Migration In Ghana Essay

The issue of migration is a pressing problem now in Ghana because it highly affects country’s economy and development in every sphere of life. Even though there are seasonal waves of migration to Ghana from other countries, but still due to poverty and critical economic situation people move to neighbouring countries or to other continents. From pre-colonial times up to the late 1960s, Ghana enjoyed relative economic prosperity and was the destination of many migrants from neighbouring West African countries. During the period under consideration, international movement from Ghana involved a relatively small number of people, most of whom were students and professionals. Most of these movements were to the United Kingdom and other English-speaking …show more content…
At first, there are educational policies that emphasize literacy over vocational training which makes it difficult for Junior and Senior Secondary school graduates to develop skills and find a better job. Second, Ghana’s structural adjustment program program has created economic insecurity and increased poverty at the micro level which has lead to the migration of Ghanaians out of the country. But it has also resulted in an economic growth at the macro level which has made Ghana an attractive place for immigrants from neighbouring countries. Third, the country’s remuneration and wage structure is relatively uncompetitive, which has contributed to the migration of both skilled and unskilled workers out of the country, and may have discouraged migrants that train abroad from returning home after completing their studies. But it has also resulted in bigger budget of the country as the significant part of financial investments is made by the migrants who work outside of the country. Fourth, the Citizenship Act which offers dual citizenship, has been identified as a policy that can encourage investment from foreigners who acquire dual citizenship with Ghana (such as African-Americas) and Ghanaians who acquire dual citizenship with other countries. The Joseph Project in Ghana is also designed to encourage the return of African-Americans to …show more content…
So we suggest that there are some changes should be done in order to improve the situation. First, we recommend the development of reliable data on the scale, nature and impacts of migration in Ghana. It is unfortunate that reliable and consistent microeconomic data on the scale of remittances to Ghana, for example, is unavailable. Second, we suggest that a State agency or institution charged with overseeing migration affairs in the country should be established. At present, Ghana’s Immigration Service deals with one side of the migration coin: people entering the country in formal ways. However, it is not equipped to manage the process of migration from Ghana, especially in informal ways. Third, the main thing to be done is management of migration. The government should export workforce in an official way in order to prevent unemployment and poverty. But any policies created to help manage migration should be integrated with research and not just enforcement. Also Ghana’s government should try to do everything in order to prevent university graduates to migrate from the country seeking for better jobs and salaries. Although it would be a violation of human rights to restrict the free flow of Ghanaians out of Ghana for fear of a brain drain, it would be reasonable to encourage Ghanaians to register with Ghana’s embassies in countries they reside in, perhaps by using