And indeed, the book begins with a candid foreword about Burgis’ treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of some of the awful things he had seen on the continent – most notably a massacre in Jos. For example, at the Marange diamond fields in Zimbabwe, he assumes the bearing of a diamond trader in order to get through a checkpoint into a mining zone. Having been a financial journalist myself, I am amazed at how far Burgis has gone in untangling the web of corporate structures sometimes used in international financial chicanery. The monetisation of such political relationships is also depicted by Burgis in the multi-million-dollar bankrolling of the Kabila dynasty by the businessman Dan Gertler in the Congo, the enrichment of South Africa’s politically-connected black oligarchs, the Futungo in Angola, and the involvement of Beny Steinmetz in Guinea. Crucial to Pa’s modus operandi on the continent, according to Burgis, is his leveraging of “˜guanxi’ (å…³ç³»), the system of social networks and influential relationships that facilitate business and other dealings.

This is all tied together by Burgis’ argument for the pervasiveness of the so-called “˜Queensway Group’, incorporated in Hong Kong, which is depicted throughout the book as a sort of global corporate mafia with the shadowy middleman Sam Pa as its kingpin. Additionally, he is concerned with the impact of financial secrecy, and potentially inequitable tax practices on developing economies and how this facilitates rent-seeking. Burgis also tackles the much-debated role of China in Africa, as globalisation atomises power to new sites of influence and capital. For example, the impact of the “˜resource curse’, hollowing out the economies of developing countries. This portrayal of the intersection of business and politics, and its potentially corrupting influence may also explain the paradox of rising GDP growth coupled with increasing inequality – a key problem in the era of “˜Africa Rising’.Įach chapter of The Looting Machine deals with a different country and a particular issue in its political economy, but some main unifying themes stick out. Filled with vignettes on spooks, smugglers and kleptocratic warlords with suitcases of cash, it reads like a crime thriller, while at the same time being a well-researched, accessible account of the extractives industry the privatisation of power in Africa and its impact on the continent’s people. Tom Burgis’ The Looting Machineis a rollercoaster read.

The looting machine review