THE 30th African Union (AU) has called for strengthening the African unity and the fight against corruption. The Commissioner of Economic Affairs of the African Union Commission (AUC), Mr Victor Harison alongwith Mr Mario Pezzini, Director of the OECD Development Centre and Special Advisor to the OECD Secretary General on Development, has also discussed the findings of the latest OECD Development Centre-ILO report "How Immigrants Contribute to Developing Countries Economies" and, more largely, the implementation of the African Union Commission's 2063 Agenda at the regional and national level.

The perceptions that international migration is first and foremost a South-North phenomenon and that immigrants cost more than they yield is widespread. Yet about eight out of 10 African migrants leave for another African country. Their impact on the economies of host countries is generally positive though limited. At the same time, Africa's population is set to double by 2050, bringing 26 million additional young people into the labour force each year. Ambitious and effective policies for labour markets, education and skills, health, fertility, food security and access to financial services will be key to creating enough decent jobs and reap a demographic dividend, while maximising the positive contribution of immigrants to Africa.

The discussion highlighted the importance of intra-African migration and of immigrant's contribution to their African host country in three areas: labour market, economic growth and public finance. Using both quantitative and qualitative methods, the report presents numerous instances of immigrant's positive economic contributions in African countries. In Ghana, wages of native-born workers who live in areas where there is a higher concentration of foreign-born workers with similar skills appear to be higher than elsewhere in the country. In Rwanda, immigrants contribute more than 2.5 as much to value added as their share in the workforce would suggest and in South Africa, the rate of workers who are employers is almost 50% more elevated than among native-born workers.

Building on their longstanding co-operation, and with a view to deepening high-level dialogue and co-operation on a citizen-driven pan-African agenda of integration and transformation, the AU Commissioner and the OECD Development Centre announced the launch of their forthcoming joint report "Dynamic of African Economies (DAE)". Other joint high profile projects include notably the yearly International Economic Forum on Africa and Revenue Statistics in Africa.