African migrants can drive growth in their home countries – but three obstacles stand in the way

The idea that migration is closely linked to development has long been widespread on the African continent.

The main reason for this is that migrants – those traveling from the countryside to the city or across borders – send remittances home. This money is used to pay for homes, school fees, hospital visits, weddings and funerals, to name just a few of the uses.

Scholars and policymakers recognize that remittances far outweigh development aid. Take an example: In Senegal in 2017, remittances accounted for just over 10% of GDP, and foreign development assistance accounted for just over 4%.

In some African countries, remittances account for over 20% of GDP.

On paper, African countries appear to favor migration linked to development outcomes. One example is the African Union’s Agenda 2063, which sees labor mobility as a path to development. The challenge, however, is translating these policies into reality.

For example, only 33 countries have signed the African Union Protocol on freedom of movement, residence and establishment, and only four have ratified it.

In a recent study, we set out to understand this contradiction. The paper was based on discussions with 20 interviewees, including academics, policy advisors, consultants, civil servants, civil society representatives, a lawmaker and representatives of the African Union (AU).

Our aim was to research, identify and understand African migration norms. Norms are shared behavioral expectations that guide actions in specific contexts. They can be written in laws and policies or unwritten.

After reviewing policy documents and academic literature and looking at some of our previous work, we came up with eight statements to capture expectations for African migration. One of these statements is that “migration is essential for development”.

In this article we outline the spread of the idea in politics and in the statements of migration experts. While most experts we spoke to identified “migration and development” as the African norm, there were tensions over what this meant for different people – the migrants, the host communities, governments and other actors.

These different expectations hinder development through migration and make political goals unattainable.

We examine how development is understood before turning to three obstacles: strict visa regulations, resistance to accepting migrants into communities, and Europe’s reluctance to migrate from Africa.

Beyond the economic benefits

The connections between migration and development are essential to the growth of African societies and livelihoods.

Many people on the continent view migration as a livelihood strategy that brings in remittances at the household level while also providing funds for development projects.

The experts we interviewed largely agreed. Furthermore, they saw more than just economic benefits in migration. This can, for example, lead to investments and knowledge transfers in the health and education sectors.

Social and political transfers can also influence personal and governmental development.

While over 80% of people we spoke to believed the connection between migration and development was important, only half believed this was true for policymakers on the continent.

This is because the connection between migration and development is not so clear. Development is complex and cannot be done through just one approach. The relationship is also affected by issues such as global power imbalances and corruption.

In addition, we identified three specific barriers to development through migration:

• restricted mobility within Africa

• Resistance at community level

• The preference of European politicians to view development as a means of curbing migration to Europe.

mobility

At the continental level, several policies have been developed to facilitate mobility. Yet countries are lagging behind in passing their own laws to implement policies.

And although African states often speak out in favor of migration, this does not always mean that there are opportunities for implementation.

Some governments want to prevent younger, more educated citizens from emigrating. This brain drain means a loss of productivity, creativity and highly skilled workers.

Some countries also have strict visa requirements for other African citizens – for example South Africa and Egypt. The rules are often justified by saying that they are intended to counteract competition for jobs from incoming migrants.

There has been some progress. According to the Africa Visa Openness Report 2023, the proportion of intra-African travel requiring a visa before departure fell from 55% in 2016 to 46% in 2022.

Despite these improvements, the reality is that travel is still difficult for many African migrants, even within the continent. Government authorities create numerous obstacles. For example, the introduction of an electronic travel authorization for all travelers in Kenya reversed previous visa exemptions for Djibouti and Ethiopia.

Community level resistance

There is widespread agreement that mobility is linked to economic prosperity (and therefore development). However, this does not always mean that migrants are welcome in a community.

Some political leaders are able to recognize the development potential that migrants and refugees offer for their local economies. However, citizens in host communities may view migrants’ development aspirations as a threat to their own development. This is likely when citizens lack access to public goods and struggle with high costs of living.

Populist politicians are quick to talk about migrants competing with citizens for jobs.

In Africa and elsewhere, there is a long history of state and societal hostility toward migrant communities, particularly during economic downturns. For example, the infamous “Ghana Must Go” campaign in Nigeria deported over two million Ghanaians in Nigeria in 1983.

Mass expulsions also occurred from Ghana (1954 and 1969) and Ivory Coast (1958). More recently, diplomatic relations between Ghana and Nigeria have again become strained due to alleged abuses of Nigerians in Ghana.

EU interest in “development to curb migration”

African and European decision-makers accept that migration and development are linked. Nevertheless, European politicians have long suggested that this should be seen as a development aimed at curbing migration to Europe.

This is highlighted in the EU Emergency Trust Fund, which aims to curb irregular migration to Europe. This has essentially given development funds the policy goal of stopping migration (under the false assumption that better employment opportunities at home will stop migration).

There is also increasing emphasis on offering development funds in return for cooperation in repatriating African migrants from Europe.

The most recent agreement at intercontinental level, the Samoa Agreement, underlines this

Migration can be a source of prosperity, innovation and sustainable development (Article 65).

The focus is on return and reintegration measures as an integral contribution to the development of African countries.

In these circumstances, some African countries have begun to adopt similar narratives on migration and development.

We concluded from our research that there is a mismatch between social and political attitudes towards migration. This ambiguity can have a negative impact on the conditions under which mobility takes place.

Migration management on the continent should reflect the diversity of attitudes. It is time for policymakers to take responsibility for this.