Factoid from the Panama Papers

Africa is perceived as a minor player in the world financial arena. But, in fact, it is a net creditor to the rest of the world, with its net external assets vastly exceeding its debts. From 1969 to 2004, $420 billion was sent offshore. Yet the forty countries of Africa had debt of $227 million. However, “The subcontinent’s private external assets belong to a narrow, relatively wealthy stratum of its population, while public external debts are borne by the people through their governments.”