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Assessing the Impact of French Co-Development Policy on African Countries
HDRO Conference Room
7 January 2009
Time: 12.30- 2.00 p.m.
Topic
Co-development is based on the idea that migrants contribute to the development of both their host and origin countries, and that public authorities should aim to maximize the positive effects of migration by spurring the financial and human capital gains associated with international population movements. Against this background, French co-development policy, mainly oriented towards African countries, rests on four main thrusts: productive investment, brain circulation, immigrant return, and integration. Yet, a detailed analysis shows that there is a discrepancy between announced objectives and actual means. As a result, the impact of co-development on African countries is very limited since it is more designed according to France’s interests rather than beneficiary countries’ benefits. Above all, it appears that co-development, in its current conception, is not compatible with French immigration policy, since it is difficult to maximize the impact of migration while trying to restrict entries.
About the Speaker
David Khoudour-Castéras is an economist at the CEPII, a French think tank in international economics, and a lecturer at Sciences Po, Paris, from where he holds a Ph.D. in economics. He was previously a Fulbright scholar at the University of California, Berkeley, a professor of economics and the director of the research group on international migration at the Universidad Externado de Colombia, Bogota, and a consultant for the OECD, the ILO and the IOM. His research work is mainly focused on the relationship between international migration and development.
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