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Is Africa a Net Creditor? New Estimates of Capital Flight from Severely Indebted Sub-Saharan African Countries, 1970-1996

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  • Léonce Ndikumana
  • James Boyce

Abstract

This paper presents estimates of capital flight from 25 low-income sub-Saharan African countries in the period 1970 to 1996. Capital flight totaled more than $193 billion (in 1996 dollars); with imputed interest earnings, the accumulated stock of flight capital amounts to $285 billion. The combined external debt of these countries stood at $178 billion in 1996. Taking capital flight as a measure of private external assets, and calculating net external assets as private external assets minus public external debts, sub-Saharan Africa thus appears to be a net creditor vis-à-vis the rest of the world.

Suggested Citation

  • Léonce Ndikumana & James Boyce, 2000. "Is Africa a Net Creditor? New Estimates of Capital Flight from Severely Indebted Sub-Saharan African Countries, 1970-1996," Working Papers wp5, Political Economy Research Institute, University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
    • Handle: RePEc:uma:periwp:wp5
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Mr. Simeon Inidayo Ajayi, 1997. "An Analysis of External Debt and Capital Flight in the Severely Indebted Low Income Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa," IMF Working Papers 1997/068, International Monetary Fund.
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    7. Ndikumana, Leonce, 2000. "Financial Determinants of Domestic Investment in Sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from Panel Data," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 28(2), pages 381-400, February.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Monoj Kumar Majumder & Mala Valliammai Raghavan & Joaquin L. Vespignani, 2021. "Impact of commodity price volatility on external debt: the role of exchange rate regimes," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(57), pages 6626-6640, December.
    3. Beja, Edsel, 2009. "Things are different when you open up: Economic openness, domestic economy, and income," MPRA Paper 12802, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Ahmed Abdullahi D., 2011. "International Financial Integration, Investment and Economic Performance in Sub-Saharan African Countries," Global Economy Journal, De Gruyter, vol. 11(4), pages 1-28, December.
    5. Abdullah Hussein Almounsor, 2017. "New Analysis of Capital Flight from Saudi Arabia: The Relation with Long-Term Economic Performance," Applied Economics and Finance, Redfame publishing, vol. 4(6), pages 17-26, November.
    6. Ila Patnaik & Abhijit Sen Gupta & Ajay Shah, 2012. "Determinants of Trade Misinvoicing," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 23(5), pages 891-910, November.
    7. Almounsor Abdullah, 2008. "Capital Flight Accounting and Welfare Implications in the MENA Region," Review of Middle East Economics and Finance, De Gruyter, vol. 4(2), pages 1-67, April.
    8. Jomo Kwame Sundaram & Rudiger von Arnim, 2008. "Economic liberalization and constraints to development in sub-Saharan africa," Working Papers 67, United Nations, Department of Economics and Social Affairs.
    9. Niels Hermes & Robert Lensink & Victor Murinde, 2002. "Flight Capital and its Reversal for Development Financing," WIDER Working Paper Series DP2002-99, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    10. Léonce Ndikumana, 2001. "Financial Markets and Economic Development in Africa," Working Papers wp17, Political Economy Research Institute, University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
    11. Jarita DUASA, 2010. "The Effectiveness of Malaysian Capital Outflow Controls of 1998," EcoMod2004 330600044, EcoMod.

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