Free Movement in ECOWAS and Beyond
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University of Ghana
Abstract
While political narratives and media images on migration tend to focus on its negative impacts, recent scholarship has shown that mobility within Africa presents both opportunities and challenges for sustainable livelihoods and economic empowerment. Recognizing the potential and actual benefits of intra-regional mobility, the regional economic communities in Africa have adopted free movement schemes to facilitate mobility. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) adopted the Protocol on Free Movement of Persons, Right of Residence and Establishment in 1979 (Protocol A/P.1/5/79). This was followed by the formulation of a number of agreements and supplementary protocols aimed at facilitating the mobility of labour and goods within the ECOWAS region. While these instruments provide guidelines for promoting intra-regional mobility and regional integration, there is enough evidence to suggest that the full implementation of the Rights of Residence and Establishment has not been achieved. Although it is acknowledged that evidence-based data is needed for enhancing the implementation of this ECOWAS Protocol, the obstacles to their implementation are quite poorly understood. In this seminar, we examine the achievements and challenges to the implementation of ECOWAS free movement protocols. Relying on the lessons learnt from ECOWAS, we also discuss the potential benefits and challenges of the African Union Free movement protocol, which is largely based on the ECOWAS protocol. We conclude with policy recommendations for governing mobility within Africa.
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Prof. Joseph Kofi Teye is the Director of the Centre for Migration Studies (CMS) of the University of Ghana. He is also an Associate Professor of Migration and Development in the Department of Geography and Resource Development of the University of Ghana. Prof. Teye holds a PhD in Geography from the University of Leeds, a Master of Philosophy Degree in Social Change from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, and a Bachelor of Arts in Geography & Resource Development from the University of Ghana. His current research interests include labour migration in Africa, rural-urban migration, environmental change and migration, and intra- regional mobility in Africa. Prof Teye has participated (either as a PI or Co-I) in large research projects funded by international organisations, including, DFID, ESRC, ACP Observatory on Migration, IOM, ICMPD and ILO/OECD. He has also facilitated national migration policy development in Ghana and other African countries.
Amanda Bisong is a doctoral researcher at the Institute of Development Studies, University of Nigeria. She works as a policy officer in the migration programme of the European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM), Maastricht, The Netherlands. Amanda is a Lawyer called to the Nigerian Bar, having studied law at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. She also has a Masters degree in International Trade Policy and Trade Law from Lund University, Sweden and a Masters in International Law and Economics from World Trade Institute, University of Bern, Switzerland. Amanda does research in Public Law, Political Economy and Migration. Her research focus lays on migration governance and the interplay between regional and national commitments, as well as on the role of external stakeholders on influencing migration policies in West African States. She also does research on labour migration and exploring the linkages between trade and migration in West Africa.
Amanda Bisong is a doctoral researcher at the Institute of Development Studies, University of Nigeria. She works as a policy officer in the migration programme of the European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM), Maastricht, The Netherlands. Amanda is a Lawyer called to the Nigerian Bar, having studied law at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. She also has a Masters degree in International Trade Policy and Trade Law from Lund University, Sweden and a Masters in International Law and Economics from World Trade Institute, University of Bern, Switzerland. Amanda does research in Public Law, Political Economy and Migration. Her research focus lays on migration governance and the interplay between regional and national commitments, as well as on the role of external stakeholders on influencing migration policies in West African States. She also does research on labour migration and exploring the linkages between trade and migration in West Africa.