The COVID-19 pandemic brought unprecedented global restrictions on human movement, yet its impact on migration flows within sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) reflects a complex interplay of social, economic, and political factors unique to the region. A recent study conducted by Nwekwo, Deka, and Şahoğlu presents a cutting-edge analysis of how migration patterns within SSA endured, adapted, and transformed in the face of the pandemic’s governance measures, challenging conventional understandings of cross-border mobility amid crisis. This research, published in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, offers insights into how COVID-19 acted not only as a public health emergency but as a catalyst altering migration dynamics within the context of regional resilience and governance.
While global attention on migration during the pandemic largely focused on restrictive border policies and their immediate halting of cross-border movement, this study highlights the relative resilience of migratory networks within SSA, a region where economic necessity often drives migration decisions. Despite stringent travel bans and lockdowns, migratory flows both formal and informal persisted throughout the pandemic period. This phenomenon reflects the entrenched socioeconomic dependencies on mobility in the region, including informal trade and labor migration, which are critical for regional economic livelihoods and survival. The continuity of these flows underlines the limitations of policies conceived without full consideration of local realities.
Conceptualizing the pandemic’s effects through two complementary theoretical lenses—the push-pull migration model and the new economics of labor migration—the study situates COVID-19 as a disruptive but not determinative force in migration decision-making. The push-pull model traditionally identifies factors driving migration from origin to destination countries, but the researchers introduce the concept of COVID-19 as an “intervening obstacle,” temporarily hampering movement without fully dismantling underlying drivers such as economic needs. Simultaneously, the new economics framework illuminates how migration decisions are embedded within household strategies to diversify income risk, emphasizing the adaptive capacities of families and communities in navigating pandemic constraints.
Empirical data drawn from country-level case studies within SSA reveal varying net migration patterns during the pandemic period. Notably, countries such as the Central African Republic and Nigeria demonstrated net migration outflows, while Uganda and South Africa registered inflows. These divergent trends expose the heterogeneity of migration experiences across the region, shaped by the strength of public health infrastructure, governance efficacy, and regional cooperation mechanisms. The robustness of migration flows in regions with more coordinated responses points to the critical role of governance readiness in modulating the impact of health crises on population mobility.
The study places significant emphasis on the function of Regional Economic Communities (RECs) as pivotal actors in both migration governance and pandemic response within SSA. For instance, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) exhibited a more agile and structured approach, including early implementation of screening measures, which corresponded with relatively stable migration flows in South Africa. In contrast, the East African Community (EAC) pursued less coordinated and slower policy responses, reflected in heightened migration fluxes in Uganda. These discrepancies underscore the importance of timely, harmonized policy frameworks in managing the dual imperatives of safeguarding public health and sustaining critical population mobility.
Interestingly, the flexibility and adaptability of migration policies in regions governed by ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) and ECCAS (Economic Community of Central African States) offer an important model for balancing public health with socioeconomic imperatives. These sub-regional bodies adopted temporary border closures but maintained essential trade and movement of goods, thereby preserving economic lifelines despite the global crisis. This approach sharpens the view that migration during global emergencies need not be binary nor wholly restrictive but instead requires calibrated, context-sensitive governance sensitive to the intersecting demands of health security and economic vitality.
The persistence of mobility in SSA amid the pandemic exposes a tension between migration governance and public health priorities. While the imperative to contain viral spread motivated government-imposed border controls, these measures often conflicted with already fragile economic structures dependent on free movement. The study’s findings illuminate how border closures and travel bans, though intended as health interventions, produced social, political, and economic ripple effects that reverberated across communities reliant on migratory labor and cross-border trade networks. These reverberations suggest that pandemic governance in Africa must transcend reactive containment towards integrative strategies cognizant of ripple effects on human mobility.
Beyond immediate public health concerns, the research surfaces the role of migration as a deeply embedded cultural and social practice in SSA, predating modern borders and colonial legacies. Migration serves multifaceted purposes including economic sustenance, cultural exchange, conflict mitigation, and political stabilization, all of which remain vital during crises. The COVID-19 pandemic elevated migration discourse within political spheres but did so amidst heightened xenophobic sentiments and strained refugee governance, challenging existing norms of inclusion. These dynamics complicate the narrative of migration during health emergencies and beckon more nuanced governance models mindful of social cohesion.
The study also interrogates the notion that COVID-19 universally suppressed migration decisions, revealing that familial and social networks played a mediating role. Migrant families and community ties mitigated information asymmetries, market imperfections, and income variability created by the crisis, effectively sustaining migration despite restrictions. This insight foregrounds the social embeddedness of migration choices, and underscores how collective resilience can circumvent or reshape policy-imposed barriers in times of disruption. It invites rethinking migration policies towards frameworks that bolster social capital and local knowledge.
A striking observation within the data is the low statistical significance of COVID-19’s short-term impact on net migration levels and the absence of long-term effects. This challenges initial assumptions that pandemic border closures drastically curtailed migration and instead points to migration’s entrenched nature and adaptive mechanisms in SSA. The continuity of irregular migration, such as through porous land borders, further attests to the limits of state-centric controls and hints at the complex, multi-scalar dimensions of border governance. Such findings compel migration studies to broaden analytic focus beyond formal policy efficacy towards informal, lived realities of mobility.
The regional variation in pandemic governance exposes important lessons for future global health crises. The SADC’s swift, scientifically informed screening strategies and cooperative frameworks contrast with incremental or uncoordinated responses elsewhere, suggesting that proactive, harmonized regional policies mitigate migration disruption more effectively. Innovative mechanisms such as the EACPass and regional electronic tracking systems pioneered in East Africa represent pioneering tools that balance health security with migration continuity. These models exemplify how technology and cooperation can transform migration governance in crisis contexts.
The study calls attention to the perplexing non-uniformity of COVID-19 travel restrictions in SSA, particularly given that Africa accounted for only around 3% of global COVID-19 mortality. This disparity between stringent policy responses and comparatively low health impacts hints at overreliance on Global North templates that inadequately consider African regional specificities, risking exacerbation of inequalities. It prompts critical reflection on the transferability of global health policy models and advocates for indigenous approaches grounded in scientific evidence and regional socio-economic realities.
Crucially, the research advocates for RECs to become proactive conduits for integrating migration and public health governance during emergencies. Early adoption of structured, flexible screening and border management procedures can sustain essential regional mobility and commerce, protecting vulnerable economies from catastrophic shocks. Furthermore, coordinated communication campaigns that build public trust and counter xenophobia are vital for maintaining social cohesion and effective governance under pressure. This multidimensional governance vision positions RECs not only as economic actors but as central agents in crisis resilience.
Ultimately, the ongoing migratory flows during the COVID-19 pandemic underscore that migration in SSA is not merely a reaction to immediate obstacles but a complex socio-economic strategy mediated by resilience, networks, and governance. The study challenges reductive vulnerability narratives framing migrants solely as victims and calls for research agendas that explore the heterogeneous, dynamic realities of migration in crisis contexts. Understanding the adaptive processes underlying migration continuation offers crucial insights to inform future pandemic preparedness and to develop equitable policy frameworks sensitive to the lived experiences of migrants.
In sum, this study furnishes a sophisticated and empirically grounded analysis revealing how migration in sub-Saharan Africa persists amid unprecedented global disruptions. It highlights the vital importance of regional cooperation, data-driven policymaking, and flexible governance in balancing health imperatives with mobility needs. As the world braces for future pandemics and global challenges, these insights emphasize the need for governance models that embrace regional realities rather than replicating external templates, thereby fostering equitable and sustainable migration pathways that support Africa’s development and resilience.
Subject of Research: Impact of COVID-19 pandemic governance on migration flows in sub-Saharan Africa.
Article Title: Covid-19 pandemic governance and impact on migration across sub-Saharan Africa.
Article References:
Nwekwo, T.G.N., Deka, A.D. & Şahoğlu, H.Ş. Covid-19 pandemic governance and impact on migration across sub-Saharan Africa. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 12, 1631 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-05226-8
Image Credits: AI Generated
