Diaspora power: ‘Brain drain’ versus ‘brain gain’
For the sake of reiteration, it needs to be noted that the emigré portion of African Diaspora contribute a yearly $100 billion USD into the economies of the continent of Africa.
David Oyelowo
by
Charles Anyiam
As a follow up to the piece I wrote and published approximately 120 hours ago, titled: ‘I am proudly African because I am proudly American’, which generated such considerable reactions both online and via telephone calls from family, friends and total strangers, I am therefore compelled to write this treatise on the same subject.
In the case you missed the first story, and would like to read it, please check the archives of the fast-growing and highly influential ‘The Cable News Nigeria’ of June 1, 2026 under the brilliant leadership of one of Africa’s youngest media managers and journalists, Mr. Simon Kolawole.
As much as the fulcrum of the article says that the season of brain drain is technically over, the varied reactions have been largely eclectic.
Personally and as a ‘professional student’, I have been extremely opportune to learn more about the subject matter than before I originally conjured up, and when I first wrote the mercurial and excitable discourse.
Reactions came from far and wide.
I remember having this particular discussion that lasted about two solid hours cumulatively, with just one single individual – a gentleman who by choice now routinely lives bicoastal – in Europe and in a certain prominent African country.
This gentleman with an Oxford degree, he told me he spends an upwards of three to six months out of a calendar year in the continent.
An entrepreneur whose group of companies deal exclusively in multidimensional and interdisciplinary work in the field of technology transfer, he literally wore me out intellectually (in a good way) during our phone conversation.
He was passionate. He was articulate. He was knowledgeable. And he understood the concept of the kernel of my story.
Diaspora power.
Armed with facts, figures, statistics and data, my caller who I was talking to for the first time, was able to add to my armory of information and databank of knowledge about how widespread the problem of straddling both worlds had become.
Most importantly, I was delighted to know that he has been an avid reader of my writings.
He even rehashed the contents of some of my past articles, such as the piece I wrote about golf legend, Tiger Woods.
Driven by his underlying love for the African continent and the unbridled desire to see Africa come into reckoning in the shortest possible time, I realized we shared a lot in common – our frequent and incessant voyages to and from the continent – mine being more arduous.
On my own, I realized, during the banter, that I had been logging in an average of about two or three times travel a year to the continent – usually flying an average of 24 hours per trip, from the Pacific realm – California – to hubs around the African region – trips that takes me to both the Atlantic and Indian Ocean seaboards.
The other rather long-winded call I had to field – a fallout from the previous article – was from my friend of over 30 years – a fellow Angelenos, who now lives semi permanently in the Ghanaian capital city of Accra.
He was actually returning my call which I had made to him long before the Diaspora piece.
Also in business, my friend who is a serial investor, told me he was building a futuristic five star hotel near the beach in the bustling West African city, home to the highly successful ‘December in Ghana’ chain of social and cultural events.
He said he had simply been busy working the plans for the hotel which he believes will be an ECOWAS masterpiece.
Dr. Kofi Amoah had blossomed in business as a real estate investor in the lucrative Los Angeles’ industry before segueing into the field of high finance.
With a mutual friend of ours, another accomplished entrepreneur who had made an indelible mark in the business of exotic car rentals, with a showroom near the busy Tom Bradley International Airport – Kwesi Yeboah – they joined financial forces to partner money transfer giant, Western Union, to solve an intractable problem that had for long dogged the African emigré Diaspora community for years – the thorny problem of money remittances – between continental America and various African countries.
I am proud to say that it is on record that our media organization, The African Times Publications, Inc. was fortunate to enjoy a front row seat when this landmark deal was inked and consummated.
The rest, as they say, is history.
I can go on and on about the exploits of the African Diaspora in the immigrant communities across the United States.
It will be unfair however not to point the direction of the likes of Wally Adeyemo, who was the former deputy secretary of the United States Department of Treasury, Gabe Okoye, a Nigerian-born legislator in the southern state of Georgia, Adetokunbo “Toks” Omishakin, who is California’s Secretary of Transportation, Tope Awotona, founder and CEO of the $1 billion USD tech company, Calendy, the late lifestyle maestro, Virgil Abloh, Louis Vuitton’s iconic artistic director, Dr. Mathias Fobi, a pioneer in the field of obesity surgery (surgeon to the stars) originally from Cameroon, billionaire, Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, born in the Gqberha (formerly Port Elizabeth) in South Africa, who is the majority owner of the Los Angeles Times, and of course, multi millionaire, Bayo Ogunlesi, who is a major player in global finance.
Others include, oil and gas mogul, Kase Lawal, Dr. Michael E. Obeng, also a Ghanaian-born highly sought after Beverly Hills plastic surgeon, Dr. Ben Omalu, a forensic pathologist who became famous for his work in discovering the chronic traumatic encephalopathy in American football players, Dr. Jerry Okonkwo Aguolu who runs a chain of inner city clinics that provide specialized medical care for disadvantaged members of the greater Los Angeles community in the last 50 years, Damola Adamolekun, currently the CEO of the popular restaurant chain, Red Lobster, Elon Musk, arguably the most controversial African-born member of the African Diaspora community, Associate Professor of Medicine, Dr. Udoh Obioha, who ran several healthcare clinics under the University of Southern California (USC) for several years, and is now a 31-year-old certified Bariatric physician, among several others.
Then, there are the inevitable inclusion of Peter Akwaboah, CEO of the US government-sponsored mortgage company, Fannie Mae, Florida State Surgeon General and Secretary of Health, and Dr. Joseph Ladapo who was born in Lagos, Nigeria.
In the area of sports, are such household names as the Ogwumike sisters – Nneka, Chiney, and Olivia – whose records in the American WNBA league are unparalleled, Hakeem “The Dream” Olajuwon, Giannis Antetokounbo, Joel Embiid, Pascal Siakam, all of the NBA, and of course, Masai Ujiri, now the President and Head of Basketball Operations for the elite Dallas Mavericks, UFC champions, Israel Adesanya and Francis Ngannou.
Add to the glorious list: boxing champion Anthony Joshua, and the new raging bulldog in the heavyweight division, Moses Itauma.
In Hollywood, the list reads like this: David Oyelowo, Idris Alba, Djimon Hounsou, Yvonne Orji, Uzo Aduba, comedians, Godfrey (real name: Godfrey Chukwuma Ndubuisi Danchima) and Ghanaian Michael Blankson.
On the soccer pitch, it is believed that players of African descent are fast dominating the various leagues around the world.
In mass media, there is a growing list of practitioners whose bylines and faces adorn the pages, screens and airwaves of European and American journals, television and radio.
Standing out as the first African journalist to win the prestigious Pulitzer award for his reporting on the Rwandan genocide, is Nigeria’s Dele Olojede, an honorable member of the Diaspora community, once a New Yorker but now lives with his wife, fellow journalist and writer, Ama Ogan.
In our modest way, The African Times Publications, Inc., with its flagship, ‘The African Times/USA’, has at several times earned national US acclaim as a 35 year old member of the Black Press in America.
In 2023, The Times was honored by the Los Angeles City government with a special recognition for its contributions to the ethnic homogeneity and diversity in the second largest media market in America, and in California which remains the fifth largest economy in the world.
The Times was actually nominated for the award by Mayor Karen Bass herself, who just shook off a slew of formidable opponents to clinch the ticket for the crucial November midterm election.
I have taken the pain to go down the list of African Diaspora achievements overseas ostensibly to buttress the position I took in the first installment of this evocative discourse – that what was once termed as ‘brain drain’ has now invariably become a blessing in disguise – a ‘brain gain’.
A study conducted recently by a Black think tank that tracks Black migration around the world, showed that most of those who made it to the honors list of this article, about 90% reside permanently in many American metros, 15% work and live in rural Europe and America, while the rest live bicoastal (they have dual residency in the Western cities and in Africa), or who have decidedly moved back to their home countries because of cultural, ethnic and familial responsibilities.
One of those who in recent years had to move back to ascend to the throne of his ancestors, is the sitting Oba of Ogbomoso in Oyo State of Nigeria – Oba Ghandi Afolabi Olaoye.
Until his enthronement, Oba Olaoye was a long time resident of the Washington DC area, where he pastored the predominantly Nigerian congregation, Jesus House, under the umbrella of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, a largely African Pentecostal denomination headquartered in Lagos.
I will not fail to acknowledge the contributions of the greater African Diaspora communities who have excelled in academia, politics, real estate, law and jurisprudence, aviation, hospitality, and the vast health care industry all over the Western world – Canada, Australia, England, Germany, etc.
Space and time will not suffice for me to mention each one by name.
For the sake of reiteration, it needs to be noted that the emigré portion of African Diaspora contribute a yearly $100 billion USD into the economies of the continent of Africa.
This represents about 5% of the continent’s yearly GDP through formal remittances.
The informal remittances, I am unofficially told, by far exceeds the amounts that show up on official documents.
This is what ‘brain gain’ looks like in today’s economy.
Economists I spoke with while writing this article, tell me that one of the most effectual ways of stemming the rising tide of migration of Africa’s youths, risking lives and limbs to get to the European and American Eldorado, better known as ‘japa’ (the Yoruba word for escape), will be Diaspora wealth.
If properly and prudently managed, this unencumbered influx of capital, with little or no strings attached, has the potentiality of creating well paying jobs needed to keep back our young workforce at home.
And rather than have them undertake perilous voyages and drown in the Mediterranean, or perish under the unforgiving desert heat of the Sahara desert, or at worst, fall victims to human organ harvesters, they can be persuaded with choice alternatives – good, well paying jobs.
I honestly do not believe that any of these young people really want to die while trying to escape grinding poverty and abject penury.
They are simply asking for a better life and a better future.
It is time for reversing ‘japa’ to ‘japa da’ (otherwise known as returning back home).
I must therefore venture to say that Diaspora power, without any doubt, holds the key to solving this economic and sociological aberration.
Not the stupendous mineral resources which are under our feet.
Views expressed by contributors are strictly personal and not of TheCable.
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