Bill Gates discusses how Nigeria might benefit from the Japa phenomena

According to Bill Gates, a large diaspora is beneficial to Nigeria.Bill Gates, co-chairman of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, has emphasized how Nigeria might benefit from the Japa phenomena in the long run.Japa is a Yoruba phrase that refers to the recent increase in the number of young Nigerian professionals leaving the country for greener pastures. Meanwhile, Gates gave his voice to the current discussion regarding the Japa phenomena on Wednesday, June 21, 2023, during an interactive session with innovators on 'Advancing Africa: Unleashing the Power of Youth in Science and Innovation' in Lagos State. The Microsoft co-founder believed that having a "large diaspora" would encourage skilled Nigerians to return to the country and start enterprises. "In some ways, people leaving is a good thing if you increase the amount of training you do." "Having a big diaspora that includes people coming back into business, into government - that's a very healthy thing," he remarked. In cases where the government provides subsidized medical education, the benefactor says, "one almost wishes that a little bit of that resource you get from overseas would help the government increase the training." He did, however, caution that in the absence of offshore remittances, certain of those abilities would be in short supply. "I'm not someone who believes that no one should go away or that completely blocking that is a healthy thing," Gates emphasized.