Paper short abstract:

At the crossroads of economic sociology, and migration studies, this contribution explores the drivers and implications of this surge in African migration to Turkey, through a combination of quantitative, administrative, and qualitative data.

Paper long abstract:

Talents are on the move. Mobility is at the core of the evolution of higher education: Already 4.5 million tertiary individuals study outside their country of citizenship and African students make up for the most mobile student population in the world with a mobility rate of 6 percent.

The race to attract "the best and the brightest" shapes tomorrow's knowledge economy - and suggests that South-South mobility will play a key role, as the case of Turkey illustrates. Indeed Turkey shifted from an emigration country (through the 2000's) to an immigration country in 2013 - a surge largely driven by the unparalleled number of African students now seeking Turkish degrees (a number that increased more than 7 fold between 2006 and 2013 ).

At the crossroads of economic sociology, and migration studies, this contribution explores the drivers and implications of this surge in African migration to Turkey, through a combination of quantitative, administrative, and qualitative data.