Introduction: Entrapment of Africa in an Asymmetrical Global Economy

In this introductory chapter, Gorden Moyo locates Africa in the global financial system. He provides historical, theoretical, and contemporary contexts to unequal global financial relations. Firstly, he discusses the connections between capital flight and the rigged global financial system which he argues was designed to keep Africa as a provider of primary commodities, finance capital, and labour to the Global North countries and companies. Secondly, he re-examines the often ignored paradox that Africa is “a net creditor to the rest of the world” while it remains poor and a marginal player in global affairs. What is concerning here is that Africa has been a vital cog of the global financial system since colonial times, but it serves not its own interests but those of the powerful global capitalist corporations. Thirdly, Moyo implicates some of the key global institutions including the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the World Trade Organisation, Multinational Corporations, the International Credit Rating Agencies, and the World Economic Forum as enablers and beneficiaries of capital flight and global financial subordination. He argues that these global institutions are jointly and individually responsible for Africa’s poor economic show. Finally, Moyo privileges Afro-decolonial agency as the potential antidote against a rigged global financial architecture.