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Welcome back!
Our research and data team probably doesn’t get enough credit for the incredible hours upon hours of work they do. Seriously, these lovely folk spend *months* reading documents, creating spreadsheets, checking data sets against each other, and plenty more. It’s certainly not for those with little patience (e.g. moi!), but for some, it’s an exciting journey and it is often at the heart of our investigations. Hopefully this week you’ll get a wee taste of that work!
Why would a company – headquartered in Bangkok – have a related entity in Mauritius? Other companies might be listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange, or the NASDAQ, yet they’re incorporated in the tiny African island in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Our research term spent hours digging through the 200,000 documents but these five examples stuck with them – from palm oil to online travel bookings – and exemplify the diversity of businesses using Mauritian companies.
Botswana is often referred to as Africa’s “shining light of democracy” or the continent’s “success story.” But as this month’s Meet the Investigators reveals, that’s not always the case. Ntibinyane "Alvin" Ntibinyane’s drive to hold the powerful to account in Botswana led him to co-found the INK Centre for Investigative Journalism. He’s got tips for starting your own news organization – and also how to keep the “arrogance” of those in power at bay.
Did you miss this Mauritius Leaks story? It’s something a little bit different… This isn’t your usual tax story. Instead you can scroll through our visual explainer from Mauritius Leaks of how one United States-based company manages to pay less than 2% tax. We start in Connecticut but end up in Mauritius, and with the inclusion of some big, global names (KPMG, EY) you can see just how many organizations it takes to create a tax dodge.
Amy Wilson-Chapman
ICIJ’s community engagement editor
P.S. Do you think we could design this newsletter better? Come join our team! We want a designer to help make our reporting even more beautiful and engaging. Apply now!
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