Transformative encounters : reciprocal flows and the Chinese gold rush in Ghana
Start Date
14-4-2023 3:15 PM
End Date
14-4-2023 4:30 PM
Description
Since the mid-2000s, tens of thousands of Chinese nationals have travelled to Ghana to engage in small- scale alluvial gold mining. The majority of these migrants are from Shanglin County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Shanglin has a long tradition of alluvial gold mining, and also has been a nationally designated ‘poverty-stricken county’ (pinkun xian). The Shanglin miners introduced new mechanised technology for extracting gold in Ghana, which has dramatically increased production, while producing severe environmental degradation. In 2013, the Ghanaian government began initiating a continuing series of military-style crackdowns aimed at eliminating the Chinese presence in the country’s small-scale mining sector. In both the media and popular discourse, Chinese miners have been depicted as feeding into corruption, destroying the environment, and stealing resources from marginal sectors of Ghanaian society. However, we still do not know much about who these miners are, the factors that compel them to travel to such a distant land in the hopes of ‘striking it rich’, or how the spoils of this gold rush have been distributed. Drawing on in-depth fieldwork, this lecture revisits this intense episode. It explores the ways in which this particular cultural encounter has shaped and transformed relationships between people, places, and the natural environment, and examines the impact that it has had on the lives of those involved, both in Ghana and China.
Document Type
Presentation
Recommended Citation
Loubere, N. (2023, April). Transformative encounters: Reciprocal flows and the Chinese gold rush in Ghana. Presented at the International Symposium on Africa-China Relations in an Era of Uncertain Future. Lingnan University, Hong Kong.
Transformative encounters : reciprocal flows and the Chinese gold rush in Ghana
Since the mid-2000s, tens of thousands of Chinese nationals have travelled to Ghana to engage in small- scale alluvial gold mining. The majority of these migrants are from Shanglin County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Shanglin has a long tradition of alluvial gold mining, and also has been a nationally designated ‘poverty-stricken county’ (pinkun xian). The Shanglin miners introduced new mechanised technology for extracting gold in Ghana, which has dramatically increased production, while producing severe environmental degradation. In 2013, the Ghanaian government began initiating a continuing series of military-style crackdowns aimed at eliminating the Chinese presence in the country’s small-scale mining sector. In both the media and popular discourse, Chinese miners have been depicted as feeding into corruption, destroying the environment, and stealing resources from marginal sectors of Ghanaian society. However, we still do not know much about who these miners are, the factors that compel them to travel to such a distant land in the hopes of ‘striking it rich’, or how the spoils of this gold rush have been distributed. Drawing on in-depth fieldwork, this lecture revisits this intense episode. It explores the ways in which this particular cultural encounter has shaped and transformed relationships between people, places, and the natural environment, and examines the impact that it has had on the lives of those involved, both in Ghana and China.