Ricardo Soares de Oliveira

The United Nations estimates that $88.6 billion per year leave Africa in the form of capital flight,  with much of it routed through, or ending up in, offshore financial centres. This is but one aspect of the way in which African relations with the global economy, including trade and investment, are mediated through the offshore world. Until recently, a study of African offshore links would have rightly focused on western jurisdictions. However, since the 2008 financial crisis, Africa’s offshore links have diversified. This is notably the case with Asian jurisdictions such as Dubai, Hong Kong and Singapore.

This exploratory paper studies Africa’s offshore engagements with these leading financial centres. These dynamics remain poorly researched despite their rising significance for Africa’s deepening relationship with Asia. The paper underlines the innovative dimensions of these links but also aspects of continuity: offshore services in the Asian jurisdictions are often provided by western firms and these financial centres maintain robust connections with the traditional centres of the offshore world. It also provides a preliminary discussion of the developmental potential, or pitfalls, of Africa’s links with Asian offshore financial centres in the emerging architecture of a post-Western world.