Over the last three years, I have been working on an independent research project to compile a register of the salaries, benefits and known assets of the 54 sitting African heads of state (from 1978 to present). Since 2011, the data I have collected provides useful insights into the relationship between wealth and political power.
My goal is to establish a searchable database that presents the “asset profiles” of all 54 presidents, revealing hidden assets of some of the serving and retired heads of state.
Although presidential assets get global news attention whenever a regime collapses or when corruption allegations involving key politicians arise, this project does not rely on the presence of an immediate news revelation. It would, however, provide a platform against which such reporting can be referenced, and I will do independent news stories on different countries when a fresh news angle arises.
I would like to use this data as a platform for a “follow-the-money” project that documents the salaries, benefits and known assets key politicians in all African countries and is regularly updated, similar OpenSecrets.org but on a smaller scale.
For the project I would like to learn how to build a searchable database using either Google Spreadsheets for easy updates
and collaboration or other tools. I would also need to learn to use data stored in .csv and .pdf and to use web scrapping methods to collect public data from government websites and servers.
Organizations like Tax Justice Network, Transparency International, SwissInfo.ch and the World Bank Institute have extensively documented cases of asset forfeiture and billions of dollars in foreign bank accounts and tax havens.
1. Capital flight data showing how states have lost since 1970.Capital flight and hidden assets are often reported, but only in response to isolated incidents of political upheaval or asset forfeiture. No news organization has published a comprehesive record of the disputed assets of heads of state in the region.
Business InsiderI would like to pitch parts of this project to The Guardian, Foreign Policy Magazine, TIME Magazine and the Mail & Guardian.
1. How many heads of state can explain their wealth?
2. Where does the money African states lose in capital flight go?
3. What happens to the private assets that get seized by Western governments?
4. How do the private asset profiles of heads of state compare to that of their citizens?
5. How much wealth do Africa's longest serving heads of state control?