Africa (sub-Saharan)

Beyond intraregional migration, sub-Saharan Africans migrate to North Africa, Europe, North America, and beyond. The research offered here focuses generally on two aspects of sub-Saharan migration: the outcomes for these migrants and their children once they have settled in their countries of destination, the United States among them, and the roles that diasporas and development policies can play in the economic improvement of these African nations.

A woman in Nigeria smiles while using her mobile phone

Reports

Leaving No One Behind: Inclusive Fintech for Remittances

Remittances are a vital lifeline for migrants’ families around the world and an important source of revenue for many low- and middle-income countries, especially in times of crisis. As more people turn to digital financial technologies for these money transfers, this shift holds the potential to shake up the rigid remittance industry and boost development benefits. But it also brings new challenges, as this report explores.

Motorcyclists and pedestrians travel a road between buildings in Arua, Uganda

Reports

Migration and Displacement in Secondary Cities: Insights from Côte d’Ivoire and Uganda

Small and mid-sized cities are some of the fastest growing in many parts of the world, including sub-Saharan Africa. Yet life in these cities can present a variety of challenges for migrants and displaced persons. This report examines these challenges in secondary cities in Côte d’Ivoire and Uganda, and how local, national, and civil-society actors are working to address them.

Recent Activity

Policy Briefs June 2023 Linking Migrant Reintegration Assistance and Development Goals By Camille Le Coz and Ravenna Sohst	Reports June 2023 Building Meaningful Refugee Participation into Protection Policymaking By Uwezo Ramazani
Multimedia March 6, 2023 Climate Migration to Cities: Does the Move to Urban Areas Reduce Risk?	Articles March 1, 2023 Efforts to Manage Climate Migration Are Slowly Growing, but Their Focus Is Often Indirect By Lawrence Huang
Reports February 2023 External Processing: A Tool to Expand Protection or Further Restrict Territorial Asylum? By Pauline Endres de Oliveira and Nikolas Feith Tan	Articles February 2, 2023 Migrants in Need Report Barriers to Assistance and Fragile Trust in Humanitarian Organizations By Magdalena Arias Cubas, Nicole Hoagland, and Sanushka Mudaliar
Articles January 18, 2023 Amid Record Drought and Food Insecurity, East Africa’s Protracted Humanitarian Crisis Worsens By Kyilah Terry and Aishwarya Rai	Multimedia December 15, 2022 A Century of Climate Migration Upheaval? An Audacious Prediction for the Future

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Policy Briefs June 2021 From Unilateral Response to Coordinated Action: How Can Mobility Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa Adapt to the Public-Health Challenges of COVID-19? By Ling San Lau, Kate Hooper and Monette Zard	Policy Briefs May 2021 EU Strategy on Voluntary Return and Reintegration: Crafting a Road Map to Better Cooperation with Migrants’ Countries of Origin By Camille Le Coz
Reports April 2021 COVID-19 and the State of Global Mobility in 2020 By Meghan Benton, Jeanne Batalova, Samuel Davidoff-Gore and Timo Schmidt	Reports March 2021 A Bridge to Firmer Ground: Learning from International Experiences to Support Pathways to Solutions in the Syrian Refugee Context By Camille Le Coz, Samuel Davidoff-Gore, Timo Schmidt, Susan Fratzke, Andrea Tanco, Maria Belen Zanzuchi and Jessica Bolter
Policy Briefs February 2021 Rewiring Migrant Returns and Reintegration after the COVID-19 Shock By Camille Le Coz and Kathleen Newland	Reports December 2020 How Will International Migration Policy and Sustainable Development Affect Future Climate-Related Migration? By Robert McLeman
Reports November 2020 Immigration Data Matters By Jeanne Batalova, Andriy Shymonyak and Michelle Mittelstadt	Reports February 2019 Exploring New Legal Migration Pathways: Lessons from Pilot Projects By Kate Hooper

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Instructors teach an African dance class in Miami.

Spotlight

May 11, 2022

Sub-Saharan African Immigrants in the United States

The population of sub-Saharan African immigrants in the United States is relatively small, but it has grown substantially over the last four decades and is likely to continue to increase. This group of 2.1 million people is highly diverse, including individuals with a range of ethnic, linguistic, and other backgrounds, as this article explains.

An Afghan refugee receives a COVID-19 vaccination in Pakistan.

Feature

April 19, 2022

Persistent COVID-19 Vaccine Inequity Has Significant Implications for Refugees and Other Vulnerable Migrants

Most of the world's refugees live in low-income countries where rates of COVID-19 vaccination remain low. Although refugees have been formally included in many governments’ vaccination plans, a combination of factors has made access to jabs difficult, as this article explains.

Two boys pose in an informal settlement east of Johannesburg largely populated by immigrants.

Profile

November 18, 2021

South Africa Reckons with Its Status as a Top Immigration Destination, Apartheid History, and Economic Challenges

South Africa hosts the most immigrants of any African country. Yet it faces conflicting pressures, including the legacy of apartheid, a steady outflow of well-educated South Africans, and the need to juggle bilateral labor mobility schemes at a time of economic insecurity and high unemployment. This article traces these pressures and how they have developed over time.

A woman and her child in southern Ethiopia.

Profile

October 5, 2021

Once Primarily an Origin for Refugees, Ethiopia Experiences Evolving Migration Patterns

In 1980, more than 2.5 million Ethiopian refugees lived in other countries. Now, Ethiopians are more likely to migrate for labor reasons, particularly to the Middle East and southern Africa, and meanwhile the country has become a refuge for humanitarian migrants from its neighbors. This article traces the history of migration from, to, and through Ethiopia.

Two officials visit the China-Uganda Agricultural Cooperation Industrial Park in Uganda.

Feature

July 21, 2021

As Migration and Trade Increase between China and Africa, Traders at Both Ends Often Face Precarity

Trade between China and Africa has ballooned, reaching nearly $200 billion in 2019. Yet many of the migrant entrepreneurs and traders who contribute to this relationship live in precarious positions in both China and Africa. This article explores the informal systems navigated by many migrants in both regions and the policies that drive the precarity in which many of these traders live.

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Expert Q&A, Audio

March 29, 2022

Are Climate Migrants Treated Differently than Other Migrants?

Do host communities respond differently to people migrating because of environmental impacts compared to refugees fleeing war or migrants seeking work? Research discussed on this episode of Changing Climate, Changing Migration suggests the answer is yes.

Video, Audio

February 15, 2022

Working Towards a More Gender-Responsive Reintegration Process for Returned Migrants

Held during Migration Week 2022, this webinar features policymakers and practitioners from Africa, Asia, and Europe in a conversation on the progress made in the past three years to better integrate gender into reintegration programs for returned migrants, the ongoing challenges, and how the International Migration Review Forum (IMRF) in May offers a critical moment to promote good practices.

Changing Climate Changing Migration podcast tile episode 15

Expert Q&A, Audio

December 10, 2021

When Climate Change Comes to Refugee Settings

For this episode of Changing Climate, Changing Migration, we speak with Joan Rosenhauer, the executive director of Jesuit Refugee Service/USA, about how natural disasters and other environmental harms affect her organization’s work and its faith-based mission.

changing climate, changing migration episode 14

Expert Q&A, Audio

October 27, 2021

Climate Change and Environmental Migration: View from the IOM

The International Organization for Migration (IOM), in 2015 created a special division responsible for migration-related issues involving the environment and climate change. The division just got a new leader and is looking to embark on a new agenda.

Video, Audio

August 26, 2021

Labor Migration Governance in West Africa in the Wake of the Pandemic

On this webinar speakers discuss a recent policy brief Deepening Labor Migration Governance at a Time of Immobility: Lessons from Ghana and Senegal.

Recent Activity

Policy Briefs

November 2022

Reassessing Recruitment Costs in a Changing World of Labor Migration

Migrant workers can pay a range of costs when they are recruited and relocate for jobs abroad, accruing significant debt. While many countries, international organizations, and other stakeholders have sought to reduce or eliminate recruitment costs, the pandemic has exacerbated and added to these expenses. This policy brief explores how the costs migrant workers face have changed, and what these developments mean for efforts to promote fair and ethical recruitment.

Reports

November 2022

Financing Responses to Climate Migration: The Unique Role of Multilateral Development Banks

Multilateral development banks (MDBs) have emerged as major players in responding to climate change, investing in sustainable infrastructure and climate resilience. But while many MDBs have shown interest in projects with positive impacts for climate migrants and host communities, they sometimes struggle to maximize these effects. This report examines MDBs’ role in responding to climate-related migration and displacement to date and opportunities to scale up their work.

Expert Q&A, Audio

August 2, 2022

Digital Health Credentials in India and Africa: Are COVID-19 Travel Passes Catalyzing New Tech Innovations?

Digital innovations—including automatic verification of health and vaccination results—are reopening economies and global mobility while setting the standard for new ways of managing mobility and health that will outlast the pandemic. Dr. Pramod Varma, chief architect of India's COVID pass system, DIVOC; Dr. Edem Adzogenu, founder of the Afro Champions Initiative; and MPI's Lawrence Huang discuss these innovations on this episode of Moving Beyond Pandemic.

Articles

July 21, 2022

Top Statistics on Global Migration and Migrants

Looking for some of the most often-sought information on global migration? This statistics-rich article draws on the most current data sources to offer a primer on international migration, highlighting its types, the size of the migrant population and growth over time, and major sending and receiving countries and regions. Beyond looking at labor and humanitarian migrants and international students, the article examines remittances and more.

Articles

May 11, 2022

Sub-Saharan African Immigrants in the United States

Reports

May 2022

COVID-19 and the State of Global Mobility in 2021

Despite high hopes that international movement would be revived in 2021 after the deep chill in 2020 with designation of a global pandemic, cross-border mobility remained limited as migrants and travelers faced complex rules, high costs, and uncertainty as new COVID-19 variants emerged. This report assesses global mobility in 2021, including changing use of travel restrictions, their impacts on mobile populations, and efforts to safely restart migration and travel.

Reports

May 2022

From Fear to Solidarity: The Difficulty in Shifting Public Narratives about Refugees

Public opinion of refugees and asylum seekers is often portrayed as a binary, reflected in stories of them as “threats” or “benefits.” Yet in reality, people can hold a variety of competing beliefs and concerns about forced migrants and their impacts on society. This report explores these different narratives, the contexts in which they flourish, and the types of initiatives that have been used to try to boost solidarity and ease tensions.

Reports

April 2022

Destination-Country Policies to Foster Diaspora Engagement in Development

Emigrants and their descendants can play a critical role in the development of their countries of origin or ancestry. In fact, many such countries have policies that seek to leverage their diaspora’s contributions. Much less attention has been paid to how destination countries with large international development programs are engaging their resident diasporas—or could be engaging them—in the development of countries of origin.

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Africa (sub-Saharan)

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