The IMF’s loan packages require that recipient countries adapt Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs), or macroeconomic policy changes. Although they have the stated neutral purpose of ensuring financial stability and loan repayment, in reality SAPs are deeply political maneuvers recreating imperial relationships in the contemporary era. One such avenue is through stipulating countries move towards export of manufactured goods, often to countries in the Global North where they are realized as tax revenue and profit.

This map displays these relationships by showing loan recipient countries in red, each recipient’s top five increased export destinations over the next five years in blue, and lines connecting these countries to show the flow of goods from the Global South to Global North. Zoom in with the mouse wheel or by double-clicking, flick or slowly drag to move the map, and change the year displayed through the slider at the top of the page.