SKILLS AND TAXES
Migration is a potent ingredient for African growth, says UN
Migration into and within Africa could boost economic growth and productivity and, if properly managed, could lead to a substantial increase in GDP per capita by 2030, says the UN. The UN Conference on Trade and Development’s (UNCTAD’s) 2018 Economic Development in Africa Report: Migration for Structural Transformation found that although 17-million Africans left Africa in 2017, about 5.5-million others emigrated into it. This influx, as well as the movement of 19-million mostly young Africans within the continent, had positive benefits for both the source and destination countries. The report estimates that global migration could boost Africa’s GDP per capita from $2,008 in 2016 to $3,249 in 2030, at an annual growth rate of 3.5%. In 2017, the top five intra-African migration destinations were SA, Ivory Coast, Uganda, Nigeria and Ethiopia. All five countries received more than 1-million migrants. But the report estimates that far from being a drain on the host countries’ resources,...
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