New research from the University of Oxford finds that African offshore finance is increasingly routed through Asian financial centres, a shift that risks creating blind spots for regulators, researchers and policymakers. The study is the first to connect flows through Dubai, Hong Kong and Singapore as part of a single reconfiguration of offshore finance.

Offshore financial centres, which offer low taxation, light regulation and secrecy, are a long-standing feature of global capital flows. Africa’s offshore links were historically concentrated in Western jurisdictions. Since the global financial crisis, however, those connections have diversified, with Asian centres becoming increasingly important, reflecting wider changes in global finance and Africa’s external economic relations.

According to United Nations estimates, around $88.6 billion leaves Africa each year through capital flight, much of it routed through offshore structures. While Dubai’s role has attracted growing attention, the study argues that Singapore and Hong Kong remain under-researched, and that there has been little attempt to examine all three centres together as part of the same offshore reconfiguration. 

“Africa’s links with Asian tax havens are a key dimension of the emerging financial architecture of a post-Western world”,

Key findings include:
•    Dubai has emerged as a major hub for African corporate registration and private wealth, and often serves as a regional headquarters or base for service providers and those trading or investing in Africa.
•    Hong Kong functions largely as a gateway for Chinese investment into Africa, particularly in infrastructure and natural resources.
•    Singapore is a growing centre for commodity trading, wealth management and corporate intermediation.

“Africa’s links with Asian tax havens are a key dimension of the emerging financial architecture of a post-Western world”, said Ricardo Soares de Oliveira, Professor of Political Science at Sciences Po Paris and Co-Director of the Oxford Martin Programme on African Governance. “But we still lack systematic evidence on what this means for African economies, regulatory frameworks, and financial governance. Does it hold development potential for Africa, or is this more of the same? That gap needs urgent empirical attention.”

The paper, which is published jointly with the Global Public Policy Institute in Berlin, also highlights that much of this activity is facilitated by global (often western) professional services firms, including banks, law firms and advisers, now operating through Asian branches or franchises, as offshore business services avoid growing regulation in some Western financial centres and relocate to more permissive jurisdictions. 

What is clear is that understanding this shift is essential to assessing its implications for development, regulation and the future of global offshore finance, including how risks are monitored and governed.