President Mahama, King Mohammed VI of Morocco and AU Chairperson to Headline Landmark Migration Conference at UG

President John Dramani Mahama, His Majesty King Mohammed VI of Morocco and the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, H.E. Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, are expected to headline the Metropolis International Migration Network Conference, which will be held at the University of Ghana from 18 to 20 November 2026.

The conference is the first time the Metropolis International Migration Network has met on the African continent. It will take place at the Cedi Conference Centre under the theme “Rethinking African Mobility: Past Lessons, Present Realities, Future Possibilities.”

The Centre for Migration Studies (CMS) at the University of Ghana, the African Union Commission (AUC) and Metropolis International are jointly hosting the event. It also marks the end of the CMS@20 celebrations, which commemorate the Centre’s 20th anniversary.

President Mahama, who is also the incoming Chairperson of the African Union for 2027, will deliver the keynote address. King Mohammed VI is the African Union Champion on Migration and will attend as Special Guest of Honour. Other high-level participants will include Hon. Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak, Minister for the Interior, and Professor Nana Aba Appiah Amfo, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana.

The organisers say this level of participation signals political commitment at the highest level to placing African mobility at the centre of global migration governance. They add that it gives weight to the call for African evidence and priorities to shape policy on free movement, labour mobility, displacement and the protection of migrants.

A balanced dialogue on migration

Prof. Mary Boatemaa Setrana, Director of CMS, described co-hosting the conference in the Centre’s anniversary year as “a profound opportunity”. She also chairs the CMS@20 Anniversary Planning Committee and holds the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Research Chair on Forced Displacement in Anglophone West Africa.

“Since 2006, we have grown into a global and regional hub that brings African migration into global discourse and our work has informed migration research, policy and practice in Ghana and beyond,” she said. “We are partnering with the Metropolis International Migration Network and the African Union to develop a balanced dialogue on the future of migration by bringing Africa and cross-regional migration into global debates in a more positive manner without labelling them as a problem, a crime or a matter of aid.”

H.E. Amma A. Twum-Amoah, AU Commissioner for Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development, said the African Union sees migration as “a powerful development tool and a catalyst for regional integration”.

“This Conference provides a critical opportunity to address past challenges, reinforce the implementation of existing regulatory frameworks and shape a more prosperous future for global migration governance,” she said. “The moment has come to walk the talk.”

Prof. Anna Triandafyllidou is Co-Chair of Metropolis International and Canada Excellence Research Chair in Migration and Integration at Toronto Metropolitan University. She said the future of global migration “cannot be discussed without ensuring that African perspectives, expertise and evidence are firmly embedded at the centre of international debates and policy priorities.”

“With participants from 51 countries, this is a one-of-a-kind forum to exchange evidence and challenge assumptions and to rethink how we understand and govern migration,” she added.

Over 300 participants expected

The three-day conference is expected to bring together more than 300 migration researchers, government officials, policymakers, practitioners and community leaders from the Global South and North.

Plenary discussions, roundtables and parallel sessions will cover:

• migration governance in Africa
• forced displacement and humanitarian crises
• the externalisation of border controls
• labour mobility and skills partnerships
• free movement and trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)
• migration and development, and migration and health
• diaspora engagement
• governance amid climate change, conflict and artificial intelligence

Speakers and experts will come from institutions including the AfCFTA Secretariat, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), African Union Member States, ECOWAS, development partners, UN organisations, and universities across Africa, Europe, Asia and the Americas.

The International Metropolis Conference has been held annually since 1996 and brings together participants from more than 60 countries. Organisers describe the Accra edition as a strategic shift towards evidence-based migration governance centred on Global South institutions and priorities.

For more information, visit www.metropolisintl.org.