Official money transfers from Ghanaians living abroad amounted to over $400 million last year. The amount was the third largest foreign exchange earner for the country after gold and cocoa.

The Director of the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER), Professor Kwadwo Asenso-Okyere who was commenting on how important migration has become for the development of Ghana noted that “the amount can go much higher if the emigrant can be courted to love Ghana more.”

Speaking at a three-day conference on “Migration and livelihood in contemporary Ghana” organised by the ISSER, Professor Asenso-Okyere said data from the Ghana Living Standards Survey indicated that about 52 per cent of Ghanaians are migrants who have previously lived in localities different from where they are living now.

He appealed to politicians, law enforcement agencies and development practitioners to give serious attention to war and conflict as well as child trafficking, which are major causes of migration.