African governments should move away from the tradition of depending on foreign aid for economic development and should adopt policies that promote investment by their own nationals, an expert said in Harare on Wednesday.

Chief Executive of ProDiverse, a Britain-based economic development policy consultancy company, Ada Maduakoh, said this while addressing participants in the on-going workshop on the effects of migration on development in Africa.

"A country can not encourage foreign investment without first creating an environment where its own nationals will want to invest," she said.

Maduakoh also called on African governments to address specific needs of smaller firms and not focus on large companies making large investments.

She noted that in most African countries, small and medium scale enterprises predominated in productive activities with small firms accounting for up to 85 percent of employment in the manufacturing sector in Ghana, 86 percent in Nigeria and 96 percent in Sierra Leone.

The International Organization for Migration and the African Capacity Building Foundation are hosting a three-day workshop on migration and development.

At least 50 participants from 20 countries in Eastern and Southern Africa representing governments, the African Union, regional economic communities, migrants' association, civil society and the private sector are attending the workshop.

Source: Xinhua