Chinese people in Nigeria
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There is a large population of Chinese people in Nigeria which can include Chinese expatriates and descendants born in
Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
with
Hakka The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka Han, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas are a Han Chinese subgroup whose ancestral homes are chiefly in the Hakka-speaking provincial areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan, Zhej ...
ancestry.


Migration history

In 1930,
colonial Nigeria Colonial Nigeria was ruled by the British Empire from the mid-nineteenth century until 1960 when Nigeria achieved independence. British influence in the region began with the prohibition of slave trade to British subjects in 1807. Britain a ...
's census showed four Hakka people living there.
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
investors began opening factories in Nigeria as early as the 1950s. By 1965 there were perhaps 200 Chinese people in the country. By 1999, that number had grown to 5,800, including 630 from Taiwan and 1,050 from Hong Kong. The 21st century would be a period of large fluctuations in the Chinese population with both a quick rise and drop. By one estimate the Chinese population reached 100,000 in 2007 according to demography researcher Y.J. Park. The Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria Zhou Pingjian in 2017 noted the community's numbers were in decline with people returning home and gave the embassy's estimate of 40,000.


Business and employment


Investors and technical staff

One early Hong Kong company in Nigeria was the Li Group. It grew in scale, and by 2011 Kano trade unionists believed it to be the city's largest private employer, with up to 7,000 employees there and 20,000 nationwide. There were a number of other early Chinese entrepreneurs in Nigeria as well. Shen Wenbo () arrived in 1959, and began working in a Lebanese-owned ceramics factory. In 1972, he purchased an enamelware factory, sourcing his materials locally and exporting the finished product to Germany. He later began to import
Chinese ceramics Chinese ceramics show a continuous development since pre-dynastic times and are one of the most significant forms of Chinese art and ceramics globally. The first pottery was made during the Palaeolithic era. Chinese ceramics range from construc ...
to Nigeria, making him possibly the first to introduce them on a commercial scale. He was also the first person of Chinese origin to naturalise as a Nigerian citizen. Zhu Nanyang (), a
Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
native who moved to Hong Kong and then arrived in Nigeria in the 1960s, would go on to head up the Ikeja Industrial Area, a government-sponsored industrial development project established at
Ikeja Ikeja is the capital city of Lagos State in southwestern Nigeria. Its population, as of the 2006 census, is 313,196. Prior to the emergence of military rule in the early 1980s, Ikeja was a well planned, clean and quiet residential and commercia ...
in 1986. Chinese companies are widely believed to offer worse pay and labour conditions than local or other foreign companies, and to be unwilling to promote locals over Chinese nationals. A scholarly study found corroboration of poor working conditions, with one notorious case being a 2002 fire in a Chinese-owned plastics factory from which 45 workers were unable to escape as they were locked inside by their bosses. However, Chinese companies state that they prefer to recruit and retain local workers as the cost of attracting expatriate talent from China has risen. The Li Group, for example, has a total of about 500 Chinese employees. Another large Chinese company, Lagos-based Golden Telecommunications, employs about 300 Chinese staff, and an equal number of locals; wages are not as good as competitors, but their training programmes are superior.


Small vendors

Lagos's Chinatown (or China Commercial City, ) was built in 2004. It was raided in 2006 by Nigerian customs authorities and temporarily shut down. A Nigerian lawyer connected to the raid claims that Chinese were given impunity to sell copyright violating products. Chinese vendors themselves state that they are minimally profitable or unprofitable, and complain of corruption and theft by customs officials. Vendors therein formerly a wide range of products including textiles, doors, electronics, shoes, bags, books, and films, but by 2011, many vendors had closed shop and returned to China; the range of products on offer had also shrunk, with traders stating that the only profitable businesses were those selling shirts, jeans, or shoes. Other locations with concentrations of Chinese vendors include Old Dragon City (), New Dragon City (), and Jinmao Commercial Building ( As of 2006 there were estimated to be about 250 Chinese trading companies operating in Nigeria, with a total turnover of about US$300 million. Such vendors also often find themselves the target of robberies and violent crimes.


Migrant labour

Chinese labourers in Nigeria are the most controversial category of migrants. They are employed not just by Chinese or other foreign firms, but by indigenous firms as well, including some which proudly advertise their Nigerian roots. One example is Aliko Dangote's Dangote Group, which along with French conglomerate
Lafarge La Farge, LaFarge or Lafarge can refer to: People * Antoinette LaFarge (1966–), American artist and writer * Christopher Grant LaFarge (1862–1938), American architect and partner in the firm Heins & LaFarge * Christopher Grant La Farge ( ...
attracted protests in Lagos in 2010 for allegedly employing thousands of Chinese workers in semiskilled construction positions. However most anger in such protests is directed at the employers rather than the Chinese workers themselves; they are perceived to be in a similar situation to Nigerians, forced to take difficult jobs far from home in order to make ends meet, and thus attract sympathy as much as resentment. However, there have also been cases of kidnapping against Chinese migrant workers in Nigeria, including three incidents totaling sixteen people in 2007.


Organisations and media

In December 2010, the West Africa and Nigeria Overseas Chinese Joint Association was established in a ceremony in Lagos attended by roughly 100 guests, including representatives of overseas Chinese associations in Senegal, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Mali, and Benin. Other Chinese community organisations in the country include the Nigeria Chinese Business Association () and the Nigerian Council for the Promotion of Peaceful Reunification of China. In 2008, community organisations and Chinese companies jointly organised a
karaoke Karaoke (; ; , clipped compound of Japanese ''kara'' "empty" and ''ōkesutora'' "orchestra") is a type of interactive entertainment usually offered in clubs and bars, where people sing along to recorded music using a microphone. The music is ...
competition, attracting roughly 300 participants. The ''West Africa United Business Weekly'', believed to be the first Chinese-language newspaper in west Africa, was established in 2005. China's official ''
People's Daily The ''People's Daily'' () is the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The newspaper provides direct information on the policies and viewpoints of the CCP. In addition to its main Chinese-language ...
'' also sought to form a partnership with Nigerian national newspaper ''
Thisday ''This Day'' is a Nigerian national newspaper. It is the flagship newspaper of Leaders & Company Ltd and was first published on 22 January 1995. It has its headquarters in Apapa, Lagos State. Founded by Nduka Obaigbena, the Chairman & Editor-i ...
'' in 2006.


Notable people

*
Brian Fok Brian Fok (; born 8 March 1994) is a Nigerian-born Hong Kong footballer who plays as a centre back for Hong Kong First Division club Happy Valley. Club career Born in Kaduna, Nigeria to a Nigerian mother and a Hong Kongese father, Brian start ...
, Nigerian-born
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
footballer


See also

*
Filipinos in Nigeria Filipinos in Nigeria consist largely of migrant workers in the oil industry, though those in the capital city Abuja also work in the education and medical sectors. By mid-2008, their numbers had grown to an estimated 4,500, up from 3,790 in Decem ...
*
Nigerians in China Nigerians in China are the expat population from Nigeria living in China. Population According to Nigerian Senator David Mark on a delegation visit to China in May 2014, there are about 10,000 Nigerians living in China. Nigerians are concentrated ...
*
Africans in Guangzhou Africans in Guangzhou (, more colloquially ) are African immigrants and African Chinese residents of Guangzhou, China. Beginning during the late 1990s economic boom, an influx of thousands of African traders and business people, predominantly ...
*
China–Nigeria relations The bilateral relations between the Federal Republic of Nigeria and People's Republic of China were formally established on February 10, 1971 - a decade after Nigeria gained its independence from the British Empire. Relations between Nigeria and Ch ...


Notes


Bibliography

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External links


NigeriaBBS
web portal and forum for Chinese in Nigeria

2010 ''
China Daily ''China Daily'' () is an English-language daily newspaper owned by the Central Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party. Overview ''China Daily'' has the widest print circulation of any English-language newspaper in China. T ...
'' article {{Ethnic groups in Nigeria Asian Nigerian
Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...