Paper short abstract:

New migration flows to and within Africa hold the promise of more inclusive growth. We seek to conceptualise the potential linkages between migration and inclusive growth which can encompass a wide array of economic and non-economic factors.

Paper long abstract:

International migration and development debates in Africa largely focus on movements to the global North, with remittances seen as the engine for development. With some African economies growing, migration within and to Africa has increased. Most international migration in Africa is between African countries but we are also seeing growing South-South migration from beyond the continent as well as rising numbers of diaspora 'repatriates' from the global North. These new flows hold the promise for more inclusive growth (IG), because they involve small-scale enterprises and also favour the service sector. This paper seeks to conceptualise the relationships between international migration and IG. While migration and growth has been explored, the idea of inclusiveness has hardly been touched. IG seeks to understands how the economic and non-economic are co-constituted as well as paying attention to equity and justice. Yet, IG is typically concerned with outcomes and indicators whereas we are more concerned with the channels and mechanisms through which migration is linked to growth. The paper is based on the GCRF-funded project Migration for Inclusive African Growth and our impetus for moving to IG has been to address the deficiencies of focusing only on economic growth. However, differences exist between those who see IG as being pro-poor and about decreasing the inequalities between rich and poor and those who espouse broad-based growth, which can be for all, but at minimum ensures the poorest are not falling behind. Moreover, IG's emphasis on growth and its breadth render it difficult to operationalize analytically.