Migration to reduce poverty in Africa

By Isabella gyau Orhin

A Research Fellow of the Institute of Statistical Social and Economic Research (ISSER) Dr. Peter Quartey has said migration of skilled labour can result in poverty reduction in a country like Ghana.
He said although migration is seen as evil in terms of brain drain it also enhances human capital as sending countries benefit from brain gain.
“The challenge therefore is to develop mechanisms to mitigate as much as possible the negative effects of brain drain and to encourage the return o qualified nationals resulting in brain gain.”
This conclusion according to him was arrived at after a study of wage differentials between Ghanaian and UK nurses.
Speaking at the ISSER-Merchant Bank development seminar series on the topic International Migration and Poverty reduction, Dr. Quartey said the total net benefit was calculated using 76 out of the 100 Ghanaian nurses now working in the UK. “This amounted to 33.3 million pounds,” he said.
While 2.9 percent of the nurses sampled migrated to the UK between 1970 and 1979 another 2.9 percent also migrated to the UK between 19890 and 1989.
Twenty five percent of the nurses migrated over the period 190 to 1999 while a majority o f 52.9 percent migrated over the period 2000 to 2005.
“These migrations affect the economy positively and negatively,” Dr. Quartey said.
According to the UK Nursing and Midwifery Council, 1326 Ghanaian nurses and Midwives registered between 1998 and August 2005.
“The net benefit will therefore be equal to 580.9 million pounds,” Dr. Quartey explained.
He said remittances affects livelihoods in Ghana through investments in housing and also the spin-off effects on a large number of businesses that are involved in funeral ceremonies and other social functions.
Dr. Quartey also revealed that another survey of 166 recipients of migrant remittances in Accra found that 51.8 percent of the sample mentioned that remittances received are for consumption purposes. These include living expenses, funerals and other social activities while 44 percent of the sample indicated that the funds are for investment purposes.

According to Quartey, the survey also reveals that remittances form quite a significant proportion of recipients’ income. “Whereas 40 percent of the sample stated that migrant remittances are the main source of income 60 percent stated that they have other main sources of income.
Also about 20 percent of the samples live solely on migrant remittances. He said on the average, migrant remittances formed 57.4 percent of recipients’ total income.
The impact of remittances of welfare was also analyzed according to Dr. Quartey using the Ghana Living Standards Survey (GLSS) 3 and 4 which reports that remittances significantly improve household welfare. He said a one percent increase in remittances will increase household welfare by 0.26 percent.
He also said that in Ghana voluntary return migration has been ongoing and has taken the form of short visits to families back home and permanent return with the aim of settling down to establish business enterprises after along period aboard.
“Depending on how the return migration takes place it could be an asset or liability,” he said.
Dr. Quartey said since 1992, the transformation of Ghana from Military to democratic rule has seen the return of most political emigrants. He said for skilled migrants, the motivation could be due to the completion of a course of study and therefore see the need to return and help mother Ghana.
He said some people have been motivated to return home because they could not process the necessary documents to perpetuate their stay abroad.
He said Ghana needs to provide investment opportunities to attract migrant remittances.
He said it is also vital to promote and strengthen the impact of migration both for countries of origin and transit.
He also said there is the need to train more doctors and other skilled personnel based on bonding or pay-as- you go systems.
However the director of ISSER Prof. Ernest Aryeetey did not agree with certain portion of the findings. He said measurements of remittances are exaggerated and these include monies kept in having accounts by Ghanaians who chose to save in foreign banks among others.
“If a rich doctor, highly paid sends his mother money and the mother goes to the hospital and there is no doctor there, what happens? Prof. Aryeetey queried.
Meanwhile at a recent meeting with journalists in Accra, the authorities of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital revealed that of problem of doctors and nursing migrating abroad for greener pastures have gone down considerably.
This is believed to be as a result of the Additional Duty Allowance and new incentive packages government has put in place to retain health workers.
He director of Nursing of the Hospital Grace Barnes said the hospital lost about 50 percent of its staff between 2002 to 2004. “But from 2005 to 2006, it has virtually gone down to zero with only about one or two leaving,” she said.
The President of the Ghana Medical association Dr. Francis Adu-Ababio said the issues of doctors have also declined considerably over the past two years.
“Five or six years ago it was frightening, let’s hope we will be able to keep it as it is,” he said.