Integration of Nzema migrants into the Ivorian (Ivory Coast) society during the colonial and post-colonial periods

Abstract

Unlike the pre-colonial period, migration in Africa during the colonial and post-colonial epochs was bedevilled with migrants’ integration-related challenges. Research on the integration of international migrants into their host communities in West Africa refers to migrants’ challenges that are related to economic downturns. The situation of Nzema migrants in Cote d’Ivoire appears different. Using moderate postmodernist theory as a lens and information from the lived experiences of return migrants, current migrants, relatives of migrants and supplemented with secondary sources of data, the study aimed at investigating the peculiar situation of Nzema migrants in Cote d’Ivoire from 1893 to the 1990s. The study established that between 1893 and 1960, Nzema migrants in Côte d’Ivoire experienced integration problems that were not associated with the economic situation in that country. Furthermore, irrespective of Cote d’Ivoire’s economic boom during the period from 1960 to the 1980s, some Nzema migrants were confronted with integration challenges. As coping strategies, the migrants assimilated themselves into the Ivorian society. The study contributes to the conversation on migrants’ integration into their host communities by unveiling that migrants’ challenges are not always tied to the economy of the host country.