Diasporas, Remittances and Africa South of the Sahara

The research argues that the political weight of a diaspora is not determined by its size or the volume of remittances, but rather by the structure and organization of the home state. In Cape Verde, a state-led effort to organize the diaspora and the adoption of democratic reforms allowed migrants to exert influence through voting and parliamentary representation. In contrast, the Comores' fragmented state and diaspora, and Lesotho's reliance on South African labor without state-led reintegration, resulted in limited political influence for their respective migrant communities. The document highlights that while remittances provide economic survival, they cannot be used as diplomatic leverage like foreign aid, and often reinforce existing social inequalities rather than disrupting them.

• There is no inherent link between the volume of remittances and the level of political participation or influence a diaspora has in its home country.
• Unlike foreign aid, remittances are private transfers to individuals and cannot be used by donor countries as diplomatic tools to pressure authoritarian regimes.
• In Cape Verde, the state actively integrated the diaspora into the political process by allowing double nationality and allocating six parliamentary seats to migrants from the Americas, Europe, and Africa.
• The Comorian diaspora is highly fragmented and reflects the internal social and political divisions of the archipelago, preventing the formation of a unified political lobby.
• In Lesotho, a significant portion of the migrant population in South Africa favors political integration or the abolition of borders, though this is resisted by the local elite who benefit from the country's sovereignty.
• The political influence of a diaspora is primarily determined by the home state's capacity to organize and capitalize on migrant contributions, rather than the diaspora's size.
• Remittances can exacerbate social inequalities in the home country, as wealthier islands or families often receive more funding than poorer agricultural regions.

APA

Institute for Security Studies (n.d.). Diasporas, Remittances and Africa South of the Sahara. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/112CHAP2.PDF

Chicago

Institute for Security Studies. Diasporas, Remittances and Africa South of the Sahara. n.d. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/112CHAP2.PDF.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Institute for Security Studies |title=Diasporas, Remittances and Africa South of the Sahara |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/112CHAP2.PDF |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{instituteforsecuritystudiesnddiasporas, author = {{Institute for Security Studies}}, title = {{Diasporas, Remittances and Africa South of the Sahara}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/112CHAP2.PDF}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }