New Panama Papers series exposes secret deals in Africa
On 25 July, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) – initiators of the Panama Papers – in collaboration with more than 12 news organisations in Africa, released fresh details about corporate secrets and hidden assets in Africa, the world’s poorest continent. The release includes information about the middlemen and about the hundreds of millions of dollars of suspected bribes paid in connection with gas and oil contracts in Algeria. Also included in the documents was information about offshore investments including a yacht and private jet belonging to a Nigerian oil and gas tycoon in connection with a $1.8 billion oil scandal.
Machinations of Farid Bedjaoui
At the centre of the Panama Papers investigation is Farid Bedjaoui, a nephew of Algeria’s former foreign minister. To move the bribes back and forth between countries, Bedjaoui used a network of shell companies that helped him protect the transactions. At least that is what Italian officials claim. Twelve of these companies were set up by Mossack Fonseca (Panama Papers), the law firm at the centre of the Panama Papers scandal. The cross-border bribery scandal is one of dozens in which firms founded by Mossack Fonseca have played a role in oil, gas and other deals, highlighting public allegations of tax evasion, corruption, environmental degradation and other wrongdoing. The ICIJ’s investigation into the Panama Papers has identified 37 companies that have been named in natural resource-related court cases in Africa in connection with the Panama Papers.
Test your knowledge about Africa
In this interactive game, test your knowledge about Africa and find out how the use of shell companies affects the economic development of the continent. For example, 50 billion dollars in development aid is transferred to Africa every year, but about the same amount is sucked out of the countries again with the help of shell companies. Shell companies play an important role in this. Not only the trade in raw materials is affected, but also tourism in Africa, which has grown extremely in recent years. It has become known that some safari operators transfer their profits to shell companies in the British Virgin Islands or the Isle of Man.