Africa must take advantage of migration for socioeconomic development

The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa says Africa must take advantage of migration as a means to socioeconomic development.
In a statement, UNECA’s head of the sub-regional Initiatives Section at its North Africa office, Mr Khaled Hussein says “Migration can be an important pillar for the development of African economies if one can provide a better orientation of expatriates’ remittances toward investments and the financing of development in African countries.”

The call was made at a migration-themed session in Dakar, capital of Senegal, organized by the UNECA Office for North Africa on the contribution of migration to development in Africa.
The two-day meeting had about 50 experts and representatives of different institutions involved in migration management. UNECA says they discussed Africa’s experiences in making the most of migrants’ contributions to the development of their countries of origin.

Again UNECA says, intra-African migration is a key component of regional integration, hence the need for African countries to develop public policies that benefit migrants, their countries of origin and their host countries.

Noting that migration is beneficial for both host countries and countries of origin, UNECA says host countries can benefit from skills transfers, dynamic workforces, human capital development and technical progress. Also, countries of origin can benefit from remittances, improved living conditions for families and human capital accumulation, leading to reduced poverty and accelerated development.