Understanding Migration Motivations in West Africa: The Case of Nigerians in Accra, Ghana

Abstract

Contemporary migration studies increasingly focus on intra-continental migration especially in Europe. In Africa, this interest has not been pursued even though evidence abounds in the literature to suggest the presence of intra-African migration. Explanations of the motivation for such migrations often employ the ‘economic push-pull model’. This paper interrogates the ‘economic push and pull’ argument in the migration motivation literature. It presents a range of pull factors that do not follow this conventional approach. The paper first reconstructs Nigerian presence in, and connection with Ghana, and then explores the contemporary motivating factors for Nigerian migration to Ghana. The paper argues that, contemporary Nigerian migration to Ghana is motivated by multiple factors reflecting political, economic and historical considerations. The paper concludes by arguing that a multi-factoral migration motivation interpretation appears more adequate in explaining Nigerian migration to Ghana.