Engaging the private sector in Collective Action against corruption: A practical guide for anti-corruption agencies in Africa

This guidance seeks to capture and explore the innovative approaches that African governments have developed to address the demand and supply sides of corruption more effectively and sustainably. It is designed to help government institutions, in particular national anti-corruption agencies, engage with the private sector more effectively to prevent corruption.

The document highlights good practices identified through interviews, desk research and a 2021 Southern African Development Community (SADC) training on “Emerging anti-corruption issues and private-sector engagement for SADC anti-corruption agencies”.

Africa offers many examples of innovative, unique and context-sensitive approaches to engage the private sector in anti-corruption efforts. Ghana’s National Anti-Corruption Action Plan, for instance, offers an award scheme and is looking into providing tax benefits to companies that enforce anti-corruption measures and demonstrate leadership in the fight against corruption. Other agencies and governments in the region, such as Morocco, are currently discussing implementing a reward system for compliant companies that can be considered when companies bid for public tenders.

These examples demonstrate how African governments proactively seek to tackle corruption and collaborate with the private sector.

From the initiatives captured, three common strategic approaches can be identified to underpin effective and impactful engagement:

• Raising awareness, guiding and working with the private sector to more effectively address corruption risks.
• Identifying and providing incentives to companies investing in their compliance programmes.
• Demonstrating leadership by actively participating in Collective Action and public-private partnerships.

This document is a follow-up of a practical global guide published in July 2022 and was produced with the support of the Siemens Integrity Initiative.

It is freely shareable under a Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence. Please credit the Basel Institute on Governance.