Africans migrate more within Africa – Report

Africans migrate more from one Africa country to another, contrary to belief that almost every African migrates beyond the continent, a report by United Nations Economic Commission for Africa has revealed
The revelation was made on Saturday by Takyiwaa Manuh, the Director of Social Development Policy Division of UNECA, who gave highlight of the report entitled: “Challenges of International Migration in Africa” at ongoing African Development Week in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Manuh said the situation contained in the report was contrary to popular belief that Africans migrated more to other continents.
She said: “Media coverage and research on irregular migration and high death toll amongst those crossing the Mediterranean have falsely reinforced the belief that Africans migration is essentially directed towards Europe.
“Migration streams within Africa are much larger than those out of Africa.
“About 31 million of the continent’s population has migrated internationally.
“This is little more than 3 per cent of the continent’s population.
“More than half of those migrating internationally do so within Africa, with only about 28 per cent of migrants from Africa going to Europe.
“Of the total migrant stock in Europe, less than 12 percent are from Africa.”
Manuh said UNECA research also showed that remittance inflows to Africa quadrupled between 1990 and 2010, reaching nearly $49 billion in 2010, equivalent to an average of 2.6 per cent of Africa’s Gross Domestic Product.
She added: “The proportion of remittances invested in food, health and education ranged from 30 per cent in Kenya and 37 per cent in Nigeria to 47 per cent in Burkina Faso and 67 per cent in Senegal.
“Thus, international migration has tremendous potential to improve development and welfare in origin countries.”
Manuh urged countries to embrace regional integration and border management to facilitate migration and visa-free travel for Africans in Africa.
She further appealed for consultative processes in the designing policies to secure the benefits of migration at global and regional levels.
According to her, designing policies should involve countries of destination and origin.
NAN.