On the Trail of Capital Flight from Africa The Takers and the Enablers

On the Trail of Capital Flight from Africa investigates the dynamics of capital flight from Angola, Côte d'Ivoire, and South Africa, countries that have witnessed large-scale illicit financial outflows in recent decades. Quantitative, qualitative, and institutional analysis for each country is used to examine the modus operandi of capital flight; that is, the 'who', 'how', and 'where' dimensions of the phenomenon. 'Who' refers to major domestic and foreign players; 'how' refers to mechanisms of capital acquisition, transfer, and concealment; and 'where' refers to the destinations of capital flight and the transactions involved. The evidence reveals a complex network of actors and enablers involved in orchestrating and facilitating capital flight and the accumulation of private wealth in offshore secrecy jurisdictions. This underscores the reality that capital flight is a global phenomenon, and that measures to curtail it are a shared responsibility for Africa and the global community. Addressing the problem of capital flight and related issues such as trade misinvoicing, money laundering, tax evasion, and theft of public assets by political and economic elites will require national and global efforts with a high level of coordination.

1 - Introduction: Why Care about Capital Flight?
2 - Capital Flight from Angola, Côte d'Ivoire, and South Africa: An Overview
3 - Angola: Oil and Capital Flight
4 - Côte d'Ivoire: Bitter Chocolate
5 - South Africa: Capital Flight, State Capture, and Inequality
6 - International Trade and Capital Flight: Challenges for Governance
7 - Conclusions: Capital Flight in the World Economy

Léonce Ndikumana is a Distinguished Professor of Economics and Director of the African Development Policy Program at the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He is an Andrew Carnegie Fellow, a member of the Independent Commission for the Reform of International Corporate Taxation, and an Honorary Professor of Economics at the University of Cape Town and the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa. He held senior positions at the African Development Bank and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. His previous books include Africa's Odious Debts: How Foreign Loans and Capital Flight Bled a Continent (with James K. Boyce, Zed Books, 2011), and Capital Flight from Africa Causes, Effects, and Policy Issues (with S. Ibi Ajay, OUP, 2014) James K. Boyce is a senior fellow at the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. His previous books include Economics for People and the Planet (Anthem, 2019), Africa's Odious Debts: How Foreign Loans and Capital Flight Bled a Continent (with Léonce Ndikumana, Zed Books 2011), Investing in Peace: Aid and Conditionality after Civil Wars (Oxford University Press 2002), The Philippines: The Political Economy of Growth and Impoverishment in the Marcos Era (Macmillan, 1993), and Agrarian Impasse in Bengal (OUP, 1987).