Nearly 70% of African corporations believe third-party business partners pose the greatest risk for bribery. An anti-bribery and corruption survey conducted by law firm ENSafrica shows that even though more than 90% of the organisations surveyed have policies in place that prohibit bribes, only 36% are confident they have the proportionate procedures to mitigate bribery risks.
There is certainly cause for caution. Over the past two decades, South Africa has lost ZAR700 billion to corruption and is considered, along with Nigeria and six other African nations, a ‘corruption hot spot’.
In fact, nearly a quarter of survey respondents had experienced an incident of bribery and/or corruption in the past two years – a 4% increase on 2013. According to a Business Tech report, however, African organisations are taking action with a somewhat progressive approach. More than 60% now conduct due diligence screening on third parties, a 22% increase from 2013.
