Grounding a theory of African migration in recent data on Ghana.

Abstract

A number of demographic, economic, socio-cultural and psychological factors determine the nature, pattern and direction of migration in Africa. Much of the existing literature tends to emphasise the economic motives for migration. However, it is becoming increasingly evident that socio-cultural and other non-economic factors are also very important, and that a realistic explanation of African migration should be multidisciplinary. This theory of African migration shows that migration in Africa is determined by economic factors such as employment, social factors such as education and demographic factors such as population growth. The results indicate that these three factors explain 70 per cent of the variance in net migration, and that the economic factor is the single most important determinant of migration. The theory shows further that the existing socio-economic institutions in Africa tend to support the prevalence of rural-rural and rural-urban migration.