Introduction: Beyond security - African migration as an economic phenomenon

African migration is fundamentally an economic phenomenon shaped by labor demand and sustained by remittance flows that surpass foreign direct investment. Central to this are African women in the global care economy, whose labor supports both origin and destination economies while remaining undervalued and poorly protected. Reframing migration governance from a security lens to one of economic justice is essential to center worker protections, recognize care work, and ensure migrants’ economic contributions translate into dignity and rights.

Economic Drivers of African Migration 

Beyond the Poverty Narrative

The dominant narrative frames African migration as poverty-driven, suggesting development assistance should reduce migration pressures. This is empirically incorrect. Research shows migration from Africa is increasingly driven by development and social transformation that increase capabilities and aspirations to migrate, rather than simply underdevelopment (de Haas, 2010). As countries develop, migration often increases - the "migration hump" phenomenon where middle-income households migrate more than the poorest, who lack resources. Migration becomes possible through education, information, networks, and financial means.

Labor Migration and Regional Economic Integration

African migration is fundamentally labor migration toward regional economic hubs. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), East African Community (EAC), and Southern African Development Community (SADC) frameworks facilitate intra-African movement, recognizing that labor migration fills skill gaps and supports growth (International Monetary Fund, 2024). Beyond Africa, labor corridors connect African workers to Gulf States, Europe, and Asia. Over 400,000 Kenyans work in Gulf States in construction, hospitality, and domestic work (Mudavadi, 2024), while millions of Ethiopian workers are employed across the Middle East.

Youth Unemployment and Aspirational Migration

Youth demographics further shape migration. With rapidly growing young populations facing limited employment yet rising aspirations from education and media, migration becomes a strategy for pursuing education, professional opportunities, or work abroad (African Export-Import Bank, 2024).

Climate, Conflict, and Governance

While economic factors are primary drivers, they intersect with climate change, conflict, and governance challenges. Climate disasters displaced 7 million Africans in 2024, while conflicts displaced 32 million, destroying livelihoods and forcing people to seek economic survival elsewhere (International Organization for Migration, 2024). Governance failures - growing repression under military juntas - shrink opportunities and push migration. Even in these contexts, migration decisions remain rooted in economic survival.

The Care Economy - African Women Sustaining Global Households

The global care economy is built on fundamental inequality: wealthy countries outsource care work to migrant women from poorer countries, who leave their own children with relatives or caregivers. Feminist economists call this "the global care chain" - an extractive system of gendered care work division (Boris & Parreñas, 2010). This chain is profoundly racialized and gendered. Care work is seen as having no economic value despite being essential to economies and is assigned to women of marginalized racial and economic status - particularly Black women and immigrants.

The Economics of African Women's Care Work

African women's migration into care work is fundamentally economic. In Ethiopia, women face limited employment opportunities and gendered labor markets, making migration a rational economic strategy. Earnings abroad far exceed local wages, enabling women to support families, fund education, and stabilize household finances. This creates perverse incentives: governments prioritize remittance flows over worker protection; recruitment agencies profit from placement fees; and employers benefit from cheap, exploitable labor. The migrant woman's interests are systematically marginalized.

The Exploitation of African Women Care Workers

The economic value African women provide stands in stark contrast to their treatment. Kenyan domestic workers in Saudi Arabia endure conditions amounting to forced labor and trafficking, enabled by the kafala system, which grants employers near-total control over workers’ legal status (The Guardian, 2022; Walk Free, 2024). Isolated within private homes, many face non-payment or wage theft, excessive working hours, denial of rest days, and widespread physical and sexual violence, with over half of households subjecting workers to abuse (Walk Free, 2025). Some women have reported being coerced into sexual exploitation, including prostitution within employers’ homes (Amnesty International, 2025). These abuses are rooted in a labor system sustained by structural racism, where Black African women are dehumanized, subjected to racial slurs, discriminatory treatment, and systematic exclusion from basic dignity (Amnesty International, 2025).

Structural Barriers and Missing Protections

African women care workers face systematic exclusion from labor protections. Saudi Arabia's labor law continues excluding domestic workers, leaving no legal recourse for wage theft, excessive hours, or abuse (The Guardian, 2022). The kafala system gives private citizens and companies in Gulf and Middle Eastern countries total control over workers' employment and immigration status. Workers cannot change employers without sponsor permission, cannot leave countries without exit permits, and face deportation when "absconding" or fleeing abuse (Walk Free, 2024).

Origin country governments often fail to protect nationals. African countries must work with destination countries regulating recruitment and ensuring embassies support distressed workers through safe houses and legal aid (The Elephant, 2023). Yet government dependence on remittances means worker protections take a backseat to maintaining migration flows.

Strategies for Economic Justice in Migration Governance

Addressing exploitation of African women care workers and ensuring migration's economic benefits translate into dignity requires concrete, implementable strategies:

Establish Bilateral Labor Agreements with Enforceable Protections

African governments should negotiate bilateral labor agreements that guarantee minimum wages aligned with destination-country standards, regulated working hours, freedom to change employers, and independent, confidential complaint mechanisms. Crucially, these agreements must include enforcement measures such as suspending labor exports in cases of systemic abuse, to create real incentives for worker protection. The Philippines' model of negotiating from worker rights positions offers replicable frameworks (International Labor Organization, 2020).

Extend Full Labor Law Coverage to Domestic Workers

Origin and destination countries must fully include domestic workers in labor laws, guaranteeing the same protections as other workers, including minimum wages, regulated hours, paid leave, social security, and access to justice. Ending domestic worker exclusions—particularly in Gulf States—should be a precondition in migration agreements, supported by multilateral and bilateral pressure. Evidence such as Kenya’s 2021 valuation of unpaid care work underscores the economic justification for these legal protections. (Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, 2021).

Create Economic Incentives Prioritizing Worker Welfare

Origin countries should shift from remittance maximization to welfare prioritization by capping recruitment fees at one month's salary maximum; requiring recruitment agencies to maintain bonds covering worker repatriation and legal costs; establishing pre-departure training emphasizing rights and complaint mechanisms; and equipping embassies with 24/7 hotlines, safe houses, and legal assistance staff.

Support Collective Organization and Worker Voice

Enabling domestic workers to form associations, unions, and support networks creates worker power. South Africa's domestic worker organization offers models for building collective power despite workers' isolation. Digital platforms can connect dispersed domestic workers, share information about employers and agencies, and mobilize collective action.

Conclusion

African migration is an economic story of opportunity, investment, and survival. This is most evident in the global care economy, where African women’s labor sustains households across borders while remaining undervalued and unprotected. Reframing migration governance as an issue of economic justice, through enforceable protections and provision of full labor rights, is essential to ensure migrants’ contributions translate into dignity and rights.