Chinese in Africa: ‘Chineseness’ and the complexities of identities

Abstract

This introduction presents background information to a special issue exploring the complexities of the Chinese identity and forms in which 'Chineseness' is expressed by Chinese migrants in Africa. Existing literature and media reports on the Chinese in Africa assumes that they are a homogenous group, this introductory article argues to the contrary. The Chinese diaspora in Africa range from descendants of migrants that settled in Africa in the seventeenth century to twenty-first century migrants. This historical and contemporary engagement between China and African countries is essential to understanding the diversity and hybridity of Chinese identity in Africa. This observation provides the basis for the six articles in this special issue. Based on ethnographic observation and in-depth interviews with the Chinese diaspora and locals in Zimbabwe, Ghana, Zambia and South Africa, the articles provide a compelling argument on why there is no single Chinese identity in Africa.

Returns from the South: Effects of return migration of Ghanaian migrants from China on livelihoods and wealth inequalities in Ghana

“…The inductive approach is a bottom‐up process whereby codes are derived from the data while the deductive approach is based on a top‐down method, guided by existing initial codes. We deductively started with a set of codes based on our research questions and existing research frameworks and theories about Chinese migration in Africa (Crawford & Botchwey, 2017; Hodzi, 2019; Mohan & Tan‐Mullins, 2009), but we also inductively came up with new codes and iterations on the codes as we combed through the data. This approach enabled the derivation of the key themes for thematic analysis and writing up.…”

“…This, for instance, compares very favourably to other global southern countries that are much poorer and further down the HDI ladder such as Ghana which ranks of 133rd out of 199 countries, with an HDI of 0.632 (UNDP, 2022). The economic dominance of China has been partly anchored by the country's pivot away from restrictive emigration policies in the 1980s as part of the then government's economic reform policy, dubbed the “Open Door Policy” (Hodzi, 2019). This outward looking economic policy conceptualized foreign trade and flexible labour emigration as key drivers of socio‐economic growth (Dankwah & Amoah, 2019; Mohan & Tan‐Mullins, 2009; Obeng, 2019).…”

China’s Geo-Economic Interest in Africa: A Short Overview

“…It is just an assumption, and the process of migration is dynamic. The apprehension that the Africans have are based on the creation of pockets of Chineseness or the ‖enclosures of Chineseness‖ (Hodzi 2019). These places appear distinctly Chinese as they were crowded with Chinese restaurants, shopping malls, etc.…”

Russia's Growing Presence in Africa: A Geostrategic Assessment

“…8 When coupled with IATA data on commercial passengers, Aireon provides a reasonably complete picture of Russian travel to Africa. Although Russian citizens and ethnic Russians reside in Africa, there is no cohesive Russian expatriate community that parallels those of Europeans and Chinese in various areas of the continent (Hodzi, 2019). 9 South Africa is a partial exception, where a significant Russian population has waxed and waned since the 19th century.…”