South Africa’s Submerged Destabilisation
In South Africa, more than three decades after the end of apartheid, economic inequality remains deeply entrenched. In Q2 2025, Statistics South Africa reported a national unemployment rate of 31.4 %, one of the highest globally. The country’s Gini coefficient, at around 0.63, ranks among the most unequal worldwide, with the top 20 % of earners capturing nearly 70 % of total income, while the poorest 20 % receive less than 5 %.
This structural imbalance has had a dual effect. On one side, wealthier groups consolidate political influence and economic autonomy; on the other, the majority predominantly Black South Africans remain concentrated in low-wage sectors with limited prospects for upward mobility. Spatial segregation, a legacy of apartheid, still shapes access to quality education and employment. Against this backdrop, the term “reverse apartheid” has surfaced in public discourse not as a literal policy reversal, but as shorthand for a growing sense of exclusion felt across demographic lines.
Crisis Economics in the Central African Republic
The disparities deepen further north. In the Central African Republic (CAR), a rebel fighter can expect to earn about €6 for a ten-day mission, paid in CFA francs a currency issued under the auspices of the French Treasury. This token remuneration reflects the broader collapse of state capacity and the monetised logic of conflict economies.
Such arrangements are not accidental. In fragile states, armed groups often form parallel economies sustained by cross-border trade and external patronage. Low-cost human assets fighters willing to risk their lives for a subsistence wage become integral to the system. The continued use of the CFA franc symbolises monetary continuity with France, but also exposes the illusion of post-colonial sovereignty.
Western Economies and the Skilled Migration Lifeline
Meanwhile, in Europe, North America, and other advanced economies, demographic ageing and labour shortages are making skilled immigration an economic necessity. Denmark, for example, saw its immigrant share of total employment rise from 7 % in 2008 to over 12 % by 2021, with descendants adding another 2.5 %. Similar patterns are evident in Germany, Canada, and Australia, where migration accounts for the bulk of net labour force growth.
Despite bureaucratic hurdles such as slow recognition of foreign qualifications—skilled migrants contribute disproportionately to innovation and entrepreneurship. In the United States, immigrants have founded or co-founded major technology companies including Google, Yahoo, and YouTube, and hold more than half of all PhDs in STEM disciplines. Economists estimate that a sustained reduction in skilled immigration could trim 0.3 percentage points off medium-term GDP growth while worsening public finance deficits.
Yet inefficiencies remain. Across the EU, nearly half of migrant graduates work in roles below their qualification level, compared to less than one-third of native graduates—a phenomenon often termed “brain waste.” The European Commission estimates this mismatch costs the bloc over €10 billion annually in lost wages and productivity.
Interlinked Vulnerabilities
Though the contexts differ, a common thread links these cases: governance systems that fail to integrate human capital equitably risk economic fragility and political instability. In South Africa, persistent inequality and unemployment erode social cohesion. In CAR, tokenised remuneration for fighters sustains a cycle of insecurity. In advanced economies, under-utilisation of skilled migrants represents a self-imposed constraint on growth.
These dynamics illustrate a broader truth: societies that under-value or exclude segments of their human capital whether through structural inequality, economic coercion, or bureaucratic under-integration—trade long-term resilience for short-term stability.The West’s reliance on skilled migration is more than a demographic offset; it is an economic survival strategy. For weaker states, neglecting citizen opportunity may entrench control in the short run but at the cost of legitimacy and stability. In each case, the challenge is the same: resilience through inclusion, or fragility through exclusion.
