NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

By Nicolette Pombo-van Zyl

The World Bank estimates that migrant workers within Africa send remittances in excess of $14 billion dollars each year, and in 2018 intra-African remittances represented 20% of global remittance flows according to Ecobank Group.

The African Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA) agreement, which promotes intra-African trade and regional integration is fuelling intra-continental movement of people. As such, an online international money transfer company, WorldRemit, predicts that 2020 will see increased intra-African remittances.

Migrant workers are no longer just travelling to developed nations for work (traditional south to north migration patterns), opportunities lie closer to home.

Between 2015 and 2019, intra-African migrants grew from 16 million to 19 million. During the same period, migration out of the African continent only increased from 16 to 17 million.

Photo courtesy of AMISOM Public Information.