The Looting Machine by Tom Burgis

Tom Burgis’ The Looting Machine is a rollercoaster read. 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 privatization of power in Africa and its impact on the continent’s people. 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”.