The Effect of Time and Departure on Entry into Ghana for Citizens from Five ECOWAS Member States from 1997 to 2019

Abstract

Migration among West Africans has both historical and contemporary relevance. The implementation of the ECOWAS Free Movement Protocol was aimed at improving current mobility and migration trends in the sub-region. However, the majority of the existing literature on mobility, migration, and protocol evaluation focused on implementation and operationalization challenges. The current study assesses the effect of time and departure of citizens of member states such as Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Liberia, and Togo, on entry into Ghana from 1997 to 2019, using regression analysis. Results from the regression analysis reveal that both time (measured in years) and departure influence the entry of citizens from ECOWAS member states into Ghana. Specifically, it was shown that time influenced the entry of citizens from Côte d’Ivoire, Nigerian, and Burkina Faso into Ghana. Additionally, departure influenced the entry of citizens from Liberia and Togo into Ghana. Overall, the present results suggest that the time and departure of citizens from ECOWAS member states influence entry and hence affect the successful implementation of the ECOWAS Free Movement Protocol and its success.