This paper focuses on emigrants from Ghana, which has lost large numbers of qualified people over the last 20 years. The Ghanaian diaspora is wide-reaching and Ghanaians are taking up opportunities in various African countries, Europe, North America and further afield to improve their standard of living, achieve success in local terms and support their families and communities. With 10 to 20 percent of Ghanaian citizens abroad, this is a mass movement, not limited to the well-educated. This paper considers several aspects of Ghanaian emigration: the development of inter-African emigration; Ghana’s economy and educational system as basic causes of emigration; the choice of destinations; the consequences, in terms of national, family and individual costs and benefits; and the ways in which emigrants maintain their links with fellow Ghanaians, at home and abroad. The paper is based, amongst others, on a survey carried out in 1993 in Madina, a fast-growing town on the edge of Accra, where residents had considerable international experience. Notes, ref.
