Work Migration from Sub-Saharan Africa to Turkey

The population at large of İstanbul takes notice of the presence of large numbers of sub-Saharan immigrants from the ubiquity of African street vendors. The significant role that these immigrants assume in export and shipping activities, or the social and cultural activities in which they engage among themselves are much less widely known. Two developments underwrite this immigration movement. On the one hand Turkey’s opening to sub-Saharan Africa, its closer political and economic ties and the relations established through private investments, sport teams, schools, and university students; on the other, rising African growth rates, which stimulate both demand for imports and the desire for outmigration. This article is based on a yearlong fieldwork among West and Central African immigrants in İstanbul. It describes their social life and the range of economic positions they occupy, from daily wage work, to the provision of independent services and crafts, to business ownership. The article ends with a section assessing the economic and social contributions of the immigrants.