IRIN has two stories about the movement of human capital in Southern Africa that reveal a region in flux. The first shows how South Africa is trying to stanch the brain drain of skilled and highly educated workers and professionals, particularly in the healthcare profession. The second reveals beleaguered white former Zimbabwean farmers who had lost their land in Robert Mugabe's wretchedly conceived land redistribution plans returning to Zim. Initially they left in hopes of finding options in other countries in the region, options that leaders in those countries had led them to believe would give them a chance to engage in commercial farming and important agricultural development.
In both cases, individuals have been moving to find both opportunities to utilize skills. But the second half of the equation is that in addition to pull factors, they also experienced significant push factors, and those push factors will continue to inhibit development in the region if they are not alleviated.
