Apr 19 2011
Africa should take better advantage of the migration of its population
France and Ivory Coast are the two favored destinations of Africans who emigrate. The former colonial power in its home soil 2.754 million while the world's largest producer of cocoa welcomes 2.448 million. World Bank figures cited in the introduction of a groundbreaking study aimed to "increase the impact (economic) migration to Africa." This is a reminder that all Africans will live outside their country of origin does not necessarily leave the continent."Two thirds of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa, especially the poorest, will relocate to other parts of the continent, while in the case of North Africa 90% have gone overseas," notes the report .
As Côte d'Ivoire has positioned itself as the main attraction is obviously surprising: the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has noted that over 150,000 Ivorians have fled to Liberia in recent weeks . But the fact is that since the time of French colonization, the country has continued to attract labor nearby. At that point in the 1970s, President Houphouet-Boigny had to launch the concept of ivoirité to reassure citizens worried about the influx of foreigners.
The ebb and flow demographic facing Côte d'Ivoire illustrate the ambivalence of inter-African migration.Although they mainly follow economic motivations for richer countries like Nigeria and South Africa. But sometimes they are "forced migration". UNHCR now counts 2.2 million refugees who have fled as a result of wars or natural disasters, not counting the 6.5 million people displaced within their own country.
Brain drain reaches alarming levels
It can not therefore underestimate the negative impact of migration on neglected regions. The chief economist of the World Bank for Africa, Shantayanan Devarajan, admits that "human capital flight" penalize "the small countries and low income" and "fragile countries emerging from conflict . More general phenomenon, the brain drain, brain drain, is reaching alarming proportions.The Bank notes that a graduate in eight African higher education living in OECD countries. It is a scourge in Ghana: 37.1% of physicians trained in its schools and 55.9% of practitioners were born on the land are working abroad. In total, 11% of nurses and 18% of doctors educated in the south of the Sahara are working in other lands, resulting in a shortage of medical personnel even more pronounced than the country's poor.
Despite these caveats, experts from the World Bank believe that "Africans living abroad are a vital resource." The main channel, it is the remittances, the remittances, as the English word, that expatriates send regularly to their families back in the motherland. This vector is now more important than official development assistance.He pumped $ 39.7 billion in 2010, with 21.5 billion for North Africa and 18.2 for sub-Saharan regions. These funds are also less volatile than foreign direct investment, which fell in 2009 with the crisis.
Introduce dual citizenship for their emigrants
It is possible to increase the impact of these funds that are within families across national borders, said Dilip Ratha, senior economist with the Bank on matters of migration. "Some countries, like Mexico and Turkey, have tried to direct their capital for collective investment, but it did not work. We must preserve their privacy, as is a personal decision to emigrate, "the former judge of Crédit Agricole Indosuez economist of Indian origin.He suggested, however, to tackle the endemic problem of transaction costs, totally excessive (you must pay $ 20 for sending $ 200). The solution would be to play the network of posts and mobile phone companies.
Beyond remittances, Dilip Ratha advocates to mobilize the entire savings of diasporas, which he estimated at $ 30.4 billion annually to sub-Saharan countries. The idea would be to issue savings bonds, similar to what Israel and India have long been, and that Greece seeks to establish with its own diaspora.These securities, issued off-market rates, for ratings from 100 to 10,000 dollars would be used to "finance infrastructure projects and health education."
Last but not least, Dilip Ratha urges African States to introduce dual citizenship for their emigrants (only accept 20 of 54) to strengthen their links with foreign communities. He had no doubt that these diasporas have a great future in view of demographic developments. By 2050, the population of working age will decline by 88 million in Western Europe, where sub-Saharan Africa will have increased his $ 699 million!
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