OECD/AfDB Initiative to Support Business Integrity and Anti-bribery Efforts in Africa

Supporting business integrity and anti-bribery efforts in Africa

At the end of 2008, the OECD and the African Development Bank (AfDB) signed a letter of intent introducing a Joint Initiative to support Business Integrity and Anti-Bribery Efforts in Africa. The initiative aims to assist African countries in their fight against bribery of public officials in business transactions and to improve corporate integrity and accountability, while sustaining growth through an environment conducive to attracting investment.

The OECD and the AfDB will work together to design and help put in place effective policies in the fight against the bribery of public officials. Through the involvement of business and African policymakers, it will also focus on improving the competitiveness of private sector firms in Africa by improving standards of corporate integrity and accountability.

The Initiative will also highlight and enhance complementarities between the African Union Convention on Combating Fraud and Corruption, the UN Convention Against Corruption, and the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials. The OECD and AfDB, in partnership with key players and organisations in the region, will liaise and help Governments to design and implement their policies to fight bribery of their own public officials and promote business integrity. 

Next steps

A regional Anti-bribery Expert Group will meet towards the end of 2009 to discuss and identify policy measures to reduce the risk of bribery in business transactions. To provide input for this meeting, the OECD and the AfDB have commissioned an anti-bribery and business integrity overview assessment for Africa. The latter will formulate policy assessments and proposals to promote effective anti-bribery and business integrity measures in Africa taking into account best practices within both OECD Member Countries and in developing Countries. It will also take into account relevant international instruments (primarily the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption, the UN Convention Against Corruption and the OECD anti-bribery instruments)”.

Among other things, the aim is to develop a Course of Action for Anti-bribery and Business Integrity in Africa, which will then constitute one of the key pillars of the Initiative, and should then be endorsed by a regional meeting. Following the endorsement of the Course of Action, an Anti-bribery and Business integrity Task Force will be established. This Task Force will drive and monitor the implementation of the initiative and serve as a regional forum to discuss progress achieved in enforcing policies and law, and to address cross-regional issues and promote dialogue with different stakeholders.

See also

More OECD work on Africa