Welcome to our Newsletter!
Africa has no shortage of talent. The more difficult question is whether its policies are designed to keep that talent connected to the continent’s economic transformation.
That question is becoming more urgent as two major trends converge. The first is a historic retreat in development assistance. Aid to Africa fell by more than 25% in 2025, increasing pressure on governments to mobilize domestic resources and identify alternative sources of finance. The second is the growing mobility of African students, workers, and professionals, whose skills, earnings, and networks increasingly extend across national borders.
Too often, this mobility is framed as a simple choice between brain drain and brain gain. But the more useful question is what governments do before people leave, while they are abroad, and when they consider whether to return or reconnect with their countries of origin.
Morocco offers a revealing case. International mobility programs available in the country remain largely focused on facilitating outward mobility. Scholarships and study-abroad opportunities exist, but they are not always systematically aligned with national skills shortages or long-term labor market needs. Support while students and professionals are abroad remains limited, while institutional mechanisms to encourage return, reintegration, or continued engagement with the domestic economy are still underdeveloped.
The implication is clear: sending students abroad does not automatically translate into brain gain. Without policies to maintain links, match acquired skills with national priorities, and facilitate reintegration, public investment in mobility can end up reinforcing the very talent losses it seeks to mitigate.
This does not mean governments should seek to prevent mobility. On the contrary, international education, migration, and diaspora networks can expand access to knowledge, capital, markets, and professional opportunities. The policy objective should therefore be circulation rather than retention at all costs.
The same logic applies to remittances. They remain one of the most visible economic links between migrants and their countries of origin, but their development impact is more complex than headline figures suggest. In North Africa, for instance, remittances can improve women’s living conditions, educational outcomes, and longevity, while reducing adult female mortality. Yet they do not necessarily translate into greater economic participation, and their effects vary significantly across countries.
This is an important reminder: private transfers can ease household constraints, but their broader impact remains limited without stronger labor markets, effective social policies, and institutions capable of turning additional resources into lasting economic opportunity.
Diasporas matter for the same reason. Their value lies not only in the money they send home, but also in the businesses they create, the skills they transfer, the networks they build, and the connections they establish between markets. Intra-African diasporas are especially important in this regard, as they can help deepen regional trade, investment, knowledge flows, and South-South cooperation.
This broader understanding of mobility is becoming increasingly important as Africa rethinks its development model. With aid under pressure and a young population entering labor markets at scale, human capital can no longer be treated solely as a social-policy concern. It is a core economic asset.
The countries that benefit most will not necessarily be those that prevent the largest number of people from leaving. They will be those that make mobility work in both directions.
The real challenge, then, is not brain drain alone. It is policy passivity. Talent will move. The question is whether institutions are built to remain connected to it.
|
|
|
|
Historic Aid Cuts: How is Africa Reacting?
Otaviano Canuto, Hafez Ghanem, Karim El Aynaoui
There was a historic decline in Official Development Assistance (ODA) in 2025. Foreign aid to developing countries from members of the OECD-DAC fell by some 23%, the largest decline on record and the second consecutive annual decline. Aid to Africa fell by more than 25%. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) described this decline in ODA to Africa as “a shock like no other.” It differs from previous shifts in foreign assistance because of its scope and depth, as well as the speed, simultaneity, and unexpected nature of the cuts. Moreover, these cuts are occurring at a time when other sources of finance for Africa including multilateral institutions and NGOs are facing their own financing problems... Read more
|
|
|
From Solidarity to Capability: Rethinking South-South Cooperation for Africa’s Economic Transformation
Marie-Noelle Nwokolo
This op-ed argues that South-South cooperation should be assessed not simply by the volume of knowledge, technology, or expertise transferred, but by its ability to create lasting local capabilities. Drawing on examples from pharmaceutical manufacturing in East Africa and renewable energy cooperation in Zambia, the author shows that successful partnerships are those that embed know-how within domestic firms, institutions, and workforces. The article also stresses the responsibility of recipient countries to identify strategic priorities, adapt external experience to local realities, and build the institutional capacity needed to sustain and reproduce acquired capabilities. Ultimately, South-South cooperation should enable countries to produce, manage, innovate, and solve development challenges with progressively greater autonomy... Read more
|
|
|
|
(FR) Harnessing the Potential of Diasporas through South-South Cooperation in Africa
Iván Martín, Tayeb Ghazi, Amal El Ouassif
This Policy Brief explores how African countries can better mobilize intra-African diasporas as drivers of development and regional integration through South-South cooperation. Drawing on the launch conference of the POMIRE South-South project, it highlights the limited institutional attention given to diasporas living within Africa. The paper identifies four shared priorities: improving data and knowledge on diasporas, strengthening institutional cooperation, promoting diaspora entrepreneurship and employment, and improving communication around diaspora contributions. It argues that diasporas should be viewed not only as beneficiaries of consular services, but as strategic economic and social actors. Better coordination between public institutions is essential to support mobility, investment and skills transfer. The Policy Brief also stresses the importance of changing public narratives around migration and diaspora engagement. It calls for a gradual move from informal cooperation toward bilateral and multilateral frameworks. Overall, the paper positions intra-African diasporas as an underused lever for economic development and regional integration. It concludes with ten operational recommendations to guide the next phases of the POMIRE South-South project... Read more
|
|
|
Between Brain Drain and Brain Gain: The Role of Public Guidance Policies for Moroccan International Students
Aomar Ibourk, Tayeb Ghazi
This article examines whether Morocco’s public guidance schemes for international students support national development goals and can help transform brain drain into brain gain. Based on an analysis of 204 mobility programmes and scholarships promoted by the Ministry of Higher Education between 2019 and 2022, complemented by stakeholder interviews, it identifies three main weaknesses: funding disconnected from national skill needs, limited support during study abroad, and the absence of mechanisms to attract and reintegrate graduates. The study provides the first systematic mapping of Morocco’s outbound student mobility arrangements and proposes a three-phase framework, departure, sojourn, and return; to show how current guidance policies may inadvertently reinforce brain drain. It concludes with recommendations to better align student mobility with human capital retention and national development priorities... Read more
|
|
|
|
Remittances and Women’s Empowerment: Empirical Evidence from North African Countries
Oussama Zennati, Aomar Ibourk
This article examines the impact of remittances on human capital formation, living conditions, and economic participation of women in North African countries. While prior research has explored remittances’ effects on women’s access to fundamental rights, it has not fully captured the social and economic transformations induced by these funds. Our findings indicate that remittances significantly enhance women’s human capital in the region. Additionally, remittances contribute to increased life expectancy and a reduction in adult female mortality rates. However, they do not show a significant effect on women’s economic participation. A country-by-country analysis further reveals substantial heterogeneity in the effects of remittances across the sub-region, reflecting cross-country differences in migration patterns, the use of remittances by recipient households, as well as the relative importance of remittance as a share of GDP... Read more
|
|
|
Impact of Remittances on Women’s Longevity in North African Countries
Aomar Ibourk, Oussama Zennati
This article aims to explore the impact of migrants’ remittances on life expectancy and mortality rate of adult women left behind in north African countries. The study contributes to the literature by highlighting how remittances can support the achievement of sustainable development goals. At the same time, it investigates the extent to which remittances may challenge social policies in these countries. The empirical findings suggest that remittances significantly increase life expectancy of women in north Africa countries. Furthermore, migrants’ remittances are negatively and significatively associated with the mortality rate for adult women. Assessing the impact of remittances by country, highlights the existence of significant differences between the countries in the sub-region... Read more
|
|
|
|
|
|
Beyond Remittances: The Contribution of Intra-African Diasporas
Iván Martín, Tayeb Ghazi
How do intra-African diasporas contribute to the continent’s development? This Africafé episode discusses their role in remittances, entrepreneurship, and skills circulation. The conversation addresses the administrative, financial, and institutional barriers that limit their contribution, alongside opportunities for South-South cooperation to strengthen their participation in Africa’s economic integration... Watch
|
|
|
|
|
|
Investing in Human Capital: The Key to Africa's Economic Transformation
Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi
This podcast explores the central role of human capital in Africa’s economic transformation amid rapid population growth and a youthful demographic. It highlights the challenge of creating quality jobs and the need to better align skills development with labor market needs. The discussion also emphasizes labor mobility, innovative financing for education and healthcare, and the importance of building ecosystems where African talent can thrive... Listen
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fueling Africa’s Tech Talent: A New Playbook for Venture Capital and Founders
Maria Rotilu
Africa’s tech ecosystem has experienced remarkable growth over the past decade, drawing increasing global interest while facing persistent structural challenges. In this episode, Maria Rotilu, Founding Partner at Openseed VC, shares insights on how venture capital can be better aligned with local realities, the importance of developing and retaining talent, and the need to strengthen collaboration across the ecosystem. The discussion highlights that sustainable innovation in Africa will depend not only on funding, but also on investing in skills, mentorship, and inclusive capacity-building to translate momentum into long-term economic impact... Watch
|
|
|
|
You are receiving this email because you have subscribed in the past, attended one or more of our events, have contact with our staff or Fellows or broader network. We consider that you want to keep receiving our think tank's publications unless you unsubscribe from our mass mailing system.
Unsubscribe from this mailing list | Update your details | Other requests
|
|
|
|
Policy Center for the New South
Rabat Campus of Mohammed VI Polytechnic University Rocade Rabat Salé 11103, Morocco
www.policycenter.ma | contact@policycenter.ma
© 2026 Policy Center for the New South. All rights reserved.
Ce traitement a été notifié et autorisé par la CNDP au titre du récépissé N° D-NL-718/2020
This processing has been notified and authorized by the CNDP under receipt N ° D-NL-718/2020
|
|
|
|
|
.jpg)
