Migration from and to Ghana: A Background Paper

International migration within West Africa, and between the region and the rest of the continent, dates back to time immemorial (Arhin 1978). The trans-Saharan caravan routes are among the earliest evidence of major interaction between West and North Africa for trading and exchange of scholars (Boahen 1966).

Ibn Batuta, writing in the fifteenth century, and Leo Africanus, writing later in the sixteenth century, both made mention of the peaceful movement of people across ethnic boundaries (Batuta 1929; Africanus 1896).