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Chinese entrepreneurial migrants in Ghana: socioeconomic impacts and Ghanaian trader attitudes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 March 2019

Kwaku Opoku Dankwah  and
Marko Valenta
Kwaku Opoku Dankwah*
Affiliation:
Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Adelaide, Adelaide SA 5005, Australiaand Department of Geography, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, NO-7491 Trondheim, Norway
Marko Valenta*
Affiliation:
Department of Social Work, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, NO-7491 Trondheim, Norway
*
Email: [email protected]; [email protected]
Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

This article explores attitudes of Ghanaian traders towards an increasing Chinese influx into Ghanaian trading spaces and the impacts of Chinese merchants on Ghanaian traders and trading spaces. Despite a late entrance of Chinese merchants into Ghanaian trading spaces relative to Lebanese, Indians and Nigerians, the abrupt change in size of the Chinese trading community along with its huge capital and cheap goods have had big impacts on local trading spaces. We maintain that relations between Ghanaian traders and Chinese counterparts may be roughly described as complementary, collaborative and competitive. While the Chinese impacts are seen as positive by some Ghanaian traders and landlords, they are negative for others. Yet, we argue that these relations are also nuanced and rooted in each Ghanaian trader's position amidst the Chinese presence. This article contributes to the literature on dynamics of South-to-South movements. It adds to growing studies on contemporary Chinese emigrations and accompanying impacts in host communities.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Modern African Studies , Volume 57 , Issue 1 , March 2019 , pp. 1 - 29
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019 

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INTERVIEWS

Male adult, footwear trader, wholesaler/retailer, Zongo Lane Street – close to UTC, 11.7.2016.Google Scholar
Male adult, footwear trader, wholesaler/retailer, Zongo Lane, 11.7.2016.Google Scholar
Female adult, bags and footwear trader, wholesaler/retailer, Zongo Lane, 12.7.2016.Google Scholar
Male adult, footwear trader, retailer, Zongo Lane, 8.7.2016.Google Scholar
Young female, footwear trader, petty trading, UTC, 5.7.2016.Google Scholar
Young female, bags and footwear trader, wholesaler/retailer, Zongo Lane, 12.7.2016.Google Scholar
Male adult, clothing and underwear trader, wholesaler/retailer, Okaishie, 13.7.2016.Google Scholar
Young female, footwear trader, petty trading, UTC, 11.7.2016.Google Scholar
Female adult, sewing materials, retailer, Chinahouse/Rawlings Park, 15.7.2016.Google Scholar
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Young female, footwear trader, retailing, Kantamanto, 11.7.2016.Google Scholar
Female adult, cleaning equipment trader, retailer, Kantamanto, 11.7.2016.Google Scholar
Official, Ministry of Trade and Industry, 15.7.2016.Google Scholar
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Afro-China Relations Expert, Director – Centre for Asian Studies, University of Ghana, Legon, 13.8.2016.Google Scholar