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Chinese Commodity Imports in Ghana and Senegal: Demystifying Chinese Business Strength in Urban West Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Marfaing, Laurence
  • Thiel, Alena
Abstract
Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, independent entrepreneurial migrants from China have been increasingly flocking to Africa in search of greener pastures. This paper scrutinizes the empirical foundations of the increasingly hostile discourses of African traders regarding the alleged encroachment of the West African urban market space by Chinese petty entrepreneurs. Based on indepth ethnographic fieldwork and interviews, we aim to demystify this common allegation by exploring the diversity of influx channels through which Chinese commodities, said to create unfair and existential competition, come to the African continent. Our analysis of trade trajectories shows that Chinese products were coming to Africa long before the arrival of independent Chinese migrants at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Statistical evidence further supports our stance that Chinese entrepreneurs still represent a minority group in the import of cheap China goods into Ghana and Senegal.

Suggested Citation

  • Marfaing, Laurence & Thiel, Alena, 2011. "Chinese Commodity Imports in Ghana and Senegal: Demystifying Chinese Business Strength in Urban West Africa," GIGA Working Papers 180, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:gigawp:180
    as

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    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/52403/1/671984896.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Olukoya Ogen, 2008. "Contemporary China-Nigeria Economic Relations: Chinese Imperialism or South-South Mutual Partnership?," Journal of Current Chinese Affairs - China aktuell, Institute of Asian Studies, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies, Hamburg, vol. 37(3), pages 78-102.
    2. Kohnert, Dirk, 2010. "Are the Chinese in Africa more innovative than the Africans ? Comparing Chinese and Nigerian entrepreneurial migrants‘ Cultures of Innovation," OSF Preprints tr6b8, Center for Open Science.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Guive Khan Mohammad, 2014. "The Chinese Presence in Burkina Faso: A Sino-African Cooperation from Below," Journal of Current Chinese Affairs - China aktuell, Institute of Asian Studies, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies, Hamburg, vol. 43(1), pages 71-101.
    2. Ben Lampert & Giles Mohan, 2014. "Sino-African Encounters in Ghana and Nigeria: From Conflict to Conviviality and Mutual Benefit," Journal of Current Chinese Affairs - China aktuell, Institute of Asian Studies, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies, Hamburg, vol. 43(1), pages 9-39.
    3. Cook, Seth & Lu, Jixia & Tugendhat, Henry & Alemu, Dawit, 2016. "Chinese Migrants in Africa: Facts and Fictions from the Agri-Food Sector in Ethiopia and Ghana," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 61-70.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    international trade; consumer goods; imperfect competition; migration; social networks; China; Africa;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D43 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection
    • D85 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Network Formation
    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade
    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
    • L14 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Transactional Relationships; Contracts and Reputation
    • O24 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Development Planning and Policy - - - Trade Policy; Factor Movement; Foreign Exchange Policy
    • P45 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Other Economic Systems - - - International Linkages
    • Z1 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics

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