The African Brain Drain - Managing The Drain: Working With The Diaspora...

Thanks to Henry, I now know that African think tanks are gathered in Libya trying to tackle the 'The Brain Drain Issue' (Would definitely work for a movie title). I am glad that the word 'managed' is used and not 'stop' or any other grander sounding verb, as a show of force. Do African leaders finally get it? Truth be told, I am not familiar with the conference and I am going off of Henry's entry.I have also assumed that the theme of the conference points in the general direction of the deliberations in Libya. Before now I have opined that brain drain is not a problem but a symptom or signal of state of affairs in the home continent.
For me, not much has changed in the months that passed. I still believe that the mention of the term brain-drain, is a waste of the precious two seconds I spent listening to it, and more so, a bigger waste of the calories burned in getting worked up over the pointlessness (yup that is a real word!) of such discourse.
Clipped from Henry's

It is under the theme: "The African Brain Drain - Managing the drain: Working with the diaspora," The conference was opened by the Libyan deputy prime minister, Prof. Abdelhafeed Zalitni and addressed by among others, the AAU president, Prof. Njabulo Ndebele, the secretary-general Prof. Akilapka Sawyerr, the Seventh of April University president, Prof. Shaeban Taher and Nadia Zakri of the African Union Commission. The conference will feature 16 papers by experts from within and outside Africa, who will be discussing the issue of brain drain.

Just as I was about to declare the conference a waste of Government time I saw this;

Global experiences suggest that though it is difficult to stop migration of skills, it is possible to strategically harness the diaspora as a resource that can complement other efforts,"argued Peter Materu of the World Bank.

Maybe there is indeed a new awakening to the power embedded in the diaspora, just maybe. Brain drain will reduce when Africa experiences sustainable growth and the diaspora can be a tool at meeting this goals. Any policy framework which considers brain drain an evil monster which ravages the land ought to be tossed. The already drained brains ought to be harnessed. So that at the end of the day, drained brains will end up being a part of the force that counter brain drain.
Related Posts:
Tosin's guest post. and here I lay it bare black bandanna style, over to Reuben Abati on the same issue and finally I proffer a solution in one of my more sober entries.