At least 300 chief executives of universities across Africa are in the Libyan capital Tripoli to discuss the increasing problem of brain drain of skilled manpower that costs the continent up to $4b a year. Leading donors and multilateral agencies, including the World Bank and the African Development Bank (ADB) have challenged the academics at the five-day conference to come up with strategies to turn the skills in the diaspora into a "brain gain."

"How do we effectively and innovatively harness and utilise the immense intellectual, technical and financial resources of the African diaspora that remain largely untapped toward faster poverty reduction on the continent?" asked Dr. Zaineb El Bakri, the ADB vice-president for sector operations.



"Global experiences suggest that though it is difficult to stop migration of skills, it is possible to strategically harness the diaspora as a resource that can complement other efforts,"argued Peter Materu of the World Bank. Materu said: "At the tertiary skills level, Africa has the largest proportion of its tertiary level skills stock outside the continent compared to the total stock available, which is small in the first place," Materu said. The conference at the Bab Al Bahr Resort on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, was organised by the Association of African Universities (AAU), the Seventh of April University - Libya in collaboration with the Gadaffi Development Foundation.



It is under the theme: "The African Brain Drain - Managing the drain: Working with the diaspora," The conference was opened by the Libyan deputy prime minister, Prof. Abdelhafeed Zalitni and addressed by among others, the AAU president, Prof. Njabulo Ndebele, the secretary-general Prof. Akilapka Sawyerr, the Seveth of April University president, Prof. Shaeban Taher and Nadia Zakri of the African Union Commission. The conference will feature 16 papers by experts from within and outside Africa, who will be discussing the issue of brain drain. AAU is a non-profit continental membership organisation started in 1967 by 34 African universities, but today has a membership of 208. Its main objective is to promote cooperation among the member institutions.

Nigeria may save $2.4 billion, about N295.2 billion annually through the use of single network connectivity. According to the chief executive officer, Galaxy Backbone Plc, Gerald Ilukwe, who stated this during the inspection tour of the company's facility by the minister of science and technology, Mrs Grace Ekpiwhre, the current situation, whereby all the federal ministries, agencies and parastatals connected to different networks, does not encourage tight budgeting as huge sum of money is lost daily to the system.



He said, with official mandate to be the sole provider of connectivity, internet access and other infrastructure and in transversal services to ministries, departments, and agencies of the federal government as well as providing a platform for e-education in the country, a lot of money would be saved. Ilukwe, however, asked the minister to assist the company in revalidating import duty waiver as shipment of equipment is being delayed. He also asked for adequate budget for provision of its services in 2008, adding that Nigeria would derive maximum benefit from the project once it commences operation. "When we commence operation Galaxy will be bound by service level agreements with penalties that will ensure that quality standards are met and sustained", he said



The minister, Mrs Grace Ekpiwhre, however, expressed the federal government's readiness to assist the company to achieve its laudable objective. Galaxy Backbone, owned by the federal government was established to manage all information, communication and technology (ICT) for all government ministries, departments and agencies (MDA) in Nigeria as well as deploying a nationwide fiber optic, microwave and VSAT and other assets to provide reliable and cost effective services to the public and private sector establishment. According to Mrs Ekpiwhre, her ministry would do everything possible for Galaxy Backbone to ensure that the project takes off in time for the benefit of Nigerians as well as various government's institutions, parastatals, ministries and agencies. "I am very proud of what I have seen; I think Nigerians should be proud of it as well. Just count on my ministry's support as we are ready to ensure that the project commences operation soonest", the minister said.

In a country with few resources every decision counts. Investing big in infrastructure is a wise decision as, ultimately, every facet, beginning with appearance and healthy facilities, will determine the success and reputation of the country. But infrastructure is far more than appearance. While the government has properly put in place strong yet flexible political infrastructure in the form of the 2003 constitution, it is imperative to now make the physicality of the country and its facilities up to par. The question of the methane gas potential in the western Lake Kivu will continue to be a major hurdle to tackle, but one that, ultimately, can revive the strength and optimism of the economy and budget. While it is important, as some in parliament have said, to "not put all of our eggs in one basket" it is rational and timely to focus serious attention on the energy issue, hopefully one that the Ministry of Infrastructure will be able to solve.



Rwanda has long had one of the most developed transport infrastructures in the region. Still, there is much room for improvement. The new funds authored to infrastructure should help this among others. With an economy such as this and with the amount of work yet to be done, there are few ways Rwanda can go wrong with spending its money. That being said, a second but major priority for the budget, government, and people of the country in general is the young education system.



Strong political, physical, and educational infrastructure-a well-implemented grand strategy and culture for education from primary to university-will be the Holy Trinity of Rwanda's success. Lastly, praise must be given to Minister of Finance James Musoni for keeping the budget in Rwandan control. While a large portion-nearly 49 per cent-of the budget will be garnered through foreign aid, the significant side will come from Rwanda itself. As long as the country continues on this path, good things are sure to follow.

THE poor roads between the Mombasa port and Kampala is strangling trade and investment in the region, a top official has said. "Goods that would take a week on the way now spend over a month. "This is increasing the cost of doing business since a business person has to hire the trucks for such a long time," Dr. Maggie Kigozi, the head of the Uganda Investment Authority, said. Kigozi explained that the poor road network had also affected the movement of goods to the DR Congo, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan. "This reduces export volumes, delays raw materials and discourages tourist arrivals for those preferring to use road transport," she said.



She lauded President Yoweri Museveni for spearheading the fight for enough energy at Bujagali and the thermal power plants but challenged the President to take another lead to improve road transport. "Now that the energy crisis is being solved, he (the President) needs to take another lead in the soliciting funding to develop two regional three-lane roads to and fro Mombasa and extend it to the other cities and towns in the region," she said. "The poor road network could be sorted out through a public-private partnership model that would encourage the private sector to invest in its management."



She said the donors through the New Economic Partnership for African Development infrastructure project had been asked to take up the matter but this had not taken off. "Uganda needs to take the lead to ensure that this non-tariff barrier to trade is addressed by having roads linking Dar es Salaam, Nairobi, Mombasa and other cities in the region," Kigozi argued. Uganda, a landlocked country, depends on the Mombasa port for her exports and imports.

Small and medium size business operators in Nigeria are to learn new and modern techniques capable of helping their businesses grow, as leading technology distributor, Hewlett Packard HP is organising a forum where experts, both local and international, will speak on challenges facing the sub sector. Scheduled for thursday, October 25 in Lagos the event, according to Dr. Lloyd Atabansi, Managing Director, will attract speakers who will proffer solutions to various challenges and problems facing small businesses in the country. It will specifically address technological constraints being faced by this sub sector of the economy.



Describing small businesses as the heroes of today's economy, he said they often need a solid technology partner, as there is a fine-art to starting, running, and growing a small business. HP's unique approach, according to him, delivers a personalized experience. The HP boss noted that the forthcoming Lagos forum is a follow-up to the Art of Small Business launch which held at the Museum of Modern Art in San Francisco on March 28, 2007 . The forum featured customers and new partnerships as well as new products, services and resources that HP has designed specifically for small businesses.



He revealed that the key take-away participants at the event was HP's commitment to small businesses and its investment in their success. HP's is stepping up its commitment to small business and personally invested in their success. This success, according to him, is enhanced through HP technology and the event displayed how HP comprehensively addresses their needs through developing tailored solutions, HP Total Care for a worry-free technology experience, and partnerships with organizations that advocate their interests. Atabansi noted that HP has partnered with several Original Equipments Manufacturers (OEMs) such as Microsoft, Oracle, Cisco and Starcomms (telko) to package a bundle targeted specifically for the small and medium-sized businesses in Nigeria . Since entrepreneurs may not immediately consider technology in their business plans, HP's partnership is a good opportunity to put HP products in front of its clients as they begin their business ventures. The news entails extending this relationship by jointly providing training to small businesses on how to protect and secure important data, he said.



HP is a technology solutions provider to consumers, businesses and institutions globally. The company's offerings span IT infrastructure, global services, business and home computing, and imaging and printing. For the last four fiscal quarters, HP revenue totaled $83.3 billion. In Nigeria , which covers all English speaking West Africa , HP provides its full range of products and services, from complex Itanium servers, to simple entry-level printers. HP's customers are supported by a network of HP service centers around the country.

In bringing the ICT initiatives initiated under the reform tenure of Dr Obiageli Ezekwesili and Dr Sayyadi Abba Ruma, previous articles have covered Converged examination Technology Platform and Student Line help line for molested students. I have also clarified that convergence of the technologies was what was always envisioned not the institutions who are creations of law. Talking about the law, I am somewhat bemused that the existence of a draft education bill hardly - if ever mentioned. This draft bill is a comprehensive document that captures all the legally related issues that the reform planned to tackle. The reform was not designed as an Oby and Abba matter, but a template that future administrations could implement once the bill had been passed into law.





To that extent, I wish to reiterate to the gentleman in the lobby (you know who you are) who verbally attacked the ministers as being lawless, that to the contrary, the reform leadership was process driven and intended the legally impacting initiatives to have the cover of the Education act. This week, I want to discuss a project that has the potential to dramatically reduce Government expenditure, and also serve as a reference point for highly impactful public- private sector partnerships.



One of the biggest problems facing the Ministry and infact the sector, is the lack of a top hierarchy identifier for employees and students under its jurisdiction. Whilst ID cards exist across different institutions and parastatals, there is no single view available to the Ministry. This affects data driven planning and exacerbates the problem of ghost workers, and indeed ghost students, who move from one institution to another without fear of detection. The problem was determined to be so fundamental to the point where we felt a significant proportion of the recurrent expenditure could be salvaged if a holistic identification scheme was in place. Of course, there was an extant challenge of how to fund such a potentially huge project that would potentially provide one million chip based cards to the Federal sector and serve as a template for the states to reproduce. The costs could easily exceed the N3 billion naira mark.



The reform team established the possibility of a combination card that served as identification and also functioned as an ATM card. This would eliminate financial burdens and ease logistical complexities as well. After all, the banks had retail outlets and were specialist in verification and identification processes, as a necessary component of their core function. They were also keen to have organized access to a huge student community that needed to be incorporated into economic activity early on, without the huge marketing expense that would otherwise be required. The data captured by the banks could then be ported to the proposed sector wide database and the chip based ATM card would carry a chip, the logo of the bank and the Federal Ministry of Education as well as the holder's picture and biodata. The reverse side would have a magnetic strip.



Despite the skepticism raised about the possibility of the banking sector funding such a scheme, the Minister set about selling the concept to the banks, using the platform of the Bankers Committee that usually meets in Lagos . I will never forget the horrific weather that prevailed as we waited to catch a flight to Lagos on the eve of the presentation to the Bankers Committee - chaired by the Governor of the Central Bank. Planes could not land; the storms evoked glances from those of us going to Lagos - unspoken thoughts praying that this stubborn Madam Minister would abort this trip so we could live to try another day. But that was not to be. We waited until circa 10 pm before boarding and rode out what was quite a scary and very very bumpy ride to Lagos .



The Bankers Committee showed great excitement about the possibility of their involvement in education. This was not only in respect of the Combo card but other relevant CSR driven schemes. What became discernable from that session was the gulf of disconnection that existed between education and the elites in Nigeria . People just did not realize that the state of education had reached a cataclysmic point of erosion. That presentation sparked off what was to be a series of meetings and presentations which culminated in a process to select participating banks and allocate them to geopolitical regions. All banks were invited to respond to an Initial Partner Selection criteria document that mapped retail reach of the Banks to our Federal institutions to enable use gauge for logistic ease. Questions were also asked in respect of funding commitment, e- focus and evidence of chip based technology card partners.



The initial findings and concept were presented to the heads of the budget office and Bureau of Public Sector Reforms to obtain their input, and ensure that there was synchronization with relevant initiatives and objectives of both organizations. A workshop was organized to provide a forum for interactive exchange of ideas and feedback to ensure that the project had the benefit of concrete organizational backing and complete consideration of issues. Following this phase, the FME issued a Final selection document, which captured additional outputs of the workshop. These included firm written commitment to provide 100% funding for production of FME co- branded biometric chip technology based ID cards for accounts they acquired, full funding for the neutral biometric comparison aggregator , who would ensure duplicate record did not find their way into the final database, and a clear description of the proposed data capture process.



Eleven banks scaled through the criteria laid down by the Ministry of Education and they were allocated parastatals and institutions which they would produce cards on behalf of , and consequently open accounts for the constituent students, lecturers and employees. The processes were mapped out by a committee that included the participating banks, the Federal Ministry of Education, and Technology providers; notably Secure ID, Socketworks and Chams. Following weeks of refinement, a memorandum outlining the rationale for the scheme, the participating banks, data capture process, the co-branded card concept and the technology aggregator was presented to the Federal Executive Council for consideration and approval - which was granted at the first presentation.



FirstBank actually produced the first Education Sector cards for NERDC (National Education Research and Development Council), before the baton of leadership changed on May 29, 2006 and one hopes that the Banks have not gone into a state of transition stupor where everyone thinks that administrative change necessarily implies redefinition of all Government initiatives. The incoming Minister needed time to understand the initiatives under implementation get legal context and accelerate work on those initiatives that could proceed without the passing of the Education bill into law.



Furthermore, it will be a poor testimony of the staying power of Nigerian Banks if the political process were to deem a project collectively adopted by 11 of them as unviable, especially when Government is not bringing one kobo to the table, and yet getting the benefits of holistic planning, ghost worker eradication and all the other benefits the scheme was programmed to deliver. I am also aghast at those who are suggesting that such zero kobo initiatives will be "killed" off by those who like to see government expend money. Haba!!! We have such a low opinion of our political class and civil service bureaucracy to the extent that we think they always have mischief up their sleeves. I believe there are good people in the system, and that together with the banks chosen to implement the WE CAN Combo card, this initiative will deliver the benefits it was designed to deliver, for the glory of the Nigerian education system.

Etteh should not resign, unless we want a repeat of history. Let us join the fight for a due process government and a Nigeria where gender is respected and where leadership is a thing of capability and effectiveness regardless of tribe and embrace unity of purpose and majority role.

Let's dance to her tone for once. and let Nigeria be. She is new and almost ...