Migration Patterns and Policies in Africa • 17
Figure 1.1 Major Destination Countries for Emigrants from Africa, 2010 (share of African emigrants) 10
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Source: Authors, based on data in World Bank 2011.
for only about 37 percent of total African migrants (65 percent if intraAfrican migration is excluded). Many African countries have experienced sharp changes in net migration rates (the difference between immigration and emigration as a share of origin country population) since the late 1970s, reflecting the tumultuous events in the continent’s history during this period.3 In part, these wide variations in net migration rates were caused by civil and external conflicts. For example, net migration rates have been particularly volatile in Eritrea, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and Somalia (see annex table 1A.1).4 For Africa as a whole, however, net migration rates have been stable over time, ranging from –0.4 percent to –0.6 percent across five-year periods from 1975 to 2010. As a large percentage of African migration is within the continent, the cross-country average tends to be close to zero. Patterns since 2006 indicate some decline in the average net migration as well as its variability across countries. The rate of emigration varies significantly across countries. Some of the smaller countries (for example, Cape Verde, Equatorial Guinea, Lesotho, Mali, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Seychelles) have gross emigration rates that exceed 10 percent (figure 1.2). This high level of emigration partly reflects limited livelihood opportunities and a high variability of income
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