African immigration to Europe is decreasing and members of the African diaspora are returning home. Whilst some have concerns about the stability of domestic African governments and the quality of infrastructure – there are many who are concluding that they can’t wait for the public sector to deliver the solution and that the diaspora need to work alongside communities to generate these solutions themselves.
More broadly the traditional syndrome of “brain drain” from developing to developed world is becoming increasingly less relevant because the Internet allows diaspora communities to contribute politically, socially and economically to their home countries and communities of origin.
In the developed world economies have evolved to depend less on manufacturing and manual labour which to an extent diminishes the challenges of an ageing population. Nevertheless, this situation still poses a problem for established welfare and pension systems where an increasing number of elderly citizens depend upon a decreasing number of young people to generate the necessary tax base to support them in their old age.
