Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Rome (Agenzia Fides) - Africa today is home to almost one billion people, (14.8% of the entire world population). According to the United Nations, by 2050 Africans will number almost 2 billion, a little less than one quarter of all the men and women on our planet, while continuing to distinguish themselves for the lowest average age (at present 19 years). In the meantime urbanisation, which already involves between 40% and 70% of the African population according to contexts, will increase, whereas the absence of parallel growth of economic and social resources will lead to a lowering of living conditions, with inevitable influence on migratory fluxes. This emerged from a Report “Africa-Italia. Migratory Scenarios ” issued by Caritas-Migrantes, written by some sixty authors after a study-visit to Cape Verde.
Most migrations, forced or voluntary, occur on the continent of Africa. People fleeing wars, as in Somalia, Eritrea, Congo and various other contexts. According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, in Africa today there are 6,340,000 internally displaced persons, in other words almost half (45%) the displaced persons in the world. There are 2,660,000 refugees and asylum seekers. Intense migration is caused by economic motives: people move from rural to urban areas (Dakar, capital del Senegal, in 1878 had 1,600 inhabitants, today, the city alone has a population of 1,400,000 dwellers), but they also move from less prosperous countries to others offering better opportunities for employment, such as Southern Africa or the Arab countries in the North. Every year between 65,000 and 120,000 migrants move from the sub Sahara region to the Maghreb: this resettling is not always definitive because the intention is usually to go further to Europe, and an estimated 20% to 38% attempt to cross the Mediterranean. Departures for Europe, if illegal, usually take the way of the sea, and not rarely this movement ends with shipwreck or other mortal circumstances.
Of the almost 5 million Africans who have reached the European Union, almost one fifth has settled in Italy. Some 39.8% are women, but with marked variations in the different communities. Out of every 10 African immigrants 7 are North Africans (69,6%) and almost 5 of every ten are Morocceans (46,3%). About half a million people from the African continent are employed in Italy's productive system. Africans are present in industry (41.7% cases) and immigrants in general, not only Africans, are well represented in social cooperatives and services, both as workers and as partners. However not lacking are serious obstacles to insertion, such as labour exploitation, stereotypes, prejudice and attitudes of discrimination.
The Caritas Migrantes study also deals with the difficulties which weigh on Africa's journey towards autonomy, and therefore encourage emigration, first of all the legacy of the slave trade and colonialism. According to the UN human development list, 31 of the 33 countries in the world in the lowest band, are in Africa. Almost half of Africa's population is poor and undernourished, especially in the sub Saharan area, home to about one eighth (12.4%) of the world population (more than 800 million people) with only 2.1% of the world's resources and an income per head about 20 times lower than that of the European Union. The rate of unemployed youth is 60% and agriculture is still the principal activity (70%), but, especially in the sub Saharan region, farming activity is more for subsistence than profit. The largest and most profitable mineral deposits are owned by foreign companies and products are extracted and exported raw, and therefore the connected mineral industry is non existent. African economies are precarious and marked by a limited autonomous ability for growth, being dependent on external factors which they have little chance of influencing.
The exodus of Africans can represent a factor of success for the individuals involved, whereas for the respective countries it can constitute impoverishment, particularly when it involves qualified workers who required conspicuous formative investment. All together, about one third of Africa's intellectuals lives abroad, and sub Saharan Africa is deprived of about 30% of its qualified labour force.
Given this scenario, Caritas and Migrantes call for commitment to ensure that the mobility of Africans “does not become an occasion for exploitation rather than human promotion”. The first commitment is to support integration for African immigrants, to be understood as a process of exchange within a framework of duties and rights. Secondly, immigration must be considered one of the few signs of hope. Africans abroad are an enormous potential for the 'development' of their own country, which will remain mere potential until policies step in to sustain it. Africa needs not only income but also a return of professionality and capacity for projecting. As the preface to the volume states, “Africa is a continent which should be viewed with greater hope and trust in the contribution of its immigrants”. (SL) (Agenzia Fides 17/7/2010)
