Many Africans who make their money in
legitimate ways share Houphouet-Boigny’s aversion
to keeping their assets in Africa. According
to Paul Collier of the World Bank, Anke Hoeffler
of Oxford University, and Catherine Pattillo of
the IMF, wealthy Africans hold 39 percent of
their assets abroad, while East Asians hold only 6
percent of their assets aboard.94 A study by James
K. Boyce and Leonce Ndikumana of the University
of Massachusetts estimated capital flight of
US $285 billion from 25 out of 48 SSA countries
between 1970 and 1996.95 According to Boyce
and Ndikumana, the combined external debt of
those countries stood at US $178 billion in 1996,