Europe has been struggling with a wave of illegal immigration from Africa recently. Spain has been at the front lines, as literally thousands of mostly young men have flocked to the coasts of Canary Islands in search of new opportunities. As migrants await their fate in special detention centers set up for them, debates on what can and should be done are heating up. Here is one solution:
the exodus can be stopped by encouraging young Africans to set up businesses in their own countries, supporting these enterprises, and at the same time combating the mafias that organize and profit from trafficking in migrants.
This is via International Business Times on Spain-Africa Business Cooperation meeting held this week. Some good points in this story – I encourage you to read it.
The bigger point in all this is that the business community is not sitting on the sidelines – it is trying to fix the problem. And it is looking beyond short-term solutions, trying to figure out why people are leaving and what they are looking for. Of course, addressing the root-sources of the problem is not an easy task and changes in the business environment will not happen overnight. However, what is taking place in the Canary Islands today is just another example of how important the differences in economic opportunities can be and what kinds of risks people will take in order to escape uncertainty and poverty.
But all the talks about investment in Africa and all the money to encourage companies to go out and explore new opportunities will not lead to significant change unless we get policymakers’ buy-in. Ultimately, they are the ones who can create opportunities and ecourage private sector growth through good policies. Now, we have a notion of what should be done. The question is — is it possible? All I know is that if people are leaving your country risking their life and lives of their children in seach of opportunities to simply put bread on the table – something must be wrong in that country of yours.
Published Date: September 26, 2006