Borders, Human Mobility, Integration and Development in Africa: An Introduction

Cross-border migration brings to the fore the issue of borders, both in their material and symbolic form. On this basis, there is a need for understanding borders as multifaceted institutions, which are perceived differently by state and non-state actors. This introductory chapter interrogates and presents issues, experiences and perspectives on human mobility involving economically active human resources and ordinary people within and across the borders of Africa’s disparate nation-states. This is because such realities do not presumably fit into ideational models and theories that explain Western realities and experiences. Given that Africa is vast and constitutes many nation-states, this book mainly focuses on Eastern, Southern and West Africa. The three regions provide a large enough geopolitical, economic and cultural space from which to draw experiences and perspectives, which are African and representative of its inhabitants. This book, therefore, uniquely distinguishes itself as one that goes beyond the description and analysis of human mobility, borders and regional integration in Africa. Rather, it engages in a serious consideration and mix of mobility and border studies, and asks hard questions designed to highlight the innovative aspects of human agency in Africa. It simultaneously emphasises gender, from an African worldview/context through and empirical issues relating to social, economic and political realities in West, Central, Eastern and Southern Africa.