Migration and Development: Lessons from Africa

Migration has been often considered as a coping strategy for people seeking to escape poverty, mitigate risk and build a better life. However, it can also be a profitable investment for many of the world’s poor. Migrants transfer their assets either by moving themselves or by bringing back home financial remittances, knowledge, innovations and values. Migrants’ capacity to improve their lives and those of their families depends on how these assets can be used, for example, on investments in education and health. Migrants’ remittances exceed the value of all overseas development aid combined; furthermore, migrants pay taxes, invest and stimulate trade by exploiting ethnic networks, which play an important role in cross-border exchanges of market information about regulations and creation of business relationships, as well as sales and sourcing opportunities. Through all these channels migration can strongly contribute to development.