“Having an effective anti-corruption programme is more important for companies today than ever before.” – says Africa’s largest law firm, ENSAfrica.
ENSAfrica recently released their 2015 anti-bribery and corruption results. 88 organisations across Africa participated in the survey.
The results indicated that although acts of bribery have increased, companies have also become more aware of the disastrous effects that bribery and corruption pose to their businesses.
Key findings of the survey:
- 24% of organisations have experienced an incident of bribery and/or corruption in the past 24 months;
- Just over 90% of organisations surveyed have a policy prohibiting bribes;
- 52% have an established anti-bribery compliance programme;
- 43% have conducted a detailed anti-bribery risk assessment of their bribery risks;
- 68% of those surveyed believe that third-party business partners pose the greatest source of bribery risk to their organisations;
- South Africa was one of the 8 counties highlighted as a corruption hotspot;
- only 36% of organisations surveyed:
- are confident that they have proportionate procedures to mitigate bribery risks; or
- believe they are well prepared to respond to the threat of an anti-bribery regulatory investigation.
- 62% of organisations now conduct due diligence screening on third parties, and
- only 40% of organisations have a dedicated anti-bribery training programme for their employees and 15% provide anti-bribery training to their business partners.
(View the full list of the 2015 Anti-Bribery and Corruption Survey Results)
Furthermore, the survey also found that companies who are proactive towards reducing bribery and corruption in their business reported fewer incidents as opposed to those who are not.
Whistle Blowers (Pty) Ltd Operations Director, Dale Horne confirms that there has been an increase in companies implementing anti-corruption programs, that are now more proactive than ever before. He believes that a fundamental requirement towards compliance is a whistleblowing hotline facility where employees can report any irregularities within the organisation and remain anonymous.
We have been protecting the identity of whistleblowers for over 15 years, says Dale. He further mentions that Whistle Blowers (Pty) Ltd is much more than a hotline. Over and above this, awareness programs are implemented in order to change the culture within organisations and induct all employees into the crime-fighting fold.
ENSAfrica concluded their 2015 anti-bribery and corruption survey results with, “Organisations should understand that bribery remains a constant threat and they need to ensure that their anti-bribery controls and procedures are in good working order. Ongoing monitoring and tweaking of anti-bribery controls and procedures is essential and will help to remediate risks before they spread.”
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