AfDB - OECD joint initiative to support business integrity

The African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Joint Initiative to Support Business Integrity and Anti-Bribery Efforts in Africa.

In 2008, the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) established the Joint Initiative to Support Business Integrity and Anti-Bribery Efforts in Africa (Joint Initiative).

The objectives of the Joint Initiative are four-fold:

to increase the capacity of governments to enforce anti-bribery laws;
to strengthen global anti-bribery efforts;
to improve public sector integrity; and
to kick start the beginning of a new era of transparency and accountable business in Africa.

Through this work, the Joint Initiative is helping to create a business enabling environment, thereby attracting foreign investment and fostering economic growth. The work of the Initiative is grounded in the anti-bribery and anti-corruption provisions of the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption , the United Nations Convention Against Corruption, and the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials.

The Joint Initiative began with the adoption of the Course of Action on Anti-Bribery and Business Integrity at the First Regional Experts’ Meeting in January 2011 in Malawi. This document sets out a series of activities to be undertaken by African governments as well as the direction of future work under the Initiative. Major activities so far undertaken include the organization of workshops and trainings to promote business integrity, and anti-corruption training. A key output of the Joint Initiative in 2012 was the publication of the Stock-taking Report on Business Integrity and Anti-Bribery Legislation, Policies, and Practices in Twenty African Countries .

More recently the Joint Initiative Partners in response to RMC requests have developed the Anti-Bribery Policy and Compliance Guidance for African Companies. This is a practical, user-friendly tool, whose objective is to provide guidance to private companies working in African countries, on how to prevent, detect and address corruption in their business transactions, thereby curbing the supply side of bribery. The Compliance Guidance will be launched at a Workshop scheduled for 27 to 28^th October 2016 in Abidjan Cote D’Ivoire.