African Politics Essay University ID Number 7645608 Chris Dixon POLI30862 What are the main causes and

nd consequences of migration within and out of Africa?

In this essay I will be analyzing the causes and consequences of African migration both inward and outward of states after decolonization and independence around a weak state framework that is historically structured as opposed to purely neoclassical. I have taken migration to be defined as the movement of persons from one country or locality to another, this can either be voluntary; moving to a new location in search of paid work, or involuntary, as seen in the slave trade where people were forcibly removed from their homes to be bought and sold (Princeton, 2013). For the purposes of this essay I will focus on voluntary migration as I believe it to be the more relevant to the field of international political economy in the post-colonial age.

I will begin by examining what a failed state is and how the states that make up Africa are all either in the alert, or warning, phases of the global failed state index, with only South Africa and Ghana that are considered to be moderately stable, (Fund For Peace, 2012). State failure in essence measures the ability of a state to carry out its expected functions. Its indicators may include the ability to retain control of borders, political instability and a country with spiraling economic decline (Wai, 2012). It is these factors I will be mainly using in my analysis of why some migrants may move, since if a person believes that they can live a better life in a different part of Africa they may migrate. This decision is made much easier by weakly enforced borders which occur in most African states. Miles writes that African borders in the post-colonial era have nevertheless retained an overall penchant towards fluidity, permeability, and porosity, as opposite to obstruction, obstacle, and interdiction, (Miles, 2005, p. 298). This shows that the border aspect of state failure theory is evident in post-colonial African states and therefore easier for a migrant to move either themselves or goods over the border in an African country than a secure country.

Many residents who live on the borders between African states consider African borders as arbitrary, in that they were in many cases straight lines on a map created by the colonizers at the Berlin conference of 1884-1885. They were drawn through cultures and settlements designed to simply reflect colonial interests by maximizing resource extraction and not the populations who resided in them (Herbst, 1989, p. 673). As a result the state borders lack the legitimacy of the people they apply to, who themselves, were not consulted in their creation. These border communities do not emphasize acceptance of either state instead only recognizing their own border society as legitimate (Coplan, 2010). 1

African Politics Essay University ID Number 7645608 Chris Dixon POLI30862 Therefore because of this, the groups who live near or close to the border have disregarded them and move freely without concern, leading Chalfin to make the claim the border, far from being geographically fixed or functionally stable, can be understood as a site of on-going negotiation between society and the state, (Chalfin, 2001, p. 202). While border residents who cross into a different country daily would not consider their daily migration as entering a different state, it can be said that African borders are not recognized as de facto and recognized only as de jure, since whilst the international law shows them to be different territories, in practice migrants do not acknowledge this. Intraborder traders frequently contravene government restrictions, by crossing into foreign territory showing that they do not respect the borders their governments been trying to enforce (Chalfin, 2001, p. 203).

Migration to the borders has increased in recent years as some migrants have realized their opportunities have become more limited in the cities due to the vast swell of migrants that travel there looking for work which has greatly increased job competitiveness. By travelling to the border, migrants are able to take advantage of price differentials between countries goods as Chalfin shows in her study of cross-border trade of cloth in North-East Ghana. By smuggling the cloth from Burkina Faso and Togo where cloth is considerably cheaper the largely female contingent of migrants are able to sell it in their native Ghana for a substantial profit. The border migrants who are not from this region also disrespect the borders, simply following the lead of the traders who have lived there all their lives, creating a domino effect with regard to undermining the state. The trade is only possible through the women bribing the border officials (who are employed by the government) in order to ignore the illegal activity (Chalfin, 2001). As this type of work is illegal and therefore part of the informal sector, it is largely untaxable and so undermines state authority, particularly in Ghana which has a rather less liberal production structure on many of the goods it produces than many of its neighboring countries. This causes much of the produce to be smuggled to Togo where there are more relaxed pricing controls (Chalfin, 2001). My view differs from Raeymakekers who claims that the actions and tactics of the poor do not necessarily undermine state sovereignty as such, but instead mould and transform it in the process of generating local livelihoods and places, (Raeymakekers, 2009, p. 57). The logic behind this thought is that whilst the migrants livelihoods are dependent on illegal cross border trade that is untaxable and is in direct confrontation with the law, it provides 2

African Politics Essay University ID Number 7645608 Chris Dixon POLI30862 them with an income that can be used to spend on actions that benefit the state, such as rent and remittance payments to poorer members of the family (Raeymakekers, 2009). I stand in opposition to this statement still believing that these actions undermine state authority. As a British citizen I would be undermining my government if I were to make a fortune from activities that it considers harmful and illegal even if I were to donate all of that money to the government which would enforce their power. It does not matter if the illegal money is spent on actions that enforce state power it is the fact that it is illegal fundamentally undermines governmental authority as it is in direct confrontation with the rules it has created.

Riddell views analyzing migration through the lens of push and pull factors as inadequate to understand its root causes, instead we should be looking at the historical and socioeconomic factors (Riddell, 1981). Riddell goes on to describe how much of African rural to urban migration is due to the colonial imposition of western education , which created new aspirations which could not be satisfied within traditional, rural tribal society. At the same time, skills have been imparted which have proved to be more suited to urban than rural employment, and opportunities available in the wider world beyond the village are now better known, (Riddell, 1981, p. 377). Riddell makes two points here, the first is that the Western education systems during the colonial period altered many Africans aspirations to something similar to a Europeans; a system based upon individualism, capital accumulation and societal emphasis on material possessions, all made possible through capitalism. Prior to colonial rule, capitalism had only penetrated Africa in the form of the slave trade as such communities were largely collectivist and had limited desire to further their lives as materially as much as Europe had. The second point made is that colonial education was not wholly suited to rural work, this is because it mirrored European education which would focus on reading and writing of European languages, and basic mathematical skills (White, 1996). Rural work was more befitting of a labourer with handson experience and knowledge of working the land, opportunities for those with academic skills was limited and so people began to move to the cities.

As more rural to urban migration occurs the barriers of moving also decrease explaining why the migration trend has been increasing rapidly. Riddell uses the terms, chainmigration, and step-wise migration, to explain how the decision to move is made easier by others having already migrated (Riddell, 1981, p. 378). The first term chain-migration deals with contact between the family and the migrant who has, at this point, reached their 3

African Politics Essay University ID Number 7645608 Chris Dixon POLI30862 destination of the city. It is expected that the migrant will give reports about the ability to make a living in the city and be able to advise future members of the family well if they were to migrate (Adepoju, 1995). This reduces the mysticism surrounding the city for many rural citizens who most likely have never travelled far and in turn makes them more likely to migrate. Chain-migration can be expected to increase more in the coming years due to the spread of telecommunication technology in Africa (Muto, 2012). Whereas before families would have to rely on information through letters from migrants or stories that had been passed along, information is much faster and more reliable with the spread of mobile phone technology thus hastening the chain-migration process. As the internet becomes more widely used in sub-Saharan Africa this should increase chain-migration further as migrants are able to send information almost instantly and utilize different forms of communicative media such as pictures to share their experiences.

Step-wise migration is concerned with the leap from rural directly to the city saying it is often too extreme a culture shock, in turn it proposes that due to the increased information from migrants already living in the city they can use many small towns to act as stepping stones in the migration process, (Riddell, 1981, p. 378). Whilst there are less opportunities for work in these towns, they break down what can be a very long and costly journey to the main city, and also act to lessen the cultural shock that may occur from moving from a rural area straight to a large city. This was noted even during colonial times by Ravenstein who worked out that the population of large cities was increasing due to migration from nearby areas and it was those areas themselves that found their populations repeatedly replenished from even remoter areas (Ravenstein, 1885).

My argument shares more in common with Riddell, which is a historically structured perspective that seems the more appealing proposition as it is both culturally aware and more flexible than neo-classicism. The neo-classical equilibrium perspective of migration, which like most neo-classical economic theories suffer from the inability to account for market imperfections, which make it less suitable to explain migration as they occur quite regularly in developing countries. Humans too are not perfectly rational which is an assumption the model bases it migratory theory around. The neo-classical theory also is very Euro-centric in that it theorizes that the movement of labour from rural to urban areas is simply part of the development process because this is what happened in much of Europe during its industrial revolution. However, as Skeldon points out, the structural

African Politics Essay University ID Number 7645608 Chris Dixon POLI30862 conditions in which migration is occurring in Africa is vastly different to those that occurred in Europe and so shouldnt be used for reference (Skeldon, 1997).

The structural adjustment programs created by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, have placed such a large emphasis on short-run development in an effort to be able to repay creditors, that there has been substantial strain on the environment of many sub-Saharan African countries (Cheru, 1992). This occurs because the programs are based around primary resource exportation that do not take into account the environmental damage that is caused by deforestation and over farming. Cheru argues that this is unsustainable as it ignores the resource requirements of millions of subsistence farmers whose needs are not satisfied through the mechanisms of the market, (Cheru, 1992, p. 498). In turn since many farmers are struggling to get sustainable yields out of ever-degrading land and the inability for small family farms to compete with the super-farms, many have abandoned their trade and moved to the cities in search of supposed fairer opportunities.

Structural adjustment is part of the neoliberal doctrine of the late 1970s that favoured privatization of state owned enterprises, low amounts of government spending, the liberalization of markets, and many other policies. The liberalization of markets also included the labour market, and recommended that economic growth could be realized through the ability of people to move freely between areas and so let migrants respond to economic incentives based upon the market in its most free form (Williamson, 1990). Following the lead of the European Union the Economic Community of West African States has allowed people who belong to its member states to move freely within the region across borders without a passport as such increasing the ease with which migrants can travel (Adepoju, 2006).

In the Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA) migration becomes a more contentious issue, with most migrants clearly wanting to travel to South Africa which has had the strongest aggregate economic growth over the period of 1980 to 2013, and so should provide the most opportunity for migrant jobs (International Monetary Fund, 2013). However Solomon notes that it is South Africa itself which had serious objections to COMESAs idea of a free movement of workers in the region (Solomon, 1997). As Adepoju suggests, countries that know they will be receiving an influx of immigrants are worried that their entrance will alter the political landscape, diluting the power of the ruling political 5

African Politics Essay University ID Number 7645608 Chris Dixon POLI30862 party. The migrants who do enter South Africa have experienced large amounts of racism in the recent years and are often used as scapegoats in periods of economic recession, and are considered a threat to future economic stability (Adepoju, 2006, p. 35). The 2008 riots that occurred in South Africa could be attributed to migration occurring in the midst of the financial crisis, where in South Africa fewer jobs were becoming increasingly competitive. The government would exacerbate the issue, blaming migrants as to exonerate themselves from blame as Adepoju described (Lyn Vromans, 2011).

Migrants also find themselves blamed for the spread of HIV/AIDS in much of sub-Saharan Africa even though according to Adepoju the evidence is doubtful and untested, (Adepoju, 2006, p. 36). The Lancet however presents more of a compelling argument which shows the recent feminization of migration in Togo whereby women from villages with men that have already migrated are faced with a choice of staying in a village where they may never be married, (something which is prioritized for women in African culture as it is the man of the house who provides food) or head to the cities in search of employment (Decosas et al, 1995). The women who do move to the cities face bleak treatment and often find that the reality of urban life differs from what they expected. Many women end up as coconut sellers or cleaners where they live in substandard accomodation and are subjected to rape and violent crime. Other women find that they can supplement their income through part time prostitution (Decosas et al, 1995). It is in part, the economic circumstances of female migrants that is worsening the HIV/AIDS epidemic in subSaharan Africa because they are often forced to turn to prostitution, where they can service a mean of 25 workers each over a period of two nights, all without use of a condom (Decosas et al, 1995, p.827). This spreads the disease between more people than if people were not migrating and is worrying for African development as not only does it kill of much of the able bodied workforce but also places an even heavier workload on already weak African health services, making the economy sluggish as a result.

As the sub-Saharan economies stagnate, many migrants have found that leaving the continent for European destinations could prove more economically beneficial, however as Baldwin-Edwards points out, it is only those of low-middle to high-middle income who partake in intra-continental migration due to the large costs associated with travelling such a distance (Baldwin-Edwards, 2006). Since the closest point of Africa to Europe is across the Mediterranean Sea, most migration tends to occur from the Maghreb region in the

African Politics Essay University ID Number 7645608 Chris Dixon POLI30862 North of Africa as migrants want to minimize risk taking, since for most, the migration is illegal.

The most sustained recipient of migration from the Maghreb region has been France which has seen an increase in share of total migration from the Maghreb rise from 24.7 percent in 1975 to 33.3 percent in 1990 (Zeleza, 2002). This can be explained through the connections that many of these countries such as Morrocco, Tunisia and Algeria share with France, since they were once under French colonial rule. France during her colonial mission infiltrated almost every aspect of Maghreblian life with the belief of the superiority of French culture, and would teach the colonies the French language (Conklin, 1998, p. 1). In turn, for much of the native population of the Maghreb, moving to France seemed like the logical step since they were already informed of the culture and had ideals of it being a much better way of living than what they were used to. Their knowledge of french would make finding employment much easier than than if they were to move to Spain where the culture and language would prove a greater and more alien barrier to a stable life. France knew this and welcomed migrants to these states after World War Two to help rebuild the country and its economy, however, borders would not remain open for long as the post-war boom came to an end so did mass legal immigration to the country from Africa (Zeleza, 2002).

For sub-Saharan migrants, they follow the stepping-stone migration theory I detailed earlier, by settling in transit areas in Libya and Morocco, in particular, as a way of breaking down the intimidating journey into Europe. Whilst until very recently these countries were authoritarian regimes, they suprisingly had a very lax policy on migration with Libya having no distinction between legal and illegal migrants, at least until the mid 2000s, where they had to create a more regulated system under international pressure following the securitization of southern Europe post 9/11 (Baldwin-Edwards, 2006).

Africa has found it difficult to keep highly educated and skilled workers on the continent as they are lured away with American and European wages beyond what most African states could afford. Adepoju notes that there are more Malawian doctors practising in Manchester, UK, than in Malawi itself, while 550 of the 600 Zambian doctors trained since independence have emigrated abroad, (Adepoju, 2006, p. 29). This brain drain is patterned in this way not purely because of financial reasons but also because Malawi had once been colonized by the UK and so for the same reasons that the Maghreb natives 7

African Politics Essay University ID Number 7645608 Chris Dixon POLI30862 migrated to France, the nurses from Malawi emigrated to the UK. Salisu notes that intracontinental migration for professionals can occur because of political instability, since if a country is failing to maintain order amongst its ranks, people may grow wary of the states ability to protect their property and themselves (Salisu, 2006). Political instability also tends to emphasize macroeconomic instability, since a country should not be unstable if the economy is growing and there is low unemployment and inflation. Both of these factors affect how weak a state is showing it to be an indicator of why migration may occur.

The movement of skilled professionals has been incredibly damaging to the African economy because the country that incurs the costs of educating the students sees no returns as they decide to work abroad. It is estimated that brain drain has cost the African continent over $4 billion in the employment of 150,000 expatriate professionals annually , (Chike & Peter, 2012). This figure is large, especially considering most of sub-Saharan Africa falls comes to be classed as weak or failed and therefore cannot as endure the brunt of such expenditure as well as a strong state could. It is also of note that skilled professionals and educated people tend to be the ones who earn the most in a society, because of this a progressive taxation system would tax these people the most and thus generate the most revenue as a proportion of total population for the government. If skilled people are leaving the country, these already fragile systems of governance are only able to tax middle and low income earners which means Africa will have less to spend on migration control and state wages, which makes the problem of fiscal stability worse (Bush & Maltby, 2004).

As more migrants leave Africa, the higher the value of remittance payments sent back to those who did not migrate will rise. Having begun to shake off the effects of the financial crisis of 2007, where many migrants working in Europe would have lost their jobs, subSaharan African remittance levels reached an all time high of $31 billion in 2012 (World Bank, 2013). Remittances are usually paid through informal channels due to the high transaction costs that companies such as Western Union place on sub-Saharan money transfers, particularly considering migrant remittance payments are mostly small, and so the charge is considered too high proportionally. There is also a fear that using official channels may lead to an illegal migrant being discovered, where they would get deported and so, utilizing informal trust based systems are often better suited to a migrants circumstances (Sander & Mainbo, 2003). Unfortunately for academics this makes calculating exact statistics on remittances difficult, and the $31 billion I cited earlier is most 8

African Politics Essay University ID Number 7645608 Chris Dixon POLI30862 likely only a fraction of the total amount as most remittances are highly informal. It could be argued that remittances offset some of the damage caused by human capital flight as they are increasingly being used, not simply for the family, but for the community, doing the job that the failed government should be doing, which includes building clinics, schools and recreation centres (Adepoju, 2006, p. 31). Therefore whilst remittances are being used increasingly for investment opportunities in Africa which yield positive externalities and in turn cause economic growth, we cannot say that they fully offset negative effects of human capital flight unless the remittances are of a magnitude large enough to equal or exceed the value of production migrants would have created had they stayed behind, (Bracking, 2003, p. 637).

In conclusion the study of migration is hugely important to the way the global economy functions, and can be explained through historically structured processes as opposed to through neoclassical equilibrium theory. This makes the migration that is going on in Africa today a direct result of the colonial rule that Western countries imposed on Africa two centries ago. Perhaps it is time that the colonial powers took some responsibility for the aspirations they have created in African society and help ease the pressures around large rural to urban migration.

African migrants are faced with difficult years ahead of them with France and Italy maintaining their fortress Europe, approach to securitizing the continent and therefore blocking much African migration (Marcelino & Farahi, 2011, p. 888). With former Eastern bloc countries now joining the EU such as Poland, Romania, amongst others, African migrants face increased job competition against a large Eastern European reservoir of labour that will work for a wage similar to an African, and has free passage to travel to the destinations the African migrants must move to illegally. In terms of development, we can only hope that remittance payments are increased to a level which allows more amenities for poor Africans, and in turn creates jobs outside of the urban scramble, thus lessening pressure on the urban areas and pressure on the poor rural workers.

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African Politics Essay University ID Number 7645608 Chris Dixon POLI30862 Bibliography Adepoju, A., 1995. Migration in Africa: An Overview. In: J. B. &. T. A. Aina, ed. The Migration Experience in Africa. Stockholm: The Nordic Africa Institute, pp. 87-108.

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African Politics Essay University ID Number 7645608 Chris Dixon POLI30862 Fund For Peace, 2012. The Failed State Index 2012. [Online] Available at: http://ffp.statesindex.org/rankings-2012-sortable [Accessed 16 4 2013].

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African Politics Essay University ID Number 7645608 Chris Dixon POLI30862 Riddell, J. B., 1981. Beyond the description of spatial pattern: the process of proletarianization as a factor in population migration in West Africa. Progress in Human Geography, Volume 5, pp. 370-392.

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