Capital Flight from Africa Causes, Effects, and Policy Issues

This edited collection provides the most comprehensive thematic analysis of capital flight from Africa, covering economic and institutional aspects, as well as domestic and global dimensions. It is organized in three parts. The first part discusses the importance of capital flight in the context of the development policy discourse at national and international level. This part takes stock of the existing evidence on the nature, causes, and consequences of capital flight. It provides the most recent data on the magnitude of capital flight from 39 African countries, and a detailed analysis of the impact of capital flight on economic development in general and on poverty reduction in particular. The second part examines economic factors and impacts of capital flight. It presents analysis of capital flight in a flow of funds context, the impact of capital flight on macroeconomic outcomes with a focus on growth, and the linkages between capital flight and monetary policy, financial liberalization, and the global financial system. The third part explores the domestic and international institutional environment and its relevance for capital flight and stolen asset recovery. It discusses the role of governance, tax evasion, and secrecy jurisdictions in driving capital flight. The last part of the book offers suggestions for strategies to address the problem of capital flight from African countries.

S. Ibi Ajayi holds a PhD degree in Economics from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. He is a Professor of Economics and a Distinguished Service Fellow of the Department of Economics, University of Ibadan. Professor Ajayi has consulted for a wide range of international organizations including the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, the United Nation's Development Program, the African Development Bank, the African Economic Research Consortium, the West African Monetary Agency, and ECOWAS. He has published over 120 articles journals, books, and chapters. Professor Ajayi's areas of interest are macroeconomics, monetary economics, public policy issues, and health economics. His main focus is in the areas of African development. Léonce Ndikumana is Professor of Economics and Director of the African Development Policy Program at the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He is a Member of the United Nations Committee on Development Policy. Léonce Ndikumana has served as Director of Operational Policies and Director of Research at the African Development Bank, Chief of Macroeconomic Analysis at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), and visiting Professor at the University of Cape Town. He is also an Honorary Professor of Economics at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa. Professor Ndikumana's research explores issues of external debt and capital flight; financial markets and growth; macroeconomic policies for growth and employment; aid, aid effectiveness and social development; and the economics of conflict and civil wars in Africa. He is co-author of Africa's Odious Debt: How Foreign Loans and Capital Flight Bled a Continent.