Drivers of Intra-Regional and Inter-Regional Migration in Africa: a Synthesis from the Migrating out of Poverty Surveys

Abstract

This paper explores the drivers of African migration drawing on micro data from comparable household surveys of rural households conducted in Ghana, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe between 2013 and 2015, including a short longitudinal data set for Ghana, which tracks households over time. We compare characteristics of migrants with non-migrants and identify the importance of youth, gender and education as drivers of migration. We reveal a complex and gendered pattern of migrant decision-making and an equally complex and gendered pattern of remittance sending of diverse items via varied channels.