A controversial proposal by a German minister that foreign powers acquire land in Africa to curb migration has been rejected by the African Union, writes the BBC's Dickens Olewe.

The European Union, or a body like the World Bank, should build and run cities in Africa in order to boost job creation and development on the continent, Germany's Minister for Africa, Gunter Nooke, told the BBC in an interview in which he outlined his thinking on how to stem migration to Europe.

This will mean African countries leasing their land to a foreign body to "allow free development for 50 years", Mr Nooke said.

It is a controversial idea, rejected by critics as reeking of colonialism. But others - like Carol Musyoka, an academic at Strathmore Business School, one of Kenya's top universities - are open to the concept.

In a BBC interview, Ms Musyoka described the proposal as "fascinating", and said she would support it if it was a genuine attempt to ensure that Africans - not foreign powers - benefited.

American Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Romer developed the idea a decade ago.

In 2009, he said developing countries should consider surrendering part of their territory to foreign states which would then build what he called "charter cities" from the ground up.

The cities, he added, would operate under a set of laws separate from the host country.

In 2008, Madagascar's then-President Marc Ravalomanana expressed interest in implementing the plan in the Indian Ocean island following a meeting with Mr Romer.

He said two such cities would be built where locals and migrants from neighbouring states could live.

The opposition accused Mr Ravalomanana of treason, and organised protests which killed the idea and helped trigger his downfall in 2009.

Mr Romer, in a 2011 TED Talk, argued that foreign-run cities could be a model of efficient governance and offer a good quality of life, stopping people from migrating for economic reasons.

Some proponents of the idea see Hong Kong as a model. They argue that the Chinese territory owes its economic development to when it was under British control between 1841 to 1997.

Mr Nooke sees the cities as economic bases that would also provide education to young Africans.

"The basic idea is that these free cities will create growth and prosperity," he told the BBC.

However, some warn the plan will not work.

"Creating an enclave economy would be a crazy idea," Ken Opalo from Georgetown University in the US warned.

Such cities would trigger internal migration, and not benefit the whole economy or fix the myriad problems African states are grappling with, he said.

Ms Musyoka is among Africans who hope such cities will be built, saying she will accept "voluntary colonialism" because of the failure of many African governments to provide a better life for their people.

Her view will make the founding fathers of independent Africa turn in their graves, but it could gain currency among young Africans risking their lives to reach Europe to escape poverty, corruption and inefficiency.

Even if they decide to swap countries with African states, Africans will turn Europe to a sh!thole in less than 5years while Africa will become like Europe at that same time period.

The Nigger is cursed!

It's a nice idea but greed is a sure side effect from the exercise.
If the job providers are not indigenous then it's a matter of time before they start outsourcing jobs from their country to Africans, exploiting them for cheap labour while sending the returns back to their home country. It happened during the colonial era and can happen again.