Realization of Opportunities as a Driver of African Economic Migration to Europe

Based on sociological research data, the article attempts to provide a comprehensive description of the role of the realization of opportunities as a driver of African economic migration to Europe. It has been found that it is of particular importance that the vast majority of economic migrants are urban residents. The continent’s experience of rapid urbanization serves as a backdrop for irregular African migration to Europe. About half of the migrants had relatives who had previously moved to other African countries or the EU. The idea of personal mobility is one of the driving factors influencing the decision to migrate. Migrants are in many cases better educated than their peers in their home countries, suggesting that increased levels of education have significantly expanded a person’s horizons and ambitions. It was concluded that economic motives, closely related to self-realization, played a fundamental role in stimulating migration from Africa to Europe. A sociological portrait of African youth, which documents the dominance of personal and entrepreneurial ambitions in their worldview and confidence in their personal future, shows that the motive for realizing opportunities and the impossibility of satisfying it within the African continent is one of the long-term drivers of potential readiness for economic migration.