African Elites as Clients of the Offshore World

In this chapter, Moyo discusses the African elites that are connected to the global capitalist class. He argues that these culpable elites are useful to the global transnational capitalist class in that they create conducive political conditions for the global economic and financial institutions as well as for the multinational corporations to thrive in Africa. Moyo argues that some local elites are not only complicit in Africa’s asymmetrical incorporation into the global economy, but they have ironically become active recruits and “altar boys” of the processes that have drained the continent’s resources. More precisely, he sees political elites as facilitators and beneficiaries of illicit financial outflows. Moyo concludes that finding a solution to the problem of elite corruption requires, among other things, addressing the complicity of foreign parties, especially resource exploitation companies that connive with corrupt African elites in decapitalising the continent. It should also involve attention paid to the entire ecosystem of the offshore world economy, including banks that facilitate the illicit transfer of funds and regulators in advanced countries who turn a blind eye on illicit transactions involving African political and economic elites.