EU Africa Talent Migration - Beyond the Nigerian ‘Japa’ Narrative

Last week, the 17th of November, I honored a speaking invitation for an event in Brussels. At the event we discussed the future of skills mobility partnerships as well as the main outcomes and lessons learned from the International Talent Mobility project, a pilot project funded by the European Union (EU) and aimed at addressing labour market shortages in four EU Member States - Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, or the Netherlands by helping companies with the sourcing and recruiting of African talents from Senegal and Nigeria, two countries offering a surplus of qualified professionals.

As a MATCH Ambassador and a consultant on the project, I had the privilege of contributing to the laudable initiative in the area of capacity building for hubs and startups in Nigeria through training.

Today the Nigerian migration discussion is saturated with the ‘Japa’ narrative which suggests running as a means of escape from danger. It is not uncommon to find this narrative thread among many middle class and youth demography in Nigeria. Nonetheless, ‘Japa’ doesn’t necessarily have to be a negative notion denoting brain drain. Nigerian stakeholders must as a matter of urgency make it a policy discussion and be strategic enough to lead the narrative with a win-win bilateral arrangement with potential countries of destinations for many highly skilled Nigerians.

Here are a few salient points that could help stakeholders at all levels glean from the engagements we had in? Brussels.

Win-win Talent Partnerships vs Brain drain

It is no longer news that Europe is experiencing skills shortages and various member states and international organizations are taking proactive measures to leverage on Talent Partnerships as a conduit for legal migration .

In his opening remarks, Johannes Luchner (Deputy Director General of DG Home, European Commission ) touched on a brilliant idea of having a Triple-win situation where, for instance, European companies can broaden their horizon and send back Nigerians who worked with them to head their new businesses back in Nigeria.

It is also imperative that a holistic Talent Partnership framework is developed with African countries and their European counterparts to ensure that the approach is not based on a reaction to a short term skills deficit but integrated with long term notions. This was well elaborated upon by Ben Butters (CEO Eurochambres ) at the event.

There are successful case studies of such Talent Partnerships as in the case of Japan and Pakistan. The ongoing bi-lateral Trade Agreement discussions between Nigeria and Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom in the areas of hospitality (hotels); ICT and Health is also commendable as captured by the Dr. Sunday Onazi (International Labour Migration Division of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, Nigeria)

Ms. Anita Vella (Head of Unit Legal Migration and Integration, DG HOME, European Commission) re-echoed the need for such partnerships to revolve around a strong coordination mechanism. This is where Government Ministries of Labour, Education, Foreign Affairs in Nigeria and other African countries need to have a joint consensus and strategic map on how to engage the European stakeholders. European stakeholders would also want to accommodate all integral parts of Migration into their modus operandi and not settle for short lived ‘migration projects’.

Migration, Integration and Reintegration

As we begin to look at more strategic ways to collaborate on legal migration pathways, we must not be found wanting in the place of integration and reintegration.

I made a case for European stakeholders to put their money where their mouth is by also supporting soft-landing mechanisms for African migrants who are positioned to fill their skills shortages. Suffice to also mention here that Nigerian and Senegalese talents should also not be caught without a migration plan and strategy. Ahead of embarking on talent gateway opportunities abroad as a legal migration pathway, it is advisable for respective candidates to have a pre-departure research based on easy integration in the country of destination. It is one thing to land a good job opportunity, it is another thing to sustain that job placement in the new country. The opportunities in Europe are real for legal migration pathways but asides your skills set,there is a thing called cultural and social intelligence for effective integration. This was the case of some Nigerians who were on-boarded during the MATCH project. They passed the skills test but were dropped due to the inability to integrate as a result of some cultural deficiencies (which is understandable). One solution I proposed was that EU stakeholders begin to expand their net and leverage on diaspora networks that could act as a safety net for integrating new migrants. Furthermore, should administrative and legal bottlenecks as well as bureaucracy undermine the prospects of some specific talents from Africa who can fill the available skills gap, the diaspora also serves as a niche market for such collaborations. In my diaspora engagements, I am privileged to oversee many engagements in various networks that have quite a huge chunk of Nigerian and African talents already integrated within the European socio-economic landscape. One of such platforms? is Friends Of Nigeria Europe (FON), an organization I serve as a Co-Founder with professional members across various EU states. I can say for free that the diaspora can serve the following tripartite role in this Talent Engagement scheme:

1. Provide a safety nest to help new talents integrate seamlessly into their EU country of choice whether its for study, business or professional migration engagements.
2. Serve as a reservoir of talents for EU companies seeking direct talents with low entry barrier in form of migration.
3. Support in African talent recruitment: I have come across incredible Nigerians across Europe running businesses making a turnover of tens of millions of euros annually. I have been privileged to also consult for some of them. Their social bias in supporting job creation, legal migration pathway while contributing to both their country of origin and European home country is worth tapping into. This is true for other Africa Diaspora business owners and startups I have engaged in France where I am based and across other countries in Europe.

Just before we get carried away with the salient matter of migration and integration, I think it is fair enough to make a case for re-integration in Europe and back at home for returnees. Let’s start with the reintegration for highly skilled African talents in Europe. Where is the place of skilled African migrants already integrated across Europe but have not been duly regularized for years even though they have been contributing their fair share of taxes to the systems they operate in? It is no news to many European stakeholders that there are Africans who possess core skills and have gone as far as achieving great educational milestones (Masters; Doctorate degree) but are subjected to low work life (underemployment) because they do not have the 'right documentation' to work at the level of their skills. For many of them, their work freedom is laced with a restriction that keeps them at the survival mode within the systems. Many of them have passed the criteria of intellectual capacity, skills set, language mastery as well as cultural intelligence but are victims of situations that require willing minds (governments) to get them out of other predicaments. We should not undermine the value these sets of people can bring to solve the skyrocketing skills shortage in Europe. Why go hungry when your fridge is loaded with food and begging to be emptied??

On the part of re-integration for those back at home, I think stakeholders should be more strategic in their approach. Training people for two weeks on skills that they cannot bank upon for sustainability should be reconsidered. We need to ensure returnees are not totally worse off because of reintegration (in their country of origin). If Migration issues must be effectively tackled, both legs of legal and illegal migration must be checked comprehensively.?

Let's be more action oriented

It is no longer news how countries like Canada and the United Kingdom are more aggressive with their Talent Hunt. EU stakeholders should bear in mind that there are options for the talents they seek for in Nigeria and across Africa. According to a Mckinsey report, Africa is expected to have a larger workforce than either China or India by 2034. Besides having the youngest population ( 70% of Sub-Saharan Africa are under the age of 30) according to the UN, the continent also has the fastest urbanization rate in the world. This therefore confers a responsibility not to be passive? and see this as a game to compete in. And just like in a marketplace, the highest bidder goes home with the deal. EU stakeholders must come to the table with a price that does not make them less competitive in the scheme of things. Financial remuneration for talents must be competitive but this is not the only part to ponder upon. Other non-financial pegs such as opportunities for family reunion, access to easy soft landing, etc should be placed at the fore while negotiation is ongoing. An economic survey asking European companies what their top 3 challenges in view of next year’s business engagement cited skills shortage as second while the ongoing energy crisis ranks first and labor cost due to inflation comes third. In view of this, it is clear that many companies would find every possible means to cut cost so as to stay afloat in the incoming stormy year. The current business landscape therefore superimposes a responsibility to have a thorough holistic approach to talent partnerships.

In closing. I am glad about the prospects and opportunities for redesigning and implementing an integrated approach with other stakeholders in the room towards establishing concrete programs to feed the pipeline for skills shortages within Europe.? The global ?interconnectedness of our world today gives us a unique opportunity to embrace our uniqueness and diversity. The game is no longer about competition but collaboration with a win-win mindset. The migration playbook has changed and we cannot afford to play business as usual.

Thanks to the entire MATCH Project Team and the IOM - UN Migration (Office for Belgium and Luxembourg) for an event well curated and their role in bringing all stakeholders together for a robust engagement.

Looking forward to the fostering sustainable collaborations in the Talent Migration Partnerships between Nigeria, Africa and European stakeholders.