A Google senior executive noted in 2016 that less than 5% of Arabs who spend two years abroad in academic/professional training return home during their prime working years. The lowest rate of return on the globe is half that of sub-Saharan Africa. Arab brain drain continues to threaten the MENA region’s competitiveness.
Until this region can provide its young people with a positive future where they may employ their ambition and talent, the best will leave for innovative places. Can public and private organisations stop or reverse the tide?
Wars, instability, a lack of economic opportunity, unlivable cities, a lack of social and public amenities, and a lack of democratic governance all contribute to the brain drain in most Arab countries. The sad fact that many Arab countries invest the lowest percentage of their GDP in science compared to any other area is another major cause of intellectual capital loss.
After several challenging years, the American University of Beirut is again luring top staff with possibilities, stability, and the possibility to live near family. These elements are crucial for Arab talent retention.
Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar are investing considerably in a sustainable culture of scientific enquiry and innovation, yet they make up less than 10% of MENA. Despite its many problems and lack of research infrastructure, Lebanon produces more successful entrepreneurs, academics, and business leaders per capita than any other country in the region, mostly due to its longer exposure to higher education and international exchange. Are we better off eight years later, when the 2024 World Government Summit begins?
The region is performing better in some areas, poorer in others, and unchanged in most. Unfortunately, none of the major factors that have long afflicted the region and made returning less appealing to our brightest young people has altered. Most administrations haven’t addressed corruption, sustainability, the environment, participatory governance, affordable living, or political and economic stability, which this region has long struggled with. The repressive climate in many MENA (Middle East and North Africa) nations also stifles innovation and self-expression.
However, there have been decades of evidence that highly skilled persons who could have continued their careers in famous Western academic and professional institutions returned home to work and serve.
Unfortunately, none of the major factors that have long affected the region and made returning less appealing to its brightest young minds have altered in 2024.
The AUB (American University of Beirut) celebrated its centennial in 1966, known as a destination university with approximately 65% non-Lebanese international students and some of the region’s and world’s most esteemed experts.
Lebanon’s decades-long civil war cost the institution scholars, international students, and momentum. Somehow, the university persisted because its medical centre served everyone. After the war, the institution launched capital campaigns, recruitment drives, and friend-building initiatives under its famous Board Chair Richard A. Debs.
After studying/working overseas, AUB faculty and staff were eager to collaborate with great mentors and colleagues. They wanted to lead change in the country and develop a free enquiry community in a sparsely populated region. Importantly, the institution provided world-class healthcare, a good retirement plan, and child education.
Lebanon and its top universities have suffered in the previous five years. A revolt, political unrest, and tremendous debt caused the third-worst national economic collapse since the late 19th century. The Beirut port explosion and COVID-19 epidemic added to the damage. This confluence of significant issues caused emigration to a level not seen since the Civil War and cost the university hundreds of outstanding academics, staff, and students.
Most young Arabs want to reside in the UAE, according to 2024’s Arab Youth Survey.
However, AUB has recovered and is thriving again, as it expanded into Cyprus, bought its first community hospital, and hired top worldwide university instructors and personnel. Apart from having its first Nobel laureate Ardem Patapoutian (a professor of neuroscience at Scripps Research Institute in California, who along with his fellow molecular biologist David Julius, got awarded in 2021 for their discoveries of receptors for temperature and touch), AUB alumnus Huda Akil received the US National Medal of Science for her contributions to the understanding of human emotions such as depression, anxiety, and addiction. Also, three of the six winners of the first ‘Great Arab Minds Award’ in Dubai in 2023 were AUB graduates.
Most academics, staff, and students who joined, returned, or stayed identify many key aspects. These include the chance to compete at the top level, build a career at a strong, stable institution, and be near family and loved ones for individuals with regional origins.
Many say their return to their nations depends on the same criteria. All else being equal, they would rather serve their people in their home countries. However, the best will demand career and financial security for themselves and their families, high-quality not-for-profit educational institutions and medical centres, top-tier competitiveness in their field, and participatory governance, which may be the hardest to achieve in the MENA region.
This is a problem and an opportunity for the Arab world. Since the pandemic, there has been a shift toward virtual work. Remote working and online education may be a possibility in the MENA region, where over half of the world’s displaced people, including internally displaced people, live.
Living in such an interconnected globe makes it harder to manage a crisis locally and avoid the spread of illness, pandemic, or societal disaster. The need for national and regional solutions is growing. The region’s governments must become more democratic, transparent, and committed to the cultural, political, and economic well-being of their societies to stop this brain drain.
This should prompt leaders at the World Governments Summit and elsewhere to seek long-term solutions. Government investment in education and science is low-hanging fruit, yet urgent.