Namibia's academic appeal

I arrived in Windhoek, the capital city of Namibia, this morning, as part of a 10 day linkurl:trip to Africa;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/23265/ on behalf of The Scientist to talk to researchers about the state of science on the continent. In no time, I was being whisked over to the linkurl:University of Namibia;http://www.unam.na/ by molecular biologist Kazhila Chinsembu. Chinsembu is originally from Zambia but has been at the University of Namibia for four years. As we drove through the clean, modern-looking city, he explained why.One of the main factors was stability, he said. Back in Zambia, the university had been closed down seven times in the seven years he worked there as a result of staffing problems, salary disputes, student unrest or political problems. In the four years he's been in Namibia there hasn't been a single closure.Another factor is the relatively good financial prospects in Namibia, which has been independent of linkurl:South...