This post was originally published via the Open University's Migration for Inclusive African Growth (MIAG) research project. Learn more about MIAG here. Read the original event posting on Eventbrite.
Does migration within and to Africa contribute to more sustainable and inclusive growth on the continent and, if so, to what extent? Do migrant professionals and entrepreneurs occupy specific roles or stimulate the growth of African economies in particular ways? How can policymakers and practitioners harness this knowledge to promote more inclusive growth? These are just some of the questions the Migration for Inclusive African Growth (MIAG) team have been trying to answer over the past few years.
MIAG was inspired by the wave of economic dynamism sweeping Africa and the challenge it presented for how to avoid elite-based, resource-driven growth so as to open opportunities for all in society. The idea of fairer distribution extends beyond just monetary gains to non-monetary aspects, such as improved access to social provision and welfare, infrastructure, services and strengthened and accountable political institutions. This is the concept of Inclusive Growth that, while gaining widespread popularity amongst major development actors such as the OECD, United Nations and the African Development Bank, remains theoretically underdeveloped and empirical studies lacking substantive evidence or concentrate on isolated cases.
Webinar Details
Migration Governance in Africa
Wednesday 10th November – 12:00 - 13.30 GMT
Migration governance operates at multiple scales and has the potential to link to inclusive growth in a number of ways. Some African countries and regional groupings have devised and implemented migration policies that seek to enhance the benefits to national development from both inward and outwards migration. Yet, inclusive growth may be enhanced or diminished by other policies besides those which target migration, and may even pull in different directions. One of the aims of MIAG was to evaluate innovative examples of policy and practice designed to enhance the contribution of migration to inclusive growth.
In the final webinar, Prof. Joseph Teye of the University of Ghana will lead discussions on how successful existing migration policies have been, how regional and national migration frameworks work together, and what can be done to enhance the contributions that migration makes to inclusive growth.
Chair: Professor Joseph Kofi Teye, Director of the Centre for Migration Studies, University of Ghana
Panel
Peter Mudungwe, Senior Technical Adviser, Migration Governance & Liaison at the African Union’s African Centre for the Study & Research on Migration in Bamako, Mali
Charles Allan Kwenin, IOM Regional Director for Southern Africa
Alison Phipps, Professor of Languages and Intercultural Studies at the University of Glasgow
Tony Elumelu, Director of ECOWAS Private Sector Directorate
Bios
Professor Joseph Kofi Teye is a co-investigator on MIAG and Director of the Centre for Migration Studies (CMS) at the University of Ghana and Associate Professor of Migration and Development in the Department of Geography and Resource Development. Current research interests include migration and development, migration policy development, environmental change and migration, and natural resource governance. Prof. Teye has participated (either as a PI or Co-I) in large research projects funded by: DFID, EU, ESRC, ACP Observatory on Migration, IOM, and ILO/OECD. He has facilitated migration policy development in Ghana and other African countries, including Sierra Leone. He has published widely on migration and development.
Peter Mudungwe has an economics degree (honours) from University of Zimbabwe and Masters in Human Resource Development from the University of Manchester. He worked for IOM and the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Migration Facility managing migration and development projects between 2004 to 2014 and has also with the Africa Diaspora Policy Centre (ADPC) and European Union Commission on migration issues in Africa. Peter sits on the Advisory Board of the University of Coventry’s UK Research & Innovation GCRF South-South Migration, Inequality and Development and is a Migration Advisor to the African Union Commission. He is also Technical Adviser at the African Union’s African Centre for the Study & Research on Migration in Bamako.
Charles Allan Kwenin is IOM Regional Director for Southern Africa. He has been instrumental in establishing various Regional Consultative Process (RCPs) on Migration in Africa including; ECOWAS (MIDWA), IGAD (MiDIGAD); ECCAS (MIDCAS) COMESA (MIDCOM) and IOC (MiDIOCC). He also pioneered the Pan African Forum on Migration (PAFoM). Charles has held multiple roles within IOM including: Senior Regional Advisor for Africa in Geneva, Chief of Missions to Ethiopia and Uganda, and IOM Representative to the AUC, UNECA and IGAD. He previously worked in the Ministry of Finance & Economic Planning in Ghana. He holds a Masters Degree in Public Administration & Management; a Post-Graduate Diploma in Development Policy from State University of Antwerp; and a Bachelor of Science in Development Economics from the Kwame Nkrumah University.
Professor Alison Phipps holds the UNESCO Chair in Refugee Integration through Languages and the Arts and is Professor of Languages and Intercultural Studies at the University of Glasgow. She was PI of AHRC Large Grant ‘Researching Multilingually at the Borders of Language, the body, law and the state’ (2014-2017). She Co-Directs the GCRF £20M South-South Migration Hub, MIDEQ and is PI of AHRC £2M Cultures for Sustainable and Inclusive Peace Network Plus (2020-2023). She regularly advises public, governmental and third sector bodies on migration, arts and languages policy, and Chairs the Scottish Government's New Scots Core group. She is an academic, activist and published poet.
Dr Tony Elumelu is currently Ag. Director of ECOWAS Private Sector Directorate. He previously worked in the Nigeria Immigration Service and retired voluntarily on Comptroller Cadre to assume an appointment as Head of Division, Free Movement and Migration at the ECOWAS Commission. Dr Elumelu is a subject matter expert on Immigration and Security issues within and across the ECOWAS region and the African continent, with over three decades of experience on migration governance in Africa. He is an accomplished Migration and Security Expert, having published widely on Human Migration, Security and Regional Development. He has facilitated the development of various collaborative agreements and support initiatives between ECOWAS & the EU, including the development of the ECOWAS National Biometric Identity Card (ENBIC) and Regional Migration Policy.