Tokunbo and Chinco economies in Nigeria: rethinking encounters and continuities in local economic transformations

Abstract

As encounters and interactions of Nigeria with Western and Asian economic powers intensify and deepen, the Nigerian economy continues to undergo transformations. This paper explores and compares Tokunbo and Chinco economies in this transformation process. As products of processes and patterns of incorporation of Nigeria into the world-economy, Tokunbo refers to an economy that relies on trade in second-hand, imported goods from the West while the Chinco economy is a recent creation through the influx of cheap China-made goods. They are parallel economies existing alongside, but mostly dominating, the local economy whose capabilities have been largely eroded as a result of decades of being in a protracted static position as a periphery nation. Their emergence is intricately connected to the overpowering juggernaut of global capitalism and the opportunistic tendencies and resolve of local entrepreneurs and transnational traders to participate in, as well as benefit from, the deepening incorporation of local market into the world-system, even if it means doing so as low-end actors. Also, while they are characteristically distinguishable, their logic and destabilising consequences are the same in a periphery nation. This calls for a rethink and critical reflection on the value of transnational processes which is currently intensifying in the face of global systems 81

Oscillation of Two Giants: Sino-Nigeria Relations and the Global South

“…A second perspective to the study of Sino-Nigeria relations looks at more micro, specific aspects of the engagement. Here, scholars focus on people-to-people relations, for instance Adebayo's study of the availability of low-end Chinese products popularly referred to as Chinco in local parlance [1]. Xiao on his part focused on how Chinese petty entrepreneurs navigate the Nigerian legal and economic space [145].…”

“…Haugen's study on 'immobility' appraises the experience of Nigerian migrants based in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province of China, highlighting how they navigate the Chinese system after their visa's expire [61]. Apart from academic interests in issues such as the impact of Chinese businesses in electronics and consumer goods [1] or textiles [115], expectedly, given the rentier nature of Nigeria's economy, China-Nigeria relations in the oil sector have also generated a number of works some of which have highlighted the implications of domestic instability in policy, production, and demand [88,89,129]. Yet, suffice to mention that China is not the top destination of Nigerian crude oil (see Table 2 and the discussion of Sino-Nigeria oil relations below).…”

“…Yet the ambassador's position that 'low rank doesn't mean it's a bad quality' doesn't hide the substandard perception of Chinese products especially as represented in the concept of Chinco which in its negative sense is noted to "invoke words such as 'cheap,' 'fake,' 'not durable,' and 'low class'" ( [1] p. 88). While the Chinco economy covers an array of different products such as electronics, mobile phones, solar panels, and textiles, it also entails fake drugs.…”

“…For one, China has its ownpolitical, economic and strategicinterests when relating with other countries in the South [26]. So, that there is Chinese presence in Nigeria does not foreclose that such reality in some instances are injurious to both Chinese and Nigerians [1,105,134]. It is perhaps this realisation that led some to argue that rather than valorizing non-Western development perspectives or assuming that relating with China is the naturally preferred option to Africa, Beijing's proclamations "are treated as any more legitimate than claims by rival governments vying for African resources" ( [112], p. 14).…”