Brain drain wrecking Zimbabwe’s economy

By Lance Guma
16 August 2006

A report by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) has highlighted just how the brain drain is having a devastating impact on the country’s economy. The institute reports that the country’s skills base is shrinking fast ‘in the face of an exodus of hundreds of its nationals who leave the country each week in search of better working conditions.’ The much talked about economic recovery plan bandied around by the Reserve Bank governor is set to hit the wall as analysts predict a bleak future made worse by the loss of skilled manpower.

Gertrude Mthombeni the MDC Secretary for Labour and Social Welfare bemoaned the crisis saying there was no political will from the top to address the problem. She says even the company she works for was losing engineers every month and this was affecting its operations. Community Development and Women Affairs Minister Eunice Chitambira is quoted by IWPR as saying, ‘some 70 to 90 percent of Zimbabwean university graduates are working outside the country.’ More worryingly 50 percent of skilled Zimbabweans surveyed said they intend emigrating either indefinitely or permanently.

Although no definite figures are available its estimated 4 million Zimbabweans are now outside the country. That 80 percent of those remaining are unemployed further emphasizes the crisis. According to the Central statistical Office in the first half of this year 955 highly qualified Zimbabweans emigrated to Botswana, 532 to the United Kingdom, 324 to South Africa and 114 to New Zealand. Mthombeni told Newsreel that until there was a change of government, it looked unlikely the current government could do anything to solve the problem. A poorly performing economy would ensure people will keep seeking greener pastures.