How Immigrants Contribute to Ghana’s Economy Immigrant workers contribute to the Ghanaian economy in several ways. They are well integrated in labour markets in terms of employment, although female immigrants often face Economy Ghana’s to Contribute Immigrants How greater challenges than male immigrants. Even though much of the employment of immigrant workers appears to be demand-driven, immigration may have some displacement effects How Immigrants Contribute in particular for native-born women. The contribution of immigrants to the government’s fi scal balance exceeds the contribution of the native-born population on a per capita basis. The overall contribution of immigrants to GDP is estimated at 1.5%. Ghana is aiming to to Ghana’s Economy mainstream migration into development policies, and this objective would benefi t from stronger labour market information and analysis systems. How Immigrants Contribute to Ghana’s Economy is the result of a project carried out by the OECD Development Centre and the International Labour Organization, with support from the European Union. The project aimed to analyse several economic impacts – on the labour market, economic growth, and public fi nance – of immigration in ten partner countries: Argentina, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, the Dominican Republic, Ghana, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Rwanda, South Africa and Thailand. The empirical evidence stems from a combination of quantitative and qualitative analyses of secondary and in some cases primary data sources. Consult this publication on line at http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264302037-en This work is published on the OECD iLibrary, which gathers all OECD books, periodicals and statistical databases. Visit www.oecd-ilibrary.org for more information. GHANA ISBN 978-92-64-30203-7 This project is co-funded by 41 2018 21 1 E1 GHANA the European Union 9HSTCQE*dacadh+ How Immigrants Contribute to Ghana’s Economy This work is published under the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD. The opinions expressed and arguments employed herein do not necessarily reflect the official views of the member countries of the OECD, its Development Centre or of the ILO. This document, as well as any data and map included herein, are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area. Please cite this publication as: OECD/ILO (2018), How Immigrants Contribute to Ghana’s Economy, OECD Publishing, Paris. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264302037-en ISBN 978-92-64-30203-7 (PDF) ILO: 978-92-2-131522-3 (web pdf) The statistical data for Israel are supplied by and under the responsibility of the relevant Israeli authorities. The use of such data by the OECD is without prejudice to the status of the Golan Heights, East Jerusalem and Israeli settlements in the West Bank under the terms of international law. Photo credits: Cover design by the OECD Development Centre. Corrigenda to OECD publications may be found on line at: www.oecd.org/publishing/corrigenda. © OECD/ILO 2018 You can copy, download or print OECD content for your own use, and you can include excerpts from OECD publications, databases and multimedia products in your own documents, presentations, blogs, websites and teaching materials, provided that suitable acknowledgment of the source and copyright owner is given. All requests for public or commercial use and translation rights should be submitted to [email protected]. Requests for permission to photocopy portions of this material for public or commercial use shall be addressed directly to the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) at [email protected] or the Centre français d’exploitation du droit de copie (CFC) at [email protected]. Foreword Foreword Immigration has a long history in Ghana, and the country’s relative affluence has often made it an attractive destination for international migrant workers. Although the effects of immigration have been investigated in Ghana before, there is a need for more systematic empirical research into how immigrants contribute to the economy. Such research informs the debate on migration flows, which are increasing globally, in particular outside the traditional high-income regions. It also constitutes a basis to understand which policy responses should be instituted for the good of both immigrants and the destination countries. The OECD Development Centre, the International Labour Organization and the European Commission have worked together to tackle these challenging questions. Working across different contexts, the goal is to help countries design effective policies for leveraging immigration for positive development outcomes. This has included providing advice on the governance of comprehensive immigration systems and linking development strategies for policy coherence within a country and across countries. This report, How Immigrants Contribute to Ghana’s Economy, is a step forward in assessing the contribution of immigration to development and improving the design of migration and development strategies. It builds upon the joint OECD- ILO project, Assessing the Economic Contribution of Labour Migration in Developing Countries as Countries of Destination (ECLM). The project carried out comparable analyses for Ghana and nine other countries – Argentina, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, the Dominican Republic, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Rwanda, South Africa and Thailand – to present a greater understanding of immigration’s economic impacts. Different key components of the economy are explored through a combination of quantitative and qualitative methodologies The report examines empirically how immigrants affect key segments of the economy. These segments include: the labour market in terms of labour force and human capital, economic growth and public finance. The report also analyses the political and historical context of immigration and suggests ways to maximise the impact of immigrants in different contexts through appropriate policy responses. The report highlights the fact that the impact of immigration is not straightforward. It depends on the country context and economic conditions. However, any country can maximise the positive impact of immigration by improving policies to better manage and integrate immigrants so that they can invest and contribute to the economy where they work and live while staying safe and leading fulfilling lives. The report also provides a How IMMIGRANTS CONTRIBUTE to Ghana’S ECONOMY © OECD/ILO 2018 3 Foreword basis for dialogue and policy guidance for development practitioners and policy makers who attempt to integrate immigrants into their economy and society for the benefit of both immigrants and the native-born population. Following the discussion on guidance for action with key stakeholders and policy makers to be held in Accra, the European Commission, the OECD Development Centre and the ILO look forward to continuing their co-operation with Ghana to optimise immigration for better economic and development outcomes. Mario Pezzini Manuela Tomei Director of the OECD Development Director of the Conditions Centre and Special Advisor of Work and Equality to the OECD Secretary-General Department, International on Development Labour Organization 4 How IMMIGRANTS CONTRIBUTE to Ghana’S ECONOMY © OECD/ILO 2018 ACKnowledgeMENTS Acknowledgements How Immigrants Contribute to Ghana’s Economy is the fruit of the joint OECD-ILO project, Assessing the Economic Contribution of Labour Migration in Developing Countries as Countries of Destination (ECLM), carried-out in ten low- and middle- income countries. The project was managed by David Khoudour, Head of the Migration and Skills Unit of the OECD Development Centre, under the guidance of Mario Pezzini, Director of the OECD Development Centre and Special Advisor to the OECD Secretary-General on Development, Federico Bonaglia, Deputy Director of the OECD Development Centre, Manuela Tomei, Director of the ILO’s Conditions of Work and Equality Department, and Michelle Leighton, Chief of the ILO’s Labour Migration Branch. Shinyoung Jeon and Hyeshin Park, from the OECD Development Centre, co-ordinated the project, while Theodoor Sparreboom, Chief Technical Advisor in the Labour Migration Branch, led the ILO team. The OECD team included Maria Alejandra Betancourt, Bram Dekker, Fatoumata Diarrassouba and Sarah Kups. The ILO team was composed of Sandra Berger and Jesse Mertens. Theodoor Sparreboom managed the overall co-ordination of the report and the following authors prepared draft chapters: Chapter 2: Victor Brobbey and Sandra Berger Chapter 3: Theo Sparreboom and Roger Gomis Chapter 4: Sandra Berger, Theo Sparreboom and Jesse Mertens Chapter 5: Theo Sparreboom, Delali M. Badasu, Joseph Teye, Leander Kandilige and Mary Setrana Chapter 6: Peter Quartey, Delali Badasu, Abdul-Malik Iddrisu, Diana Assuman, Angelina Blabboe and Sandra Berger. The rest of the ECLM project team provided significant contributions, including valuable comments, advice and feedback on previous versions of the report. Alexandra Le Cam and Patricia Cuber Galarreta, OECD Development Centre, and Hélène Lombard, ILO, provided administrative support for the project, including country missions and event organisation. Jill Gaston edited chapter 1 of the report, and the OECD Development Centre’s publications team, led by Delphine Grandrieux and Henri-Bernard Solignac-Lecomte, turned the draft into a publication. The cover was designed by Aida Buendía. The ECLM team is