I am a Nigerian PhD candidate at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Halle, Germany. My dissertation is on the international trade in secondhand clothing, from Britain to Nigeria, through Cotonou in Benin. I am describing how the trade works, and the different institutions and relations that sustain it.

A major area of focus is on explaining why the importation of secondhand clothing is not only dominated by the Igbo, but why most of the importers and wholesalers in Cotonou are from one village. Just so it is clear, these are Nigerian Igbo traders in Cotonou, Benin Republic.I also go further to describe how the trade works in Britain. In other words, I explore the relationship between charity organisations, English municipalities, charity fundraisers and commercial textile recyclers. I should be done with the dissertation in a year.

I have been blogging since 2005 at www.loomnie.com