International Workshop on Migration and Poverty in
West Africa
March 13-14, 2003
University of Sussex
Some Benefits of Migrants Return Visits to Ghana
Alex B. Asiedu, University of Ghana
March 2003
Some Benefits of Migrants Return Visits to Ghana
By
Alex B. Asiedu*
Introduction
The emotional attachments
of immigrants to their
countries of birth have fostered a continued sense of loyality and
belonging.
This has been accompanied by certain obligations
towards the development of these ‘source’ or generating regions.
In a number of these migrants generating countries,
contributions from
expatriate communities overseas have
constituted a very reliable and dependable source of development
input. These contributions have included financial remittances,
technology and skills transfer and material and
equipment
donations. Countries as diverse as the Philippines, Egypt, Mexico
and Indonesia have formal structures to oversee to the facilitation
of proper arrangements for employment of their citizens abroad. In
the same vein, these outfits ensure that part of the earnings
accruing to these expatriates are remitted back home through formal
procedures.
These remittances have helped the respective
governments to pursue national development agendas.
Another very significant dimension to this emotional
attachment of expatriate communities to their birthplace has been in
the area of return visitations to friends and relatives for the purpose
of re-establishing old ties and blood relationships. These kinds
of visitations, referred to a visiting friends and relatives tourism
(VFR) and which exemplify the close relationship between migration
and tourism has assumed glowing importance in the tourism industry
worldwide. The recent popularity of the sector has been achieved
inspite of the initial skepticism about its viability due to the
purported small market size and difficulties in marketing it as a
*
Senior Lecturer, Department of Geography and Resource
Development, University of Ghana,
P. O. Box LG 59, Legon, Accra Ghana, E-mail – [email protected]
segment of the industry (Braunlich and Nadkarni, 1995). Current
prognostications indicate that certain African countries could become
major destinations for attracting VFR tourists due to the large
number of their people who have migrated into other continents
(Wyllie, 1990; King, 1994). Ghana has frequently been cited as one
of the leading potential markets for VFR tourism in Africa because of
her unique role in the trans-Atlantic slave trade that shipped millions
of Africans into slavery in the new world (GOG, 1996).
In addition to the slave trade, relatively contemporary
migrations out of the Ghana has had a history dating back to the
precolonial period when the Fantis, Gas and other coastal fishing
communities established fishing bases along the coastal regions of
West Africa. Later on, these fishing activities were extended to
other coastal regions of Central and Southern Africa.
In the immediate post-independence era, emigration from
Ghana was mainly for education and other skills training, shipping,
trading and foreign service postings. According to GOG (1995),
most of these movements were to the United Kingdom and other
English – speaking countries as a result of colonial links and ease of
communication. Some of these migrants were also destined for a
number of European countries that had bilateral agreements with
Ghana on the free movement of citizens, such as the former
Western Germany. Others were also engaged as public servants in a
number of newly independent African countries such as Gambia,
Botswana and Sierra Leone.
The economic decline that was experienced since the mid –
1960’s and the political and economic instabilities that followed this
period, resulted in a drastic change in the magnitude and intensity of
emigration from the country. At first, there was a steady flow of
small numbers of professionals to other African countries, but as a
result of worsening political and economic conditions at the
beginning of the 1980’s, substantial emigration of all categories of
labour – skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled to other parts of Africa,
especially Nigeria was experienced (GOG, 1995). According to
(GOG, 1995), migration had then become one of the basic survival
strategies adopted by individuals and families to enable them cope
with the existing difficult socio-economic and political conditions.
But while emigration to other parts of Africa has slackened in
recent years, due to poor economic performances, movements to
non-African destinations, especially to the industrialized world, has
continued unabated. In the absence of reliable and dependable
figures, anecdotal evidence suggests that presently, close to a fifth
(20%) of Ghanaians permanently reside outside the country. It has
also been reported that over one million of current United Kingdom
residents are either Ghanaians or are closely linked to Ghana
(Asiedu, 2001).
Contributions in cash and in kind from these expatriates, if
properly accessed and utilized, could constitute a very formidable
resource base for national development.
The enhancement of these contributions could best be
approached from a standpoint of extensive knowledge on these
contributions, including the the nature and characteristics of these
contributors/donors, type of donations given, the source and
recipient regions of these donations as well as the beneficiary social
and economic sectors. The temporal variations associated with the
donations could also provide useful insights into the dynamics
characterizing the receipt of these benefits and its associated
implications.
This is what the first part of the study attempts to
accomplish by analyzing existing data on past donations and
contributions from Ghana’s expatriate communities during their
return trips to Ghana. Another aspect of the study uses crosssectional data on Ghanaians resident in the U.K. who have visited
Ghana in the past five years, to investigate the socio-economic and
traveling characteristics of these return migrants as well as their
investment and expenditure outlays while on the visit. It is hoped
that this knowledge base could help complement decision making
efforts towards making expatriate Ghanaians play more beneficial
roles in national development.
In addition of this section, section 2 which is on literature
review, explores the nexus between migration and tourism while
section 3 dilates on the study methodology. Section 4 is devoted to
a discussion of the results emanating from the analysis of the study
data while the final chapter is on study conclusions.
2. The Nexus Between Permanent Migration and Tourism
For the purpose of clear thinking devoid of ambiguities, the
meanings of the two most important concepts used in this study
that is tourism and permanent migration have been highlighted
below.
Like most widely employed , multidisciplinary concepts, the
definition of tourism has attracted a lot of scholarly attention from
different sources. One of the foremost attempts at providing a more
widely accepted definition of a tourist was the one by the United
Nations Conference on Travel and Tourism held in Rome in 1963. A
tourist was defined as a temporary visitor staying at least 24 hours
in the country visited and the purpose of whose journey can be
classified under one of the following headings – leisure, business,
family, mission and meetings. Implicit in this definition was the fact
that stays in destinations areas do not have to exceed 12 months.
In addition, visitors do not have to engage themselves in any
remunerative activities within destination areas. The conference also
clarified
certain ambiguities in definitions between visitors,
excursions and tourists and also between domestic and international
travelers of all shades. Other ongoing definitional attempts have
focused on trying to distinguish between leisure, recreation and
tourism.
There is a growing recognition however that tourism
constitutes one end of a broad leisure spectrum, an extreme form of
recreation that is distinguished by the relatively long lengths of stay
away from home and the relatively large distances traveled (Pearce,
1989).
Tourism, therefore, may be regarded generally as
temporary movements of people to destinations outside their normal
places of work and residence, the activities undertaken during their
stay in those destinations, and the facilities created to cater for their
needs (Mathieson and Wall, 1995).
3
Like tourism, permanent migration has also been variously
defined.
But it is generally taken to represent permanent
movements of population that take place across the boundary of an
areal unit. One knotty issue related to the above definition is the
absence of clear cut articulation of what constitutes a boundary.
The processes involved in delimiting certain boundaries and some of
the contemporary problems linked to globalization have been
acknowledged as creating some fuzziness in the conceptualization of
the term (Williams and Hall 2000).
From the above overview, it becomes clear that while
tourism is
temporary migration to relatively distant locations
(compared to other forms of recreation) and the exclusion of these
temporary migrants from any form of remunerative activity,
permanent migration involves long term or permanent movement
out of ones previous place of residence or birthplace to other
locations. Clearly therefore, permanent residents do not face the
limitations on length of stay and employment that is imposed on
those pursuing tourism.
Several factors predispose people to make touristic trips.
Some of these motivating factors have been very well captured by
Gray (1970) with his ‘Wanderlust’ and ‘Sunlust’ concepts. He
defined wanderlust as “the basic trait in human nature which causes
some individuals to leave things with which they are familiar and to
go and see at first hand different exciting cultures and places.
The desire to travel is not a permanent one, it is merely a desire to
exchange temporarily the known workday things of home for
something which is exotic.” Sunlust on the other hand, “depends
upon the existence elsewhere of different or better amenities for a
specific purpose than are available locally”.
From the above
perspective therefore, wanderlust might be thought of as a ‘push’
factor whereas sunlust is largely a ‘pull’ factor emanating from
elsewhere (Pearce, 1989).
Other writers like Murphy (1985), Mansfield (1990) and
Britton (1991) have utilized the concept of functional space which is
generated by a combination of ‘push’ and ‘pull’ factors generated at
the demand (generating) and supply (attracting/receiving) regions to
similarly explain factors responsible for touristic movements.
According to them, ‘push’ factors are shaped by tourists personal
needs, travel motivations and exposure to marketing – oriented
travel information. But while these factors generate tourist flows,
actual decision on trip making to specific locations is based on the
tourists own assessment of destination attributes and utility which is
usually based on socially constructed representation of a place.
These are the ‘pull’ factors (Kim and Fesenmaier, 1990). The
functional space also includes a linkage system which is exemplified
by, for example, the nature of the aviation industry and civil aviation
policies, between the origin and the destination (Watt, 1996).
Permanent migration has similarly been influenced mainly by
‘push’ and ‘pull’ factors which are correspondingly attractive and
repulsive forces.
(Lee , 1984). This viewpoint evolved from the
seminal works of Lewis (1954) on the dual economy model of
development and has provided fertile grounds for more elaborate
and insightful analyses on permanent migration. Expositions
centering on economic and non-economic bases for migration
(Prothero and Champman, 1984), “bright lights” concept that alludes
to the attractiveness posed to rural dwellers by the cityscape
(Gulliver (1964), quoted in Adepoju, 1983) and Stuffers theory on
interviewing opportunities have helped to broaden the intellectual
base and scope on the subject matter and highlighted their varying
utilities, especially in the theorizing and conceptualizing of human
movements in geographic space. ‘Push’ factors normally include the
deteriorating socio-economic and political conditions at the place of
origin which literally forces people to move out of such an area. The
‘pull’ factors on the other hand, emphasize the attractions and socioeconomic opportunities available in the destination area. According
to Todaro (1992) migration is therefore a rational response to the
wide disparities in economic and social conditions between places of
origin and destination.
4
The interface between tourism and permanent migration
produces certain salient outcomes that are worth noting (Williams
and Hall, 2000).
First, certain kinds of labour migrate to perform services to
tourists, especially in places where rapid expansion in mass tourism
has outstripped local labour capacity and supply.
Second, certain consumption activities in destination areas,
for example, second home owning are led by the system of
migration, for example, second home owners.
Third, holiday travel may also be used to learn more about
future possibilities for migration.
Fourth, migration could also be a life style choice, that is,
for example, a means to increase leisure opportunities and finally
and perhaps more importantly for the purpose of this discourse,
return visits to places of origin by permanent or semi-permanent
migrants.
A number of elaborate studies have been conducted in
Ghana on the impact of return migrants on the development of their
home areas, alongside issues relating to emigrants socio-economic
characteristics and trip motivations. Some of the noteworthy ones
include those by Anarfi (1990) and GOG (1995).
It is clear from these studies that most of these
developments have been spearheaded by ethnic or tribal and
hometown associations that are formed in destination areas. These
associations solicit and gather financial and other resources either
from their own members or other sympathetic bodies and individuals
for the purposes of carrying out some development activities in their
home areas. In addition, these studies have elaborated on the role
of clan, family and lineage associations in contributing towards the
welfare of their blood relations back home. They also provide links
for facilitating the migration of their own folks and subsequently
provide them with shelter, food and also assist them secure jobs.
What needs to be emphasized is that the planning of these
initiatives, are in most cases, either conceived or carried out during
migrants return trips to their home areas when interactions with
beneficiary communities and personalities take place.
As already stated in the write-up, these visitations also have
touristic components called visiting friends and relatives (VFR)
tourism. However, most of the existing studies on these return trips
on Ghana has largely ignored the touristic elements associated with
these trips. This is a gap in knowledge that this study attempts to fill
by providing additional information on visitors and their trip
characteristics.
From the above discourse, it becomes clear that the impact
of the above nexus could be far reaching as migration can help
shape tourism in several ways and vice versa. VFR tourism which
seems to be one of the highly recognized outcomes of this nexus
represents one of the limited options for the development of
peripheral regions as they continue to lose their human capital to
their more prosperous counterparts elsewhere. The notion that
migration is a form of human capital investment as espoused by
(Sjaastad, 1962; and Schwartz, 1976), becomes very relevant here.
What is not clear yet, especially in the Ghanaian context is whether
the various remittances, donations, other transfers, expenditures and
image booster to countries, can adequately compensate for the loss
of labour, especially the very skilled ones (Grey, 1995). In other
words, the question then is, has migration led to a veritable source
of capital investment (financial and otherwise) in Ghana? The
forthcoming sections would attempt to provide answers to this
question.
3.
Study Methodology
Two data sets have been employed in analyzing the
benefits that accrue to Ghana as a result of expatriate return visits.
First, donations (cash, materials and equipments) that have
been made to various bodies and institutions by visiting non-resident
Ghanaians and have appeared in Ghana’s two leading daily
newspapers – the Daily Graphic and the Ghanaian Times, were
5
analyzed over a two year period (200-2002). As two state-owned
newpapers operating nationwide such donations are extensively
covered by them. This analysis was to establish the sources and
types of donations, the nature of donors, the recipients of these
donations as well as their spatial spread within the country. It was
also to find out the temporal dynamics associated with the donations
over the study time period, especially, the identification of peak and
trough (non-peak) periods, among others.
The second data set is a micro level data that was collected
through questionnaire survey that was administered to Ghanaians
resident in the United Kingdom. The respondents were those who
have visited Ghana during the last five years. The venue for the
interview was the consular section of the Ghana High Commission in
London, UK and was conducted over a three month period
(February-April) in the year 2000.
The technique employed was to accoust Ghanaians visiting
the office on an hourly basis and ask whether they could be
interviewed on issues relating to their last visits to Ghana. While a
significant number of them showed interest and enthusiasm, and
readily provided the information immediately at the consular
premises, others obliged to collect the questionnaires for completion
at home and return them later by post after the contents have been
well explained to them. Self addressed envelopes were provided for
this purpose. In general, the return rates for this group of
respondents were very high, close to 90%.
Questions asked included information on their personal
profile – age, educational attainment, sex, marital status, household
size, average income, length of stay in the UK and other background
information relating to the respondent’s hometown, the usual place
of residence while visiting Ghana and the region in which these sites
are located. Other information sought related to their travel
characteristics – trip frequency and timing, length of stay, size of
travel party, motivations and purposes for travel, impressions about
destination and other related issues. In addition, information was
also sought on their various expenditures and investments during
their stay in Ghana.
This second data has been analyzed to provide information
on the following (a) personal and trip characteristics of these return
migrants (b) their expenditure and investment outlays during the
visit.
It is hoped that insights gathered in the analyses of these
two data sets would provide information on some of the following
major issues relating to visiting to Ghana by Ghanaian expatriates.
This includes, for example, types of donations that are received and
the major generating and recipient regions, variations between rural
and urban as well as southern and northern parts of the country in
terms of the size of donations received and the way these
contributions are helping to alleviate poverty. While helping us to
ascertain the major characteristic traits of these return expatriates,
the micro data could be very useful in helping to develop appropriate
marketing strategies for sustained growth in the VFR tourism sector.
The data could also help in the assessment of the economic benefits
accruing from such visits through the analyses of participants
expenditure and investment outlays. Section 4 below deals with
these analyses.
4.
Study Results
This section, which is on the study results, is presented in
two (2) parts. The first part (secondary data analysis), as intimated
in the earlier section of the text, discusses the data gathered from
the two leading newspapers. Specific issues covered here are as
follows (i) type of donation (ii) type of donor (iii) country of origin
(source region) of donation (iv) receipient region in Ghana (v)
receipient area-whether metropolitan, other urban or rural areas (vi)
timing of donation. The second part, cross-sectional data analysis,
discusses the data resulting from the field interview survey
(A) Secondary Data Analysis. Issues dealt with as follows:
(i) Newspaper coverage of donations
6
In all, the Daily Graphic covered a total of 114 news items
on these benefits, representing a percentage of about 71 over the
study period. The equivalent figure for the Ghanaian Times was 29
percent. This information is a reflection of the status of the Graphic
as the leading daily newspaper in Ghana.
(ii) Beneficiaries of Donations
The information assembled here indicate that the donations
were largely made up of the following – physical cash, health and
surgical supplies, assorted drugs, vehicles, motor bikes and bicycles,
computers, books and other educational materials clothing and food
items.
An attempt has been made to group these donation’s under
the major socio-economic sectors to which they were destined. In
this respect, the health sector attracted the highest number of
donations, accounted for close to 37 percent (36.6%) of them. It
was followed closely by the Education sector which attracted 34.1
percent
while socially and physically handicapped institutions
accounted for 16.5 percent. Socially and physically handicapped
institutions include those for street children and orphans. Figure 1
below provides a breakdown for this distribution. The three sectors
mentioned above – health, education and socially and physically
handicapped represented 87.2% of all donations. The other sectors
included Religious institutions (4.9%), stadium disaster relief fund
(3.1%) (this fund was established to raise monies for the families of
the dead and also for the upkeep of spectators who were involved in
the incident that occurred during a football match at the Accra
Sports Stadium in May 2001), Liberian refugees (1.2%) and security
services (1.2%).
Fig. 1: Percentage distribution of beneficial
institutions of donations
3.10%
4.90%
4.20%
34.10%
16.50%
36.60%
Education
Religion
Health
Stadium disaster
Social
Others
(ii) Type of Donors
Individual philanthropics provided close to a third (31.6%) of
all the donations while groups and associations made up for the
remaining 68.4 percent, that is a little over two-thirds.
These
groups and associations are usually hometown and old school based
and their proliferation and involvement in development activities
have been widely recognised in recent years (Adepoju 1983; GOG,
1995). Over the period however, it became clear that individual
contributions assumed greater significance relative to that of groups
and associations. Individual donations increased from 20 in 2001 to
30 in 2002, reflecting a percentage change of 50. For groups and
7
associations however, there was a reduction from 63 in 2001 to 45
in 2002, representing a reduction of about 29 percent (28.6%). If
this trend is to continues then it is likely to mark the beginning of the
development of the nucleus of individual philanthropic movement
within the country. A factor that is very critical for the survival of civil
society bodies who have been spearheading the development of
underprivileged sections of our national life.
within the study period. This represents 65.2 percent of these
benefits. On the other hand the three (3) peripheral regions of
northern Ghana, together, received a paltry 4.2 percent of these
donations. On the basis of the above therefore, one can say with
some degree of certainty, albeit with some caution because the data
spans only a short time period, that these donations benefitted the
three northern regions marginally. In effect, therefore, it is most
unlikely these
(iii) Country of Origin of Donations (Source Region)
Donations emanated from 17 countries during the two year
period. United States topped the list with over 40 percent of the
donations (64 in all). This is followed by the United Kingdom and
Germany with 13.2 percent (21 donations). The Netherlands and
Canada following suit with 8.8 percent (14 donations) and 5.0
percent (8 donations) respectively.
Other countries on the list
include Italy, France, Sweden, Japan, Israel and Australisia in that
order. The list is not unexpected and seems to reflect the number
of Ghanaians domiciled in these countries. However the difference
between the figures for the US and the UK appears too wide and
perhaps unrealistic even in the absence of any dependable data on
Ghanaian expatriates living in any of these countries.
(iv) Recipient Regions in Ghana
The major underlying objective that governs such
presentations is to help alleviate poverty. It is clear from this
therefore that the destination of these donations are very critical in
assessing how effectively this objective is being achieved. Based on
current poverty indicators on Ghana, the expectation here is that a
significant portion of these donations would be meant for the
northern regions of the country – the Northern, Upper East and
Upper West regions. But based on the information available on
Table 1, this is not the case. Rather the reverse as what was
realized. The relatively wealthier regions of Greater Accra, Ashanti,
Eastern and the Central regions received 22 percent, 15.2 percent,
14.6 percent and 13.4 percent respectively of all donations made
8
Table 1: Regional Distribution of Benefits By Newspaper Coverage
Region
Ghanaian
Daily Graphic
Times
2001 2002 Total 2001 2002 Total Grand
%’s
Total
involved
G. Accra 6
6
12
13
11
24
36
22.0
Ashanti
5
3
8
8
9
17
25
15.2
Eastern
7
2
9
9
6
15
24
14.6
Western 1
1
2
7
1
8
10
6.1
Central
4
6
10
5
7
12
22
13.4
Brong
2
2
6
8
14
16
9.8
Ahafo
Volta
2
2
2
6
8
10
6.1
Northern 2
2
2
1.2
Upper
3
3
3
1.8
East
Upper
2
2
2
1.2
West
National 2
2
6
6
12
14
8.5
*
Total
25
22
47
61
56
117
164
100.0
*Meant for national institutions like the Ghana Prisons Service.
Source: Daily Graphic and Ghanaian Times, 2001 – 2002.
metropolitan areas of Accra-Tema, Kumasi, Sekondi Takoradi and
Tamale received close to 26 percent (25.9%) of these donations
while the remaining urban areas were provided with about 27
percent (27.1%).
Interestingly, rural areas were receptive to more than a third
of these donations (36.1%). On the surface, it appears that this is a
very positive development when viewed against the background of
the high incidence of poverty that is prevalent in these areas.
However, when linked to the previous discussion on the regional
distribution of these benefits, it appears doubtful whether the most
deprived and highly marginalized rural areas, especially those found
in northern Ghana, benefit to that extent. It is most likely that the
major beneficiaries are the rural areas in the southern relatively
more developed ‘core’ regions of the country. This view is supported
by the fact that most of the emigrants who distribute these benefits
are from the southern part of the country, especially Ashanti,
Greater Accra, Volta, Western and Eastern regions (Adeku 1995,
quoted in GOD, 1995) and may seem to be ‘favouring’ their own
local people. National institutions were also very well represented
on the list.
Table 2 below provides this information.
Table 2: Local Areas Receiving Benefits (2001-2002)
Locality
Number received
% involved
Metropolitan Areas
43
25.9
Other Urban Areas
45
27.1
Rural Areas
60
36.2
Entire Region
1
0.6
National
17
10.2
Total
166
100.0
benefits ‘trickle down’ sufficiently to help much towards poverty
alleviation in the most impoverished regions.
(Vii) Localities Receiving the Donations
Another very significant way for determining the
effectiveness of these donations in poverty alleviation is to find out
the actual localities where these benefits were destined. To be able
to undertake this task, the study distinguished 5 destination areas
based on the data gathered. These were Metropolitan areas, other
urban areas (that is, other non-metropolitan urban areas), rural
areas, entire region and countrywide.
Using this framework,
Source: Daily Graphic and Ghanaian Times, 2001 -2002
9
Fig. 2:Monthly distribution of donations (2001- 2002)
(vii)
Timing of Donations
From the figure below (fig.2), it is clear that most of the
presentations were made during certain specific periods of the year.
Expectedly, peak periods for donations coincided with the major
festive periods of Christmas, Easter and Summer when a lot of
emigrants are attracted back into the country. These donations are
therefore largely concentrated in the months of January which
coincides with the Christmas visitations, August and September,
representing Summer visitations and April and May, representing
Easter visitations. January accounted for 13.7 percent of these
donations while April, May, August and September represented 11.2
percent, 10.6 percent, 9.9. percent and 12.4 percent respectively of
all the donations received over the two year period. It must
however be clarified that the summer visitations and donations
commences from July through to October. The peak period,
however, is between August and September (Fig. 2) These five
months accounted for about 58 percent (57.8%) of all the benefits
received.
14
13.2
12.4
11.2
12
10.6
9.9
Mean donations
10
8.1
8.4
8
5.6
6.2
6
5
4.3
4.3
4
2
0
Jan
Feb Mar
Apr May Jun
Jul
Aug Sep Oct
Nov Dec
Months
(b)
Cross-Sectional Data Analysis
This section deals with the responses gathered through the
questionnaire interview of Ghanaian emigrants in the UK who have
visited the country in the last five years. The analysis is presented
under two major sections – (i) Socio-economic and some travel
characteristics of these respondents (ii) their expenditure and
investment profiles during their stay in Ghana.
10
(i) Socio-Economic Characteristics of Emigrants
Table 3: Summary Characteristics of Emigrants
VARIABLE
ITEMS
% INVOLVED
1. SEX
Male
69.6
Female
30.4
1.8
2. AGE
Under 20
14.3
20 – 29
33.9
30 – 39
37.5
40-49
8.9
50 – 59
3.6
60+
3. EDUCATIONAL
No. formal Educ.
1.8
ATTAINMENT
MSL Cert.
4.5
Post Elem (TTC, Sec.
Sch./Commercial
34.8
Tertiary
58.9
4. ANNUAL INCOME No response
3.6
(£)
Under 500
4.5
5000-10,000
14.3
10,001-15,000
31.3
15001-20,000
20.5
20,001-25000
9.8
25,001 and over
16.1
1.8
5. Length of Stay
Under 3 years
21.5
3-6 years
41.9
7-12 years
34.8
13+
Note: MSL = Middle School Leaving Certificate, TTC =Teacher
Training College.
Source: Field work, 2000
have lived in the UK for the past seven to twelve years. The above
characteristics indicate that generally these respondents are middle
aged, enjoying medium incomes and have been long time stayers in
the UK.
In addition to what is available on Table 3, the analysis
indicated further that more than a third of the respondents (38.4%)
originated from the Ashanti region, corroborating our existing
knowledge on emigration rates among Ghanaian political regions.
Greater Accra followed with 17.0 percent, then, Eastern region
(14.3%) and Central region (12.5%), followed in that order. As
usual, the three northern regions were very poorly represented as
the Northern region had 1.8 percent, Upper West region 0.9 percent
with no representation from the Upper East region. The trend was
not very different from the above regarding the places where these
emigrants domiciled while visiting Ghana. As expected close to 68
percent (67.9%) mentioned Accra/Tema, Kumasi followed with 18.8
percent, then Takoradi (2.7%) and then Sunyani and Tamale in that
order with 1.8 percent each. The above insights go to strengthen
the already held view that most of the benefits accruing from
tourism does not diffuse adequately into poor, peripheral regions as
visitors seldom visit these areas. This finding also goes to strengthen
the view that tourism development in the third world is generally
enclavic in nature, as major activities and facilities are concentrated
in the major centers of socio-economic and political influence
(Oppermann, 1992).
The analysis further showed that over 80
percent (80.3%) of the respondents indicated that their primary
reason for undertaking the trip was to visit their friends and
relatives. Business and Conference accounted for 8.0 percent of
travel motivations whilst leisure and holiday motivations followed
with 6.3 percent responses. The importance of visiting friends and
relatives in these visitations therefore cannot be downplayed. On the
specific activities that they were engaged in during the visit, 35.7
percent stated that they attended the funeral of their lost one, 14.3
percent were here to attend family and school reunion gatherings,
21.4 percent visited to see family and to take rest while 11.6 percent
From Table 3 above, it is clear the most of our respondents are
males, aged between 30 and 49 years, have tertiary level education,
enjoy incomes that ranges between 10001 and 20,000 pounds and
11
were here primarily to oversee to the implementation of their
housing projects.
bureau, restaurants and chopbars averaged 3.5 times, 4.2 times, 5.6
times and 6.2 times respectively during their stay in the country.
These visitations creates
businesses, markets and therefore
employment for local people; leading ultimately to both economic
expansion and poverty alleviation.
(ii) Expenditure and Investment Outlays
(a)
Expenditures
Table 4 below provides the average expenditures on the
various items on travel and stay components of visitations. It is
clear but not surprising that the cost of air ticket is the single most
expensive item on the list. Since over 57 percent (57.1%) of the
respondents stated that they traveled with the Ghana airways then it
can be said with some certainty that the travel industry is benefiting
quite well from these visits. And that not much revenue is leaked out
of the Ghanaian economic system as is experienced in most travels
to Africa. In addition, these emigrants have also been associated
with the widespread use of local resources.
(ii) Investments
Two major forms of investments were identified. These
were those in housing development and business operations. The
World Bank acknowledges that housing development constitutes the
dominant area that attracts most investments from the Ghanaian
expatriate community (GOG, 1995). The problems associated with
inadequate rental housing, and the prestige associated with
homeownership, both in rural and urban settings have resulted in
emigrants putting housing development at the top of their priority
acquisition list. On the whole, it was realized that on the average,
emigrants invested an equivalent of about 1965 British pounds
during their visit to Ghana. In the case of business investments, the
average stood at about 1,210 British pounds equivalent. Business
investments were mostly made in the establishment of
communication centers, sale of mobile phones and the establishment
and operation of motor vehicle spare parts shops. According to
these investors, these establishments have created jobs and
generated revenues for national development through the payment
of taxes and other charges.
Table 4: Expenditures on some Major Items
Item
Average Expenditure
(UK£)
1. Air ticket
785
2.Transportation within Ghana
161
3. Commercial Accommodation
274
4. Food and Entertainment for oneself
531
5. Food and Entertainment for friends
433
and relatives
585
6. Other incidentals ie. Contributions to
development
fund, funeral expenses
Average total cost of trip
2,769
5. Study Conclusion
The study’s main focus has been to examine the benefits
accruing from return visits of Ghanaians resident overseas. This is an
attempt to find out how these visits have influenced Ghana’s
development process, especially in terms of contributions to socioeconomic growth and poverty alleviation.
Two datasets have been employed in the study. The first set
is based on data gathered from two leading national daily news
papers on various issues relating to donations, both in cash and in
especially food and drinks, during return visits (Asiedu, 2001) and
the multiplier effects of these purchases to development cannot be
overemphasized especially on the agricultural, transportation and
handicraft sectors of destination areas. Visits to local banks, forex
12
kind, by Ghanaian expatriates during their visits to Ghana. This data
spands a two year period, 2001 to 2002. The second dataset is
based on field interviews of Ghanaian residents in the United
Kingdom on their return visits to Ghana within the last five years.
The data collected involved respondents socio-economic and
traveling characteristics as well as their expenditure and investments
while on the visit.
Two main outcomes of this analysis are worth noting. First,
the study generally revealed that Ghana has benefited appreciably
from these return visits. Individuals, communities and institutions
have benefited from donations, expenditures, and investments
within various sectors during these visitations and more ingenious
ways should be devised to boost them. This may include offering
rebaits on Ghana Airways travel tickets to prospective travelers
during peak traveling seasons and also reducing the cost of clearing
such goods at our entry points. The analysis also provides a base for
segmenting the expatriate community for policy intervention in her
VFR market as it is characterized by middle income earners who are
middle aged and are also long time stayers in the United Kingdom.
Second, the revelation that very little of these benefits
‘trickle down’ to the peripheral regions of Northern Ghana is very
disturbing. This means that alternative interventions, especially
through civil society institutions, must be sort towards alleviating the
chronic poverty that is associated with these three regions.
In conclusion, it is being suggested that more of such
studies be conducted from time to time to offer a solid knowledge
base for the development of interventionists policies and also for
comparative analyses with other geographical areas generating
similar benefits for Ghana. This could be the surest way for
maximizing these benefits.
2.
3.
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5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
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