Africa's got brains: Brain Drain Part 1

It is Saturday afternoon, and I am sitting at The Junction Java, enjoying my Cafe Latte. I don’t come here often except when my boss flies from California and needs a cup of good regular coffee. But I was bored at home and needed to go somewhere. My laptop died and so I can’t make use of the free wifi at the Java. I have exhausted all the books in my apartment and am now re-reading them. Currently I am doing Jeffrey Sachs’s The End of Poverty.  I know what you are thinking: what a nerd! Reading an economics book for leisure? Well, I don’t usually read such for leisure—my favourites are John Grisham’s, Robert Ludlum's and Khaled Hossein’s books. But when there’s no choice, yes, I pick Jeffrey Sachs’s, William Easterly's or Dambisa Moyo's.

Ok. Back at the Java…the place is full. No sitting space, except am alone at my table. An American man (I can tell from his accent), about 50+ years approaches me. He asks if we can share the table. I say sure. He orders a grilled chicken sandwich and chai. I continue to read my Jeffrey Sachs’s and sip my latte. Both of us are minding our own businesses—I like that. But he decides to mind my business and asks: “Are you prepping for an Economics exam?”

“No,” I respond. “why do you ask?”

“Because am an Econ professor and Sachs is on the to-read list for my students.”

“Is that so? It was on my professor’s to-read list too. So Prof, do you agree with Sachs’s argument that increasing development aid is the key to ending poverty in Africa?”

“I have an idea! Why don’t we debate: Would you like to be Sachs, Easterly, or Dambisa Moyo?”

“Hmmm….I will be Easterly”

He chooses to be Sachs and for over two hours we engage in an intellectual battle. I won’t go into the details of that battle—that is for another day. But what he says at the end is my main theme today. He says: "You know, in all my years of teaching, I have found African and Asian students to be the most brilliant.”

“Really?” I ask. “When I lived in the US, not many people thought Africans were that bright. My friends and I had to constantly try to prove that we were as intelligent as Americans, maybe better. It was exhausting! But necessary, because we would otherwise be treated as lesser beings.”

“Tell me more.” he says. 

“I remember the first paper I did for my Masters, the professor whispered to me: Excellent! Your writing is better than for most native English speakers. I loved grading your paper. An American student who overheard that grabbed my paper and read it. She probably thought the prof was just encouraging a struggling student. Anyway, not all Americans, or Britons think we are stupid. You sir, are a good example.

“Thanks. But Africans themselves need to realize that they are not less brilliant than whites. Did you know that at the university where I teach, most of the African students graduate with a summa cum laude or a magna cum laude? They come from the most under-resourced countries, they come on partial scholarships, they work to pay the rest of the tuition, to feed themselves and to send a few bucks home.”

“But sir, what happens after they graduate? Don’t they stay in the US and their brains get used there?”

"Ah! The brain-drain problem! A huge issue. But you came back and Kenya is benefiting from your brains?”

“Not really, I am actually planning to go back to the US soon.”

“And be part of the brain-drain statistics?”

To be continued...