The overlooked complexities behind African migration

When it comes to migration, Europe is shifting to the right: Italy is promoting the idea of outsourcing asylum procedures to third countries; the Netherlands is working on bringing in tough new immigration laws; and in Austria, the country's anti-migrant Freedom Party has now been tasked with forming a government.

With immigration also looming over Germany's upcoming elections next month — which are also expected to reflect a significant shift to the right — the debate on both legal and irregular migration has become one of the main talking points in the run-up to the vote, with misinformation and disinformation on the issue rife across social media.

Few of those narratives, however, examine the nature of migration where it begins, rarely taking the perspectives of people wishing to leave their homes into account, and how much they truly leave behind.

Hardi Yakubu from the pan-African activism movement Africans Rising says this has made migrants one of the most disenfranchised and misunderstood groups in the world.

"Politicians are making calculations about migration policy and elections based on what their message should be about [protecting]  borders," he told DW, adding that this kind of campaigning merely panders to some voters — but not all.

Only few African migrants seek to go overseas

Yakubu believes that with any election, the electorate tends to be under-informed on the nature and the root causes of migration. "There are some misconceptions about migration especially in Africa," he said. "We focus too much on the Western perspective on migration, but there's also this African perspective."

"The data shows … that the biggest chunk of people who [leave their homes in] Africa want to migrate to another part of Africa. But nobody is talking about that."

According to the UN, about 80% of African migrants remain on the continent, seeking opportunities in neighboring countries or economic powerhouses, such as the stronger economies of western Africa or the Republic of South Africa.

Yakubu said that leaving such decisive statistics out of the migration debate in Europe only victimizes migrants as a whole, making them less welcome and more vulnerable to instances racism and xenophobia.

The 'African perspective' on migration

The current rhetoric across the EU, Yakubu added, is largely centered on security issues. That, in his view, is only "an act of scapegoating," considering the low volumes of migrants coming from across the Mediterranean.

Certain parts of Africa are not immune to at least some of that same xenophobic rhetoric.

"There's been some tension that's been brewing with South African communities and some civil society groups," said DW correspondent Dianne Hawker in Johannesburg, who highlighted in particular the rise in Zimbabwean migrants to the country in recent decades and the xenophobic responses this trend has drawn.

"Some South African people are saying that if there are too many immigrants coming into the country, it stretches the limited resources that are available, and that it makes it difficult for South Africans to get a job — especially due to the high level of unemployment."

However, the majority of the tasks and jobs taken on by Zimbabwean nationals involve menial tasks or fill important gaps in the informal economy, such as running corner stores, known as "spaza shops", in townships, Hawker added. 

In fact, according to a joint report by the OECD Development Centre and the International Labour Organization (ILO), immigrants contribute as much as 5% to increasing South Africa's GDP each year. About half of all immigrants in the country are believed to be Zimbabwean.

A quarter of European workforce already foreign

Yakubu said destination countries should appreciate these contributions to their economies, refrain from alienating foreigners, and also remember that the economic benefits migrants bring would have remained in their home countries if they had never left.

"We also need a lot of those skills in our own countries," he added, emphasizing that he wanted to encourage people to remain in their home communities and strengthen societies in Africa.

Mass migration — as observed in the example of Zimbabweans coming to South Africa over the past 20 years — ultimately only "contributes to the stagnation" of entire nations and their economies, Yakubu believes, and thinks that the same applies to migrants coming to Europe.

The ILO said in a report last month that nearly 25% of all workers across Europe now had a foreign background — compared to less than 5% globally. This suggests a significant loss of potential workers and social contributions in countries of origin.

Many of the migrants in Europe also walk a tightrope between trying to improve their own lives and also hoping to uplift their loved ones back home.

"People who go abroad will also send money back home with remittances, and … that at least also contributes somewhat to the local economies in Africa," Yakubu told DW.

According to Yakubu, governments in Africa aren't doing enough to offer alternatives to migration, giving the example that many African nations make the movement of foreigners wishing to come to the continent easier than the movement of Africans wanting to go to other parts of the continent and try their luck there.

Hawker explained that there is a balance between pull factors and push factors that need to be considered in the migration debate: In the case of South Africa, she said most Zimbabweans didn't come purely in search for better economic opportunities, but that "political instability [in Zimbabwe] has contributed to rising migration patterns."

In places like Zimbabwe, this mass exodus also spells a measurable sense of brain drain in the long-term: In fact, several studies show that migration is a chief contributor to the country's economy remaining in ruins, regardless of the high volume of remittances that Zimbabweans send home.

Yakubu think this situation should be regarded as a tragic loss in talent and in human capital — even at the policy level:

"Usually, our governments even have to borrow money to fund our budgets so we can educate our people from lower level [schooling] to higher level — and then they go elsewhere and contribute to society there."

Move to — not from — Africa!

African nations have to change their continent's image in this migration debate, said Yakubu. Instead of continuing post-colonial narratives of a cluster of failed states, he advocates the idea of actually turning Africa into an attractive destination for immigration — rather than a place that people wish to escape from.

"It needs to be highlighted that migration is not just people moving from Africa to Europe. There are many Africans moving within Africa. And there are Europeans coming to Africa as well," he told DW, adding that all people should feel a sense of pride in the African continent. "This is where we all come from."

"We have to collaborate, Africans and Europeans," he stressed.

In some parts of Africa, meanwhile, pressure to welcome more foreigners willing spend their money locally is mounting fast, bringing with it its own set of challenges.

"Right now, there are calls for the South African government to make sure that they quicken visas for digital nomads to allow them to work in the country and make sure that they're also contributing to the economy," said Hawker highlights. The rise in people coming to the Cape of Good Hope on a semi-permanent basis has priced many locals out of many housing markets.

"So this, too, is a big part of the migration debate in South Africa right now," Hawker added, pointing out that in whichever direction migration patterns may move, consequences will follow.

Whether these consequences are presented as opportunities or pitfalls appears to be in the hands of elected public officials in any given country.

"There’s a generation of young people who don't want to be limited by the artificial borders that European colonialists drew across the entire continent," Yakubu concluded. "With migration, we really should not let the politicians make up the rules for us."

This article is an adaptation of an episode of DW's AfricaLink podcast