Participation of African countries in Erasmus+ and link between student mobility and labour migration

Question for written answer E-000842/2023
to the Commission
Rule 138
Dominique Bilde (ID)

For the 2021-2027 period, sub-Saharan Africa is expected to have the largest budget under Erasmus+, with almost a quarter of the €2.2 billion set aside for that region[1][2].

Between 2015 and 2017, 9 700 African students, researchers and academic staff took part in the programme[3].

The Erasmus+ in West Africa programme was strengthened in December 2018, with additional support of €6 million for the Sahel and Lake Chad region[4].

There is a proven link between student mobility and labour migration.

The Centrale Casablanca engineering school - which aims to become Africa's 'leading engineering school by 2025' - has set itself the target of attracting 30% of its students from sub-Saharan Africa. Of the four graduation rounds to date, 60% of the graduates work in Morocco, 30% in France and only a small minority in sub-Saharan Africa[5].

In the French health sector, 'for the start of the 2020-2021 academic year, the number of visas granted to young Africans in training increased by 32.5%'. More than half of the students subsequently obtain a work contract.[6][7].

How does the Commission intend to reduce the African brain drain following student mobility and encourage Africans to return to the continent?

Submitted: 13.3.2023

• [1] https://thepienews.com/news/africa-to-get-lions-share-of-erasmus-budget/.
• [2]Ibid.: 'In the new programming period sub-Sahara Africa is anticipated to have the single largest budget under Erasmus+ with nearly a quarter of the €2.2 billion of funding'.
• [3] https://ec.europa.eu/assets/eac/erasmus-plus/factsheets/regional/erasmusplus-regional-africa2017.pdf.
• [4] 'The Erasmus+ in West Africa programme [...] has been reinforced in December 2018 with an additional support of 6 million euros for the Sahel and Lake Chad region', https://ec.europa.eu/trustfundforafrica/region/sahel-lake-chad/regional/erasmus-west-africa_en.
• [5] 'Centrale Casablanca aims to train new generation of African engineers', Aurélie Collas, Le Monde, 2 August 2022.
• [6] 'French immigration bill: Africa fears a mass exodus of doctors', Sandrine Berthaud-Clair, Le Monde, 2 February 2023.
• [7]Ibid.: 'Upon graduation, more than half of students obtain a work contract.'

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