My Ph.D. project explored the day-to-day lives of Nigerian traders in Yiwu, China, a city that is home to the “world’s largest small wholesale commodity market”, and the epicentre for the purchase and export of the globally ubiquitous ‘Made in China’ consumer goods.
In the thesis, I examine what non-colonial histories versus neo-colonial entanglements mean for China-Africa relations. I trace how global hierarchies and geopolitical pivots manifest in the everyday lives of Nigerian traders in Yiwu, and how these young men, some away from home for years at a time, navigate the dangers of both sociality and intimacy – virtual and real. Finally, I interrogate what the desires and realities of these young men instantiate for the African present, as well as African futures.
I have a Masters from the London School of Economics, and I am the recipient of numerous national and international awards, including the Canada-China Scholars’ Exchange, SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship, The Canadian Anthropology Society Richard F. Salisbury Student Award, and the Wenner-Gren Dissertation Fieldwork Grant.
I have taught undergraduate courses on Economic Anthropology and Africa-China Relations in the Departments of Anthropology and African Studies, at the University of Toronto.
