ABSTRACT
In retrospect, the history of migrant labour studies in Africa is fascinating for two important reasons. First, it shows how political and administrative imperatives have oriented scholarly research in this field. Second, it reveals the urban-centred approach to the migration question, as seen in the abundance of the literature focusing on rural-urban migration themes and limited efforts on the inter-rural migration trends. This chapter aims to redress this balance in migration studies. In effect, export capacity, and the characteristics of the economic activities which sustain production for export, have an important bearing on the intensity and duration of inter-rural migration. Historically, labour migration between African nations has been remarkably open and politically uninhibited. African national economies are increasingly experiencing internal migration conflicts, an inevitable consequence of the effort towards horizontal integration of the economy. The whole process poses a dual challenge-a challenge to economic policy and a challenge to theory of labour migration.
