Capitalizing on labor mobility in Africa
Abstract
The objective of this paper is to explore labor mobility as an intrinsic part of human capital development and of regional integration. The focus is on international mobility within Africa. The paper underlines how the specific impact of migration on development is influenced by contextual factors, both the opportunities and agency of bottom-up self-help of migrants as well as the top-down issues, including migration regimes in place. By focusing on skills and inclusive growth, the paper aims to address the impact of labor mobility from individual and state perspectives. It aims to improve the understanding of how labor mobility affects and challenges development in Africa from a human development perspective of both individuals and states, as well as how regional integration, again, affects the impacts of labor mobility on migrants, states and regional economic communities (RECs).
Introduction
Global migration policy has witnessed a shift from immigration control, and from a reduction in migration being a criterion of development programs[1] to migration management. This implies a shift from reactive measures concerned with migrants already within or at the border of the receiving state, to pro-active policies concerned with potential migrant populations and in collaboration with the countries of origin. This has happened in parallel with the emergence of a new transnational paradigm focusing on patterns of movement and communication, as well as the transfers of ideas, skills, goods and remittances across national territories. The migration–development nexus has moved center-stage since 2001. Nonetheless, migration has been regarded as a development problem, and a strong sedentary bias remains in much of the development practice and literature.[2] Instead of attempting to reduce migration, this approach is based on leveraging migration for development, looking at better matching the supply and demand of labor across borders.
The structure of the paper is as follows. First, it will outline intra-African migration patterns through the optic of the current challenges to skills and competitiveness while underlining the progress and challenges in the respective subregions/RECs for free movement, which is part of creating a common market or space. Still, the paper is shaped by the gap of structured information on this topic, with official statistics being unreliable, inaccurate and sometimes nonexistent. Second, it will analyze the current impact of labor mobility on inclusive growth and poverty reduction. Finally, the last section provides some policy recommendations for improving benefits from labor mobility.
Leveraging intra-African migration for development
The country where a person is born strongly influences the opportunities for developing his or her human capital, while the degree of regional integration affects that person’s chances of improving them elsewhere. Mobility and migration have always been an intrinsic part of human capital development, and migration can be considered as a capability-enhancing act in itself. A search for better or more secure livelihoods is the main cause of migration.[3] The absolute majority of Africans migrate within the continent. Most people move to urban areas in their own country, while an estimated 31 million Africans are international migrants— and at least half migrate within their subregion.[4]
In Africa migration represents a necessity for some, and an opportunity for others. In some cases people move due to stress factors such as climate change, war and poverty. Migration is also a response to relative deprivation, and can represent a livelihood strategy and investment or insurance function for income diversification.[5] Instead of categorizing different segments of migrants, this paper will instead look at all as potential labor migrants. For example, the growing numbers of unemployed youth in Africa are looking for jobs and opportunities across borders. Hein de Haas (2009) also underlines that rather than applying classifications such as forced and voluntary migration, it is more appropriate to conceive of a continuum running from low to high constraints under which migration occurs, and in which all migrants deal with structural constraints to varying degrees.
Recent literature shows that most migration—internal or international—leads to higher incomes, better access to education and health, and improved prospects for migrants’ children. Since 2000 there has been a resurge of optimism over the benefits of migration on development. The Human Development Report 2009 outlined evidence about the positive impacts of migration on human development, such as increased household incomes via remittances and improved access to education and health services – mainly from north-south migration flows. More than three-quarters of migrants travel to countries with a higher level of human development than their country of origin.[6] In an African context most movements occur between countries with contiguous borders and small differences in income. As a majority of these migrants moving to another country are poor, even small increases in income can have significant impacts on their human development and that of their family.[7]
Intra-African migration can have a great impact on reducing inequalities and poverty. Some studies show that regional migration, which is less costly and thus more accessible, may have a greater impact on poverty reduction than migration out of Africa.[8] When poor households receive remittances, this can for example have a large effect on social inclusion.[9] Intercontinental migration, which requires more social and economic resources, yields greater increases in income and livelihood security than intra-African migration[10] and thus tends to exacerbate household inequalities.[11] Wealthier people and societies are therefore also generally more mobile than relatively poor people and societies: Emigration rates as a share of population are around 2.1% in low-income countries and 3.6% in high-income countries.[12] Those receiving remittances from outside Africa are in the top consumption quintiles, and were already wealthy to a degree relative to the general population before migrating.[13]
South–South migration (understood as migration between developing countries) is indeed larger than migration from the South to high-income countries within the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Africans account for merely 5% of the foreign born in OECD countries, less than any other region except Oceania.[14] Around twice as many migrants move across borders within the global South than from South to North, and this trend is likely to increase.[15] Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for 63% of intraregional flows and the numbers are even higher for subregions.[16] Migrants mainly stay within their subregions, as in West Africa, where about 7.5 million migrants move within the region, accounting for 71%–86% of total emigration.[17] However, while remittances have become “the new development mantra,”[18] few attempts to integrate migration concerns in development policy have been successful.
This chapter combines the perspective of individual gains of labor mobility with those of states. It will thus go beyond “methodological nationalism,”[19] which focuses on nation-states’ priorities, and will instead combine them with the implications of migration for the well-being of individuals, families and communities. The analysis of mobility and development will therefore be based on a broader, more inclusive and agency-oriented concept of human development as put forward by Amartya Sen (1999). Sen defined development as the process of expanding the substantive freedoms that people enjoy, using the concept of human capability, in order to underline agency and enhance choices.
That being said, all migrants face structural constraints, which limit the opportunities for social mobility and to bring about structural change in receiving and sending communities. The free movement of people in Africa remains one of the least elaborated policy areas of regional integration. Beyond high immigration restrictions and selectivity, Africa also remains one of the regions in the world with the stiffest visa requirements. Consequently, large numbers of migrants are in irregular situations. When the poorest migrate, they often do so in conditions of vulnerability that reflect few resources or choices. Constraints to labor mobility in African subregions and reduced opportunities to exercise agency thus have negative impacts on migrants’ well-being as well as on the poverty- and inequality-reducing potential of migration. In Africa, preferential access to migration is therefore likely to reinforce structural inequalities between rich and poor.[20]
Many economists favor relaxing restrictions on immigration.[21] While the liberalization of free trade has been pushed forward in the last decades, international migration remains the weakest link in globalization. Nonetheless, one of the most important economic arguments for open borders is that enhanced labor mobility would considerably increase world gross domestic product (GDP) and lead to a more equitable distribution of wealth.[22] Also, liberalized movement of workers could significantly reduce world poverty,[23] mainly achieved through an income increase of the people who move, as well as an increase in remittances to be sent to countries of origin.[24] There are diverging opinions on the exact benefits of freer movement of people—for example, the effects of low-skilled versus high-skilled immigration in the country of destination.
The extent of regional integration and free movement therefore condition the micro and macro levels of labor mobility and heavily affects human capital development. Migration remains a key livelihood strategy for Africans. Nonetheless, the social mobility of migrants is not facilitated in Africa and migrants have only few opportunities for breaking their low career ceiling and reducing intergenerational poverty. Without a conducive environment to safe and rights-based migration processes the benefits of labor mobility are low. The specific impact of migration on development is influenced by contextual factors, including bottom-up self-help of migrants as well as top-down migration regimes in place (table1). The current situation of restricted movement signals a critical lack of coordination and collaboration on youth employment, labor market flexibility, innovative cross-border social safety nets and social policy reforms. Such efforts require strong commitment, political will and ownership from African countries.
Table 1. Factors influencing the economic and developmental impact of migration
Short term / Long termMicro / · Wages and (un)employment
· Job search
· Skills development
· Access to services and housing
· Effects on other consumption
· Migrants’ human capital investments, savings
· Social security / · Labor market flexibility
· Business practices, right to establishment
· Innovation and entrepreneurship
· Migrant geographical and social clustering
· Networks
· Social mobility across generations
· Remittances
Macro / · Population size, composition
· Labor market participation
· Geographic distribution of human resources (urbanization)
· Cost of travel documents
· Health and education expenditures
· Unemployment, wage levels, income distribution
· Level of banking, costs of remittances
· Regional integration (visas/free movement of people/transfer of services) / · Labor market demands and supply
· Fertility and population aging
· Sectoral composition of the economy
· Public and private infrastructure
· Technological change
· International trade/migration patterns
· Social inclusion
· Cohesion, cross-border relations and crime
· Environmental challenges
· Migration management, skills pooling
Labor mobility and skills development in Africa
The issue of skills and competitiveness is inherent through Africa, and is closely associated with the development causes and consequences of labor mobility for individuals and states. To profit from emerging industries such as banking, extractive industries and information and communications technology (ICT), African countries require high-skilled innovative entrepreneurs for economic transformation. Even with entrenched unemployment and underemployment, African economies face labor skills shortages. Further, the workforce is often inadequately educated, and skills shortages in Africa represent the most important labor market issue for investors.[25] There is thus a pressing need to train, retain and attract skilled professionals within the continent, and ensure geographic equity between poorer and richer areas. This section will therefore address two key issues: First, that emigration creates a lack of workers in poor countries and regions; second, that restrictions on mobility reversibly impede access to foreign professional services.
In 2015, 61% of Africans will be under 25; and by 2035 56%, a growth opportunity as these young populations enter their productive years. The rising number of African youth is increasingly educated and mobile—and ever-more unemployed or underemployed, exacerbated by the disconnect between labor market needs and the skills produced by the education sector. This has broad regional implications, including for migration. People migrate to obtain and build skills, or to achieve further value and income for skills already acquired. Beyond the large numbers of student migrants, youth unemployment represents a strong push factor. Migrants in developing countries are mainly young men—and increasing numbers of women[26]— below the age of 30 looking for jobs (figure1).
Figure 1. International migrations per age group in country development groups (%)
Source: UNDESA 2011.
High cross-border movements persist without labor market coordination of supply and demand of skills. A total of 80% of South–South migration occurs between countries with a common border, compared with 20% of South–North migration.[27] Almost all African countries are today migration destinations (figure4). The main African bilateral corridors are Burkina Faso–Côte d’Ivoire, Zimbabwe–South Africa, Côte d’Ivoire–Burkina Faso, Uganda–Kenya and Mozambique–South Africa. Slow regional integration hampers migration management and thus productivity. There is a strong relationship between African firms’ access to services and their productivity.[28] Nonetheless, the private sector cannot quickly access or move the talent it needs as it faces long procedures for work permits, challenging its growth and competitiveness. Onerous visa requirements, lack of mutual recognition of qualifications and restrictions on movement all curtail free movement. With restrictive immigration laws,[29] regional skill pooling is limited throughout Africa.
Little harmonization of professional qualifications impedes growth. Trade barriers, regulatory requirements and immigration policy impede the supply of services by foreign professionals under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) Mode 4 of movement of natural persons. Agreements by the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) and ECOWAS include a national treatment obligation clause that applies to all service activities covered by these agreements. (Mutual recognition is not yet in force in ECOWAS.) Further, heavily regulated professions, such as engineering, and medical and pharmaceutical professions, demand commonly accepted standard examinations before accreditation to practice. Data suggest that—with the exception of accounting technicians in Kenya—East Africa also has a middle-level skills need.[30] Beyond accreditation, legal challenges can include restrictions on rights to establishment, as with Tunisian doctors in Algeria.