The Africa Business Ethics Conference (ABEC) is a business-community-led global forum for convening a broad stakeholder group that for the first time includes the private sector in Africa to address the complex and peculiar challenges posed by corruption in the host country and in the region. ABEC takes place annually in one African country convening global and regional experts, civil society, the media, and policy makers along with the organize private sector.
A fundamental purpose of the ABEC is to advance anti-corruption efforts globally by stimulating constructive dialogue, raising awareness and creating opportunity for cross collaborative initiatives to bud amongst diverse stakeholders from around the world. The conference aims to foster learning by global and regional exchange of ideas, dialogue, discussion of case studies and initiatives while addressing local corruption dynamics of the host country in Africa. ABEC dialogues are solution-driven, pragmatic, and take a holistic approach to enable stakeholders to come away with knowledge and inspiration to introduce reforms that are sustainable, seasoned, fair, and increases public-private trust.
At the core of business accountability and transparency is a strong culture of compliance with standards of business ethics and integrity, therefore every ABEC has a goal of increasing awareness of compliance with anti-corruption guidelines and broader ethics and integrity standards for companies in the host country. ABEC encourages appropriate measurable and adequate compliance standards to be adopted by institutions and organizations as a baseline and the conference, creates a platform for tackling the peculiar challenges to enhancing a culture of business accountability and transparency in Africa where the business and economic realities differ from other regions.
ABEC holds in a country in Africa annually and can be hosted by an established private sector representative organization (Chamber of Commerce or Business Membership Organization) that volunteers to host the conference in collaboration with the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE)
The conference is a part of CIPE’s Africa regional Anti-Corruption strategy to empower the organized private sector in Africa to play a more active role in combatting corruption and raise standards of business integrity and accountability in their countries rather than leave all the anti-corruption efforts to the government
The theme of and focus of every ABEC dialogue would reflect the country’s peculiar challenges with corruption, potential solutions and priorities vis-à-vis the regional and international contexts. Nevertheless, the fundamental objective of the conference remains consistent – promoting development and growth in Africa by constructive dialogue and effort involving the private sector to tackle corruption in Africa and around the world
