Stop banking on labour exports and create opportunities locally

Recently, I came across a thread on X that invited people to share their experiences after moving in with relatives in urban areas in pursuit of better opportunities after school. Most of the recollections were heartbreaking. Some were turned into unpaid domestic workers. Others came ‘home’ from fruitless job hunting only to find their hosts had moved out without warning. Each story highlighted the weight of unemployment that affects most of us in one way or another.

That same script is now playing out in the international space. Governments in the West and, now, increasingly in the gulf, are tightening their laws around immigration to calm the discontent from their own citizens who feel stifled by the increased presence of foreigners in their spaces. Immigrants, many of them Africans, have become easy scapegoats.

The United States, for instance, has introduced a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visa petitions, a move clearly designed to discourage employers from hiring foreign professionals. The UAE, just the other day, restricted long-term visas for Ugandans and tightened entry rules for Nigerians. Meanwhile, in Denmark, the government has limited work rights for foreign students. The hostility and rejection aren’t veiled anymore. The world is shutting its doors on us.

Caught in between are thousands of young Africans graduating from our institutions into non-existent job markets at home. For many, seeking opportunities abroad isn’t necessarily the easiest choice but the only promising one in the circumstances. But here they are, unwelcome abroad and unable to survive at home.

The real question, in the wake of this, is how African governments can make staying at home not just the first but the most desirable option for our youth. Exporting citizens to foreign countries can no longer be a success story. Governments may sell the narrative that migrant workers boost our economy through increased foreign exchange remittance and gives them opportunities to further their skills. But the truth isn’t as glamorous. Our children are out there trying to fit into societies that view them with suspicion and treat them with open hostility.

And we are not talking of unskilled, uneducated criminals. They are excellently trained teachers, nurses, engineers and other professionals who struggle to find any work at home. Meanwhile, our health systems are strained by severe staff shortages. Our classrooms are crowded with shameful teacher to student ratio. It is a miracle how our children excel in school. How, then, can we celebrate sending away the very professionals who should fix home? If nothing else, this paradox should trouble us deeply.

In the wake of a shrinking international space, African countries may want to strategise to make home viable and save their citizens the indignity of being treated with contempt out there. This means investing in industries that absorbs graduates. It means creating innovation hubs that nurture talent and encourage creativity and strengthening agricultural systems to expand our economic base.

It also means offering employment opportunities based on merit not nepotism or favouritsm. It means compensating our workforce fairly and ensuring workplaces are safe and dignified spaces that allow for growth and opportunity for all to thrive.

We cannot fault the West of the Gulf for prioritising their own. Like in our homes, when faced with the choice between accommodating extended relatives and protecting one’s children, the children will always come first. Their allegiance is rightly to their own citizens. What we can do however, is build systems that will allow our economy to grow to take care of our own while attracting the world.

The true measure of growth for African nations, going forward, should no longer be the number of citizens we can export but how many choose to stay and serve their countries. At the end of the day, when the world becomes hostile, home should be the one place where dignity and safety are guaranteed.

Ms Wekesa is a development communication consultant