As Gulf–Africa ties deepen, the United Arab Emirates quickly becomes a prime destination for African job seekers. With accessible visa procedures and demand across skill levels, the Emirates is now shaping a new South–South labour corridor.

Long dependent on Asian labour, the UAE is diversifying its recruitment sources. Since 2020, restrictions in countries such as India and Bangladesh have slowed inflows, pushing employers to turn to Africa. From Nairobi to Accra, governments are responding to this shift with bilateral agreements and structured labour programmes.

The result is a growing African workforce across the Emirates’ construction sites, households, service sectors, and office spaces.

Several African governments have moved to formalise these flows. Kenya, for instance, signed a memorandum of understanding with the UAE in 2018, paving the way for the approximately 30,000 Kenyan workers currently employed in the Gulf state. Building on this momentum, the government has launched the Kazi Majua (“Jobs Abroad”) programme, aiming to place an additional 4,000 trained Kenyans in the Emirates. The recently signed Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between Kenya and the UAE, the first of its kind between the Gulf country and a mainland African state, is expected to further boost job creation and market access.

Uganda has also been proactive. A bilateral agreement signed in 2019, and updated in 2021, now governs the deployment of Ugandan workers to the Emirates, which is already the primary destination for the country’s labour migrants. In 2022 alone, Uganda’s Ministry of Labour recorded nearly 85,000 workers leaving for the Middle East, including 1,949 bound for the UAE. Under the latest agreement, the UAE has requested up to 80,000 Ugandan workers over a 12-year period. In West Africa, Nigeria and Ghana are following suit. In 2021, Abuja signed a labour protection agreement with the UAE, covering some 7,000 Nigerian workers already present in the country. Nigerian officials have since called for greater visa facilitation to allow more nationals to access job opportunities.

Ghana, meanwhile, formalised a labour export programme with Emirati authorities in May 2025, with Foreign Minister Samuel Ablakwa confirming that further employment openings will be created once the Ghana-UAE CEPA is concluded.

Southern Africa also has a strong presence in the UAE. An estimated 150,000 to 200,000 South Africans reside in the Emirates, many working for the more than 2,400 South African-owned or affiliated companies registered with the Dubai Chamber of Commerce. This ecosystem illustrates how Africans in the UAE are not only employees, but also employers and entrepreneurs driving bilateral economic ties.

Opportunities amid economic pressure
The appeal of the UAE lies not only in access to jobs, but also in the relative ease of securing work permits compared to destinations such as the US or Europe. In Kenya, only one in five new entrants to the job market finds formal employment. In Uganda, annual remittances from Middle Eastern jobs now top USD600 million. South Africa faces a youth unemployment rate exceeding 40%, while Nigeria and Ghana continue to grapple with post-pandemic economic turbulence.

Amid this context, migration to the UAE is increasingly viewed not only as a means of income generation, but also as a means of skills development and international exposure. For many, it offers a springboard to further opportunities either abroad or back home. Some governments, such as Kenya’s National Youth Service (NYS), have even launched targeted vocational training schemes to match Emirati demand, as seen in the June 2025 call for 60 trained fabricators to take up jobs in Dubai.

A new dimension in Africa–Gulf cooperation
This emerging labour corridor is reshaping traditional patterns of economic exchange between Africa and the Gulf. No longer centred solely on investment and infrastructure, the relationship now includes the circulation of workers, skills, and services. As African states begin to integrate labour mobility into broader economic diplomacy strategies, the UAE stands out as a partner of growing importance, and a destination increasingly embedded in African professional aspirations.