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(Hadalsame) 17 November 2018<\/strong><\/span> – Africa<\/a> is poor, but we can try to help its people. It’s a simple statement, repeated through a thousand images, newspaper stories and charity appeals each year, so that it takes on the weight of truth. When we read it, we reinforce assumptions and stories about Africa that we’ve heard throughout our lives. We reconfirm our image\u00a0of Africa.<\/p>\n

Try something different. Africa is rich, but we steal its wealth.<\/p>\n

INFOGRAPHIC: Mapping Africa’s natural resources <\/a><\/p>\n

That’s the essence of a report (pdf<\/a>) from several campaign groups released\u00a0today. Based on a set of new figures, it finds that sub-Saharan Africa\u00a0is a net creditor to the rest of the world to the tune of more than $41bn. Sure, there’s money going in: around $161bn a year in the form of loans, remittances (those working outside Africa and sending money back home), and aid.<\/p>\n

But there’s also $203bn leaving the continent. Some of this is direct, such as $68bn in mainly dodged taxes. Essentially multinational corporations “steal”\u00a0much of this – legally – by pretending they are really generating their wealth in tax havens. These so-called “illicit financial flows”\u00a0amount to around 6.1 percent of the continent’s entire gross domestic product (GDP) – or\u00a0three times what Africa receives in aid.<\/p>\n

Then there’s the $30bn that these corporations “repatriate”\u00a0– profits they make in Africa but send back to their home country, or elsewhere, to enjoy their wealth. The City of London is awash<\/a> with profits extracted from the land and labour of Africa.<\/p>\n

OPINION: Africa’s natural resources – From curse to a blessing <\/a><\/p>\n

There are also more indirect means by which we pull wealth out of Africa. Today’s report estimates that $29bn a year is being stolen from Africa in illegal logging, fishing and trade in wildlife. $36bn is owed to Africa as a result of the damage that climate change<\/a> will cause to their societies and economies as they are unable to use fossil fuels to develop in the way that Europe<\/a> did. Our climate crisis was not caused by Africa, but Africans will feel the effect more than most others. Needless to say, the funds are not currently forthcoming.<\/p>\n

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