A study by the United Nations Trade and Development (UNCTAD) says brain drain in the country’s key sectors is one of the major setbacks to development of human capital necessary to facilitate economic progress.
Kenya’s surging labour exports, partly supported by the State, are hurting the country’s economic progression, a new analysis has warned.
A study by the United Nations Trade and Development (UNCTAD) says brain drain in the country’s key sectors is one of the major setbacks to development of human capital necessary to facilitate economic progress.
Most affected professions are teaching, engineering, education, and medicine, which lose thousands of trained professionals each year, putting Kenya’s rate of human flight and brain drain much higher than its neighbours.
“Indeed, every year, almost 40 per cent of newly graduated doctors leave the country to seek more lucrative opportunities abroad,” said the UNCTAD in an analysis of Kenya’s economic progress.
The caution challenges President William Ruto’s plan to increase Kenya’s labour exports to other countries as part of his efforts to stem growing youth unemployment.
Dr Ruto has been advocating for hiring of Kenyan professionals abroad, with the latest deal being with Germany, where he said he had secured opportunities for an estimated 250,000 Kenyans, although the figure was disputed by German authorities.
The National Employment Authority has currently listed over 40,000 employment opportunities in foreign countries, which will be taken up by Kenyans increasing its brain drain index.
Rather than letting Kenyans find opportunities abroad, the UN agency has urged the Kenyan government to improve pay and boost working conditions for workers in the country to discourage them from seeking jobs abroad.
“To stem this [brain drain], the government needs to improve the working conditions of workers and provide incentives,” noted UNCTAD. As a medium-term strategy for dealing with the challenge, the UN body encouraged the government to “enhance the attractiveness of job opportunities in Kenya by improving pay and other benefits to workers.”
While many developing countries across the globe struggle with the challenge of brain drain, Kenya’s struggle is a little more than most countries across the globe and its neighbours, even though it’s been declining.
Data from think-tank The Global Economy shows that currently, Kenya’s Human Flight and Brain Drain (HFBD) Index is at 6.3, down from 6.4 in 2023, but still higher than most countries in the region.
The index measures economic impact of people leaving a country for economic or political reasons on a scale of one to 10, which is the highest and worst possible effects of such a flight.
