New wave of brain drain sweeps across East Africa

IN the past, educated youth used to leave East African countries to seek so-called ‘greener pastures’ overseas; but now a new wave of ‘brain drain,’ sweeping across the six-nation East African Community is simply and rapidly losing intellectual property to alien countries.

“Our university students, scholars and other intellectuals conduct research, compile well documented write-ups only to sell them at ‘throw-away’ prices to rich foreign individuals, firms and even states that later use them for their own benefit … but at our expenses,”

According to Mr Peter Munya, the Kenyan Cabinet Secretary for East African Community and Northern Corridor Development, the region’s industrial drive highly depends on the academia but if what they research or discover gets shipped abroad,

East Africa would continue to find it hard when establishing factories and other productive ventures. “… most of the ongoing research projects in Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and even South Sudan … despite being undertaken by local scholars are usually funded by foreigners who talk everything once completed,” he said.

He advised the Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA), the East African Community Science and Technology Commission (EASTECO) the East African Business Council (EABC), and the East African Development Bank (EADB) to make use of their annual Academia and Industrial forums to address the issue of this new type of brain drain affecting the community

“These forums are very important platforms that bring together the academia, the public, and the private sector to engage in dialogue on issues that are intended to stimulate the development of strong academiapublic- private partnership for spurringContinued from Page 1 socio-economic development in the East African region,” he said.

“I am particularly delighted that for over the period of five years now this partnership has been sustained and even now gained more prominence in the region at a time when the Partner States have great desire to transform their economies to be knowledge-based and industrialised,” maintains Mr Munya.

On his part, the Chairperson of the East African Council of Ministers, Dr Kirunda Kivejinja, who recently presented a paper during the 2018 Academia-Public-Private Partnership Forum and Exhibition in Nairobi said investment in human capital was vital in pushing the region’s industrial drive and development wheel.