People take a train of the Lagos Rail Mass Transit (LRMT) Blue Line in Lagos, Nigeria, Feb. 29, 2024. (Xinhua/Han Xu)
The majority of Africa's international migrants move primarily within the continent, according to a new report jointly released by the African Union and the United Nations migration agency.
ADDIS ABABA, March 27 (Xinhua) -- The majority of Africa's international migrants move primarily within the continent, according to a new report jointly released Tuesday by the African Union (AU) and the United Nations migration agency.
The second edition of the Africa Migration Report, jointly launched by the AU and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, noted that migration in Africa remains a complex phenomenon, with multiple drivers shaping people's decisions about movement within and outside the continent.
According to the report, one key characteristic of African migration is that the majority of international migrants engage in intra-African migration. It noted that African countries have more emigrants than immigrants, with a level of international migration lower than the global average.
Data from the report showed that about 25.1 million people, accounting for about 1.9 percent of the 1.3 billion people who live in Africa, live outside the countries where they were born, which remained below the global corresponding share of 3.6 percent as of 2020.
"African migrants do migrate outside the continent, although at a slightly lower extent than within Africa, while limited immigration to Africa from abroad occurs," the report said.
This photo, taken on Feb. 18, 2024, shows the twilight scenery at Friendship Square in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. (Xinhua/Li Yahui)
Meanwhile, the report underscored that migration plays a major role in the development of African countries of origin as migrants continue to maintain strong relationships with relatives back in their countries and communities of origin, eventually contributing to development there.
It noted that migrants' role in development comes in the form of remittances, as well as through the sharing of knowledge and ideas between receiving and origin countries.
The report also highlighted that while the African continent is home to some of the most promising developments in regional cooperation and collaboration, the continent is also home to some of the most intricate contemporary patterns of human mobility.
Noting the crucial need for policymakers to have a clear sense of the nature of the challenges associated with human mobility, the report underscored the need to "fully understand and manage mobility in ways that are just, inclusive and that place the welfare of the African people front and center." ■