Davide Lemmi

Visiting Toronto Metropolitan University

Fall 2025

Davide Lemmi has been based in Beirut, Dakar, and Tbilisi before moving back to native Tuscany, Italy in 2023. He has covered politics and societal issues in Asia, the Maghreb, West and Central Africa. In 2019, he worked in Algeria during the protests leading to the fall of former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika. While based in Dakar, he extensively reported the intersections between local insurrections, the climate crisis, migration, and popular protests. He has worked in Guinea, Senegal, Gambia, Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin, Central African Republic, Chad, Morocco and Burkina Faso. 

Davide's written stories and audio and video reportages have appeared on Al Jazeera, Deutsche Welle, Voice of America, Swiss National Radiotelevision, Internazionale, Afrique XXI, Jesus, L’Espresso, The New Humanitarian, Lifegate, and La Repubblica.

Research focus while a Fellow with CERC Migration

During the fellowship, Davide aims to explore migration flows to Saudi Arabia, specifically labour recruitment for major infrastructure projects like Neom and the 2034 World Cup. This research will investigate the socioeconomic and political factors driving labour migration, with a focus on workers' vulnerabilities. Davide will collaborate with CERC Migration's scholars to bridge the gap between practical fieldwork and academic research, strengthening the understanding of migration dynamics and their broader implications for regional development and labour policies.

Publications and Reports

(2024) “Rather than looking for scapegoats, Morocco is cashing in on South-South migration (external link) ”. The New Humanitarian.