ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the migration context and how migration policies have been understood and practised in Africa in general, and the nature, dynamics, and challenges of these migration policies in particular. The main argument is that African states have been attempting to regulate migration on their own terms at different levels, albeit with varying degree of success. Unlike national laws, African states at continental and regional levels have adopted progressive migration laws and policy frameworks that liberalize the migration regime and border management and facilitate cross-border migration, regional integration, and economic development. However, this supposedly noble approach suffers from fundamental limitations, which pose a significant challenge to the effective implementation of the migration frameworks, including most of the migration frameworks in Africa being donor-driven and not actually reflecting the reality on the ground the interest of African states. Regional integration agendas in Africa have progressed slowly as well. African states have adopted Eurocentric assumptions of migration and restrictive and selective immigration policies. Accordingly, this chapter calls for an urgent need for ownership of the migration discourse, knowledge production, and dissemination among Africans by Africans who consider contextual relevance.
