A Ghanaian entrepreneur’s decade in South Africa undone by xenophobia

A Ghanaian entrepreneur who spent more than a decade building a life in South Africa has been forced to abandon his business and return home, according to Africanews, in a story that highlights the human cost of recurring xenophobic hostility directed at foreign nationals in Africa’s most industrialised economy.

Emmanuel Akuoko had travelled to South Africa hoping to earn enough wealth to lift his family out of hardship back in Ghana. Instead of returning with the prosperity he had promised them, he came home empty-handed, having been forced to dismantle more than a decade of his life in just a few days, as Africanews reported.

South Africa has long drawn migrants and entrepreneurs from across the continent, attracted by its relatively diversified economy and more developed infrastructure compared with many of its neighbours. Ghanaian traders in particular have established a visible presence in Johannesburg’s wholesale and retail markets over the past two decades. Akuoko’s trajectory mirrors that of many who left West Africa in search of opportunity, only to find their position precarious when tensions flare.

The country has experienced several waves of anti-foreigner violence over the past two decades, most notably in 2008, 2015, 2019 and 2021, during which African-owned shops have been looted, burned or shut down and thousands of foreign nationals displaced. While successive South African governments have condemned the attacks and pledged protection for foreign residents, advocacy groups have continued to document cases in which migrants from countries including Ghana, Nigeria, Ethiopia and Somalia say they have been singled out and pushed out of their businesses.

Akuoko’s return to Ghana, as recounted by Africanews, adds a personal chapter to a debate that has repeatedly strained relations between South Africa and other African governments, several of which have chartered flights to evacuate their citizens during periods of unrest.

Sources

This report was written from coverage published by the following news organisations. Follow the links for the original reporting.

• Africanews — Xenophobia shatters Ghanaian entrepreneur's dream in South Africa
• africanews.com — Xenophobia shatters Ghanaian entrepreneur's dream in South Africa
• AllAfrica — South Africa: Activists Go Door-to-Door to Counter Xenophobia in Yeoville
• BBC — South Africa anti-immigration protests: The stories of a Nigerian and Ghanaian who left