Brain drain is a myth so don’t shed tears for it

[Wainaina Mungai]

Brain drain is a myth so don’t shed tears for it
By Angeyo Kalambuka ( SOURCE: http://www.eastandard.net )

It has become fashionable to lament the brain drain.

On the surface, the loss of professionals to the West or other progressive countries looks gloomy. In academic and research circles, there is a concerted raid by overseas groups on our scientific talent. There is an overall feeling of gloom and despair in medicine and engineering about our ability to recruit and retain talented professionals.

But the brain drain concept is misleading if not plain wrong. It is a myth. It is bogus to debate it in modern times. Some economists have even calculated how many billions Africa has lost and the West gained from brain drain. That if it costs $5,000 (Sh350,000) to train an engineer in Africa and $100,000 (Sh7 million) in America, there is a drain of $95,000 (Sh6.65 million) when an engineer moves from Africa to the US.

This logic makes no sense. First, it assumes that the true value of goods or services is the cost of producing it in the importing country, not the exporting country. The West supplies aeroplanes and weapons that we do not make. So, does it make sense to say there is a huge aeroplane and weapons drain from the West to Africa? Does it matter if highly skilled Africans leave? The genuine answer is No. There is no reason for anyone to agonise over the loss of our best and brightest.

There is probably more brain drain from Europe to America, and from elsewhere to Africa, than there is from Africa to the rest of the world combined. But Europeans and Americans are not anxious because they know that economics usually prevails over protectionist sentiments.

I celebrate the success of a Kenyan engineer in the Silicon Valley. The global labour market and entrepreneurial capital is just as competitive as any other business. Most talented people go where there is opportunity for growth, meritocracy, peaceful life, order in political and public life and a reasonable chance of prosperity.

Even conservative societies such as Japan and Germany have acknowledged the need for qualified foreign work force, and they issue thousands of green cards. It is easy to note that skilled talent is the scarcest commodity in the world and competition for it is stiff. Realism should be the crying need. We are not desperate for quality work force and entrepreneurial talent.

Why do we agonise losing our best and at the same time passionately pretend to believe in free trade? Why should we demur when it comes to globalisation of labour? Western experts have provided technology to Africa for generations. Does it follow, therefore, that there is an infinitely large technology drain from abroad to Africa?

When a foreign technical expert comes to Kenya, we pay for his services. But when an African doctor migrates to the West, Africa gets no payment. Is that a drain? It is not because huge flows of brainpower in the reverse direction are free too. The overwhelming bulk of brainpower used in our universities is from research done in the West.

No Kenyan pays for Albert Einsten’s knowledge or the huge flow of knowledge in scientific journals. Let us concede that much of the flow of free knowledge is from the rich to poor countries.

Yes, we lose brainpower in form of engineers and academics among others. And, yes, we enjoy a huge import of free brainpower in a multitude of forms. But on balance, we get far more than we supply.

We should stop being fixated with the brain drain for there are flows of global brainpower, ideas and creativity. The biggest flow is of brainpower in goods and services made with the latest technology. On balance, such technology constitutes a massive net flow of brainpower from rich to poor countries.

The reverse in the so-called brain drain is tiny compared to the huge flow of goods and services. Most research — development and academic — is done in rich countries. Research budgets in the West — for producing entertainment, books and other products — are huge. Much of it results in not just superior, but also cheaper goods. The low cost of production reflects enormous brainpower that went into cost reduction.

Innovation in technology is extremely expensive. To progress, rich countries spend enormous resources on research and development. But poor and extremely disorganized countries such as Kenya leapfrog from traditional, craft technology to modern technologies quickly and at little cost, with little research effort of their own.

This gives us a huge advantage: Catching up with technology leaders is easier and faster than developing it. Rapid catch up possibilities have enabled developing countries to grow much faster than rich ones. China or the South-East Asian tigers now register eight to 10 per cent economic growth for using Western technical and managerial input. But the main sources of innovation, including the US, cannot average more than three per cent annual growth.

We ought to also bear in mind that not only are our best and brightest going overseas, but the mediocre and the average, too, and earn money in low skill jobs such as sales, building and cleaning.

Further, the majority of the so-called talented Africans who go to the West do not engage in any work that requires the best of their brains per se.

Finally, the brain drain we waste locally constitutes a far bigger loss than we are ready to admit. Africa gets a net inflow of brainpower. The question is whether our gain would be greater if we did not lose many skilled people to the West. It is a difficult one to answer.

 --- The writer is a lecturer at the University of Nairobi ---