1 Through the transnational lens: The influence of migrants on the economy of Accra, Ghana 1 Lothar Smith Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands 2 Paper for the AEGIS European Conference on African Studies Leiden, 11-14 July 2007 Abstract: Over the past two decades a debate has arisen between scholars largely opposed to migration from developing countries and those who favour migration for its impact on the economies of developing countries. Rising interest and involvement of other actors in this debate on the relationship between migration and development, notably governments of sending and receiving countries, has only polarized this debate resulting in two main schools of thought: the anti-migration school gives primacy to issues such as ‘brain drain’ and social issues related to the migration process itself to argue for restrictive measures that would counter mass migration especially when remittances are seldom used ‘productively’ in countries of origin of migrants. In contrast the pro-migration school emphasizes how, even informal migrants, who have arrived in the west through risky and expensive informal routes are still able to support their families, friends and others in their countries of origin, contributing to the local economy, through the remittances they send. From own research in Accra, the capital of Ghana, on transnational influences of migrants on the local economy, I do incline towards the arguments of the pro-migration school, although I stress that two factors need to be taken into consideration. First, transnational relations provide differential benefits to local actors in the countries of origin of migrants, i.e. there may be major differences in the gains which local actors derive from transnational relationships with migrants. Second, transnational relationships of urban actors with migrants are, more often than not, two-way flows. Thus relationships with migrants not only provide benefits to urban actors, notably in the form of remittances, they often also require substantial investments of own resources by urban actors. Introduction Transnational flows and networks as components of globalization has been argued by various scholars in the past few years. Thus for sub-Saharan Africa a number of authors note that many urban dwellers draw on transnational relationships with migrants abroad to organise activities in the urban economy (M.P. Smith 2001; Clark 1999; Tacoli 2002; Roberts 1997). To some extent this shift from local to extra-local economic affiliations has resulted from declining opportunities to secure state employment in urban areas, following the implementation of liberal policies from the 1980s onwards (notably the Structural Adjustment Programme) which has shifted the urban economy in sub-Saharan Africa towards entrepreneurial activities (Owuor 2006; Potts 1995; Simone 2004; Jamal 1 This paper reports on results of a collaborative research program between the University of Amsterdam (AGIDS), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (AOE), Amsterdam Institute for International Development (AIID), and African Studies Centre Leiden, in the Netherlands and the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER), in Ghana entitled “Transnational networks and the creation of local economies: Economic principles and institutions of Ghanaian migrants at home and abroad.” (Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO) grant number 410-13-010P) 2 The author can be reached by e-mail: L.Smith@fm.ru.nl