AFFRIKA Journal of Politics, Economics and Society

The increasing rate of brain drain in Sub-Saharan Africa has devastated the ability of many states to pursue objectives related to socio-economic development as they lack the needed human capital to do so. Poverty, Conflict and political intolerance are factors identified as contributing to brain drain in SSA. However, on a positive note, the region has also seen an increase in remittance flows, which have proven to be a lifeline for many families. While the principal objective of this paper is to shed light on the effects of brain drain in SSA it also sheds light on the important role that has been played by remittances to SSA. Therefore, using a strict analysis of the relevant literature related to brain drain in SSA, the study uncovered that brain drain had robbed SSA of vital skills which are essential for development and governments have failed to respond to the threat on brain drain. On the other hand, the region has seen a huge influx of remittances which has become a lifeline for governments in terms of contributing to state budgets, however, having skilled professionals in an economy is more beneficial than remittances, hence the urgent need to reduce brain drain rather than depending on remittances. The study concludes that SSA is stuck between a rock and a hard place as there are no clear cut policies that detail how to reduce brain drain in the region, yet regional governments have been enjoying the huge influx of remittances. The study concluded that brain drain ought to be dealt with as it poses a serious threat to development despite the region receiving millions in remittances.

The paper sought to examine economic growth and governance in South Africa using GDP and selected governance indicators. The estimation techniques employed to achieve the research aim are; Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) and granger-causality approaches. The Augmented Dickey Fuller (ADF) unit root tests reveal that all variables are co-integrated at I(1), except for CC at I(2). The ARDL results ascertain the existence of a long run relationship among the variables, hence, the F-statistic is greater than the lower and upper critical bounds. The Granger-causality tests show a causal link between government effectiveness (GE) and gross domestic product (GDP). Corruption control (CC) was found to have a causal link with GE. In addition, the diagnostic tests confirm that the findings are reliable and valid. Accordingly, these findings are consistence with the widely shared notion that good governance is an impetus for economic growth and development. In essence, where poor governance thrives, it becomes difficult to practice good governance and to achieve prospects of economic growth. Therefore, appropriate governance mechanisms must be implemented in order to enhance sustainable good governance and economic growth. This calls for what this paper terms as a growth-enhancing‘ governance
model.

In pursuit of the African Union Commission Agenda 2063's Africa of good governance, democracy and the rule of law, there is need to develop and strengthen democratic institutions of accountability, but there are questions about the suitability of liberal democracy for African countries. This study is informed by the qualitative methods employing secondary data analysis of democratic governance in Africa in a bid to establish why there appears to be a perennial democratic deficit. Findings reveal that, the solution may not lie in transplanting institutions of Western democracy to Africa. African states have made declarations purporting to promote democratic values to no avail. The study recommends the establishment of vibrant democratic institutions as necessary but not sufficient for democracy to thrive. Africa could come up with its own conception(s) of democracy through a model in this study which responds to its culture, economic and social needs to enable good governance.