Migration can boost Africa’s growth, says UN
Migration into and within Africa could boost economic growth and productivity and, if properly managed, could lead to a substantial increase in GDP per capita by 2030, says the UN.
The UN Conference on Trade and Development’s (UNCTAD’s) 2018 Economic Development in Africa Report: Migration for Structural Transformation found that although 17-million Africans left Africa in 2017, about 5.5million others emigrated into it.
This influx, as well as the movement of 19-million mostly young Africans within the continent, had positive benefits for both the source and destination countries. The report estimates that global migration could boost Africa’s GDP per capita from $2,008 in 2016 to $3,249 in 2030, at an annual growth rate of 3.5%. In 2017, the top five intra-African migration destinations were SA, Ivory Coast, Uganda, Nigeria and Ethiopia.
All five countries received more than 1-million migrants.
But the report estimates that far from being a drain on the host countries’ resources, the net effect on their economies was positive. Not only do migrants bring their skills, they also contribute to their new countries’ development through taxes and consumption.
The report says migrants spend about 85% of their incomes in their new countries. It puts the contribution of international migrants to GDP at 19% in Ivory Coast (2008), 13% in Rwanda (2012), 9% in SA (2011) and 1% in Ghana (2010).
“Population movements across borders often offer individuals a chance for a better life, with the social and economic benefits extending to both source and destination countries,” said UNCTAD secretarygeneral Mukhisa Kituyi.
“Yet much of the public discourse, particularly as it relates to international African migration, is rife with misconceptions that have become part of a divisive, misleading and harmful narrative,” he said.
The report explains that intra-African migration fosters economic growth and structural transformation by boosting trade and productivity. Trade is stimulated as migrants typically demand food products from their home countries.
Migration also stimulates heritage or “nostalgia” trade and promotes tourism between diaspora populations and their home countries. An increase in intra-African migration is also positively associated with higher productivity in agriculture, construction, mining, services, information technology (IT) and manufacturing, the report says.
This is because migration allows destination countries to fill critical skills shortages.
SA’s financial services and IT sectors are magnets for highly skilled African migrants, while its construction and mining sectors attract semi-skilled people.
However, the lack of policy frameworks that recognise academic and professional qualifications, and the high costs associated with obtaining work permits, impede highly skilled migrants’ mobility. The remittance and investment flows of the African diaspora contribute positively to growth and poverty reduction and should be better harnessed, states the report.
The report estimates that remittance inflows to Africa now account for 51% of all private capital to the continent, up from 42% in 2010. Liberia and Lesotho are the most dependent on remittances, with these inflows accounting for 27% and 18% of their respective GDPs.