Project brain-gain

AfricaRecruit has announced that is has been awarded a grant by the International Council for Science Regional Office for Africa (ICSU ROA) and National Research Foundation (NRF) South Africa. The grant will enable the company to undertake the The African Diaspora Brain Gain project, over the period of February to May 2008. The aim of the project is to develop a sustainable work plan to effectively mobilise and engage the African Diaspora in science, engineering, technology and related sectors for projects in Africa.

The significance of the project in underscored by Abdoulie Janneh, Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa, who observed that, “For Africa to accelerate its development and achieve the Millennium Development Goals, African countries have to scale up their investments in Science and Technology”.

Mobilising Diaspora skills has been pointed as one of the greatest investments that could occur on the continent; hence, this has been an area of concentration by various stakeholders. Research points to the fact that the Diaspora is already actively involved in various projects, though these need to be scaled up to have maximum impact.

Great opportunity

According to Dr Andrew Enow of the International Council for Science Regional Office for Africa (ICSU ROA), “The African Diaspora Brain-Gain project is a great opportunity for African Diaspora scientists to further consolidate their roles and efforts in science and technology projects for the socio-economic development of the continent”.

Dr Titilola Banjoko, Chairperson of AfricaRecruit, expanded on the activities that the company will be undertaking to ensure the success of the project. These activities include:
• Information and data gathering target to develop a robust database of 2,500 Diaspora
• 30 case studies of successful Diaspora engagement in other continents, such as Asia
• Stakeholder engagement using various approaches online and offline to gain an in-depth understanding of the challenges, incentives and recommendations to effective Diaspora engagement
• Analysis of information and data
• Report findings by producing a coloured glossy report for a stakeholder roundtable in June 08

According to Dr Banjoko, “To enable effective engagement by all stakeholders, the level and depth of Diaspora interest and active participation need to be ascertained. By completing the survey-questionnaire this can be achieved. The survey will also be used to obtain Diaspora feedback on challenges and recommendations to feed into the ongoing development of science and technology in Africa”.

The areas of focus of the project include but not limited to health and human well-being; sustainable energy; natural and human-induced hazards and disasters; global climate change; natural sciences; engineering; technology; research and innovation; support and advancement; astro/ space/ geosciences; biodiversity/conservation and nuclear sciences.

Article courtesy of African Press Organisation.