The local economy of migration put to the test by the externalisation of European migration policies in Agadez (Niger)

Abstract

In 2011, the fall of the Gaddafi regime helped to make the Agadez region a transit zone for many sub-Saharans heading to North Africa following the closure of roads in Mauritania, Senegal and Mali with the intervention of the European Union and its Member States. This influx of people to Agadez in search of transport and various services, housing, money transfers, has contributed to the birth or prosperity of a local economy dependent on transit. Using an ethnographic approach, this contribution aims to analyze the repercussions of the externalization of European migration policies in Agadez on the business around migration. The data comes from a thesis field. The results indicate a plurality of actors involved in these activities. Also, outsourcing policies have economic, social and security consequences at the local level. In this context, state and humanitarian actors are setting up an initiative for the retraining of former smugglers. Meanwhile, a new economy of migration is emerging.