Global academic partnership is not a cost; it is an investment that pays off

 Every euro that Belgium invests in academic collaboration yields at least 2.1 euros. In reality, the return is even significantly higher, as benefits such as an extremely valuable alumni network, reputation, and trust were not factored in. “Anyone who still thinks in terms of giver and receiver has failed to understand today's world.”

Global academic cooperation? This involves, for example, long-term partnerships with universities in the Global South. Alternatively, it includes scholarships enabling students and professionals from the Global South to undertake bachelor's or master's degrees in Belgium across a wide spectrum of disciplines, ranging from epidemiology and aquaculture to food technology, sustainable land management, statistics, and urban planning.

In Belgium, the coordination of university development cooperation is in the hands of VLIRUOS on the Flemish side, and ARES on the Francophone side. For decades, it has been a fixed component of Belgian Development Cooperation, in the meantime renamed as ‘international cooperation’.

Previous research has already shown that academic development cooperation delivers a strong impact in partner countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Yet, researchers had never previously quantified the direct returns of this cooperation for Belgium itself. Nevertheless, it is a compelling question during an era of budgetary retrenchment that increasingly targets development assistance.

Therefore, VLIRUOS decided to commission an independent study to calculate in detail how much its programmes in the Global South bring in for Belgium financially. The study focused on the period 2017–2021, during which a total of 220.7 million euros was spent. During the study, that amount was expressed in values of 2025. The actual budget is therefore lower.

The analysis yielded a surprising result: for every euro spent, Belgium gets 2.1 euros back in return. Or, in the words of Prof. Mieke Van Herreweghe (Ghent University), chair of VLIRUOS: "Every euro of public expenditure generates more than two in return. Academic collaboration with the Global South is therefore not a cost, but an investment. Primarily in the Global South, of course, but equally so in Belgium itself.” Moreover, this is a very conservative calculation; the actual return is higher. 

Economic benefits

How is that possible? The study distinguishes various ways in which the invested money flows back.

• To begin with, a portion of the funds is simply spent in our country. This is used, for example, to pay wages and operating costs for organising the masters. Furthermore, students spend a portion of their student grant on living and residing in our country. That amounts to a total of 171 million euros.
   
• As a result of the collaboration, the participating Flemish universities and university colleges also benefit themselves. This is reflected in better research results (publications and doctorates), higher quality courses, and more robust expertise. As a result, they are able to pull in more research funding. The proceeds from this were calculated at 21.3 million euros.
  
  What began with the recruitment of a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Limpopo (South Africa) ultimately led to the leading Global Health Institute (GHI) at the University of Antwerp. The GHI produces numerous top-tier publications and smoothly attracts additional funding.
   
• Funding by VLIR-UOS also ensured that the international reputation and academic credibility of Flemish universities and university colleges received a major boost. As a result, they are in a much stronger position to attract the best international students. Here, the gain amounts to 207.4 million euros.
  
  For instance, the cooperation between Ghent University and Can Tho University (CTU) (Vietnam) began in the 1980s with a modest project involving the breeding of the brine shrimp Artemia. Today, CTU is among Vietnam's top universities, while Ghent University has developed into a leading player in sustainable food systems and knowledge diplomacy throughout Southeast Asia.
  
  Individual researchers and professors can also greatly enhance their reputation. At the VUB, for example, a professor dedicated years to water research in countries like Kenya, Cuba, and Ethiopia, all funded by VLIRUOS. She recently received the prestigious appointment to two chairs: the AXA Research Chair in Water Quality and Global Change and the UNESCO Chair in Open Water Science and Education. And that naturally also reflects well on the VUB's reputation.
   
• Belgian students who collaborate on VLIRUOS projects or attend classes with VLIRUOS scholarship students in an international learning environment, learn a great deal from them. Not only purely scientific expertise, but also practical skills such as being able to adapt smoothly to diverse, sometimes difficult contexts and handling cultural differences well. All of them highly sought-after competencies that make it easier for them to find a job, internationally too. The yield was estimated at 72.7 million euros.
   

All things considered, the total yield amounts to 472.5 million euros. If we subtract the investment of 220.7 million euros from that, we arrive at a profit of 251.8 million euros for the Belgian economy. Put differently, every euro we spend yields 2.1 euros.

Benefits that cannot be expressed in monetary terms

The researchers also came across a few major benefits that cannot be expressed in monetary terms.

• International students who have studied in Belgium build a special bond with our country that continues to resonate throughout their lives. Upon returning, former scholarship holders apply their talents across a wide range of sectors in their home country. Some later take up responsible positions in the business world, others grow into prominent politicians or brilliant medical specialists, or become university rectors or deans.
  
  In short, all these alumni form an extremely valuable network of contacts for Belgian diplomacy. They are not only useful because of their position—giving us direct access through them to ministries, institutions, and companies—but they can also help us understand their culture from the inside. Particularly in turbulent times when the diversification of our allies is so urgently needed, such soft power is becoming increasingly important.
   
• The universities and university colleges involved gain a great deal of knowledge through their cooperation with the Global South, and it frequently stimulates their collaboration with other Belgian research institutions. They also enter into long-term partnerships—beyond the strict academic world—with civil society, the private sector, and government bodies.
  
  The Belgian biotech company Deroose Plants, for example, produces potted plants, fruit, vegetables, and plantation crops. Via VLIRUOS and together with Ghent University, it developed a climate-resilient agricultural laboratory in Uganda. This in turn led to its fourth production site worldwide, its first in Africa. Or how collaboration between a Belgian company and Belgian and African academic partners can boost its turnover figures. Other Belgian agritech and biotech companies are also showing interest in the model.
   

The study therefore undeniably demonstrates that global academic cooperation yields benefits, including for Belgium itself. And although it only examined the Flemish side, the results certainly also apply to cooperation on the French-speaking side.

Professor Mieke Van Herreweghe concludes: “What is built up in the Global South also strengthens Belgium. Academic cooperation with the Global South is not charity and certainly not a one-way street. We will solve today's challenges by joining forces internationally. Anyone who still thinks in terms of giver and receiver has failed to understand today's world, and above all, how scientific progress operates.”