Skilled Africans should return home to help with development

BRUSSELS – The European Union wants to encourage skilled Africans to return home, saying their countries need them to develop their own economies, the European Commission said Wednesday.

As part of a paper listing ways it can help African development, the EU’s executive arm said it wanted to reduce problems African countries face when professionals – particularly doctors and nurses – leave to take up better-paid jobs in Europe. “Africa and the EU will specifically address the issue of migration of skilled labour such as healthcare workers,” and seek to ease the problems created by European recruitment in Africa, it said.The paper stressed that the 27-nation EU and African nations had to build a “strategic partnership” to better handle migration issues, notably a brain drain of talented and educated professionals who are recruited by richer nations, like the EU bloc and others such as Canada, the United States and Australia.The EU remains eager to recruit professionals, too, but wants to allow them to return through new easier return programmes after gaining experience and training in European nations.A recent World Bank survey said 70 per cent of recently graduated doctors and 62 per cent of recently graduated nurses in Ethiopia plan to leave the country “whenever they get the chance.”An estimated 80 000 people with education qualifications leave the African continent every year, damaging efforts to alleviate poverty there.The EU said it would work with African Union countries to promote “circular migration” to encourage African workers in Europe to find work at home.It did not set out any formal suggestions but mentioned better links between African and EU universities and hospitals as one way of helping this happen.EU Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Franco Frattini has already begun pilot projects with EU governments to set up information offices in Africa on migration issues.A job centre is planned to open this year in Mali to help match potential migrants with seasonal or longer-term jobs in Europe, in both manual labour and professional openings such as engineers, doctors or nurses.The job centre, part of the EU’s plan to stem the flow of illegal immigrants from Western Africa, will offer language and professional training and credits to allow Malians to set up their own businesses, and help those who would like to return home from Europe.A similar centre in Dakar, Senegal, is also planned, EU officials have said.The EU centres will aim to complement existing efforts by national authorities and businesses, which recruit workers from Africa themselves.EU and African Union leaders will meet in December to debate migration – including ways to fight human trafficking and protect victims.They will also investigate ways to make it easier for migrants to send money back home.The summit will also cover efforts to halt deforestation, bringing developing countries into a cap-and-trade programme for carbon emissions and encouraging them to use greener technology.The EU paper said the bloc was planning a global climate change alliance to help vulnerable countries cope with climate change.Africa is likely to suffer expanding deserts, water shortages and more floods and droughts that could undo years of development efforts, a January report by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found.Europe is a major donor to Africa, the world’s poorest continent.The EU alone gave 48 billion euros last year, a figure that does not include donations from individual EU governments.Nampa-AP”Africa and the EU will specifically address the issue of migration of skilled labour such as healthcare workers,” and seek to ease the problems created by European recruitment in Africa, it said.The paper stressed that the 27-nation EU and African nations had to build a “strategic partnership” to better handle migration issues, notably a brain drain of talented and educated professionals who are recruited by richer nations, like the EU bloc and others such as Canada, the United States and Australia.The EU remains eager to recruit professionals, too, but wants to allow them to return through new easier return programmes after gaining experience and training in European nations.A recent World Bank survey said 70 per cent of recently graduated doctors and 62 per cent of recently graduated nurses in Ethiopia plan to leave the country “whenever they get the chance.”An estimated 80 000 people with education qualifications leave the African continent every year, damaging efforts to alleviate poverty there.The EU said it would work with African Union countries to promote “circular migration” to encourage African workers in Europe to find work at home.It did not set out any formal suggestions but mentioned better links between African and EU universities and hospitals as one way of helping this happen.EU Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Franco Frattini has already begun pilot projects with EU governments to set up information offices in Africa on migration issues.A job centre is planned to open this year in Mali to help match potential migrants with seasonal or longer-term jobs in Europe, in both manual labour and professional openings such as engineers, doctors or nurses.The job centre, part of the EU’s plan to stem the flow of illegal immigrants from Western Africa, will offer language and professional training and credits to allow Malians to set up their own businesses, and help those who would like to return home from Europe.A similar centre in Dakar, Senegal, is also planned, EU officials have said.The EU centres will aim to complement existing efforts by national authorities and businesses, which recruit workers from Africa themselves.EU and African Union leaders will meet in December to debate migration – including ways to fight human trafficking and protect victims.They will also investigate ways to make it easier for migrants to send money back home.The summit will also cover efforts to halt deforestation, bringing developing countries into a cap-and-trade programme for carbon emissions and encouraging them to use greener technology.The EU paper said the bloc was planning a global climate change alliance to help vulnerable countries cope with climate change.Africa is likely to suffer expanding deserts, water shortages and more floods and droughts that could undo years of development efforts, a January report by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found.Europe is a major donor to Africa, the world’s poorest continent.The EU alone gave 48 billion euros last year, a figure that does not include donations from individual EU governments.Nampa-AP