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Africa Up Close

Africa Up Close is the blog of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars' Africa Up Close.
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  • Cultural Exchange among Chinese Migrants and Kenyans

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    By Ruti Ejangue  // Tuesday, September 17, 2019

    (In the pic - President Ramaphosa FOCAC Co-chairperson and President Xi Jinping Chairpeson flanked by other heads of states Equitorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, Rwanda President Paul Kagame and Cameroon President Paul Biya at the start of the summit). President Cyril Ramaphosa addressing the Official Ceremony of the High Level dialogue between Chinese and African Leaders and Business Representatives and 6th Conference of the Chinese and African Entrepreneurs at the China National Convention Centre. President Cyril Ramaphosa is in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) for a State Visit at the invitation of President Xi Jinping and to co-chair the 2018 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Summit. President Ramaphosa is leveraging the visit to step up his drive to attract investment into the South African economy to stimulate inclusive growth and create employment.

    President Cyril Ramaphosa co-chairs the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. Photo courtesy of the South African government via Flickr Commons. 

    The narrative regarding China’s presence in most African countries has been dominated by views of the Chinese as the new colonialists of Africa, finding strategic new ways to exploit Africans and their resources.[i] However, this discourse is narrow, emphasizing state-led investments in Africa, and does not account for growing Sino-African relations at the grassroots level and socio-cultural dynamics. In East African countries such as Kenya, growing numbers of independent Chinese migrants are settling throughout the country and influencing the lives and communities of Kenyans. The implications of uncovering these stories and the cultural interactions between Chinese migrants and African publics at the grassroots levels are two-fold. First, focusing on the socio-cultural aspects of China-Africa relations expands the debate from economics and trade to determining how exactly cultural exchange can also fuel Africa’s development. Second, this analysis allows for a more nuanced understanding of the different forms of Chinese involvement in Kenya. Chinese migrants in Kenya form a distinct community. Not only are they seen in most spheres of Kenyan society, but they also assert their values and practices through different social and cultural means. The proliferation of the Chinese language, food, and work ethic, and a rise in interracial relationships are the most notable sociocultural impacts experienced by the vast majority of Kenyans, in cities such as Nairobi and more rural regions such as Kirinyaga County.[ii]

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    Topics: Eastern Africa, Peacebuilding, Development and the New Economic Paradigm
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