Human Capital Flight, Remittances and the Problem of Achieving Sustainable Economic Growth in Africa

The research employed data from twenty African countries namely: Nigeria, Ghana, Benin, Senegal, Niger, Cote d’Ivoire, Gambia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Sudan, Kenya, Ethiopia, Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt, Algeria, Zambia, South Africa, Namibia and Mozambique; and with variables such as real GDP, stock of physical capital, labour force, remittances received, per capita income, human capital flight-proxied by net migration, education-proxied by secondary school enrolment and technology- proxy by total factor productivity. The data were collected for the rage of 40 years (1977-2016). The result shows that remittances, per capital income, labour force, stock of physical capital, education and total technology exert positive relationship with economic growth, while human capital flight shows non-significant relationship with economic growth. We therefore recommend proper channeling of remittances in productive activities, as remittances can serve as compensation for human capital flight.