Mberu, Blessing. "African Migration and Population Distribution: Recent Trends, Methodological Challenges and Policy Issues". In International Handbook of Migration and Population Distribution, edited by Michael White. 245-267, New York: Springer, 2016.

Mberu, Blessing. "African Migration and Population Distribution: Recent Trends, Methodological Challenges and Policy Issues". In International Handbook of Migration and Population Distribution, edited by Michael White. 245-267, New York: Springer, 2016.

• Migration within Africa is mainly characterized by internal, rather than trans-national, migration patterns, particularly the movement of the poor into urban areas. There are also significant levels of migration from poorer to more prosperous rural areas, often mixed together with the urbanization of population centers in those previously rural areas (246).
• Construction and legal zoning has been unable to keep up with the pace of migration to urban areas in Africa, leaving migrants to live in illegal shanty town settlements surrounding the older city area. This has kept many urban migrants in conditions of poverty and vulnerability (247).
• Immigration to urban areas often outpaces economic growth or occurs despite lack of economic growth, spurred on by assumptions that opportunities are more plentiful in cities. This means that much of the migration does not result in economic development, but only the movement of the poor from rural to urban areas (247).
• Over 60% of all international migrations in Africa occur within the continent, with the vast majority of the remaining migrants heading to high-income OECD countries, particularly in Europe. Most of those migrants to OECD countries are highly educated and skilled (252).
• African migration is also characterized by continued connections to hometowns, so that populations cycle between new areas and their rural homes. This connection ensures that economic and cultural changes in urban areas also affect rural populations through the migrant community (247-248).
• Whereas migration during the colonial period was mainly men traveling long distances for long periods to seek employment, the greater diversity of employment opportunities and more equitable education systems after independence have led to increasing numbers of women becoming economic migrants (248).
• Africa, particularly the extremely poor within Africa, suffers from high rates of displacement caused by natural disaster, famine, or conflicts in which civilians either flee or are intentionally displaced. Conflict in particular drives displacement within and between countries, often beyond the capacity of states to handle (250).
• Although discussions of 'brain drain' had traditionally been discussed in terms of a loss of potential, countries are starting the realize the benefits of large diaspora communities, particularly through remittances sent back to aid development. Remittances were found to provide many of the social security services that the state could not provide (252, 254, 258).
• At least three distinct forms of human trafficking exist in Africa: trafficking in minors as cheap agricultural labor or servants, trafficking in African women and children for sexual slavery in Europe and the Middle East, and trafficking in Asian women and children for sexual slavery in Africa (254).
• Most trafficked persons either volunteer or are voluntarily sold into slavery by family members in the hope of providing better economic opportunities elsewhere. Slavery is often institutionalized through indebtedness, where the slave has to repay the traffickers but is in reality held indefinitely (254).
• Increasingly stringent migration policies in Europe and elsewhere are driving more illegal migrants towards complex smuggling routes controlled by human traffickers, leading to more migrants being enslaved (255).
• The growing presence of Chinese immigrant communities and Chinese investment ties to Africa has also led to the expansion of global human trafficking networks. Chinese criminal syndicates are involved in trafficking Southeast Asian and Eastern European women to South Africa for sex work (255).
• African migration, like many fields of African studies, remains under-researched due to the difficult of operating in many political environments characterized by poverty, disease, famine, or warfare (256).
• Estimates of African migration patterns are also complicated by the lack of official records and the prevalence of human trafficking and illegal migrations. This makes the real scope of migration difficult to estimate (257).
• An important step for many African countries to take full advantage of the opportunities provided by migration is to reform citizenship laws to make it easier for migrants to gain citizenship rights and legalize dual citizenship. This would allow diasporas to maintain strong connections with their home countries and better incorporate immigrant populations (259).