Many African migrants residing abroad nurture a hope to one day return, at least temporarily, to their home country. In the wake of economic crises in the developed world, alongside rapid economic growth in parts of Africa, the impetus to 'return' is likely to increase. Such returnees are often portrayed as agents of development, bringing with them capital, knowledge and skills as well as connections and experience gained abroad. Yet, the reality is altogether more complex.In this much-needed volume, based on extensive original fieldwork, the authors reveal that there is all too often a gaping divide between abstract policy assumptions and migrants' actual practices. In contrast to the prevailing optimism of policies on migration and development, Africa's Return Migrants demonstrates that the capital obtained abroad is not always advantageous and that it can even hamper successful entrepreneurship and other forms of economic, political and social engagement.

An important investigation into the actual practices of African return migrants, and their abilities - or otherwise - to act as the continent's 'new developers'.

1. Introduction - Lisa Åkesson and Maria Eriksson Baaz2. Successive flops and occasional feats: development contributions and thorny social navigation among Congolese return migrants - Maria Eriksson Baaz3. Diaspora returnees to Somaliland: heroes of development or job-stealing scoundrels? - Laura Hammond4. Pushing development: a case study of highly skilled male return migration to Ghana - Nauja Kleist5. 'Come back, invest, and advance the country': policy myths and migrant realities of return and development in Senegal - Giulia Sinatti6. The role of social capital in post-conflict business development: perspectives from returning migrants in Burundi -Tove Heggli Sagmo7. Threatening mini-skirts: returnee South Sudanese adolescent girls and social change - Katarzyna Grabska8. Obstacles and openings: returnees and small-scale businesses in Cape Verde - Lisa Åkesson