Host: The Association of Japanese Geographers
Name : Annual Meeting of the Association of Japanese Geographers, Spring 2021
Date : March 26, 2021 - March 28, 2021
Since the 1990s, Asians have been investing in and entering Ghana's commercial sector. The Chinese, in particular, have made rapid inroads into the retail sector. In recent years, West African Muslim traders have been transporting large quantities of Chinese goods to the arid inland regions. West African Muslim traders acquire Chinese goods in Kumasi, a city in south-central Ghana, and transport them to the arid interior. In many cases, Muslim traders transport their goods to the arid interior through historical trade routes. This presentation aims to provide an overview of the trajectory of West African Muslim traders in building and expanding their commercial networks within the region, and then to discuss the process of extending these networks to Chinese traders.
In this presentation, I will focus on the career development of West African Muslim traders involved in the kolanuts trade. In Ghana, many Muslim traders stay in the zongo area, which is found in urban and rural areas. Among the maigida, who play a central role in trade, there is a person who is in charge of negotiations with Chinese merchants, and it is recognized that Muslim merchants cannot do business except through them. The interviews on career development revealed that many young traders have a future goal of doing business with the Chinese, but first they need to get in touch with maigida and have their skills recognised by them.
