Hi, I'm Amanda Bisong
Hi, I'm Amanda Bisong
Her work has centered on high-level policy design, stakeholder coordination, and evidence-based advocacy across Africa and Europe.
She has worked extensively as a key expert and team leader on migration and mobility studies across Africa, Europe, and the Gulf. Her portfolio includes labour mobility stocktaking, feasibility analyses for continental migration authorities, and evaluations of African migration policy frameworks. She has led research on diaspora engagement, remittance flows, and the impacts of COVID-19 on migrants, while also examining the intersections of migration, trade, and economic integration under the African Union's Free Movement Protocol and AfCFTA.
Her work further covers mapping legal pathways to Europe, providing analysis on diaspora engagement in the European Union’s Talent Partnerships and exploring how diasporas can strengthen skills mobility and contribute to the success of legal migration pathways and analysing civil society collaboration in Africa–Europe migration partnerships. She co-drafted the African Union declaration on migrant workers’ rights. She has also delivered stakeholder mappings in fragile contexts and explored private sector roles across the migration cycle, identifying opportunities for public–private cooperation.
These experiences reflect her expertise in comparative policy analysis, stakeholder consultation, and turning complex migration dynamics into actionable solutions.
She has managed and implemented large-scale regional trade integration programmes in West Africa, overseeing multi-year initiatives with large budgets and complex donor coordination. Her work has included strategic planning, financial monitoring, and reporting to commissioning parties, as well as designing and evaluating trade projects in close collaboration with regional institutions, governments, and international partners. She provided technical expertise to strengthen regional trade frameworks, including support to common external tariff and trade liberalisation schemes, and contributed to the development of trade in services policies by identifying priority sectors aligned with labour market realities. She has supervised multidisciplinary teams of regional and international experts, facilitated stakeholder consultations with the private sector and civil society, and moderated high-level workshops and conferences on trade and customs issues. Her portfolio also includes supporting the design and early implementation of AfCFTA-related initiatives, analysing value chains such as textiles and apparel, and advising on cross-border trade facilitation measures. Through this work, she has developed deep knowledge of trade policy, market access, and regional integration processes in West Africa, as well as hands-on experience navigating EU and international development financing instruments.
These projects reflect her ability to navigate complex political economies, deliver rigorous analysis, and foster multi-stakeholder cooperation for systemic change.
Fellowships
Policy Leader Fellow, School of Transnational Governance, European University Institute, Florence. September 2025 - June 2026
Short term visitor, Migration Policy Centre, European University Institute, Florence. March – June 2024
Fellow, Young Policy Network on Migration Swiss Forum for Migration and Population Studies, University of Neuchatel, German Marshall Fund of the United States. 2020-2021
2019 Swiss Subsaharan Africa Migration (S-SAM) project
2018-2019 Maria Sibylla Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa (MIASA) Fellow University of Ghana. Junior Fellow, IFG 1 - Interdisciplinary Fellow Group on ‘Migration, Mobility and Forced Displacement’
2018 Swiss Subsaharan Africa Migration (S-SAM) Fellowship exchange, University of Geneva, Switzerland
2017 NCCR visiting research fellowship, University of Bern, Switzerland
Driven by the belief that equitable policies can transform societies, Amanda bridges the gap between research and actionable policy in EU-Africa migration, labour mobility, trade and regional integration. Her work aims to:
Strengthen governance frameworks that protect migrants’ rights while fostering economic growth.
Champion evidence-based solutions that align regional integration (e.g., AfCFTA, ECOWAS) with human mobility.
Empower stakeholders—from governments to private sector actors—to turn systemic challenges into opportunities for inclusive development.
She envisions a world where migration and trade policies are mutually reinforcing, unlocking Africa’s potential while fostering equitable EU-Africa partnerships.
Evidence-Based Integrity: Ground recommendations in rigorous research, never compromising ethical standards.
Collaborative Pragmatism: Work with (not for) clients, respecting local contexts and political realities.
Systems Thinking: Address root causes, not symptoms—connecting migration, trade, and development.
Equity-Centered: Prioritize policies that uplift marginalized groups (e.g., women migrants, informal traders).
Accountability: Measure impact transparently and adapt strategies based on outcomes.
Tailored, Iterative, and Impact-Focused
Co-Creation: Partner with clients to design context-specific solutions, leveraging my 15+ years of on-the-ground experience across 25+ African countries.
Stakeholder Alignment: Facilitate dialogue between policymakers, businesses, and civil society to build consensus.
Actionable Outputs: Deliver clear roadmaps—not just reports—with milestones adapted to institutional capacities.
Capacity Building: Strengthen clients’ long-term autonomy through training and toolkits (e.g., customs harmonisation, diaspora engagement frameworks).