Migration for Development and Equality (MIDEQ) (2019 - 2024)

Partners – UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) GCRF, China Agricultural University, University of Ghana.  

Abstract - The China-Ghana migration corridor is characterised by the flow of migrants in both directions (i.e. from Ghana to China and from China to Ghana). However, it is Chinese migration to Ghana and other African countries that has generated much interest in the South-South migration literature. While the level of migration between China and Ghana is relatively small in terms of absolute numbers, its impact is very significant due to the level of parallel Chinese investment in infrastructure projects and in private business. Moreover, it reflects a much longer term and wider trend of investment and south-south migration from China to Africa. While the focus of the literature on Chinese migration into Africa has been on formal sector government-to-government projects, especially large-scale construction projects, the Ghana-China corridor is a good example of irregular migration into informal sectors in both directions. The corridor provides a good example of Chinese migration that is not connected to government-related projects but rather involves informal, middle/small scale investment and engagement in petty trading by establishing networks with Ghanaian traders, despite the fact that this is not allowed under Ghanaian law. The research along this corridor will focus on how Chinese investments are stimulating the economy of Ghana as well as on how the resulting trade is leading to new patterns of migration of Ghanaian traders to the Guangzhou and Yiwu regions of China, displacing old forms of inequalities. It will also explore the differential patterns and impacts of migration, employment, and money flows on gender inequalities. 

Researchers – Prof. Joseph Kofi Teye, Dr. Edward Asiedu, Prof. Godfred A. Bokpin, Prof. Joseph Awetori Yaro, Prof. Mariama Awumbila, Dr. Leander Kandilige, Prof. Mary Boatemaa Setrana,