Africa spends an estimated four billion dollars annually to recruit about 100,000 skilled expatriates to replace those that had left the continent for greener pastures.

Professor Edward Ofori-Sarpong, Pro Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Legon, who announced this at Konongo at the weekend, said between 1960 and 1975, an estimated 27,000 highly qualified Africans left the continent for the West.

Delivering the last in the series of three lectures to mark the Golden Jubilee celebrations of Konongo-Odumase Secondary School, he said the number increased to approximately 40,000 between 1975 and 1984 and almost doubled by 1987, representing 30 per cent of the highly skilled manpower stock.

Prof Ofori-Sarpong said Africa lost 60,000 professionals such as doctors, university lecturers, engineers and many others between 1985 and 1990 and had been losing an average of 20,000 annually ever since.

The Pro Vice-Chancellor said Africa's on-going development efforts, therefore, would continue to be undermined as long as the current phenomenon of human capital flight or brain drain continued.

This trend, he pointed out, had the twin effects of poor African economies losing their best human capital, while spending precious money on education and training replacements.

He said the need to reverse this on-going problem as well as build and effectively utilise capacities, was now widely acknowledged as a major challenge for Africa's development in the 21st century.

Professor Ofori-Sarpong said increasing numbers of Africans educated overseas never returned to their home countries while many of those educated in their home countries left for better employment opportunities abroad and others also left to avoid political repression or wars.

Whatever the reason for migrating, the departure of so many Africa minds is having devastating effects on the continent.

He, however, acknowledged that brain drain was in itself not a new phenomenon but said it had risen sharply in recent years.