Linking African migration and development in a globalised world

The emigrant African population holds significant unexploited potential for the development of the continent. But the complexities of African migration are poorly understood. Further research to guide policy must take account of how different groups of African migrants respond to the challenges and opportunities of globalisation.

Changing migration flows, reflecting today’s globalised economy, areleading to the development of new migration networks and communities, or diasporas. A diaspora can be defined as community memberswho are dispersed to many diverse regions of the world, but retain an idea oftheir uniqueness and an interest in their homeland. Research from the Universityof Plymouth, in the UK, calls for a reconceptualisation of these migrants inorder to link them to African development.

It is clear African diasporas have a key roleto play in development on the continent. Remittances – funds sent back todeveloping countries by migrants – reached US$93 billion in 2003, easilyexceeding foreign aid. With 20,000 African professionals leaving the continentevery year, ‘brain drain’ is now a serious concern. The African Union hasaddressed this by calling migration as a ‘critical challenge of the newmillennium’ during 2006 and by focusing on the human resources initiativecontained in the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). Yetgovernment policies to date have been inadequate.

Whether the development potential of the African diasporascan be productively channelled depends largely on an understanding of migrationflows and networks within the context of globalisationand Africa’s distinctive political culture. The author makes some importantobservations on African diasporas:

• There have been three main waves of contemporaryAfrican migration: during colonisation, de-colonisationand the period of structural adjustment of the 1980s.
• African diasporas arefractured along lines of class, race, gender, generation, geography, ethnicityand language, and have changed over time.
• The majority of migratory movementsare between neighbouring countries and involve non-elite or unskilledmigrants: numbers have risen with regional instability.
• Neoliberalism, emphasising the primacy of economicgrowth, is dominant at the elite level in Africa but its spread has been unevenand shaped by neo-patrimonial states which have an impact on migration flows.
• The different elements of Africa’s expatriatepopulation maintain fragmented and diverse links with their homelands, but thisdoes not amount to a strong diasporic identity with clear implications fordevelopment.

Drawing on the work of Antonio Gramsci, the author proposes a newtheoretical framework whereby diasporas are understoodas a condition determined by historic forces and the existing structure ofpower relations. The author concludes that:

• Tapping the potential of the African diaspora requiresrethinking relationships to develop an integrated network of links that best suitsAfrican development.
• The complexity of the diasporasneeds to be considered within the context of a new globalised world order andthe neo-patrimonial nature of politics in Africa.
• Research is yet to consider the power relations,interests and political agendas surrounding diasporas,along with the impacts of class, race and gender.
• Diasporic activities are best considered against thebackdrop of the globalised economy and processes suchas trade liberalisation and the global politics of development.
• Connections between global structures and betweenlocal and national structures of social forces must also be taken into account,including the impact of social movements, religious groups, warlords andtraders on diasporic networks and income.