ABSTRACT
Within development frameworks such as the Sustainable Development Goals, trade has been identified as an accelerant of equitable and inclusive development. Across Africa, the pro-development potential of trade has also been integrated into regional development strategies. Such strategies (implicitly) recognize that intra-African mobility can complement trade-specific interventions such as customs unions and free trade zones. This chapter explores how transitions related to intra-African mobility and demography can support regional trade and development. It proposes that migration can stimulate trade through both direct and indirect mechanisms. For example, eased intra-African movement can support businesses to acquire the knowledge and skills they need to innovate in products and processes, engage in technological upgrading, and boost productivity through diversification (trends linked to SDG target 8.2) by allowing greater mobility of workers and service providers. Easing cross-border movements and encouraging circularity may also stimulate the development of business and scientific networks among migrants and non-migrants, which can support businesses to acquire the knowledge and resources needed to innovate, professionalize, and enter international trade systems (ideas linked to targets 9.3, 9.4, and 9.a). For these benefits to materialize, however, trade and migration policies must be designed to be mutually complementary and forward-looking.
