The Africa Business Club hosted its first-ever conference at the School on January 30. The relatively new club, founded in 1997 to help increase awareness at HBS of business and career opportunities on the African continent, chose "Reversing the Brain Drain" as the conference theme.

Some five hundred students, professionals, and alumni with business interests in Africa attended the event, which served as a forum for understanding the reasons behind Africa's continuing loss of intellectual capital. Kwesi Botchwey, Ghana's former finance minister and the director of Africa research and programs at the Harvard Institute for International Development, gave the keynote address. He noted that between 1986 and 1990 alone, some sixty thousand middle and high-level African managers left their countries of origin. To remedy this "hemorrhaging," Botchwey said, African nations will need to maintain "a growth-enhancing and stable macroeconomic framework that rewards productivity and creativity."

Susan E. Rice, U.S. assistant secretary for African Affairs, was the distinguished luncheon speaker. Citing indicators of Africa's "improved economic performance and investment environment," Rice described President Clinton's Partnership for Economic Growth and Opportunity in Africa, a plan to stimulate trade with the continent, spur greater private-sector investment, and provide debt relief and technical assistance to speed economic development.

A series of panel discussions considered solutions for reversing the brain-drain phenomenon, highlighting career opportunities on the continent in areas such as commercial and investment banking; manufacturing; consumer services; oil, gas, and mining; agribusiness; and entrepreneurial development. Panelists included successful businesspeople and organizational leaders of more than thirty companies now operating in Africa, including Colgate-Palmolive and Merrill Lynch. The day concluded with a reception that allowed HBS students and alumni with professional aspirations or activities in Africa to exchange ideas.

Post a Comment