This talk will draw on previous work on philanthropy, philanthropic practices and elites in West and Central Africa, as well as ongoing research on management consultants and accountants in politics. It aims to open up a series of questions about elites, social classes and their transformations. Debates on African philanthropy focus on horizontal giving as a form of solidarity. The first part of the presentation analyses the repertoires of philanthropic practices of wealthy businessmen in West and Central Africa and how they are anchored in different political economies. Drawing on observations in Cameroon, Nigeria, Senegal and Chad, interviews and original data on corporate and foundation activities, the paper identifies three types of philanthropic practices that support different forms of economic accumulation and social reproduction. They also foster new forms of governance and transnational networks that have been overlooked. The presentation will discuss the implications of this work for our understanding of business elites and the firms and individuals that facilitate the circulation or extraction of wealth and its offshoring.

Corentin Cohen is a Marie Skłodowska Curie Research Fellow in the Department of Politics and International Relations and a Junior Research Fellow in Politics at St Peter’s College, Oxford. Corentin’s research interests lie at the crossroads of political economy, IR and area studies. He is keen on developing new methodological approaches that draw on elite interviews, ethnography and big data, and open source research into large batches of documents such as leaks. He is currently writing a book on the role of management consultants and accountants in Africa and Brazil. Corentin has taught at Sciences Po and the Université Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne.