Tag Archives: Education

Harnessing the Brain Drain: Potential for Development

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By Isaiah Schulze

In discussions of African development issues, the subject of “brain drain” is often brought up. The basic thesis is that by immigrating to developed countries, highly talented Africans are depriving their home nations of the intellectual assets needed for development. Rich countries gain unfairly from this phenomenon as they retain the academic, political, and economic contributions of these skilled individuals, while African countries languish from a shortage of good ideas. Continue reading →

Notes from “Leaders Forum on the 10-Year Anniversary of AGOA”

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April 26, 2010
Washington, DC

On April 26th, The Whitaker Group and the AGOA Action Committee co-hosted a Leaders Forum with the Africa Coalition for Trade, the African-American Unity Caucus, the Africa Society of the National Summit on Africa, the Constituency for Africa, the Leon H. Sullivan Foundation, Manchester Trade, and the Corporate Council on Africa to address remaining challenges in trade-based development for Africa and a way forward for US-Africa economic policy.  The coalition also unveiled a comprehensive Africa economic policy recommendation for the Obama Administration, found here. Continue reading →

Empowering African Youth Through Technology

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by Adanma Osakwe

Technology has become a major driving force for change and opportunity throughout the world. It has transformed many lives, and the unprecedented access to technology that today’s youth in Africa have allows them to compete with their peers in the global digital economy.

Young people gain a major advantage in terms of education, economic, and social opportunities when they have access to computers.  Strategic use of technology can boost wealth creation and alleviate unemployment– providing marginalized individuals in rural communities with technological tools for training can help them to realize their economic potential. Continue reading →

Nigeria Higher Education Foundation Presents Leadership Awards to Soyinka, Payne, Ezekwesili and Whitaker

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The Nigeria Higher Education Foundation (NHEF), on June 24, 2009, honored four distinguished leaders for their commitment to sustainable development through education at an inaugural gala event in New York City.  Honorees included Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, World Bank Vice President for Africa Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili, Congressman Donald M. Payne (D-NJ), and Rosa Whitaker, President and CEO of The Whitaker Group. Continue reading →

Reversing the Brain Drain

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The African Diaspora is a continual source of interest to the development community. It represents a highly accessible and much needed employment pool.  Africans are the most highly educated and highest-earning immigrant group in the US.  But often initiatives designed to attract them fail, for any number of reasons.  One problem is a pervasive belief that remittances (which amounted to nearly $40 billion for Africa in 2008) are more valuable than labor.   Continue reading →

Markets: the Missing Link

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The World Bank’s recent study, “Moving out of Poverty: Successes from the Bottom Up,” concludes that development interventions should be market-focused and outlines several key steps that are instrumental in helping people move out of poverty.  The study, which was conducted in a number of African countries, says that in order for people to move out of poverty, they should be surrounded by improved infrastructure, their livelihood activities should be linked to markets, and they need greater access to business loans and information and education on how to connect to mainstream markets. Continue reading →

Training for Growth

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By Meg Dallett

“Entrepreneurship” is a hot topic in development – in much of Africa, where the private sector was marginalized for so long, small business owners are a key part of driving growth.  But running a successful business takes more than a good idea, and many entrepreneurs struggle because they lack training in business management.  Continue reading →