Migration has long been seen as a problem to be solved in international development. Could facilitating safe, legal, planned migration instead be leveraged as a poverty-reduction strategy? By providing rural Nigeriens with information, training, and resources—including national identification, travel subsidies, and tools to stay connected with their families—the Planning for Productive Migration (PPM) program is helping generate evidence on how migration can be used a tool for economic development.
How can building social capital transform the economic lives of refugees? IPL partnered with International Rescue Committee (IRC) to test an intervention that aims to build business networks among refugee and host entrepreneurs through business groups and neighborhood associations. The study looks at the impact of these groups, along with cash assistance, on participants’ networks and explores how different network types and changes affect business success, social cohesion, and local economic conditions.
Plenty of media coverage and policymaking in the West has focused on African migration to Europe, fueling a widespread perception that Europe is the destination of choice for Africans seeking economic opportunity. But the reality differs widely from this narrative, according to an IPL analysis of data collected at transit hubs across West and Central Africa. Only a small share of migrants surveyed want to reach Europe, and their motivations are complex.
