Sonia Plaza's blog

According to the latest issue of the Economist, diaspora bonds an idea worth trying. Ethiopia recently announced the launch of its second diaspora bond: “Renaissance Dam Bond”.

The proceeds of the bond will be used to fund the construction of the Grand Renaissance Dam. This dam will be the largest hydroelectric power plant in Africa when completed (5,250 Mega Watts). The first one was called the Millennium Corporate bond, and was for raising funds for the Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCO) . The first diaspora bond issuance did not meet the expectations. Sales were slow during the first months of offering despite the efforts of the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia and the embassies and consulates to sell them. Some risks that the diaspora faced were: i) risk perceptions on the payment ability of EEPCO on its future earnings from the operations of the hydroelectric power; ii) lack of trust in the government as a guarantor; and iii) political risks.

Migration flows in both directions between the United States and Mexico have diminished according to recent statistics released by the Mexican and United States governments.

Mexican immigration to the United States began to decline in the mid-2006, and that pattern has continued into 2010. The Pew Hispanic Center analysis of Mexican government data indicates that the number of Mexicans annually leaving Mexico for the U.S. declined from more than one million in 2006 to 404,000 in 2010. Rand Corporation also found that the Mexican immigrants returning to Mexico have not increased despite the crisis. 

I participated in a panel on Informal Markets and Peacebuilding in North Korea at the United States Institute of Pace last Tuesday where we discussed remittances. There is no data available on how much remittance North Korea receives since the country does not publish remittance statistics. 

However, remittances are being sent from South Korea and China through informal channels (hand carried to the border by informal operators or wired). According to the Ministry of Unification in Seoul, North Koreans living in Seoul remit around 10 million dollars per year. Other estimates indicate that the annual amount is within the range of $5-$15 million per year.

We invite you to use open and free access to data collected through the Migration and Remittances Household Surveys conducted for the Africa Migration Project. Please access the household data here. We present the methodological apects and main finidngs of the surveys in our paper, Migration and Remittances Household Surveys: Methodological Issues and New Findings from Sub-Saharan Africa. For information on the report “Leveraging Migration for Africa: Remittances, Skills, and Investments” please visit our website.

As part of the Africa Migration Project, we conducted six Migration and Remittances Household Surveys in Burkina Faso, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, and Uganda. The surveys used a standardized methodology developed by the Migration and Remittances Unit of the World Bank and were conducted by primarily country-based researchers and institutions during 2009 and 2010.

Recent attention has shifted from analyzing the impact of skilled migration on sending country labor markets to a broader agenda that also considers the channels by which diasporas promotes trade, investment, innovation and technological acquisition. Several developed and developing countries are increasing their ties with their Diasporas to take advantage of these transfers beyond remittances. It will be important to assess what could be the potential of strengthening the linkages with their Diasporas for countries in the Middle East and North Africa. Can these countries tap into their Diasporas as a source and facilitator of innovation, research, technology transfer, trade, investment and skills development?

Nolland and Pack (2007) have analyzed whether Arab-communities in North America and Europe can play a similar role as countries in Asia (China, India, South Korea and Taiwan, China) in revitalizing the Middle East. The authors also indicated that “given the limited extent of manufacturing activity in the Middle East and the lack of equivalents to the Indian Institutes of Technology, it would make difficult to benefit from this option.”

Migration is a strategy followed by women when they face poverty or when they widowed or divorced. In India, women mainly migrate because they get married. In other countries women migrate to get better job opportunities, for education purposes or for family reunification. For example in Lesotho, since divorced women or widowers do not count with the income of a male migrant wage-earner, they are the ones who have to support their families.

Case study evidence of migrants’ labor market performance in receiving countries shows that most immigrants from developing countries, regardless of their destination, suffer an earnings penalty and higher inactivity levels and unemployment rates than nationals. In Europe, unemployment rates for immigrants originating from developing countries are uniformly higher than those from more developed economies. This gap is more pronounced for women than men across all skill levels (Page and Plaza, 2006). The situation is not different for immigrants in South Africa. The majority of female workers from Lesotho work in low-paying jobs since they have an irregular migration status. However, they get more money compared to what they get in Lesotho for the same work  that they do in South Africa. The majority of women from Lesotho work as domestic workers, followed by agricultural jobs and in the informal sector (Crush, Dodson, Gay and Leduka, 2010).

Photo: istockphoto.com

Since 2001, the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act (“DREAM Act”) has been discussed in the congressional sessions without success. On December 8th, the fifth version of the DREAM Act passed the House by a vote of 216 to 198. The Senate is likely to vote on this today.  However, it seems that the legislation will be short of the 60 votes needed to bring the bill to the floor for debate. (See article)
 
The current version of the Act would allow undocumented immigrants under age 30, who entered the United States before they reach 16 years old, to attain temporary status if they have graduated from high school or earned a general equivalency degree (GED). To qualify, migrants must attend two years of college or serve in the military as requirement to get temporary residency.  (See article)