MIGRATION AND SECURITY: A STUDY ON GHANAIANS’ PERCEPTION OF THE BUSIINESS ACTIVITIES OF NIGERIAN AND CHINESE IMMIGRANTS IN SELECTED REGIONS OF GHANA

ABSTRACT 

This study examined the economic and environmental security issues associated with Nigerian and Chinese immigrants in business activities in Ghana. The general objective of the study was to examine the routes the immigrants use to migrate to Ghana, the nature of their businesses, the factors that motivate them to come and do those businesses, and the economic and environmental security threats associated with their businesses, based on the perceptions of Ghanaian Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) operators. Mixed research methods were used for the study with data collected from 798 SME operators and 11 key informants (experts and opinion leaders). A multi-stage sampling approach was employed to select the interviewees for the study from the Greater Accra and Ashanti regions. The key informants were selected from the Ministry of Trade, Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, Ghana Immigration Service, Ghana Union of Traders Association, Accra and Kumasi Metropolitan Assemblies, and Datano community. The findings indicate that considerable 20 percent and over of the SME operators have the perception that the Nigerian and the Chinese use unofficial routes to move to Ghana and the porous nature of Ghana‟s borders contributes to the movement of the immigrants to Ghana. The SME operators also perceive that the immigrants participate more in retailing business, competing with the local businesses and for that reason being an economic threat to SME operators. Low capital required for business, poor monitoring of immigrants‟ businesses, availability of market and raw materials are perceived by the majority of the SME operators as the factors that motivate the Chinese immigrants to do business whiles, in addition to all that, stable power and cheap labour supplies in Ghana are perceived to motivate Nigerian immigrants to participate in business. They also operate in areas that are restricted to them, specifically, retail trading and small-scale mining. The majority of the SME operators also perceived that friends and family facilitate the entry of both immigrants into the business sector in Ghana. Consequently, the immigrants‟ businesses are perceived as having economic and environmental effects and are threats to the businesses of Ghanaians in the same areas. The study recommends that three fundamental issues should be addressed: improving security at Ghana‟s borders; monitoring of immigrants‟ business activities, and creating an enabling environment for both immigrants and indigenous businesses to flourish in Ghana by examining interdependence between local businesses and immigrant business and strengthen it.