Migration of Africans : Realities, Governance and Development

While international migration profoundly influences governance, development, and social structures, Africa’s unique position as a sending, transit, and receiving region remains underexamined. Migration of Africans: Realities, Governance and Development offers a rigorous, contextually grounded examination of how migration intersects with governance, everyday life, and development across the continent.

Bringing together original research from across Africa, this edited volume examines international migration through multiple lenses, including governance, regional integration, labour mobility, gender, religion, digital practices, forced displacement, transnational families, and the experiences of those left behind. With empirical case studies spanning countries such as Nigeria, Cameroon, Senegal, Namibia, and Burkina Faso, contributors analyse both voluntary and forced migration, highlighting the social, economic, and emotional dimensions of mobility. Moving thematically, from macro-level discussions of migration governance and regional integration to micro-level analyses of lived experience, wellbeing, online engagement with homelands, and household dynamics, this collection locates migration within broader development processes and institutional frameworks, while centring African perspectives and contextual realities often marginalised in global migration debates.

Designed for multi- and transdisciplinary audiences bridging sociology, development studies, political science, and African studies, this collection offers actionable insights for optimizing migration governance and development outcomes, making it an indispensable resource for understanding Africa’s evolving migration landscape.