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Africa’s fight against financial crime is gathering pace, driven by greater collaboration and the use of innovative tools to thwart corruption, money laundering or human trafficking. Financial crimes engender poverty as funds are misdirected, and the corrupt get richer while the vulnerable grow poorer. According to Frunza, most financial crime occurs at three main levels: within organisations, through financial instruments and through the misuse of technology – the central pillars of economic growth and development.
The lack of strategic and effective cooperation among African states indicates that financial crimes will continue to pose a growing threat in Africa. Current responses – which emphasise stringent legislation and regulation, but not their enforcement – are inadequate. Furthermore, the current capacity of law enforcement agencies does not appear commensurate with the challenge.
For Africa to reverse these trends, it would need to harmonise the normative framework among states through a continental convention or protocol; prioritise a rule of law-based approach; and step up international cooperation.
Looking at a company as a whole, there are people at the top who are trusted with running the company in an ethical way, making sure that the company establishes appropriate objectives and shows measured achievements toward those objectives. This is governance. Up until the days of Enron, WorldCom, et. al., governance took place quietly in the background. Now it has been thrust into the spotlight, and it is much more closely tied to risk management and compliance.
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<h2><strong>Four Pillars of Corporate Governance</strong></h2>
<ul>
<li>Fairness</li>
<li>Accountability</li>
<li>Independence</li>
<li>Transparency</li>
</ul>
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<h2><strong>Major elements of corporate governance</strong></h2>
<ul>
<li>Board Commitment</li>
<li>Good board practices</li>
<li>Functional and effective control environment</li>
<li>Transparent disclosure</li>
<li>Well defined shareholder rights</li>
</ul>
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