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South-South labour migration and the impact of the informal China-Ghana gold rush 2008-13

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Listed:
  • Gabriel Botchwey
  • Gordon Crawford
  • Nicholas Loubere
  • Jixia Lu

Abstract

This paper examines irregular South-South migration from China to Ghana, and the role it has played in transforming livelihoods and broader developmental landscapes. It looks at the entry from the mid-2000s of approximately 50,000 Chinese migrants into the small-scale gold mining sector. They were mainly from Shanglin County, an area of alluvial gold mining. In Ghana, they formed mutually beneficial relationships with local miners, both legal and illegal, introducing machinery that substantially intensified gold production.

Suggested Citation

  • Gabriel Botchwey & Gordon Crawford & Nicholas Loubere & Jixia Lu, 2018. "South-South labour migration and the impact of the informal China-Ghana gold rush 2008-13," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2018-16, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    • Handle: RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2018-16
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Raphael Kaplinsky & Mike Morris, 2009. "Chinese FDI in Sub-Saharan Africa: Engaging with Large Dragons," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 21(4), pages 551-569, September.
    2. Lu, Jixia & Lora-Wainwright, Anna, 2014. "Historicizing Sustainable Livelihoods: A Pathways Approach to Lead Mining in Rural Central China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 189-200.
    3. Tschakert, Petra, 2016. "Shifting Discourses of Vilification and the Taming of Unruly Mining Landscapes in Ghana," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 123-132.
    4. Harry G. Broadman, 2007. "Africa's Silk Road : China and India's New Economic Frontier," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 7186, December.
    5. 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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