SA could lose skills to other African countries

BY AGENCIES

SOUTH Africa stands to lose scarce skilled resources to other African countries as massive foreign direct investment projects get underway on the African continent, according to Landelahni Recruitment Group.

This is because many countries are more attractive than SA in terms of their regulatory environment.

"South Africa needs to produce significantly more skilled resources as growing numbers begin working cross-border," according to Sandra Burmeister, CEO of Landelahni.

Since 2003, investment in Africa has exceeded that of other emerging countries - Ernst & Young forecasts that new African fixed direct investment (FDI) projects will reach US$150 billion by 2015, creating 350,000 new jobs per annum.

The financial services group expects Africa's GDP growth to average 5% through to 2015, and notes that countries which offered the most FDI opportunities include SA, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana and Angola.

"As the communications infrastructure has improved in countries like Kenya and Nigeria, international companies are locating their Africa head offices in these countries so as to be closer to their key markets, frequently drawing an already limited South African scarce skills pool for key positions," said Burmeister.

Current African projects underway in water, electricity and transport infrastructure amount to US$22 billion.

Although SA was a favoured hunting ground for skills, Burmeister highlighted that the challenge was how to find and retain talent in the country and on the continent as a whole.

"The African economy cannot create sustainable economic development, if it has to continually import - and pay a premium for - technical ability from the US, Europe and Asia," she added.

Africa has relied heavily on expatriates over the past 50 years, and organisations spend US$4 billion annually to recruit and pay 100,000 expatriates to work on the continent.

Another challenge Africa faces is the low number of adults with tertiary education qualifications.

Across sub-Saharan Africa, only 0.38% of adults have a tertiary education compared with a South African average of 0.60%.

Kenya leads the continent with 2%, against a global average of 3.94% of adults with tertiary education.

Attrition in Africa universities compounds the problem.

The estimated university dropout rate across Africa is estimated at 50%, against 60% for SA, 46% for the US and 16% for the UK.

"If we can increase the graduation rate, we can increase the supply of skills," Burmeister commented.

On a positive note, however, a recent global survey on women in emerging markets revealed that female enrolment in universities and graduate schools had increased dramatically.

While no data is available across the African continent, female graduates have quadrupled in SA over the past five years, albeit off a low base.

Women make up 65% of college graduates in the UAE, 60% in Brazil, and 47% in China - representing an outstanding way of expanding the talent pool.

It is important to note that Africa's demand for skills takes place within the context of global skills scarcity, as well as a local shortage of an estimated 800 000 engineers and other qualified professionals and technicians.

Burmeister said that SA should be investing in technology and technology research as a continent, since technology underpinned economic growth and created competitive advantage.

"In addition, SA needs to find ways of winning back migrant students and professionals.

"Africa is a resource rich continent, and increasing skills will elevate our potential for downstream, value-adding, wealth-creating opportunities," she said.