The Future of Mobility and Migration Within and from sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

African migration - its drivers, dynamics, and consequences -increasingly features in global policy debates. Concerns vary widely, including everything from economic and human development, human rights, and human and state security. For OECD countries, particularly members of the European Union, there are additional concerns. These include securing labour required to support an aging European population and expensive social welfare system; upholding commitments to human dignity; maintaining a positive reputation and influence throughout the 'global south'; and politically derived imperative to starkly limit spontaneous movements of Africans across Europe's external boundaries. As illustration, despite a growing need for labour, the number of newly issued long-term work permits (12+ months) for African labour migrants has been reduced from 80.000 in 2008 to 20.000 in 2016.