How to change brain drain into knowledge circulation

As the Times Higher Education World Academic Summit (WAS) drew to a close on Thursday, delegates turned their attention to the scourge of gender-based violence, highlighting the urgent need to prioritise funding for programmes aimed at combating this global phenomenon.

University of South Africa’s (UNISA) principal and vice-chancellor (VC), Professor Puleng LenkaBula, walked into the venue wearing a t-shirt bearing the words “Budget for her safety” that she had received from University of Cape Town (UCT) Chancellor Dr Precious Moloi-Motsepe.  

 

“I made her wear the T-shirt,” Dr Moloi-Motsepe said jokingly, before delving into the more serious reasons why.  

“The importance of this is: we started gender budgeting initiatives back in 2022 with [former] Minister [Nhlanhla] Nene and the papers we presented to Parliament were accepted. Lately, we’ve heard of devastating gender-based violence in South Africa again and again. It happens globally but it rears its ugly head here.” 

Situations like these show the importance of budgeting for women’s initiatives. “That also speaks to education. And that is why in our initiatives we make sure women are represented. It’s how we budget; we incorporate them and this is very important. Thank you, Puleng,” she said. 

Professor LenkaBula said universities need to be relevant to the real questions that citizens are grappling with at home and globally. They all need to draw on each other’s strengths in the higher education sector.  

“This is a collaboration and an inspiration that Dr Moloi-Motsepe, through her own advocacy, does as part of social impact and universities therefore become sites of advocacy in budget systems where we work with multiple universities in thinking about social impact – beyond climate, energy, aviation, [and] biotechnologies.”  

They were speaking on a panel on the last day of the Times Higher Education World Academic Summit alongside University of Pretoria (UP) Vice Principal Professor Loretta Feris and University of Lagos VC Professor Folasade Ogunsola.  

For women 

In a discussion held under the theme “From brain drain to knowledge circulation: African leadership in talent, innovation and mobility”, the all-female panel took time to unpack what each university was doing to promote the circulation of African knowledge. 

Moloi-Motsepe was very clear: turn brain drain into knowledge circulation in various sectors and fund ideas that solve Africa’s problems. 

Making an example about the philanthropic work she does through the Milken-Motsepe Prize Programme, she explained the importance of backing the right ideas. 

“We have thought about how we do philanthropy. We have created a prize-like competition, a global competition and I’m proud to say that out of 3 000 people that have joined this programme in the last two or three years, 60% are from the African continent and we always make sure that there are more women who participate in these programmes.  

“The teams either have women-led groups or they have more women in their groups. We fund solutions; ideas that can solve Africa’s problems using entrepreneurship, technology and ensuring that the solutions are African-tested and African-relevant,” she said.  

“We have done programmes in agriculture, to solve problems for small-scale farmers from the African continent and improve food security. We have gone through energy security funding programmes that bring in various forms of energy for the continent. We’ve also funded fintech solutions relevant to Africa. We don’t just reward theses and papers that will sit in the laboratory and do not find practical use.”  

Circulating knowledge 

Detailing UCT’s contribution to circulation of knowledge, she gave practical examples. 

“On academic circulation, UCT has a Mastercard Scholarship that has shown how you can circulate 40 000 young Africans moving across borders for degrees and they return home. On the philanthropic side, we have established with Harvard University, as the [Motsepe] Foundation, a philanthropic accelerator programme that does the same for professors. These are professors from global institutions – but mostly from Africa – and they set the research questions. This is how you circulate ideas, not just with students. That’s how we set the agenda.” 

She also mentioned UCT’s Holistic Drug Discovery and Development (H3D) programme, as well as creative projects, including how amapiano groups are circulating African knowledge globally.  

Professor Ogunsola chose to look at the question philosophically. 

“The work of universities is to shape the environment and make it better.”  

“Money chases value. One of the fundamental problems at all levels for us is: What is the value placed on the knowledge that is developed in this geography such that fundamentalisms follow the value given to knowledge? That has been the challenge.  

“I think the work of universities is to shape the environment and make it better. And so far, I think we need to do a mindset shift. Knowledge is valuable, irrespective of where it’s coming from. And how do we reward it?” 

She mentioned some barriers, including funding and lack of access.  

“We measure those who have access and resources. In a nutshell, we need to change what we reward in the knowledge system in such a way that it supports bilateralism and appreciation of the impact of the knowledge systems in their geographies.” 

She emphasised the valuable knowledge in Africa that might not be reaching the world due to lack of access. 

She also acknowledged the serious migration problems they faced in Nigeria.  

“The brain drain is something we hate.” 

Professor Feris said the four of them on the panel could find solutions for the circulation of knowledge. 

She said they had talked to African students studying internationally about whether they would consider returning to the continent.  

“They said there’s nothing for us to return to. There’s no funding; there’s no infrastructure. I think that’s important and as universities we need to create those opportunities for postgraduate students to return and become part of the next generation of academics.” 

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