African trading brokers in China: The internet, Covid-19 and the transformation of low-end globalization

Abstract

African trading brokers in China buy knock-off or copy goods and move them through customs via bribery to African ports; this trade, although illegal, brings desired global products to Africa. This paper, based on interviews with African trading brokers, examines how the internet and Covid-19 have affected their trade. African customers can now find out the accurate prices of goods; computerized customs regimes make bribery difficult; and Covid-19 has raised shipping costs. While the informal economic arrangements of these trading brokers will probably continue despite policymakers' efforts to eradicate them, China may no longer be the source of their goods.