In the Shadow of the States: The Informalities of Chinese Petty Entrepreneurship in NigeriaJournal of Current Chinese Affairs

The burgeoning interstate relation between China and Nigeria is in fact hiding the vulnerable condition of transnational Chinese petty entrepreneurship. Small-scale Chinese entrepreneurs in Nigeria are faced with everyday corruption practised by both Nigerian authorities and ordinary Nigerian people, the dominance of selfinterest over cohesion and mutual support among the Chinese compatriots, and variations in state policies due to dynamic and changing interstate relations.To overcome their position of weakness, smallscale Chinese entrepreneurs strategize their interactions with both Nigerian and Chinese nationals. Informality is a characteristic of such interactions.