The Africa Trade Union Migration Network (ATUMNET) held its meeting in Dar es Salaam , Tanzania between 18th and 20th December, 2023. MOSES JOHN speaks with the General Secretary of ITUC -Africa, Comrade Akhator Joel Odigie, on the essence of the meeting among others.
Essence of the meeting
Let me first say that the African Trade Union Migration Network (ATUMNET), its essence is to contribute to the advancement of a pro-right based migration governance in the continent that will also contribute to the development agenda of Africa.
When the rights of migrants and migrant workers are protected, their inate and express contribution could also help to advance our development agenda. Having said that, ATUMNET is focused to making its contribution in the following areas in 2024:
Africa’s integration
On the issue of integration, we commit to three areas of campaigns. number one, ratification of frameworks and instruments on the continent. The African Free movement protocol of the African Union, as we speak today, only four countries have ratified. These are Rwanda, Cote Ivore, Mali and Niger. We want to increase that number to a minimum of 14 in 2024. We are going to do this by showing to our governments the arguments. Let’s not forget, when we talk about Africa’s integration, we are talking about how we can work together as a continent to increase our voice as a block at the global level, our continent still remains on the margin of the global economy.
AfCFTA protocols
This is why rightly, we as a continent, adopted the African Continental Free Trade Area so that we can trade amongst ourselves better. This is a good initiative. Though, we have concerns about the trade policy. Because some things have not been achieved yet. But for me, we can learn by practice. We can improve by practice. So we welcome it. And the more we look at the AfCFTA, the more we’ll see where our weaknesses are. When we are committed, we will work to continue to improve it. So as organised labour on the continent, we support the AfCFTA because AfCFTA is about workers. It is the workers that create the goods and services with which you trade. So, we see our role very much there.
However, still on the issue of integration, if the African Union, or African member states have overwhelmingly adopted the AfCFTA, it is inconvenience that they will not adopt or ratify the free movement protocol because they are complementary instruments and the member states adopted the development of both policies and frameworks.
Ratifications
And so when it comes to ratification, this is where you are having some kind of divergence. I do not think that there is a need for that. Why? Free movement gives opportunity for ideas. To move. You contribute to innovation, invention, because ideas, people, enthusiasm, energies are on the move, including capital, they are even on the move, especially in this instance, social capital, and social capital is even more useful for deepening stability. When people integrate more, there are less chances of friction or violent conflicts, because that kind of integration increases tolerance and cohabitation.
I want to commend the latest kid on the block, Kenya for making commitment in 2024 to say we will remove visa for all Africans. It exemplary and we commend them. And this is why we think Kenya should not waste time. They should be among the first few countries to ratify the free movement protocol
Benin Republic is Africa’s most open country on the continent because nobody needs a visa to go to Benin. We are saying this and we are publicising this for Africans and the world to know that Benin is open. If you want to go to Benin, you don’t have to think twice. And it’s a country with very rich historical and cultural things to find out. And so it’s a place we recommend you to go to for holiday. And this is why we say to the Government of Benin, what are you waiting for? ratify the free movement protocol. If you have opened your country to Africans, it’s only semantics that you don’t ratify.
2024 projection
Also in 2024, we want to work more on the issue of skills development.
We’re saying if we want to integrate this continent, our people must have capacity to be able to do these and this is why as ITUC-Africa we are interested in working with the African Union and the ILO of course supporting on the issue of the YES (Youth Employment Strategy), Africa Initiative. To create employment means you must give capacity. So you must train people. So capacity development is key for job creation, for employability. So we are interested in this in 2024. We are going to be campaigning very strongly on employment, capacity development and skills development. Our advocacy will also include Skills Partnership. So for countries where they have, especially European countries, in this sense, who say “okay we have challenges with African moving in droves through the Sahara and rickety boats across the Mediterranean to say come let’s work together. Let’s invest in skills development, and employment creation in our continent. Let’s broaden the base, broaden the employment base.
Social Protection
And for us, when we broaden the employment base, we broaden the tax base, which leads me to the third issue – Social protection. We are going to be very critical on social protection for all workers including migrants, because when people have opportunity for survival, for welfare, for well being, the attraction to move to Europe is substantially reduced. So we want to increase the tax base, we want to broaden the tax base through job creation that people can then pay taxes. And then our work on illicit financial flows and the debt campaign will continue because we are saying how do we finance social protection. Our engagement is not the one where we just tell government “do this or do that. No, we are contributing to the solutions. So this way, we are campaigning for our government to do the needful – policy, practice and programme-wise to reduce tax leakages. and then with our creditors, how do we reschedule our debt in a way that budget to debt servicing is not skewed against social spending.
African debt
I repeat, we are interested in reversing this skewed budget, to debt servicing ratio that is skewed against social service spending. We want to reverse that. And then of course, we want to increase our work on fair recruitment. We are saying given the demographics globally, there will also be need
will also be need for Africans elsewhere. We’ve talked about it. The Middle East with their petrol dollars have very ambitious plan of modernization. They will need labour. Our people will go there to work. These opportunities. When they are well trained, they will find jobs there. But more than that, we’re interested in their rights being protected. In other words, they must go without being exploited or abused and they must return with good sense. And this leads me to the other area of work for ATUMNET, which is reintegration. When people go they must be excited to want to come back. We have heard stories of when people go and are working, they save, and they comeback. Their savings which they thought their family members are keeping have been spent or have been stolen.
Saving schemes for migrant workers
We are going to work with government to devise a saving scheme for migrants. A statement such schemes exist, are saying replicate. And don’t forget, when this people save, this money is also available for development. This money also create jobs for those who manage the funds.
And then encouraging our diaspora to contribute to bring gain. We have brain drain, which we all know, but we are saying when they go and we have possibility to attract them to return, then we gain – in ideas and innovation. And we see quite a number of our governments that are doing this and we will continue to advocate for them to do more of that. But the final point, which I want to stress is that our work on the rights of every worker, including migrants should be secured. Including right to organise, including rights to join unions and to be active in the union. We will continue to push for all of this. On the fair recruitment I was talking about. I’m saying we need more work on regulation of recruitment agencies and recruitment practices. We need more regulation.
And the last point is social dialogue. We want to be seen as contributors, agent of change. And this is where our campaign on expanding the social dialogue space. Where social dialogue institutions do not exist, please create one. Where it does exist, facilitate it for it to be strong, for it to be effective. Much more importantly, let it be tripartite. And let the tripartite actors be genuinely engaged and involved. When there is a medium and and space to discourse, ideas will always come. This is what democracy is about. We are all in agreement, it is not about a four year electoral ritual of ballot voting is about engaging the states and engaging the apparatus and functionaries of the state every day. So as change agents our social dialogue component, will also mean asking our governments to be responsive and accountable. We are going to continue to make these. demands.
