The Looting Machine

Warlords, Oligarchs, Corporations, Smugglers, and the Theft of Africa's Wealth

By: Tom Burgis

Narrated by: Dugald Bruce Lockhart

An “impressive” (Wall Street Journal) exposé of twenty-first century individuals and companies who have become obscenely rich from the resource trade in Africa

Africa is the world’s poorest continent and, arguably, its richest. In The Looting Machine, Tom Burgis takes readers on a gripping journey into the world of the magnates and militiamen, the despots and jet-setting executives who gorge on Africa’s vast stocks of oil, gas, metals, and precious stones. Combining deep reporting with an action-packed narrative, Burgis presents a blistering investigation of the plunder of a continent and the terrible human toll.

Critic reviews

A Financial Times Best Book of the Year

"A great scrapbook of exploitation. It is written in a way that will appeal to the general reader, but still interest specialists...Burgis has the good sense not to present [the cruel contrast between individual poverty and national wealth] in an alarmist way, but with an understatement that is far more powerful...The Looting Machine is in part a means of self‑exoneration, a way of making amends to those he ultimately could not help...[In this book he] has done a service to some of the world’s poorest people."—Financial Times

"[An] impressive study… It is to Mr. Burgis's tremendous credit that he writes with such tenacity."—Wall Street Journal

"[Burgis] presents a lively portrait of the rapacious ‘looting machine’...a rich collage of examples showing the links between corrupt companies and African elites."—Economist

"[Burgis] brings the tools of an investigative reporter and the sensibility of a foreign correspondent. [He] transcends the tired binary debate about the root causes of the continent's misery."—Howard French, Foreign Affairs

"A brave and defiant book."—New York Times Sunday Book Review

"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 privatisation of power in Africa and its impact on the continent’s people."—African Arguments

"Brilliant fascinating detail. The book lives up to its colourful subtitle: ‘Warlords, tycoons, smugglers and the systematic theft of Africa's wealth.’ Showing the finesse and determination that has won him awards at the FT, and at considerable risk to his own well‑being, Burgis tracks down and confronts the people at the centre of this plunder."—African Research Institute

"This fine book...catalogues the grotesque self‑enrichment of the callous rulers of Angola, Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria, countries that should be immensely wealthy, but which remain poor, even by African standards. In each case, this theft of national treasure would be impossible without non‑African facilitators. ... Burgis’s book is essential to understanding why poverty, ignorance and conflict persist in Africa."—Independent Catholic News

"After nine years reporting on Africa for the Financial Times, Tom Burgis exposes how the extractive industries have turned into a hideous looting machine [an] informative book."—The Guardian (UK)

"[Burgis] makes a powerful case, through anecdote and evidence, that the dirty trade in raw materials serves individuals’ own enrichment and the demands of oligarchic and state interests worldwide."—The Times (UK)

A revealing look at corruption and its participants

This book is informative, but also a sad and demoralizing reality of the consequences of human greed.