Corruption is definitely not unique to Africa alone. It prevails globally in one form or another in practically all countries and regions. However, combating corruption in Africa requires a number of innovative and proactive measures (including collective multi-stakeholder action involving the public and private sector as well as civil society) to tackle the constellation of factors that create a fertile ground for corruption in Africa.

The Pan-African Anti-corruption Forum on “Public-Private Strategies to Improve Governance”, hosted by the Kingdom of Lesotho recognized that a major aspect of Africa’s ability to fight corruption and improve governance involves our ability to take stock of anti-corruption approaches, as well as to effectively measure reform efforts and national and sectoral performance in terms of governance.

In taking forward this recommendation, the Business Action Against Corruption (BAAC) in partnership with the Governance and Public Administration Division of the UNECA (GPAD-UNECA) co hosted the 1st working group meeting in Addis Ababa on the 14-15th of November in conjunction with BAAC Nigeria, Ghana, Tanzania and key official African institutions, including the African Union Advisory Board on Corruption, the African Development Bank.

The aim of the project is to develop a benchmarking tool, which will provide a broadly based assessment measure that is able to identify gaps and measure progress regarding anticorruption regimes and processes at a national level in a properly contextualized manner, thereby reducing reliance on purely perceptual measures.

To read more on the Business Action Against Corruption Programme