Hear the words “African migrant” and many Europeans conjure up the image of a boat-full of desperate young men fleeing violence and unspeakable poverty in some benighted part of the continent. Like many stereotypes, that image contains a smidgen of truth. Like many, it is also largely wrong.

According to research on African migration by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, which advocates better government on the continent, the picture is more complex. For a start, only 20 per cent of migrants are fleeing insecurity. The remaining 80 per cent are seeking better jobs and prospects. A large proportion are young, well-educated and female. If they were white, they would be called expatriates.

In fact, not that many African migrants come to Europe at all. Only 14 per cent of global migrants are African (24 per cent are European) and 70 per cent of those stay within Africa. In 2017, the top 10 migration flows from Africa added up to less than those migrating from Mexico to the US.