There are desis in west Africa, although more in Anglophone West Africa, and mainly Sindhis. But you’ll see them if you keep an eye out for them. Some in Francophone, but fewer.

peace.

They are everywhere — the usual figure thrown around is 14 million abroad (vs 4-5 million in Lebanon); no idea how accurate that is. While they appear to have blended in Latin America (Shakira and Salma Hayek for the punters, but also many prominent politicians like Menem in Argentina, Jamal in Ecuador — not solely Lebanese, but Levantines) my impression is that they have remained more distinct in Africa, and have maintained closer ties to Lebanon. Many of them come from the traditionally poorer southern part of Lebanon, and seem to invest their earnings in building large palaces in their home villages.

The Lebanese perform the same function in West and francophone Africa as the Asians in East and South Africa. Just as there are dukawallas deep in the EA bush, you will find a ‘Libanais’ (the generic term for a store) in the rural parts of West Africa. My impression is that the communities seem to have divided the continent somehow, and don’t overlap, but I could be wrong.

Hmmm. Sort of like Houston, except here I place the order with a hispanic woman and a hispanic man does the actual cooking (Balaji Bhawan on Hillcroft in case you were wondering).

Balaji Bhawan rocks! It is also true at Madras Pavilion. Hispanic waiters taking orders for S. Indian meals!

Preston, great post. Keep it coming…

The bit above made me think about the large Lebanese community in Ghana, and some of the ire/envy/invective they generated in the local population (I didn’t get a sense of the extent of the South Asian community in Ghana, though). From Preston’s account and several comments, it sounds like Kenyan Indians are more “well-integrated” than that, and it’s set me off on a tangent of thinking about all these intersections of ethnicity, race, and class…

I’m feeling like the Lebanese are sort of a variety of brown, so I’m wondering if anyone can comment on whether there’s a significant Lebanese community in Kenya/East Africa (yes, I know there are Lebanese everywhere), whether they have a prominent niche in the economic hierarcy, how similar (if at all) their status is to that of Indians, and relations between the two groups?

Hmmm. Sort of like Houston, except here I place the order with a hispanic woman and a hispanic man does the actual cooking (Balaji Bhawan on Hillcroft in case you were wondering).

Seriously though – great post. I am looking forward to reading more.

Zambia’s economic progress is not purely a function of Indian/PIO efforts. It primarily has been a copper-driven economy, which until recently was not a good place to be economics wise. Also, there is a significant health crisis with 20+% of the population infected with HIV.

You know, critical thought is a useful faculty. That and watching Krishi Darshan.

Somewhere East, you are right in assuming that. I don’t speak for everyone but a lot of people I know would rather hire and work with an educated black African then a freshly arrived Indian. Again, this goes to show that there is an emphasis on the so called culture of the country.

Black or Indian, you will hear a lot of people say ‘Hakuna Matata. There is no hurry in Africa’.

Considering that Zambia (and Kenya) are deeply impoverished, what exactly is “the importance of the work that Indians (and PIO) do in the country”?

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56416&SelectRegion=Southern_Africa&SelectCountry=ZAMBIA

“Zambia’s per capita income on average retrogressed at -0.6 percent per annum over the past 45 years and, as a result, its 2004 level of $902 in 1996 international prices is 23 percent below the 1960 level of $1,167,” the report commented.”