In June 2015, a coalition of six Pan-African activist networks launched #StoptheBleeding Africa (http://stopthebleedingafrica.org/faqs/) in Nairobi, Kenya to curb the hemorrhage of resources from the African continent. As the #BlackLivesMatter movement continued to gain strength in the United States, this Pan-African coalition came together to expose and mobilize global support to end illicit financial flows – money that is illegally earned, transferred or used. Estimates of illegal transactions in Africa show a loss of at least $50 billion to $80 billion in wealth every year, a figure that would be incalculably more if transfers made legal by loopholes and unfair treaties were included. Some flows are only seen as “legal” because the laws are written and interpreted by those profiting from the system. Nevertheless, even the outflow of clearly illegal funds is far greater than the estimated $40 billion a year that Africa receives in official development assistance. As explained in this 16-minute video from the United Nations Economic Commission on Africa (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lenH1SaOcIA), the #StoptheBleeding campaign includes official commitments by African governments. However, implementing these commitments depends on large-scale mobilizations within Africa and around the world.
Unlike the pillage of Africa in earlier periods of the slave trade and colonial rule, these illicit financial transactions are most often hidden from public view. They happen through fraudulent invoicing of trade, “creative accounting” by multinational corporations, tax giveaways by African governments, and the use of shell companies based in tax havens around the world including Delaware, Luxembourg, Panama, the British Virgin Islands, Liberia, and Mauritius. Despite repeated revelations, notably the recent #PanamaPapers (https://panamapapers.icij.org/) scandal, the public eye glazes over at billions of dollars cited alongside obscure company names and a complex web of financial links across national and continental borders. This article seeks to do the following: 1) introduce readers to the #StoptheBleeding campaign and make the tremendous loss of resources from African countries via illicit financial flows more visible; 2) begin to make the case for linking #BlackLivesMatter and #StoptheBleeding with the understanding that the same system of (mis)appropriation of wealth is hurting people in Africa and elsewhere in the world including the US; and 3) offer several domestic and global policy changes that could make a difference on both sides of the Atlantic.