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WORLDVIEW: Brain drain over? Covid-19 means the end of immigration
Like many developing countries, South Africa has long struggled with a painful brain drain. But the Covid-19 pandemic may just help solve it.
Like many developing countries, South Africa has long struggled with a brain drain β many highly educated South Africans, including doctors, accountants, and engineers, have headed off to greener pastures in Europe, the UK, the US, and Australia or New Zealand after finishing their education in SA.
This is an extremely costly problem for the country. Educating people to the tertiary level is an expensive business and if the educated person subsequently departs, the country misses out on all the GDP and tax revenue they would have generated β a double whammy.
But the Covid-19 pandemic may just have a silver lining: it may mean that the brain drain will be put on indefinite hold.
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