FROM THE AMELIORATIVE TO THE SYSTEMIC: THE AFRICAN DIASPORA AND HIGHER EDUCATION IN AFRICA
Toyin Falola
There is no point belaboring the relevance of education to the process of nation building in a state and revitalization of a civilization. This is why the Continental Forum on the Role of the Diaspora in Higher Education, Research and Innovation in Africa, comprising of several major stakeholders in Africa and beyond, met recently in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to discuss the role of African Academics in the diaspora, with the view of reordering the educational system in Africa; vis-à-vis the mechanism of engagement with this entity. This year's conference was organized primarily to provide operational follow-up to the Dakar Summit of 2015, wherein the challenges and opportunities of tapping into the extant knowledge and experiences of Africa's sixth region were deliberated. Invariably, this is a follow-up on the attempt to change the tide of "brain drain" in the continent to its gains, aside from the areas of foreign remittances. Accordingly, the Forum serves as a platform for the African Union, in partnership with Carleton University, and supported by Carnegie Corporation, to engage relevant stakeholders in its pursuit to achieve its ten-year Continental Education Strategy for Africa, for the period 2016-2025 (CESA 16-25). As it would later be seen, so far, the AU has benefitted from the inquisitiveness and rigorous engagements heralded by the array of stakeholders from different sectors, within and outside Africa, in the Forum.
These entities include the African Union Commission, AU Member State Focal Agencies for the Diaspora and Education, Government Ministries and Officials, African Diaspora Program Administrators, Academic Leaders, Strategic Partners; including the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA), the Pan-African Doctoral Academy (PADA), the Pan African University (PAU), the Association of African Universities (AAU), and funders. In the final analysis, this broad strategy of engagement is designed to create a new African citizen who will be an effective change agent for the continent's sustainable development as envisioned by the African Union and its Agenda 2063.
In light of this, the program is defined within three major prospects: refining higher education in Africa, enhancing scientific research, and creating auspicious room for innovation. The question that follows is: how could Africa produce new African personality in an increasingly competitive world that is swiftly moving to the age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution through the help of its diaspora population, particularly in the Academics? This is zeroed to the broader African Union's quest to see what the African diaspora population could do for Africa and also, what Africa could do to impact its sixth region. Consequently, this year's forum, building on the 2015 Summit, focused on the evaluation of past and current African diaspora intervention models and frameworks in the higher education sector in Africa; Identifying member states with existing diaspora intervention institutions, policy frameworks, and mechanisms with the view to engaging them to develop a higher education component where absent; highlighting challenges and developing strategies to maximize the potential of African diasporas to contribute to higher education.
The welcome address was delivered by Mr. Ahmed El-Basheer, Director of the Citizens and Diaspora Directorate, African Union Commission, where he made general pronouncements as to the hope of the African Union concerning the gathering. Essentially, according to H.E. Sarah Agbor, Commissioner for Human Resources Science and Technology, African Union Commission, in her opening remarks, in view of the rising population of youth in Africa, which is estimated to be the largest in the world, with the tendency to double-up by 2050, the Africa we want by 2063 is that in which 70 percent of our youth would have been trained in the areas of skills and technology in the universities; and where provision of higher quality education would be steady. This is with the hope that by this time, the Union would have succeeded in breaching the knowledge gap through the diaspora force and in building capacity in science, technology, youth employment, entrepreneurship, quality, relevant education, and institutions. In a similar manner, H.E. Victor Harion, Commissioner for Economic Affairs, African Union Commission, restates the role of the AU to reorient African education, link education to human resources, and attain peace and prosperity in the continent.
Meanwhile, in his own address, Professor Oyewole Olusola, former president, Association of African Universities (AAU), and former Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAB) in Nigeria, introduced the AAU as an association comprising over 400 universities concerned with the promotion of communication among universities and strengthening development of higher education in Africa. In its recognition of the role of the Africa diaspora population, it has created a link with them, resulting into the establishment of an office in Washington D.C. To the Association, they see the conference as an opportunity to enhance the quality of education in Africa and attain collaboration.
Unequivocally, stakeholders at the Forum agreed on the porous stand of the educational system across Africa today. Citing different instructive instances and indices, participants reiterated the lagging posture of Africa in the area of competitive value of its many peoples vis-à-vis the rest of the world. For instance, one of the participants, Professor Bayo Olukoshi, who introduced H.E. Obiageli Ezekwesili, stressed the importance of higher education and that the changes in some countries are underwritten by Africans in the diaspora and further asked how the continent could use the huge diasporic resources to revitalize African education and drive projects. On her part, Mrs. Ezekwesili situated her concern within the fact that only 15 universities within the continent could be placed on global competition, while Africa represents one-fifth of the global average in university admission; and at the same time, in the face of fierce global competition, less than 25 percent of its population is PhD certified. She further warns about the implications of the recently signed Continental Free Trade Agreement if care, rooted in the education sector of African states, is not taken. Like many of the participants, she reiterated that the "broken politics" at play in many African states which is responsible for citizen-state mistrust, is responsible for the abysmal level of diasporic impact on the continent; beyond the foreign remittances, particularly in the educational sector. Therefore, she encouraged Africans in the sixth region— the diasporic Africans— to contribute to good governance and politics in Africa. At the end, the question is being asked as to the relationship between the town and the gown, as well as the level of funding of education in African states and commitment to human capacity building. This is particularly so, as she mentioned, when one considers the GDP rate of African states in light of resources locked-up in these entities.
Nonetheless, all is not gloomy, especially as the Forum was informed about the success stories of some states in Africa, Ghana and South Africa in the main, in the area of improving their educational system. In this instance, Mr. Buti Manamala, Deputy Minister of Higher Education, South Africa, informed the gathering that the country is developing postgraduate capacity, just as they are mobilizing resources to build connections with institutions abroad. He further expressed that the country has created networks with institutions in Europe and the US— not necessarily Africans in the diaspora but those who can work with them to develop postgraduate capacities. One weakness, he noted, is the mobility of young people to go to different parts of the world to study. However, South Africa has reconfigured the system to include technical education because they believe that they need vocational skills.
Adding to this in another session, Professor Beverly Kramer who is Director, Carnegie-Wits Alumni Diaspora Program, University of Witwatersrand, talked about the development of public health affected by brain drain. He noted that between 1975 and 95, many health professionals left South Africa. They created an Alumni Diaspora Program; a short-term program of about two weeks for people with skills to engage in collaboration. The program sponsored by a fund from Carnegie Corporation nurtures the emergence of a new set of professionals, giving them opportunity to come back as they are attached to a host. The program, which has so far engaged 68 diasporans on visits, has a positive outcome in terms of new research, collaboration on new projects, knowledge sharing and development, joint research proposals, scientific writing and the creation of an electronic data base. Other areas of impact are in mentorship, early career developments by diasporans; leading to supervision, publications, and access to grant funding. In this process, significant joint publications have been generated.
Representing Ghana in the discourse of its progress in the area of engaging the diaspora was Professor Yaa Ntiamoah, from the University of Ghana (UG). The Professor intimated the forum with some of the general features of the decay of African institutions, as she went on to state how her country went about the challenges— among which was the shortage of PhD holders, aging faculty members, and excessive workload on academic staff— when in 2010-11, the University of Ghana decided to become a world-class research institution. In this way, they decided to create more PhDs, but they needed supervisors. To fill the void, they tapped into the professors in the diaspora. UG was awarded a Carnegie Corporation grant that has been with them for over ten years now, allowing those in the diaspora to go to Ghana where they work full time, teach, supervise, and examine PhDs. As part of the arrangement, they collect stipendssimilar to the payment structure of the University of Ghana from the Carnegie Corporation grant. Over the period, they have attracted 80 professors from abroad. The majority of those who visit are in the humanities and others are from STEM. The values of the linkages are visible even in engineering, and have led to the development of a vibrant postgraduate program. The Mathematics Department which was dying was revived. And her conclusion could not have been anything other than taking pride in the success of the Ghana-diaspora engagement.
In what seemed to be on mind of many of the participants, Professor Ntiamoah added that there are lessons: how do you link with individuals or institutions? When the diasporan fellow leaves, there is a problem. She hopes that the link with Carleton will not break. There must be a relationship between the person in Ghana and the diasporan fellow. There must be a clear agenda to be clear about the nature of the collaboration. There must be honesty and genuineness because the diasporan is not supposed to come for a holiday. One must manage the diasporan expectations in terms of accommodation, transportation and how to survive. There must be sustainability.
Already, as mentioned in the presentation of Mr. Buti Manamala and others, organizations like Carnegie Corporation have been committed to multi-directional flows of knowledge (?) in this respect, among which are: raising awareness among officials and academics about initiatives to improve the quality of research, addressing communication challenges in relation to diaspora activities, and ensuring sustainability of diaspora relations through advancing conducive policy. . As such, in one of its programs, the Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship Program (CADFP), universities in six countries in Africa, apply for Africa-born scholars in the US to visit for a period of between 21 and 90 days in a manner of transfer of indigenous expatriate skills. During this period, the scholar works on research, graduate supervision, and curricula development. Within this program, over 400 fellows have been sponsored, hosted by 140 institutions, and 700 curricula have been revised. Some have developed graduate programs and new research programs. All these were stated(?) by Ms Claudia Frittelli of Carnegie Corporation, and Prof. Gibril Faal of CADFP Advisory Council, to show that global linkages actually work and to encourage countries in Africa to leverage the support of Carnegie Corporation.
In the same manner, Prof. Godwin Murunga, Executive Secretary, CODESRIA, reiterated the general challenges facing the education sector in Africa. Weak academic structures, bad leadership, dead seminar culture, poor supervision, and the private sector mistrust of the quality of degrees from African universities, were highlighted as the challenges needed to be faced and with which the organization has been involved. He warns that the diaspora is not homogenous, as there are self-organizing diasporas and we must understand the varieties. CODESRIA treats the diaspora as part of its overall program. We must think in specific ways, he noted. With Carnegie, they developed a program on curriculaa, with people from the diaspora assisting with visiting professorships to design programs and curricula. They built early career academics, while reproducing social science careers and research. Through this collaboration, as he expressed, high quality research has been produced. CODESRIA also supports doctoral students engaging diaspora scholars. He concluded by reminding the audience that the prospect of staying in Africa diminishes every day, thus producing the conditions for more and more Africans to leave Africa. To assuage the brain migration, he urged states to create auspicious environments, with partnerships with the likes of CODESRIA for academics to thrive. In response to some of the questions asked, he expressed that CODESRIA is thinking of broadening its program in the area of diaspora engagement, but will look for the most important areas of interventions.
Expectedly, against this backdrop, various questions were asked by other participants as to the viability of replicating the India-China model of diasporic engagement in Africa. This is more so as we consider the economic capability and political-will of African states to facilitate productive and transformational engagement with its sixth axis. Participants queried the incentives and readiness of African governments to explore their diasporic wealth for the common good of Africa. In this light, the Chairman of the Academic Staff Union of University (ASUU) in Nigeria made reference to a policy where scholars from abroad were invited to teach in Nigeria, but could not gain access to the resources with which to work because there were none. So the program failed. He concluded that before they could invite those in diaspora, Nigeria must first provide facilities and infrastructure.
In his response, Mr. Buti Manamala, the Deputy Minister from South Africa returned to the necessity to keep pushin g for reform in the education sector in Africa against the odds, as in the South African case. He however aligned with the fact that, for the diaspora to work, upon return they must return to an environment with resources, while intimating at the gathering at the same time that there were external voices discouraging Africa from pursuing a number of policies. The minister from Nigeria in her response noted that there must be emphasis on human capital. She argued that new forms of knowledge should create an institutional framework that recognizes the diaspora as a resource. Regarding the funding of education, she wants us to do more work on pricing mechanisms to ensure that those who have the capacity to pay are not short-changing the system. The rich, she noted, pay a lot of money for primary and high school education of their children but do not want to pay for public universities. She argued that we have an irresponsible middle class and asked: "what is the outcome of funding for public universities?" We need to take tough decisions, not popular decisions. She then added that there was a need for us to talk about academic and research performance because the universities were corrupt.
H.E Mrs. Ezekwezili, on her part, noted that we need to collect more data and be able to maximize usage to push an agenda for reform. She observed that the continent has not used the agency of the diaspora to change the dynamics of the economy that remains the same from the 1960s and that in lieu of thinking lineal we need to start thinking exponential, so as to achieve scale and space. This is considering that exponential technology creates greater access and knowledge. She added that one of the major challenges the program could face is the anti-intellectual political culture with leaders who seldom understand STEM and rising technology.
In another session, Prof. Wei Ha, associate dean Peking University, spoke about the experience and results of government programs in China, using China as an example of brain gain and brain circulation. He provided charts that showed that China is producing many graduates, as Chinese who study abroad could go back home, while some remained abroad and established partnership and networks. He provided data on Chinese who went abroad and those who returned. In this analysis, rate of return fluctuated. The statistics showed that where China funded the education, ratio of return was high; where it was self-funded, return ratio was low. He further informed the forum that Chinese policies were in two phases: candidates could be asked to return on a temporary basis to make specific contributions; however this could be made permanent. In a more recent phase, they invited the scholars back permanently. The Chinese government created the infrastructure and environment to do this. In 2010, they created policies for those under the age of 40. The returnees were to assist to increase the number of publications in and on China.
As a typical case study of the vibrancy of diaspora engagement with their home-country, questions were again asked about the Chinese-India model vis-à-vis the challenges and opportunities, and if this could be replicated in Africa. In the case of India, it was noted that engagement with the diaspora remains at the higher level of education. India makes use of the diaspora to start new initiatives, a way of looking at research activities. They use the diaspora to lift the quality of research. It was however noted that indeed, this could create academic inequality for those scholars who remained home, and it raised the possibility of spying. Like many African countries, Indian education also promotes rote learning. One of the challenges to the program, as noted, is that diaspora is a middleclass phenomenon, thereby making people not to come back. In the case of China, the respondent noted that "needs drive decision. You need security, order and viable economy for your diaspora to come back."
Another interesting session brought together vice chancellors across the continent. Describing how the visions of diaspora connect to their universities, they discussed what can and cannot be achieved through engagement with diaspora academics and what they see as the drivers of and constraints to, success. Like other participants mentioned, they argued that there is a need for incentives that are financial and symbolic, capable of making those in the diaspora feel committed. While they agree with the need to collaborate with the diaspora, they submitted that this could only go to the level of ameliorating already existing problems, as they can hardly solve bigger problems. Those in the diaspora cannot establish the fundamental problems of teaching and research unless they stay for a long period; say a minimum of six months. Specifically, Professor Adam Habib, Vice-Chancellor, University of the Witwatersrand, warned that if we were serious, programs had to be sustainable and longer, there had to be the institutionalization of collaborations. He wanted a strategic alliance, as in joint appointments for teaching and supervisory capacities. For instance, the African Union could take part in a large-scale collaborative funding with China, Europe, and the USA for long-term collaborations with systemic interventions on fellowship and joint appointments. He continued that, this would bring inclusive development, and it would allow us to reimagine higher education. Citing the example of China, he opined that the success of the diaspora program there was not merely a result of nationalism, but their citizens went back because they could work, earn a good living, and do great work.
In his contribution, Professor David Norris, vice chancellor, University of Botswana, addressed the priority of the institution and how they had been going about the issue of PhD candidates on sponsorship not coming back. On the latter, two options were explored: they either paid in cash and refunded the institution; or paid kind where the institution tapped from their skills. On the former, the institution focuses on graduate training as it provides for sound research facilities, but then, there was no culture of research. The institution, he expressed, needed to attract grants and writing proposals. Taking the stage again, Professor Oyewole Olusola, was of the opinion that an adequate plan must be put in place if the program was going to work. This, according to him, would require diaspora scholars to be responsible to the university and not the faculty; in that sense, institutions had to set-up a contact office that managed the diaspora affairs and created mechanisms for feedback.
The session became more interesting when the vice chancellors received comments and questions from the audience. The comments and questions revolved around the sources of funding— should Africa still look outward to finance these programs?— and general questions on mechanisms. This elicited another question from the vice chancellors: where were the states to finance the programs? They added that the likes of Carnegie could do little; therefore, more hands were needed on the deck. In any case, they continued, in as much as the skills and knowledge of Africans in the sixth region were needed to address the deficiencies in the education sector, they could not solve the problem. Altogether, participants agreed that Africa needed a systemic change, part of which would require that different approaches be employed by different entities to fit into their peculiar needs. However, as this was done, deliberate and clear imaginative policies had to be pursued and institutionalized. This way diaspora programs could be linked to a clear development agenda.
On a general note, as part of the progress being made in strengthening the education sector in Africa, it was noted that a pan-African doctoral academy had been established with a business plan, to ensure sustainability. While it was stressed that the program should include plans to educate Africans to have knowledge of themselves, so as to meet the African Union's agenda 2063 of producing a new African citizen, participants praised the late Professor Pius Adesanmi for his brilliance and passion for Africa.
The conference proceeded to the second day with focus on "Current interventions and Actionable Measures". Talking on the Continental Educational Strategy for Africa 2016-2025, Prof. Damtew Teferra, University of Kwazulu-Natal, took the stage "to highlight the status and implementation of CESA's higher education component in terms of activities and programs planned or completed thus far". Using the lessons learnt from Day 1, the session was conveyed "to develop concrete and actionable measures by which the various stakeholders could contribute, in the short to medium term, to the implementation of CESA Higher Education through partnerships and synergies between diaspora partners and Africa-based counterparts." Comments and questions followed this intervention, ranging from the commitment of African governments to the allocation of 6 percent of their GDP to the education sector, monitoring mechanisms and enforcement of CESA regulations, the involvement of universities, improvement of graduate studies clusters, and quality assurance. In his reaction, Professor Teferra stressed that, in as much as there is a need for the government to adequately fund education, there is a need for the academics to keep engaging the government to fund education in Africa. He recognized the challenges of implementation of the program, more so as many countries have not even signed the Arusha declaration.
Meanwhile, in another session, discussions were formed around policies that are in place, or that are needed, to ensure that diaspora engagement programs achieve their objectives. The questions addressed here were in two broad outlines: 1. Based on existing policies and practices, what specific practical actions can be undertaken in the short and medium term by individual institutions and academic networks to expand and enhance academic diaspora engagement and innovation? 2. Considering the gaps in policy and practice, what specific facilitative actions should be undertaken by national and regional higher education authorities to stimulate, catalyze and enhance academic diaspora engagement and innovation? In addressing these pertinent questions, the panelist brought to the fore, the experience of their various countries which showed the various levels of diaspora engagement in African states. Dr. Mary Setran Boatemaa, who was a Forum-commissioned researcher, spoke on institutional capacity building and recommended ways to improve on this, including the creation of agencies that would be responsible for attracting and sustaining diaspora engagement. Furthermore, she recommended the creation of diaspora desks in foreign embassies to bring them together. Also, there should be some rights, as in voting because dual citizenship should not just be about remittances and investment but also political rights, she said. In her concluding remarks, she suggested an academic diaspora policy to advance a positive agenda to transform education.
Dr. Wangui Kimari, a postdoctoral fellow at University of Cape Town, observed at her own end that there were policies in place in Africa, but there were no cohesive ways to transfer knowledge, and there was need for transparency. Her recommendations: there should be diaspora-inclusive education; diaspora bonds must be improved; learn from small-scale initiatives; and focus on younger scholars. From Ghana, the government representative, Akwasi Awua Ababio, Director of Diaspora Affairs, Office of the President of the Republic of Ghana, informed the gathering that there is a directorate in the office of the presidency where they encourage those in the diaspora to come home. The Physician Association in Ghana, he pointed out, has created linkages with a number of doctors in the USA, and they encourage those in the diaspora to come back to become citizens. To achieve this, they are working on restrictions in the constitution that are obstacles to making a better use of those in the diaspora. From Nigeria, the forum was intimated with a diaspora program coordinated by the National University Commission. Represented by Professor Chris Maiyaki, director, Directorate of the Executive Secretary's Office, National University Commission (NUC), Nigeria, it was relayed that NUC engages those in the diaspora to come back temporarily to give lectures, to teach and research. Some remain behind and contribute to curriculum re-engineering and research culture. He suggested the harmonization of diaspora programs, and to map the locations of Nigerians. Laying credence to the fear of funding, Professor Maiyaki told the gathering that they have run out of funding and for that reason, the program was temporarily suspended.
Contributing to the discussion, the African Union representative made known the fact that over 200 million Africans resided in the continent's sixth region and there was a need for a collective diaspora to locate those who could reengage with Africa. Very instructively, a cautionary tale was made by one of the participants, requesting that attention must be paid to the politics the interactions with the diaspora so as not to promote incentives that would antagonize those on the ground. Further discussions show that Rwanda had included reference to its diaspora in talking about its poverty elimination program, and that the President of Ghana was meeting with students in foreign countries as a form of connect.
As the conference proceeded, Dr. Yabebal Fantaye, Cosmologist and Data Scientist, Co-founder of 10 Academy, observed that emerging fields were not being discussed and that, among other things, there must be structures to make things work. Adding his voice to what had been said, Professor Joseph Mensah, York University, African Diaspora Fellow, University of Ghana, opined that the programs should be demand driven so that there could be ownership. Since the economy of most states in Africa was dragging due to various reasons, peak of which was mismanagement and disorganization, it was suggested at the gathering that, learning from China, African states could try diaspora taxation. With this view, the African Union was advised to make a clear statement, in the form of its definition of Africa's sixth region. But then, states were encouraged to see the need to turn to ingenious means of generating funds and reversing the flow of capital which in the end came back as loans and foreign aid.
In all, it was expected that states and other stakeholders present at the forum would go back to harmonize existing and new interventions variously deliberated upon at the gathering, while consolidating existing policies. As part of its integral role in the program, the African Union was advised to formulate policies for member states to advocate,provide technical support for states in formulating their policies--asit served to stand as a positive response to the lesson from China on wide policy consultation--encourage member states to develop databases of their scholars in the diaspora, embolden the streamlining of immigration processes to facilitate mobility of scholars, assist in resource mobilization, and coordinate policymaking in states for harmonization of thought and processes across regions. As the conference closed, the Citizens and Diaspora Directorate (CIDO) AU's representative thanked the participants and partners, counting on the support of scholars to assist. CIDO promised to bring recommendations to AU's Specialized Technical Committee for adequate actionable attention. Pauline Rankine, dean, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Carleton University, Canada, made her closing remarks with the thought that the role of diasporic engagements should not just fall on African institutions; support must be given to enhance their capacity. She reiterated the readiness of the Canadian government for partnership in this process. This way, she submitted, Canada could create a consortium to mobilize African diaspora scholars in Canada.
Will the change begin tomorrow?
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