An overview of corruption challenges and the African Continental Free Trade Area

Abstract

For decades, African leaders have committed themselves to fighting corruption, but due to a lack of transparency and accountability in governance, it continues to thrive and infiltrate the social, economic and political spheres. Corruption undermines the fundamental values of African unity grounded in socioeconomic development. Notwithstanding the prospects of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), economic integration will be in vain in the presence of corruption. In recognising that corruption hinders Africa’s economic, political and social development, the African Union enacted the Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption. Regrettably, the Convention falls short of establishing a continental independent anti-corruption institution. In its stead, article 22 of the Convention provides for an Advisory Board on Corruption established within the African Union. This article argues that the Convention necessitates an independent investigative anti-corruption institution aimed at promoting justice by holding perpetrators accountable, promoting the rule of law, and minimising corrupt opportunities and perpetration. The article begins with an overview of the corruption conundrum and its effect on Africa amidst economic integration efforts. This discussion is followed by a synopsis of the AfCFTA. The article probes existing anticorruption mechanisms in Africa and argues that the absence of an independent African anti-corruption investigative institution to implement the Convention is a deficiency that could hinder the effectiveness of the AfCFTA.