CHARACTERISTICS AND MIGRATION EXPERIENCE OF AFRICANS IN CANADA WITH SPECIFIC REFERENCE TO GHANAIANS IN GREATER TORONTO

While the migration of Africans is an age-old phenomenon, the most documented aspect has been rural-urban migration. Better life chances in the urban areas, compared with the rural areas compel the young and energetic rural people to migrate to the cities even if their chances of finding decent jobs are slim. In recent times, however, deteriorating national socio-economic and political conditions have made living conditions in African towns and cities as precarious as is in the countryside, and consequently the migrants' dream of better lives in the cities most often proves to be a mirage. These conditions and the increasing desire to make better lives for themselves have precipitated international migration among Africans. This paper argues that the unprecedented international migration among Africans should be seen as an extension of the rural-urban migration in quest for better opportunities. A sample of 149 Ghanaian immigrants in the Greater Toronto area was surveyed through a questionnaire. It appears that for most of them, their arrival in Canada has completed a series of step-wise moves which may have started from their home towns via the regional cities to the national capital and across the borders to a number of countries before arriving in Canada. The paper demonstrates, among other things, that stepwise migration characterizes the Ghanaian migration experience at both local and international levels. Bien que la migration des Africains soit un phénomène ancien, l'aspect le plus documenté a été la migration rurale-urbaine. Les meilleures chances de vie dans les régions urbaines, comparées avec régions rurales incitent les jeunes personnes énergiques des milieux ruraux à migrer aux villes, même s'il y a peu de chances que ces personnes trouvent des emplois de qualité. Ces dernières années, cependant, la dégradation des conditions socio-économiques et politiques nationales ont rendu les conditions de vie de villages et des grandes villes africaines aussi précaires qu'à la campagne, et par conséquent, le rêve d'une meilleure vie s'avére, la plupart du temps, un mirage. Ces condiitions et le désir grandissant d'une vie meilleure ont accéléré la migration internationale chez les Africains. Cet article soutient que la migration internationale sans précédent chez les Africains devrait être vue comme un prolongement de la migration rurale-urbaine en quête des meilleures chances. On a fait une enquête d'un échantillon de 149 immigrés Ghanéens dans la région de Toronto par questionnaire. II semble que, pour la plupart d'entre eux, leur arrivée au Canada ait terminé une série de mouvements graduels: de leurs villes natales via les villes régionales à la capitale nationale et, à travers les frontières, à beaucoup d'autres pays avant d'arriver au Canada. L'article démontre, entre autres choses, que la migration graduelle caractérise l'expérience au niveaux local et international.     

Structural adjustment programs and housing affordability in Accra, Ghana

Due to the persistent socio-economic problems that have beset African countries since the late 1970s, many of them have been forced to accept IMF and World Bank sponsored Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs). Ghana came under one such program in 1983. While proponents of the program point to growth in GDP and other measures as evidence of successful adjustment in Ghana, critics have pointed to the negative impacts on the labor market, women, farmers and the like. This paper seeks to add to the debate by examining the impacts of SAPs on housing production, delivery and affordability from 1983–1998. It argues that since shelter is a very important basic need, what happens to its production, affordability and access under the SAPs should be considered among the criteria for judging their success or failure. The paper examines housing affordability in Accra, Ghana, using standard measurement criteria applied by lending institutions to determine affordability. It uses market data to compare and contrast housing prices and income ratios in Ghana from 1980 to 1998. The analysis is based on a combination of primary and secondary data from market surveys, the Ministry of Housing, the Ghana Statistical Services and a variety of other sources. It concludes that not all the dramatic increases in the price of both developed and undeveloped land over the past 16 years can be wholly attributed to the ongoing Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs) per se. Nonetheless, SAP inspired policies such as currency devaluation and hikes in interest rates have contributed greatly to these changes. The end result is that real estate prices have been pushed beyond the affordability of a significant proportion of Ghana's population.