Nigeria (financial services, telecoms, oil, manufacturing, and new and dynamic small and medium-sized enterprises), Ghana (oil), and Angola (oil) are at the forefront of the mini-exodus, but the world Bank has also been working with the governments of post-conflict countries like Sierra Leone and Liberia to create the conditions that would make them attractive to African professionals abroad.

"Push" factors that caused many to leave in the first place include civil conflicts, bad governance, political instability, the absence of democracy, poor economic conditions (poor growth, high levels of unemployment, bureaucratic red tape and hierarchical structures), poor physical infrastructure and facilities, lack of adequate social services (health and education), and human rights abuses.

Many of these problems remain, to greater or lesser degrees depending on the country (see below for "Facts about Africa that you may not know"), so you could be forgiven for thinking that most African countries are a long way from being attractive places to return to. And yet Ade Odutola, founder of WazobiaJobs.com, a recruitment portal for west Africa, guesses that Nigeria alone has attracted about 10,000 skilled repast in the last year, and as anyone who knows the country will tell you, doing anything in Gidi is one hell of a challenge.

But repats say business possibilities and the opportunities for quicker promotions and more responsibilities than they would be allowed in the West are strong incentives. "People want to return home because there is always a glass ceiling abroad. It is possible to be more creative and imaginative in fast-growing economies." says Shola Ajani, CEO of recruitment company Maximise Potentials Group, which organises recruitment fairs for Nigerian companies across the US and in the UK.



And then there's the equally powerful but much "softer" attraction of living in a society where, despite the many hassles and challenges, you can just be who you are, where the notion of being "accepted" doesn't even come up, and you can relax in a less socially rigid culture. That may not sound like a politically-correct statement, but there is a huge difference between how we would like things to be (people from all over the place living wherever they please and being totally relaxed, accepted and promoted on merit) and what many Africans experience, no matter how long they live in Europe or America.  

Since the barriers to returning aren't as high as one would imagine, it will be interesting to see whether the trickle turns into a flow as incremental improvement in conditions are made across the continent. That isn't to say that people will stop migrating when conditions are good enough. There is an argument for up to 10% emigration rate from the "developing world" as a means of generating linkages to the global economy. But the rate has been way higher than this for the past three decades, feeding the spiral of slow development.

Fortunately, African governments have realised that they can't just sit back and wait for those who left to return. Not before time, too; Africa as a whole spends an estimated $4 billion every year in Western expat salaries for positions that could be filled by the African professionals who leave the continent 


What about you?
Are you an African graduate/professional in Europe or America considering a move back to Africa? Where to? When? Why? If you're thinking about it but have reservations, what are they? Drop us a line in Comments, 'cos we'd love to hear more about the subject from individual perspectives.


Facts about Africa that you may not know

• Between 1990 and 1999 PPP GDP per capita growth IN Sub-Saharan Africa was 15% ($1,158.9 to $1,327.8); between 2000 and 2008 it was 54% ($1,372.9 to $2,113.9).
• In 2010, starting a business in Guinea requires 213 days for each procedure; it takes 3 days in Rwanda.
• The highest connection charge for a business phone is $366.6 in Benin; the lowest is in Ghana at $0.7.
• It takes 16.6 days average time to clear customs on direct exports in Cote d'Ivoire and 3.8 days in Gabon; conversely for imports it takes 31.4 days in the Republic of Congo and 4.4 days in Lesotho.
• Firms in identifying corruption as a major constraint was highest in Côte d'Ivoire at 75%, whilst the lowest is Ghana 9.9%
• The percentage of firms expected to give gifts to secure a government contract is highest in Congo Republic are 75.2% and lowest for Mauritius at 8.8%.

•  34% of France’s highly skilled migrants come from Africa, as do 79% of highly skilled migrants to Portugal. - IOM World Migration Report, 2010
•  Of all regions, sub-Saharan Africa suffers the greatest shortage of health workers, yet doctors trained in this region represent close to one quarter (23%) of the current foreign-trained doctor workforce in OECD countries - Pond and McPake, 2006
• There are over 21,000 Nigerian doctors practicing in the USA. - IOM World Migration Report
• Up to 68% of Ghana's trained medical staff left the country between 1993 and 2000 - All Business, 2004
• There are more than 200,000 African scientists in the United States, more than on the entire African continent - IOM World Migration Report
• Between 25% - 50% of the college educated citizens of Ghana, Mozambique, Kenya and Uganda live in an OECD country. In contrast, less than 5% of the skilled citizens of countries like India, China and Brazil live abroad in an OECD country - OECD
• 40 000 of the continent's doctoral graduates now to be found outside the continent - OECD

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