text: why do we have brain drain in africa?   because africa is basically a politically unstable, economically depressed, disease ridden mess.   sorry, i love africa and have lived and worked there several times over the years but i wouldn't live there and i sure wouldn't want to bring up children there.  even the more stable countries like south africa don't look like remaining stable in the long term, especially with the looming effectsof an hiv epidemic, and with examples like zimbabwe to look upon people for what happens when such societies collapse people are understandably nervous.  add to that the very limited oportunities for the middle class to make money and even the best african countries look like a poor choice compared to the 'western' world for an educated young person.  which is a shame because the best chance of solving those problems comes frm the educated young people. unfortunately in a globalised world you can't really prevent brain drain. all you can do is adress the factors that promote it.