A Review of the Status,Challenges and Innovations Regarding Temporary Immigration of Labour in the Regional Economic Areas of Africa

The paper makes a desk review of the status, challenges and innovative ideas in the implementation of temporary labour immigration in African Regional Economic Communities, accompanied by an analysis of the underlying issues and challenges. Salient data are provided. African Regional Economic Communities are confronted with social, economic, political and security challenges which delay the ratification of relevant protocols and decisions. National high unemployment rates and low economic growth could make policy makers reluctant to potentially exacerbate their socio-economic situation by allowing the temporary entry of unskilled labour from neighbouring countries. There is lack of harmony and common standard in the education system, coupled with the concern that citizens of some states may dominate host country’s labour market. In this situation, they are committed to limited mobility of only certain categories of workers in the communities. A number of innovative ways of overcoming these challenges adopted by African Regional Economic Communities are discussed.