Migration for Inclusive African Growth, 2020-2021

Mohan, Giles and Walker, Craig (2023). Migration for Inclusive African Growth, 2020-2021. [Data Collection]. Colchester, Essex: UK Data Service. 10.5255/UKDA-SN-855647

After decades of pessimism some African economies have recently experienced the fastest growth rates in the world, though this growth has not yet trickled down to the poorest. The proposed research aims to address one aspect of the challenge of transforming national economic growth into more inclusive growth; namely migration. An outcome of the optimism around Africa is new and more diverse flows of migrants within and to the faster growing African economies. Yet we know very little about these migration flows and whether they offer discernable benefits for African development and redistributive potential. The overarching aim of the project is to understand whether and to what extent recent migration within and to Africa is contributing to more sustainable and inclusive growth on the continent and to enable policy-makers and practitioners to harness this knowledge for more inclusive growth.

The theoretical and policy agenda to which this research speaks is the recognition that migration is a key channel for promoting (inter)national trade, investment and other kinds of financial resources, and transferring technology, skills and knowledge. Our hypothesis is that these contemporary migrant communities have the potential to make important contributions to sustainable and inclusive growth, not only in their countries of origin but also in the African countries where they settle. To assess whether and how such benefits may be occurring we will undertake research in 4 African countries - Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and Mozambique - that are on the OECD DAC list. This will examine a range of contemporary migrant groups (including European, emerging power, African diaspora and intra-African) and examine those channels through which they may contribute to inclusive growth in Africa. The sectoral focus will be manufacturing, IT and services since these are sectors where African participation has a higher potential for more inclusive growth. The outcomes will be a more robust sense of the value of inclusive growth as an analytical concept alongside the first multi-country comparative study of contemporary migrant communities on the continent.

The project is also fundamentally concerned with re-shaping policy and practice to support more inclusive growth. It arises out of an ESRC GCRF Network grant that has cemented a strong network of migration researchers with national, continental and international expertise and policy reach. They are the African Migration and Development Policy Centre (Kenya), Network for Migration Research on Africa (Nigeria), The Centre for Migration Studies, Univ. of Ghana and The Centre for Policy Analysis, Eduardo Mondlane Univ. (Mozambique). The current network has engaged, through national workshops, with policy-makers, researchers and migrant businesses to identify learning needs and knowledge gaps. This co-design process informs the current bid and its impact activities. Policy-makers will benefit from improved information about the nature of these new migrant business communities, as well as through capacity building to help officials understand the issues and data sources better. We will also deliver training to African journalists so they can report on migration issues more effectively. Our African co-Is have delivered similar training to officials and journalists on a small scale but this project offers the opportunity to scale this up. Business people from the four African and the migrants' source countries will benefit through networking events organised by local business associations. The general public will benefit from better-informed debate about the costs and benefits of migration. Academics across a range of disciplines will benefit from new knowledge of the nature of these flows and impacts, as well as a wider venture of rethinking debates on the role of 'Southern' actors in international development.

Data description (abstract)

The data comprises two forms of data collected across four African countries; Ghana, Nigeria, Mozambique and Kenya. These were:

• The results of a business survey administered to both migrant-owned and non-migrant owned businesses in the four case study countries. The survey data is contained within an Excel spreadsheet with responses organised in four separate sheets by case study country. The code '777' is used in individual cells to denote that no answer was given for that particular question.

• Transcripts of, or fieldnotes from, semi-structured interviews with migrants, organisations connected to migration, host nationals working for migrant businesses and selected government Ministries and Departments connected to migration policy in the four case study countries. The interview data is organised by country and sub-divided into five separate folders categorised by key informant group; i) Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies; ii) Civil Society Organisations, iii) Migrant Community Representatives (organisations or leaders); iv) Migrant Business Owners and; v) Host Nationals Working for Migrant Business owners.

Data creators:

Creator Name	Affiliation	ORCID (as URL)
Mohan Giles	Open University	https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0409-4783
Walker Craig	Open University

Contributors:

Name	Affiliation	ORCID (as URL)
Walker Craig	Open University

Sponsors:

Economic and Social Research Council

Grant reference:

ES/S000550/1

Topic classification:

Social welfare policy and systems
Trade, industry and markets
Demography (population, vital statistics and censuses)
Social stratification and groupings
Labour and employment

Keywords:

INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION, IMMIGRATION, SERVICE INDUSTRIES, ECONOMIC GROWTH, MOZAMBIQUE, GHANA, NIGERIA, KENYA, ENTREPRENEURS, INCLUSIVE GROWTH

Project title:

Migration for Inclusive African Growth

Alternative title:

MIAG

Grant holders:

Professor Giles Mohan

Project dates:

From	To
1 September 2018	31 January 2022

Date published:

31 Oct 2023 12:42

Last modified:

31 Oct 2023 12:43

Coverage and Methodology

Collection period:

Date from:	Date to:
1 April 2020	30 September 2021

Geographical area:

Maputo, Nigeria (Lagos, Abuja and Ibadan), Accra, Nairobi

Country:

Mozambique, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya

Spatial unit:

No Spatial Unit

Data collection method:

The data comprises two forms of data collected across four African countries; Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique and Nigeria. A business firm survey and semi-structured interviews. Within each country a range of immigrant groups was sampled in order to reflect different migration trajectories – North to South migration, South to South migration, and within Africa. Data was purposively sampled from key industries and sectors in each of the four countries where the focal immigrant groups were most prominent. Both datasets include a smaller sample of host nationals from within each of the four countries. In the survey it is a subset of national business owners for comparison to migrant businesses. For the semi-structured interviews it is nationals employed by migrant business owners to garner views and experiences of working for them.

The business survey was administered to purposively sampled businesses in the main commercial cities of the four case study countries. It comprised questions around migration trajectories, business establishment and operation, local employment, growth and investment and relations within the industries' networks and with the state. Approximately 300 questionnaires were administered in each of the four countries by local teams of enumerators. Data was collected on electronic tablets or mobile phones using the KoBo Toolbox and saved to an encrypted server before being cleaned and placed in Excel tables.

Qualitative data from migrants, organisations connected to migration, host nationals working for migrants, and selected government departments in the four case study countries were collected using semi-structured interviews. Sampling was purposive and questions sought to understand in more detail the mechanisms that potentially link migration to inclusive growth. Approximately 115 interviews were undertaken in each country. Due to the Covid pandemic interviews were a mixture of face-to-face, on Zoom, or by phone. Semi-structured interviews were transcribed and translated into English where necessary. Where audio recordings were not permitted researchers took field notes.

Observation unit:

Individual, Organization, Geographic unit

Kind of data:

Numeric, Text

Type of data:

Business microdata , International macrodata, Qualitative and mixed methods data

Resource language:

English

Access and Administration

Data sourcing, processing and preparation:

Business survey: Sourcing – administered to approximately 250 migrant businesses and 50 non-migrant businesses in each country. Each survey began with a consent statement and the data is anonymised, containing no business names or personal identifiers of individual respondents. Processing and preparation – completed online responses were stored on KoboTool Box. The survey coordinator oversaw individual team data collection and periodically (once per week) downloaded the latest data which was uploaded to the secure University server. The survey coordinator worked with the lead enumerator in each country to check and verify responses, identify and correct discrepancies and clean each country dataset before compiling the four countries into one Excel spreadsheet for analysis. Qualitative data: Sourcing – collected through semi-structured interviews with a range of migration stakeholders in each case study country. Written consent forms were requested of all participants for signing. However, the project experienced a general reticence amongst participants across the four countries to provide written consent. Interviewers attributed this to sensitivities around migration status' and practices. Where interviewees were reluctant to provide written consent, verbal consent was sought with the location, date and time, clearly recorded and stated in the key information table at the beginning of each of the transcriptions. Processing and preparation – interviews were either audio recorded, or extensive notes were taken. For audio-recorded interviews the audio files were saved on a secure server until they were transcribed (and translated), at which point the audio files were deleted in line with anonymisation best practice. Some were transcribed in country by local partners and others were forwarded in batches to an approved UK-based transcription service that was GDPR compliant. A sub-team then quality checked transcriptions, standardised the formatting, and anonymised them.

Rights owners:

Name	Affiliation	ORCID (as URL)
Giles Mohan Giles	Open University	https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0409-4783

Contact:

Name	Email	Affiliation	ORCID (as URL)
Mohan, Giles	giles.mohan@open.ac.uk	Open University	https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0409-4783

Notes on access:

The UK Data Archive has granted a dissemination embargo. The embargo will end on January 31st 2024 and the data will then be available in accordance with the access level selected.

Publisher:

UK Data Service

Last modified:

31 Oct 2023 12:43