Transcript AFRICA DIASPORA

AFRICAN DIASPORA
Survey on Remittances and Skills
December 2003
Africarecruit, Commonwealth Business Council, 18 Pall Mall,
London SW1Y 5LU United Kingdom
Tel: +44(0)20 7024 270 Fax: +44(0)20 7024 8201
E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.africarecruit.com
“Building robust and enduring productive
capacity in Africa
Background
The importance of the African Diaspora is
becoming increasingly recognised. As an
overview Africarecruit conducted a snap shot
survey in July 2003. 300 questionnaires were
disseminated of which 173 were returned.
Background on Remittances-1
African countries are becoming more heavily reliant on the
stable foreign direct investment and the increasing
remittances from its indigenous population abroad as a
source of finance. In 2002 remittances to Africa accounted
for 15% ($12bn) of the total remittances to the developing
countries ($80bn). Majority of the remittances were sent
from Europe, North America and Asia reflecting the
migration pattern of African’s e.g. North African’s migrating
to Asia countries such as Saudi Arabia, United Arab
Emirates and Sub Sahara African’s migrating to Europe and
North America
Background on Remittances-2
Top African receiving countries are Egypt ($3.4bn),
Morocco ($2.2bn), Nigeria (1.7bn), Tunisia (0.8bn). In 2002
remittances to Nigeria ($2bn) accounted for 5% of the GDP
playing a large part of the economy positively helping the
balance of payments.
Q1:Do you send money home ?
4%
21%
Yes
No
Blank
75%
Over three
quarters of the
respondents
send money to
their country of
origin on a
regular basis
Q2:On average how much do you
send a month in US$ ?
• On average $318 a month is sent home
• Remittances ranged from $15- 5,000/month
Q3:What are the remittances used for?
30%
32%
32%
6%
Investment
Others
Personal
C onsumption
Responsibilities
Majority of the respondent sent remittances for a combination of
reasons such as responsibilities; personal consumption and
investment. Very few sent money for investment alone. Other
reasons included burials, charity work and mortgage repayments
Q4:Methods of Transfer
Cash
23%
36%
6%
5%
30%
Int'l money
transfer
Banks etc
Kinds or gifts
Others
A large
proportion of
the respondents
used a
combination of
methods such
as cash and
formal channels
Background on Skills- 1
It is estimated that at least 70,000 or more highly qualified
Africans leave their country of origin annually for western
countries. In 2002, some 2,297 medical doctors and nurses
left Zimbabwe in the first nine months, in that same year
South Africa lost more than 300 specialist nurses to
developed countries every month. In Ghana the ratio of
doctor to people is 1:22,970 as against 1:420 in the United
States and 1:810 in the United Kingdom. It is estimated
that up to 68% of medical staff trained in Ghana between
1993 and 2000 have left the country
Background on Skills - 2
A survey conducted in July 2003 reported that 479,000
Zimbabweans work outside the country with 34% in the
United Kingdom alone. South Africa has lost $7.8
billion in skill manpower flight since 1997.Overall the
pace of Africa’s brain drain has accelerated with 23,000
academics, over 40,000 Africans with Ph.D’s and
50,000 middle and senior management personnel leaving
the continent each year
Q5:Where did you do most of
your schooling?
10%
29%
61%
Africa
Europe
North America
Over half of
the
respondents
did
majority of
their
schooling
in Africa
Q6:Greatest level of Educational
Attainment
Primary
0.50%
14%
0.50%
Secondary
39%
Tertiary
Postgraduate
46%
Professional
qualifications
Q7:State your profession?
Wide range of professions from the arts to
science e.g. rural development, Healthcare
professionals, teachers, economist,
criminologist, banker, editor,
telecommunication, information technology
consultants and social scientist in addition
to numerous others
Q8:Which country you are
presently practicing your skills ?
21%
North America
Europe
79%
Q9:How long have you been
working outside Africa in years ?
Answers ranged from all my life to 40 years
with majority falling at 0-15 years
Q10:Have you ever worked in
Africa, if so for how long?
0-5 years
5years above
38%
62%
Some of the
respondents had
worked in Africa for
15-30 years with the
majority having
minimal work
experience before
leaving Africa
Q11:Why did you leave Africa?
Poor working
conditions
11%
Career and
professional
developments
Insecurity
4%
13%
5%
12% 1%
54%
Socio-economic
Political
Personal
Other reasons for
leaving Africa
included
international
transfer, marriage
to a foreigner,
joined family and
parents decision
Q12:Would you now or in the future
consider going back to Africa? if so
when?
67%
21%
11%
0-5years
5-10years
10+years
1%
No
Conclusions- 1
The actual figure on remittance is under-quoted as
a significant proportion goes through informal
channels and is not reported. There needs to be
further research into understanding the remittance
market in Africa. The aim would be to inform
policy in both the sending and receiving nations on
how best to ensure that “consumption remittances”
is translated into “investment remittances
Conclusions- 2
There is an argument that African migrants contribute to the
income of their countries of origin through remittances.
However there does need to be further work to ensure that
the benefits to the host country match the benefits to the
sending countries. There needs to be action on the role of
the Diaspora in contributing towards the economic, social,
human and sustainable development in Africa as well as
facilitating an environment for good governance using
networks knowledge, investment and skill transfer.
Otherwise the ability of African countries to meet the
Millennium Development Goals would be very difficult
AFRICARECRUIT
Africarecruit, Commonwealth Business Council,
18 Pall Mall, London SW1Y 5LU
United Kingdom
Tel: +44(0)20 7024 270
Fax: +44(0)20 7024 8201
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.africarecruit.com
“Building robust and enduring productive
capacity in Africa