Navigating the Unknown Treasures of Guangzhou, China: Ghanaian Traders’ Networks and Strategies

Abstract

Using multiple ethnographic methodologies spanning 13 months and collecting data across borders, this paper suggests that African importers’ participation in the burgeoning economy of China is more nuanced than previously reported. It argues that approaches, motives, and strategies employed by these importers are subject to their trading capacities such as the size of capital, trading experiences, and locations of their imports. For instance, whereas experienced large-scale traders procure the services of ‘visa agents’ for convenient purposes, the small-scale traders need the ‘visa agents’ to be able to undertake their business in China.