Theorising Chinese Immigrant Integration in West Africa: A Grounded Theory Study from Nigerian Cities

Chinese immigrant integration in African urban contexts represents a theoretically underdeveloped field, as existing immigrant integration theories are derived from European and North American settlement contexts that differ profoundly from the governance structures, social norms, and economic institutions of West African cities. This study develops a grounded theory of Chinese immigrant integration in Nigerian urban contexts, drawing on fieldwork conducted across Lagos, Kano, and Port Harcourt over an eighteen-month period. Constructivist grounded theory methodology was employed, with theoretical sampling guiding sixty in-depth interviews with Chinese immigrants, thirty interviews with Nigerian community members and officials, and sustained participant observation in Chinese commercial, residential, and social spaces. Memoing, constant comparison, and theoretical saturation guided the analysis. The emergent grounded theory conceptualises Chinese immigrant integration in Nigerian cities as a process of Transactional Enclave Formation, characterised by deep integration into Nigerian commercial systems while maintaining parallel social worlds. Three original theoretical categories are developed: commercial bridging through which economic interdependence creates integration without social assimilation; institutional bypassing through which Chinese immigrants navigate Nigerian bureaucracy through informal economic power; and provisional belonging, which describes Chinese immigrants' subjective orientation toward Nigeria as a temporary production platform rather than a settlement destination. These theoretical categories challenge assimilationist and multiculturalist integration models and generate a contextually grounded framework applicable across West African urbanisation contexts.

Keywords: Chinese immigrant integration, grounded theory, Nigerian cities, urban context, West Africa