Abstract

The presentation focuses on the mobility component of the AfCFTA and calls attention to the social and economic vulnerability of African migrants in Africa. First, I will discuss the vulnerability African migrants experience in Africa. Next, using theoretical analysis, I will link the implementation of the AfCFTA to a possible rise in socio-economic vulnerability of African migrants. I will then examine gaps in the regional approach to protect the social and economic rights of African migrants in that context. Finally, I will conclude by arguing that the mobility component of the AfCFTA needs to guarantee the substantive social and economic wellbeing of vulnerable African migrants.

Christal O. Spel is an early career researcher with growing expertise in African migration, research experience on migrants’ wellbeing, migration management in South Africa and cooperatives and micro-business development in Nigeria. She holds a Ph.D. in Social and Public Policy from the University of Helsinki, Finland, and an MSc in Development and International Cooperation from the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. In the course of her career, she had worked to bridge theory with societal development through her work with migrant advocacy NGOs and short essays for a non-academic audience via internet publications for organizations such as AU, Voices- Global South Studies Centre, Cologne and Knowledge Platform on Inclusive Development Policies, NL. Dr Spel has collaborated with several African migration experts in edited book projects - 5 chapters in 5 books, of which 2 were peer reviewed. Her current project examines the immigration governance of African migrants’ access to social services in Ghana and Kenya.