of measures to encourage innovation, gaps in the legislation regarding intellectual property rights and low salaries paid to researchers all contribute to the brain drain.It has also been pointed out that the proportion of GDP devoted to research and development averages about 0.3 per cent on the continent, seven times less than that spent by industrialised countries on this sector. The Africa Forum on STI recommended that this should increase to at least one per cent.It was also emphasised that there should be greater South-South cooperation, of which it should be expected that with the necessary commitment Africa will reach the recommended minimum threshold of 1000 researchers per million population.