Migration: Africa's Untapped Potential

Migration in Africa is primarily driven by the search for economic opportunity, safety, and security, as well as the need to escape environmental hardships. However, as Migration: Africa's Untapped Potential discusses, migration's potential to uplift African livelihoods remains largely unfulfilled. While nearly 15 percent of the world's migrant population is from Sub-Saharan Africa, fewer than 1 percent leave the continent, compared to around 5 percent from North Africa. Most Sub-Saharan African migrants move within Regional Economic Communities, although destinations like North America and Gulf countries are becoming more popular. Africa is also home to a quarter of the world's refugees, primarily hosted in neighboring countries. Africa is now at a pivotal crossroads. With a rapidly growing young population facing economic stagnation, conflict, and climate change, the continent's workforce is expected to increase by 600 million people by 2050, making up a third of the world's youth. In contrast, labor forces in high-income and upper-middle-income countries are set to decline by 200 million. This 'Great Demographic Divergence' opens a window of opportunity for Africa to enhance its migration management systems. This report shows that investing in these systems can better support migrants across the migration cycle, from developing skills in demand domestically, regionally, and globally to ensuring dignity and safety in transit or at their destination. Effective migration management also includes promoting integration in host societies and facilitating voluntary returns. Instruments such as bilateral labor migration agreements with destination countries could greatly expand legal migration opportunities for African migrants. Entering these agreements as a unified bloc would strengthen individual countries' bargaining power, improve conditions for migrants, and maximize the economic benefits of migration. Additionally, the empowerment and self-reliance of refugees and internally displaced persons call for increased collaboration among African nations.