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In the Shadow of the States: The Informalities of Chinese Petty Entrepreneurship in Nigeria

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  • Allen Hai Xiao

Abstract

The burgeoning interstate relation between China and Nigeria is in fact hiding the vulnerable condition of transnational Chinese petty entrepreneurship. Small-scale Chinese entrepreneurs in Nigeria are faced with everyday corruption practised by both Nigerian authorities and ordinary Nigerian people, the dominance of self-interest over cohesion and mutual support among the Chinese compatriots, and variations in state policies due to dynamic and changing interstate relations. To overcome their position of weakness, small-scale Chinese entrepreneurs strategize their interactions with both Nigerian and Chinese nationals. Informality is a characteristic of such interactions. Economic informality is primarily embodied in the documentation service businesses that are indebted to those popular corrupt practices in Nigeria; while social informality takes place in cyberspace. Interaction via the Internet among Chinese involved in Chinese–Nigerian businesses helps small-scale Chinese entrepreneurs to cope with fluctuations in interstate links at the macro-level and to develop a sense of community.

Suggested Citation

  • Allen Hai Xiao, 2015. "In the Shadow of the States: The Informalities of Chinese Petty Entrepreneurship in Nigeria," Journal of Current Chinese Affairs - China aktuell, Institute of Asian Studies, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies, Hamburg, vol. 44(1), pages 75-105.
    • Handle: RePEc:gig:chaktu:v:44:y:2015:i:1:p:75-105
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Karsten Giese, 2015. "Introduction: Adaptation and Learning among Chinese Actors in Africa," Journal of Current Chinese Affairs - China aktuell, Institute of Asian Studies, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies, Hamburg, vol. 44(1), pages 3-8.
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    4. Meiqin Wang, 2015. "Invisible Body and the Predicaments of Existence in an Urbanizing China," Journal of Current Chinese Affairs - China aktuell, Institute of Asian Studies, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies, Hamburg, vol. 44(1), pages 163-197.
    5. Editorial Article, 0. "Contents," Economics of Contemporary Russia, Regional Public Organization for Assistance to the Development of Institutions of the Department of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, issue 3.
    6. Lawrence Edwards & Rhys Jenkins, 2015. "The Impact of Chinese Import Penetration on the South African Manufacturing Sector," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(4), pages 447-463, April.
    7. Romain Dittgen, 2015. "Of Other Spaces? Hybrid Forms of Chinese Engagement in Sub-Saharan Africa," Journal of Current Chinese Affairs - China aktuell, Institute of Asian Studies, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies, Hamburg, vol. 44(1), pages 43-73.
    8. Editorial Article, 0. "Contents," Economics of Contemporary Russia, Regional Public Organization for Assistance to the Development of Institutions of the Department of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, issue 2.
    9. Editorial Article, 0. "Contents," Economics of Contemporary Russia, Regional Public Organization for Assistance to the Development of Institutions of the Department of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, issue 3.
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    Cited by:

    1. Karsten Giese, 2015. "Introduction: Adaptation and Learning among Chinese Actors in Africa," Journal of Current Chinese Affairs - China aktuell, Institute of Asian Studies, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies, Hamburg, vol. 44(1), pages 3-8.
    2. Katy N. Lam, 2015. "Chinese Adaptations: African Agency, Fragmented Community and Social Capital Creation in Ghana," Journal of Current Chinese Affairs - China aktuell, Institute of Asian Studies, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies, Hamburg, vol. 44(1), pages 9-41.
    3. Timothy Steven Rich & Vasabjit Banerjee, 2015. "Running Out of Time? The Evolution of Taiwan’s Relations in Africa," Journal of Current Chinese Affairs - China aktuell, Institute of Asian Studies, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies, Hamburg, vol. 44(1), pages 141-161.
    4. Richard Aidoo & Steve Hess, 2015. "Non-Interference 2.0: China’s Evolving Foreign Policy towards a Changing Africa," Journal of Current Chinese Affairs - China aktuell, Institute of Asian Studies, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies, Hamburg, vol. 44(1), pages 107-139.

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