Geneva, Switzerland · October 2018 — The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) released its Economic Development in Africa Report 2018: Migration for Structural Transformation, a comprehensive analysis that fundamentally challenges the dominant narrative surrounding African migration. Rather than viewing migration as a "brain drain" that depletes the continent's human capital, the report presents evidence that well-managed migration is a powerful driver of the structural transformation African economies need.
The report, part of UNCTAD's flagship annual series on African economic development, draws on econometric modelling, household survey data, and policy analysis across the continent's 54 countries. Its central argument is that migration — particularly the largely overlooked phenomenon of intra-African mobility — is an essential, yet underutilised, ingredient for deepening regional integration and accelerating industrialisation.
Debunking the Brain Drain Narrative
The report directly confronts what it calls a "misleading narrative" that African migration is primarily driven by poverty and conflict and is inherently harmful to the continent's development prospects. While acknowledging that the imagery of "thousands of African youth drowning in the Mediterranean" has dominated public perception, UNCTAD argues that this represents only a small fraction of the continent's migration patterns.
The data tells a different story. The majority of African migration is intra-continental, with migrants moving between neighbouring countries and within regional economic communities. This mobility is driven not only by conflict and poverty but also by wage differentials, educational opportunities, trade networks, and the search for better economic prospects — the same factors that drive migration globally.
Mutual Benefits for Origin and Destination Countries
A central finding of the report is that migration creates economic gains for both the countries people leave and the countries where they settle. This challenges the zero-sum framing that has dominated much of the migration debate.
For destination countries, migration fills skills gaps and expands the labour supply in growing sectors. The report notes that migrant workers often complement rather than displace local workers, taking positions in sectors facing labour shortages or in occupations that require skills not readily available in the domestic labour market. In several African destination countries, migrant entrepreneurs have played a significant role in establishing new businesses and expanding trade networks.
For origin countries, the benefits flow through multiple channels:
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Remittances: Financial transfers from migrants to their home communities represent a critical source of external finance. In several African countries, remittances exceed foreign direct investment and official development assistance combined. The report notes that remittances tend to be more stable than other financial flows and are directly targeted at household-level consumption and investment.
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Knowledge transfer: Returnee migrants bring back skills, networks, and capital that can be invested in domestic enterprises. The report highlights cases where diaspora networks have facilitated trade and investment links between origin and destination countries.
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Human capital formation: The report presents evidence that the children of migrants often attain higher levels of education than non-migrant households, illustrating the long-term human capital benefits of migration.
The Econometric Evidence
Background research for the report utilised econometric modelling to establish an empirical link between migration and structural transformation — the process of shifting an economy from low-productivity activities (such as subsistence agriculture) to higher-productivity sectors (such as manufacturing and services).
The findings suggested that increases in migrant stocks were associated with:
| Indicator | Effect of Increased Migration |
|---|---|
| Manufacturing value-added | Positive correlation in origin and destination countries |
| GDP per capita | Positive correlation in origin and destination countries |
| Trade volumes | Enhanced through diaspora network effects |
| Human capital | Children of migrants attain higher education levels |
The report cautions that these correlations do not imply simple causation — the relationship between migration and structural transformation is complex and mediated by policy environments, institutional quality, and the characteristics of migrants themselves. However, the evidence is sufficient to challenge the assumption that migration is uniformly harmful to development.
Policy Implications: Integrating Migration into Development Strategy
The report concludes with three principal policy recommendations for African governments:
1. Integrate migration into national development policy. The report finds that most African countries do not explicitly include migration in their national development plans or trade strategies. Migration is typically treated as a security or border management issue, handled by interior ministries, rather than as an economic development tool requiring coordination across finance, trade, labour, and education ministries. The report encourages policymakers to view migration as an integral part of their economic agenda.
2. Align migration policy with regional integration initiatives. The report highlights the importance of aligning national migration policies with broader continental frameworks, particularly the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which was signed in March 2018, and the African Union's Protocol on Free Movement of Persons. The report argues that the free movement of people is a necessary complement to the free movement of goods and services — without labour mobility, the AfCFTA's potential will remain partially unrealised.
3. Improve migration data and management. The report identifies significant knowledge gaps regarding migration patterns in Africa, noting that existing data systems are fragmented, inconsistent across countries, and often fail to capture the full complexity of migration flows. The report calls for investment in migration data infrastructure and a transition toward better-managed, legal, and safe migration frameworks that facilitate labour mobility across the continent.
A Human-Centered Approach
A distinctive feature of the report is its "human-centered" approach to migration. Rather than treating migrants solely as economic units — factors of production whose movement can be optimised — the report views migrants, whether skilled or low-skilled, as agents of development. This framing has important policy implications: it suggests that migration policy should focus not only on managing flows but also on protecting migrants' rights, reducing the costs of migration, and ensuring that the benefits of mobility are shared equitably.
The report's publication in 2018 was timely. It coincided with the negotiation of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, which was adopted in December 2018, and with the signing of the AfCFTA and the Protocol on Free Movement of Persons in March 2018. Together, these developments signalled a growing recognition that migration is not a problem to be solved but a reality to be managed — and that, managed well, it can contribute to the structural transformation that African economies urgently need.
Sources:
- UNCTAD, Economic Development in Africa Report 2018: Migration for Structural Transformation (Sales No. 18.II.D.2)
- UNCTAD, Background Paper 2 for the Economic Development in Africa Report 2018
- UNCTAD, Chapter 6: Policy Recommendations, Economic Development in Africa Report 2018
- United Nations Digital Library, Record 3837832
- UNCTAD, "Economic Development in Africa Report" series page
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Institutional Research Desk · Foresight Institute of Research and Translation
The collective editorial and research translation board of FIRAT, synthesising peer-reviewed evidence, policy briefs, and division milestones across our seven foundational research pillars.
