‘We must now build the Africa of our dreams and stop expecting others to do it … You can’t build a society entirely on assistance.”
This exhortation came from Joseph Okpaku, president of the Telecom Africa International Corporation, based in New York. He was speaking two weeks ago in Tripoli, Libya, at the Association of African Universities’ (AAU) huge two-yearly conference, which on this occasion focused on “The African Brain Drain: Managing the Drain — Working with the Diaspora” and drew more than 150 vice-chancellors and other senior academics from around the continent.
Okpaku’s stress on the need for African self-reliance was repeatedly echoed at the conference, and in part reflected the patent weariness of many delegates at hearing, yet again, how many of Africa’s academics and university-trained professionals continue to seek safer, better remunerated and more stable lives and careers in the West. Significant numbers of delegates were clearly also impatient at hearing for the umpteenth time how the West was to blame for this exodus.
The Mail & Guardian reported two weeks ago on the Tripoli gathering, at a point when the conference had reached its midway point. Even by then delegates had been saturated with staggering statistics about the brain drain. The overall picture appears to be that about one-third of Africa’s university resources are being expended on training Africans for the benefit of developed countries, especially the United States and Europe.
Okpaku’s plea that Africa look to itself rather than foreign assistance reflected a clear consensus at the conference. In so doing, however, he and many others brought to the fore one of the key gaps in support to tertiary education — namely, from African governments themselves.
South Africa’s Deputy Minister of Education, Enver Surty, himself stressed at the conference that there is nothing new about the migration of any country’s best talents, and that there needs to be greater collaboration between higher education institutions and governments. Refreshingly, he also cautioned that such collaboration should not damage tertiary autonomy and academic freedom.
The strongest sign of a new determination that governments be pressured to give far higher priority to tertiary education came on the final day of the conference. Of 13 recommendations the gathering produced, fully 11 involve governments. These included setting minimum standards for funding higher education, legislating for duty-free movement of research equipment, and enabling dual citizenship.
African universities have now thrown down the gauntlet to governments. Will they respond?