South Africa's global brain bank

Despite the "brain drain", with so many talented South Africans leaving our shores to start new lives overseas, there is a network that is trying to harness all this brain power and direct its energy toward our shores - some good news.

It's not just a flash in the pan either, as membership in the US is already up to 120 and includes finance experts, doctors, lawyers and entertainers, amongst others.

Let's be honest, we as a country are struggling because we cannot provide an inviting atmosphere suitable to retain these talented people, but at least this effort will help maintain ties with these individuals and allow South Africa to benefit in some way from their international experience.

While I can say that we should try create a conducive environment to attracting these and others like them back here, it's not as simple as that, since some of them require a larger challenge than South Africa is able to offer, purely because of its size.

And surely there is benefit to South Africa in being able to draw on experienced international resources when we need them? I certainly don't like the thought of people going from SA, but when they are growing and developing in this manner, it's possible that the benefit SA derives is greater than what it loses.

It's great to know that we are producing people of this calibre who have gone on to become global leaders, and it's also good to know that they still want to be involved with South Africa. Congratulations to all involved in the Global South Africans project - I wish you all the best with the project.

You can read the full article here.