Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo is expected to grace the highly anticipated 2021 edition of the African Migration Summit scheduled to take place at the Accra International Conference Centre, Ghana from February 25 to February 26, 2021.
The President will be accompanied by multiple international award winner and member African Union Labour Migration Advisory Committee, Dr. Princess Ocansey; the Chairman of Nigeria’s House of Representatives Committee on Diasporan Matters, Tolulope Akande-Sadipe and Activist, Prof Patrick Lumumba from Kenya to lead the convergence of dignitaries.
President Akufo-Addo will be joined by Dr. Tunji Asaolu, the Nigerian Representative at the African Union Economic, Social and Cultural Council (AU-ECOSOCC); Dr. Winfred Nii Okai Hammond, Ghana’s Ambassador to Egypt and Lebanon; Alpha O. Timbo, Minister of Labour and Social Security and Dr Azuma Ijoma, the President of the Oranisation for African Integration (OIA).
Notable organisation taking part in the events are the International Organization For Migration (IOM) Gambia, Ghana and Nigeria, Organization Pour l’ integration Africaine (OIA) Togo, ESCAE University- Benin Republic and Center for Migration Studies, University of Ghana, Legon.
Stakeholders in the migration sector are demanding the banning of migrant hiring system like the ‘Kafala’ practised in many African countries.
According to stakeholders, the ‘Kafala’ system mostly results in human trafficking and several human rights violations.
The Kafala migrant employment system began in the 1950s when several Middle Eastern countries like Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates hired foreign workers to accelerate development.
In a press briefing ahead of the event, Executive Chairperson of the Nekotech Center for Labour Migration Diplomacy, Dr. Ocansey said “We are alarmed by the major negative impact of COVID-19 on African migrants, especially Women Domestic Workers in the Middle East”.
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“We plan to appeal to all African leaders and governments as well as African migration activists and stakeholders to attend and contribute meaningfully to the many strategies and keys to migration success to be discussed by our migration experts at the African Migration Summit to ensure that we, as a continent, quench the tears of African migrants and make a shift together to ensure that migration benefits Africa, to accelerate the achievement of the goals of Africa Agenda 2063”.
