The general objective of this study is to analyze the external debt and debt burdens of the severely indebted sub-Saharan African countries, estimate the magnitude of capital flight from them, and relate the estimate of capital flight to some macroeconomic aggregates. The study also contains policy implications of international efforts to deal with the high levels of external debt in sub-Saharan Africa in conditions of extreme poverty, and stagnant and declining exports. It questions the theoretical foundation in which the external debt strategy has been based and offers solutions to the external debt problem.
A comprehensive thematic analysis of capital flight from Africa, it covers the role of safe havens, offshore financial centres, and banking secrecy in facilitating illicit financial flows and provides rich insights to policy makers interested in designing strategies to address the problems of capital flight and illicit financial flows.
Mounting external debt and large-scale capital flight have been at the forefront of Africa's economic problems since the 1980s. External Debt and Capital Flight in Sub-Saharan Africa, edited by S. Ibi Ajayi and Mohsin S. Khan, takes a penetrating look at debt and capital flight during the 1990s in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda. The book describes the size and composition of debt in the selected countries and examines the causes of the debt buildup. It also assesses the extent of capital flight and suggests ways of stemming the flight of financial resources.
This volume takes an in-depth look at the economic issue of capital flight and outlines strategic methods to address the problem of international tax evasion and bank secrecy. In order to address these issues, the book explores the development prospects of tax evasion governance and identifies obstacles to the efficiency of current tax policies. To overcome the capital flight issue, all lines of attack need to be examined. There is a need to establish responsibility, to set priorities for action that significantly reduces the incentives for capital outflows of this kind, and to seek international consensus. International tax evasion has undermined the credibility of political and administrative systems. This volume lays the foundation for creating an institutional framework that provides transparency of control systems in the face of the guilty roles of tax evasion actors. This requires an effort of economic intelligence that involves mobilizing statistical resources and exploiting them in order to finely identify deviating situations and risk. Key features of the book: • Captures the richness and diversity of tax evasion strategies • Provides an understanding of the prospects of capital flight policies • Identifies stakeholders’ implications in order to provide a global solution to government • Develops a rigorous approach to the problem of tax evasion and the capital flight process Advanced Governing for Capital Flight posits that when combined, the initiatives offered in the volume will be the powerful blow to bank secrecy. Aimed as much at the neophyte as at the insider who questions tax evasion strategies, this book, very ambitious by its specificity, is intended primarily for those who will be called upon to work in the fields of tax evasion and capital flight policies.
This paper sets flight capital in the context of portfolio choice, focusing upon the proportion of private wealth that is held abroad. There are large regional differences in this proportion, ranging from 5 percent in South Asia to 40 percent in Africa. We explain cross-country differences in portfolio choice by variables that proxy differences in the risk-adjusted rate of return on capital. We apply the results to four policy questions: how the East Asian crisis affected domestic capital outflows; herd effects; the effect of the IMF-World Bank debt relief initiative for heavily-indebted poor countries (HIPC) on capital repatriation; and why so much of Africa’s private wealth is held outside the continent.
Macroeconomics for Developing Countries presents a comprehensive study of the tools of macroeconomic analysis with particular emphasis on their application in Developing Countries. At the same time, it examines the debate over whether developing economies should have a completely different framework for dealing with macroeconomic problems. The book includes: * alternative macroeconomic models of developing countries; * theories of inflation and the balance of payments; * internal and external debt; * evaluations of IMF stabilization packages.
The Political Economy of Africa addresses the real possibilities for African development in the coming decades when seen in the light of the continent’s economic performance over the last half-century. This involves an effort to emancipate our thinking from the grip of western economic models that have often ignored Africa’s diversity in their rush to peddle simple nostrums of dubious merit. The book addresses the seemingly intractable economic problems of the African continent, and traces their origins. It also brings out the instances of successful economic change, and the possibilities for economic revival and renewal. As well as surveying the variety of contemporary situations, the text will provide readers with a firm grasp of the historical background to the topic. It explores issues such as: employment and poverty social policy and security structural adjustment programs and neo-liberal globalization majority rule and democratization taxation and resource mobilization. It contains a selection of country specific case studies from a range of international contributors, many of whom have lived and worked in Africa. The book will be of particular interest to higher level students in political economy, development studies, area studies (Africa) and economics in general.
This volume presents a state-of-the-art debate on the controversial topic of development aid. The contributors are all experts in the field of international development. Presents some challenging conclusions about the role that aid plays in catalysing, or stifling, development. Represents a wide range of different analytical perspectives.
Since the mid-1990s, sub-Saharan Africa has experienced an acceleration of economic growth that has produced rising incomes and faster human development. However, this growth contrasts with the continent's experience between 1975 and 1995, when it largely missed out on two decades of economic progress. This disparity between Africa's current experience and its history raises questions about the continent's development. Is there a turnaround in Africa s economy? Will growth persist? 'Africa at a Turning Point?' is a collection of essays that analyzes three interrelated aspects of Africa's recent revival. The first set of essays examines Africa's recent growth in the context of its history of growth accelerations and collapses. It seeks to answer such questions as, is Africa at a turning point? Are the economic fundamentals finally pointing toward more sustainable growth? The second set of essays looks at donor flows, which play a large role in Africa's growth. These essays focus on such issues as the management and delivery of increased aid, and the history and volatility of donor flows to Africa. The third set of essays considers the recent impact of one persistent threat to sustained growth in Africa: commodity price shocks, particularly those resulting from fluctuations in oil prices.
