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A new initiative has been launched in a bid to help reverse Africa’s brain drain by encouraging Africans who are currently living outside the continent to return home with their skills.

‘Africa Recruit’ will organise employment events such as job fairs in their country of residence for Africans living abroad, and has linked up with FindajobinAfrica.com — a database of African professionals — to help mobilise the skills of African professionals living outside the continent.

The initiative is the brainchild of the Commonwealth Business Council (CBC), a private sector organisation that aims to bridge businesses and governments in Commonwealth countries.

“Africa’s economic development requires that the historical brain drain be reversed into a brain gain,” says Funto Akingube of Africa Recruit. “We must make use of the scientific and managerial skills of Africans in the diaspora.”

The New Partnership for Africa Development (NEPAD) has already endorsed the initiative as a practical attempt to fill the skills gap in Africa’s workforce, and thus help improve political, social and economic conditions on the continent.

“To ensure that Africa’s natural resource is translated into wealth, its human capital base must be established and sustained,” said Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, chair of the NEPAD Business Group at the inauguration of Africa Recruit in London last week. “The launch of CBC AfricaRecruit is a timely step in the right direction,”

The inauguration event, which was attended by more than 3,500 African professionals, provided a forum for exchange between African leaders, the corporate sector and representatives from the diaspora. Similar events will be held in Paris, New York and in Africa this year.

See also:

Africa Recruit
Commonwealth Business Council
FindajobinAfrica.com