ABSTRACT
Since the early 1960s, when the fi rst African states gained independence, thousands of students as well as many highly qualifi ed workers have left their countries of origin in pursuit of better working and living conditions, higher wages, or better training. Many of them left permanently. In general, this brain drain is considered as having negative consequences for the countries of origin. However, a recent development strategy stresses the positive impact of emigration, especially the involvement of migrant communities in development cooperation with their home country: the diaspora option.1
Skilled migrants and businessmen occupy a special position in this strategy, which assumes that the transfer of money (remittances) and know-how have a positive development impact at home in the country of origin and refl ects the extent of those transnational activities. This chapter focuses on the highly qualifi ed Ghanaian diaspora in Hamburg and Berlin (Germany), and examines the question of whether or not it contributes to the development in its country of origin. Most of the African migrants in Germany come from subSaharan Ghana. Until now academic research on this group is sparse and little is known about the structure and the role of the Ghanaian community in terms of migration and development.
