UN: 41 million migrants linked to Africa

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia

There were about 41 million people counted as international migrants either coming from, going to or moving within Africa, said a United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UCTAD) 2018 report on migration unveiled on Thursday in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

While some 19 million resided in Africa, 17 million left the continent while 5.5 million migrants from the rest of the world in 2017.

The growing intra-African migration, the report said, “[…] can positively impact structural transformation in destination countries.

“If properly managed, intra-African migration could lead to a substantial increase in GDP per capital for Africa by 2030.”

Vera Songwe, Economic Commission for Africa executive secretary said migration out of Africa has multiple benefits to economic growth on the continent.

“Some countries get up to 25 percent of their GDP in the form of remittances,” she said.

According to Songwe, migration could also be seen as way for Africa to achieve transfer of knowledge.

The report indicates that migration was projected to boost Africa’s GDP per capita from $2,008 in 2016 to $3,249 in 2018, growing at annual rate of 3.5 percent from 2016.

International migrants’ contribution represented for instance 19 percent of GDP in Cote d’Ivoire in 2018, 13 percent in Rwanda in 2012, and 9 percent in South Africa in 2011.

UNCTAD Secretary General Mukkisa Kituyi said job opportunities on the continent for highly skilled technical professionals and business opportunities were some of the reasons for migration from outside Africa, while there were instances in which low-skilled people also came to Africa in search of jobs mainly from Asian countries.

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development shed light on intra-Africa migration as a growing positive trend.