The Econmist - USA (2021-10-30)

30 Briefing Migration within Africa TheEconomistOctober30th 2021

so.  Large  swathes  of  Africa  will  become

harder  to  live  in.  A  study  in  Burkina  Faso

finds  that,  because  droughts  make  people

poorer,  they  can  reduce  cross­border  mi­

gration.  Still,  the  World  Bank  says  that  by

2050 over 50m people in sub­Saharan Afri­

ca might move within their own countries

because of climate. The authors do not fo­

cus  on  international  migration  but  note

that many parts of sub­Saharan Africa that

are  expected  to  be  climate­migration  hot­

spots are close to borders. 

Some  Africans  are  forced  to  flee  their

homes. There are 6m refugees on the conti­

nent who have crossed a border (and 18.5m

displaced  within  their  own  countries).

However,  in  most  countries  migrants  are

motivated largely by a desire to make a bet­

ter living. Less than 1% of those in the Stan­

ford  analysis  said  conflict  was  their  main

reason for moving. 

Migration  presents  an  opportunity  for

Africa.  Migrants’  skills  and  hard  work

boost productivity. The taxes they pay fund

public  services.  They  send  billions  home

in  remittances.  And  when  they  return,  as

many  do,  they  bring  back  new  ideas  and

valuable contacts. The question for African

governments is whether they will make it

easier  for  Africans  to  move  around,  or

throw  up  more  barriers.  There  are  some

signs that they are choosing the former. 

Standing at the crossroads

African  governments  can  co­operate,  as

they  showed  with  a  continent­wide  free­

trade  agreement  that  became  operational

this year. The African Union, a body that is

much looser than the European Union but

has  ambitions  to  promote  more  integra­

tion, has put forward a protocol that would

allow free movement across Africa. So far,

however, few governments have ratified it. 

Some  still  see  migrants  as  a  problem

(much as European governments do). Bar­

riers  to  movement  are  still  high.  Border

guards  often  hassle  migrants,  delay  them

and demand pay­offs. Qualifications from

one  African  country  are  often  not  recog­

nised in others, leaving nurses selling fruit

in  markets.  Few  states  consider  migrants

in  their  urban  planning.  And  sending

money  home  is  absurdly  expensive:  to

transfer $200 costs about $16, more than in

any other region. 

Nonetheless, there are reasons to think

some of these barriers will fall. Africa has a

long  history  of  mobility.  Before  colonisa­

tion, nomads crossed what are now inter­

national borders, trade caravans strode the

Sahara,  and  many  Africans  migrated  dur­

ing  the  dry  season  before  returning  with

the rains. When colonies became indepen­

dent, some of their leaders, such as Kwame

Nkrumah of Ghana, pushed a pan­African­

ist  vision  of  a  borderless  continent.  His

ideals were neither universally shared nor

consistently upheld by Nkrumah himself.

In 1957 hisgovernmentpasseda deporta­

tionactandexpelledNigerianswhowere

helpingtheGhanaianopposition.Between

1958 and 1996 therewere 23 massexpul­

sionsofmigrantsby 16 Africancountries.

Still, the pan­African ideal helped

createtheEconomicCommunityofWest

AfricanStates(ecowas), a groupofformer

British,FrenchandPortuguesecolonies.In

1979 thebloc cameto anagreement on

visa­free movement and promised that,

within 15 years,allitscitizenswouldhave

therighttoworkandstarta businessin

anymemberstate.Thatrightstillexists,at

leastonpaper.MrBary,theGuineanbutch­

erinSenegal,didnotneeda visa.Hejust

went. It has made “a huge difference”,

agreesMrGavor,thefilmstar.“Ifwehad

moreoftheseunionsthatactuallyworked,

justimaginethethingswecoulddo.”

Therighttovisa­freetravelismostlyre­

spectedin all 15 ecowasstates, but the

right to dobusiness is not.“Almost all

memberstatesareinviolation,”saysFranz

Celestinoftheiom. Somestatesstilltryto

reserveindustriesforlocals.

Otherregionalblocsalsoallowa mea­

sureoffreemovement.Thesixcountries

oftheEastAfricanCommunity(eac) most­

lyoffervisa­freeentrytoeachother’sciti­

zens.Halfhaveeliminatedfeesforwork

permits,too.Regionalblocsinsouthern

andcentralAfricaaretryingtofollowsuit,

butarefurtherbehind.

In South Africa many politiciansare

quicktoblamemigrantsforproblemsat

home.In 2019mobsofarmedmenlooted

andtorchedshopsownedbymigrants.At

least 18 foreignerswerekilled,saysHuman

RightsWatch,anngo. “Thereisxenopho­

biaeverydayinSouthAfrica,”saysTimo­

thySangweeni(nothisrealname),a Zim­

babweanwhomovedin2008.Atpolicesta­

tions andclinics if “officials hear your

voiceandseeyourskin colourtheyare

rudeandunhelpfulandtellyouthatyou

don’tbelong,”hesays. But,heconcedes,

“Youareallowedtoaccessservices.” He

firstcamewithoutpapers,butnowhasa

permit,livesinabetterneighbourhood,

andismarriedtoa SouthAfrican.

Others arefedup. AganzeBulonza,a

waiterinKwaZulu­Natal,sayshewantsto

gobacktoCongo.“Eventhoughitisnot

stable, it’s better than being in a place

whereyouarenotwanted.”

Anoldgripe

Thecomplaintthatimmigrantstakejobs

fromlocals,ordragdownwages,isespe­

ciallyloudinSouthAfrica,wherewages

arehighbyAfricanstandardsandunem­

ploymentisrife.Yettheevidenceismixed.

Migrantssometimescompetewithlocals

forjobs,buttheyalsospendmoney,which

createsotherjobs.CostanzaBiavaschiof

theNorwegianUniversityofScienceand

Technologyandco­authorsfindthat,atthe

locallevel, malemigrationreduces em­

ploymentfor nativeSouth Africans,but

nottheirincome(atthenationallevel,it

hasa negativeeffectonSouthAfricans’to­

talincome,butnotonemploymentrates).

Buta WorldBankstudy,whichincludesfe­

maleworkers,findsthatattheprovincial

level immigration increases both native

employmentandwages.Andtheoecd, a

clubofmostlyrichcountries,findsnew

immigrantsboostemploymentandwages

ofSouthAfricansattheregionallevel.

In most measurable ways, migration

benefits locals. In Africa, it increases

manufacturinginbothsendingandreceiv­

ingcountries,findstheunConferenceon

TradeandDevelopment(unctad). Itreck­

onsthata 1%increaseinthenumberofmi­

grantstoa countryisassociatedwitha 0.2­

0.4%increase inmanufacturingoutput,

possibly because they bring skills and

ideas.Thebetter educatedthemigrants,

thebiggertheimpact.

In Ivory Coast migrants contribute

about19%ofgdpdespiteonlybeing10%of

thepopulation.Migrantsaremoreproduc­

tivethannatives becausetheyaremore

likelytobeofworkingage.Andtheyoften

Sudan

Ghana

Benin

Mali Niger

Nigeria

Rwanda

Uganda Kenya

Congo

SouthAfrica

Mozambique

Zimbabwe

IvoryCoast

Senegal

Guinea

Liberia

CAR

Burkina

Faso

ECOWAScountries Tanzania EAC

S.Sudan

Mainintra-Africanmigrationroutes*,22

Stockofmigrants,’000

Source: UN DESA *Above 100,000 people

100-249 20-499 00-1m 1m-1.4m

Not wanted

Sub-Saharan Africans, ’000

Sources:Eurostat;IOM

*12monthsorover †Greece,Italy and

Spain(datastartin2017)‡To Sep

1

40

30

20

10

0

2008 1815

EUandBritainwork

permitsgranted*

200

10

100

0

0

2015 21‡

Migrant arrivals via

the Mediterranean†