ABSTRACT
The phenomenon of migration is neither new nor specifically African. In Western Africa, however, the presence of 'foreign' workers infused a new sense of urgency into an already complex political situation in the 1960s. In West Africa, towards the end of the 1960s, several thousand workers of various nationalities were uprooted. They included Voltaics, Dahomeans, Nigerians, Ghanaians, Lebanese, Syrians, British and French. The main objective of the new nations was to make a dent in the employment structure inherited from the colonial period. New rules and regulations have been enacted in several countries since independence in order to alter the existing imbalanced employment structure. This chapter examines briefly current measures to regulate the movement of workers within the West African subregion with examples from other parts of Africa. The legislation and practice of selected countries is also examined to illustrate the manner in which economic needs determine policies and regulations in respect of employment.
