The Political Dimension of the Postcolonial African Migration to the West

Political instability is perceived as one of the decisive push factors in migration theories. However, the causes of the political insecurity are more intra-African (institutional) than external. Africa has poor institutions because of inability to overcome ethnicity as a political category and to construct a collective national identity and interest; African patriarchal and autocratic cultures that dehumanize the opponent and mythologize authority’s power; corruption and clientelism. These poor political institutions lead not only to political insecurity but also to migration from Africa to the West. Scapegoating outsiders or global players for Africa’s ills is not only wrong but also counterproductive. If political instability causes African migration to the West, the main causes of the political instability are we Africans, not external powers.