Capital flight from Africa since 1970 amounts to $2 trillion[1]. These outflows exceed annual inflows of development assistance and foreign direct investment received by African countries. Including interest income that would have been earned on these outflows cumulative private wealth held offshore stood at $2.4 trillion by 2018[2]. This represents more than three times the stock of debt owed by the continent in that year, ironically making Africa a ‘net creditor’ to the rest of the world.
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. The book highlights 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 mis-invoicing, 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
Building on UNCTADs’s analysis, and recently published work, join us to explore how to build on recent multilateral efforts to combat tax evasion and theft of national assets in Africa.
Watch event recording
PROGRAMME
Introduction:
- Richard Kozul-Wright, Director, Division on Globalization and Development Strategies, UNCTAD.
Author presentation
- Léonce Ndikumana, Distinguished Professor & Director, African Development Policy Program, Political Economy Research Institute, University of Massachusetts Amherst.
- Nicholas Shaxson, Writer, Journalist, and Investigator, Tax Justice Network, Berlin, Germany
- James K. Boyce, Professor Emeritus of Economics and Senior Fellow at the Political Economy Research Institute, University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Discussion
- H.E. Margarida Rosa da Silva Izata, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Permanent Representative of Republic of Angola to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva
- Rob Davies, Ex-Minister of Trade and Industry, Republic of South Africa
- Janvier Désiré Nkurunziza, Chief, Commodities Branch and Chief of Research and Analysis Section, Division on International Trade and Commodities, UNCTAD.
Closing remarks
- Attiya Waris, Professor of Law, and Director of Research and Enterprise at the University of Nairobi, and UN Independent Expert on Foreign Debt and Human Rights
