As informal commerce has grown to become the lifeblood of African cities, street trade—among the largest sub-groups in the informal economy—has become a visible but contested domain. Yet the increase in street traders has not been accompanied by a corresponding improvement in their status as citizens or in their political influence. The paper first discusses the implications of theoretical debates on ‘citizenship’ and ‘voice’ for street traders and then explores characteristics of traders’ associations and influence in four case study countries: Senegal, Ghana, Tanzania and Lesotho. Drawing together the authors’ findings from research between 2001 and 2008, the paper identifies a fluidity of both formal and informal traders’ organisations which fail to achieve lasting impact. Finally, the paper discusses urban policy implications, arguing for a more flexible definition of urban citizenship based on rights and responsibilities, and an understanding of the complexity of grassroots associations of the marginalised poor.

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The recent rise of African communities in Guangzhou has been widely noted. To understand this ‘Chocolate City,’ with a series of field surveys in 2006-2010, we examine its different development stages and shed particular light upon its internal and external linkages. Three modalities: the emerging enclave, the prosperous enclave and the collapsing enclave, have been identified. The rise of the ‘Chocolate City’ has been mainly attributed to the rise of Sino-Africa trading and the efforts of local entrepreneurs. The prosperity of the City was backed by the local states. However, the involvement of local polices, the reform of the local immigration regime and the deterioration of economic relations resulted in its recent collapse. We argue that this ‘Chocolate City’ is a restructuring ethnic enclave underlying the impacts of ‘transient glocalization.’ The rise and fall of the ‘Chocolate City’ indicates the dynamic relations between the transient global-local nexus, immigration regime, and local geography.