The post-Covid-19 period has been tough on all the world’s economies. Developed countries have had to adapt their strategies to keep their heads above water.
One of these strategies has been the inclusion of immigration, but not just any immigration! While there were already well-known programmes such as the American Lottery (Green Card) or the skilled worker programme in Canada, commonly known as selective immigration, several programmes aimed at strengthening the workforce in various American and European countries have been set up to the great delight of some who see their dreams come true through this channel.
While selective immigration, which consists of a country designating who enters its borders and for what reason, is a solution for both the requesting and the requesting country, it is a great loss for the offering country, which has educated and trained a citizen to serve it faithfully.
The phenomenon of brain drain, which refers to the migration of skilled talent to countries offering better opportunities, is a worrying reality for developing countries in general and Cameroon in particular. Although often perceived as a loss for the country, this migration paradoxically represents an opportunity to improve the living conditions of Cameroonian citizens. Those who leave become the stooges of those who stay.
Cameroon’s intellectuals in search of greener pastures
Cameroon, ‘Africa in miniature’, with its rich geographical and cultural diversity, is also a breeding ground for human resources in a variety of fields. Cameroonians are incredibly adaptable, and when they decide to leave the country to try their luck abroad, it’s to make a name for themselves in the field in which they excel: medicine, engineering, information technology, the arts, and so on.
Every year, thousands of qualified Cameroonians choose to conquer the world, a phenomenon that particularly affects the health, education and IT sectors, among others. The reasons for this massive departure include uncompetitive salaries in their country (remember that the minimum wage is around 55 euros a month and the average salary is around 450 euros), a lack of career prospects (apart from the civil service, which guarantees a salary and benefits, there are multinationals and international organisations that stand out from the crowd.
Small and medium-sized businesses, on the other hand, struggle to treat their staff well, and entrepreneurship is a different kettle of fish. Inadequate infrastructure (we are reminded of the complaints of students at the Faculty of Physical Sciences who a few years ago demanded laboratory equipment for their tutorials…) and socio-economic instability linked to the prevailing political situation.
For example, a young graduate of the École Normale Supérieure assigned to the Biyem-Assi secondary school in Yaoundé, Cameroon, has a basic salary of 220 euros, plus a few allowances. Everyone should try to compare this with what the same young person would earn abroad. It could be up to ten times more, and let’s not even talk about working conditions. These significant differences encourage talented people to seek ‘greener pastures’ elsewhere.
Training in Cameroon: the case of a teacher
The government is investing in institutions such as the École Normale Supérieure (ENS) to train educators who will be able to meet the growing needs of the country’s education system. Teacher training in Cameroon is emblematic of the country’s skills development challenges.
When they leave school, these teachers very often find themselves faced with precarious working conditions, especially when they are posted to small towns and other rural areas: lack of teaching materials, overcrowded classrooms and delays in salary payments. The most visible consequence is that they choose to pursue opportunities abroad, particularly in French-speaking or Western African countries, where their skills are more highly valued. This is the very example of someone who says ‘it’s better to be a part-time teacher in Gabon than a full professor in Cameroon because of the salary’.
Paradoxically, the teachers who leave are often those who have benefited from the greatest support from the State, when we know that there are some who are prepared to spend millions to buy the entrance exam to the Ecole Normale Supérieure and that once inside they benefit from the best training and after they leave they wait for their call-back which serves as an investment in their plans to leave, thus exacerbating the shortage of qualified labour locally.
What the Cameroonian government spends on training a young person
Public primary education has been free in Cameroon for over twenty years. However, parents are required to pay for school supplies, health care, entrance examinations and the Parents’ Association, among other things. The government also subsidises university education by offering relatively low tuition fees at public universities and by funding certain grants. Educating a young Cameroonian represents a substantial investment for the State.
Between the costs of primary, secondary and higher education, each citizen represents human capital in the making. In specialised fields such as medicine or engineering, the cost of training a student can reach several million CFA francs a year. In theory, these investments should result in a return in the form of services rendered to the community. But when these young graduates emigrate, a whole economic and social potential goes with them.
When immigration becomes more attractive
Faced with Cameroon’s economic and social challenges, the prospects offered by immigration often seem irresistible. Western countries offer attractive mobility programmes for qualified professionals. Foreign universities offer scholarships to bright students, while employers are actively seeking skilled workers in shortage sectors.
In addition, the gap between the standard of living in Cameroon and that in the host countries accentuates this trend. For example, a nurse working in Canada can not only earn a higher salary, but also access social benefits such as health insurance and retirement, privileges that are often absent in Cameroon if he or she is not integrated into the civil service and works in a private hospital.
Young people have risked their lives, diplomas in hand, to take the road to the West when the normal immigration route (visa application) was not open. Leaving at all costs has become the watchword for some people, even those in so-called stable situations. Elsewhere is the stuff of dreams, and we often fail to understand the decision taken by others to return to invest after long years spent in the West.
Educating young people about the importance of staying in the country and contributing to its development is not enough, because every young person who is still there is there for one reason: lack of means.
How should the Cameroonian government react to the immigration crisis, and what solutions should it adopt?
Aware of the impact of the brain drain on the country, the Cameroonian government should take certain measures to try and curb this trend. Not restrictive measures that would make the country look like a prison, but rather those aimed at improving working conditions, especially in strategic sectors such as health and education. These include
- The creation of a breeding ground for Cameroonians in the diaspora, in order to encourage their investment initiatives and the sharing of skills via targeted programmes. The State-diaspora partnership could lead Cameroonians living abroad to contribute to the country’s development not only by transferring funds to their families but also by investing in local projects or sharing their expertise.
- The implementation of coherent and ambitious policies that would have a positive effect on today’s youth, for example initiatives allowing expatriates to return to the country for limited periods in order to train the local workforce and/or participate in specific projects.
Encouraging the development of talent by developing incentive policies, such as subsidies for entrepreneurs or making those that already exist more widely available and accessible. Giving grants to researchers, building infrastructure, improving salaries and guaranteeing better working conditions. - Strengthening international cooperation: if Cameroon negotiates agreements with host countries, it could benefit from compensation mechanisms for the talent it trains.
With the right strategy, Cameroon could not only curb the brain drain, which is certainly a complex and multifactorial reality, but it is not inevitable. The country can take advantage of this to improve the living conditions of its citizens. The key lies in wisely managing its human resources and establishing a constructive dialogue with its diaspora.
Cajo Alemoka
Photo: AMISON/Iwaria
