Capacity building foundation moves to tame graft in Africa

To contain the impact of corruption blamed for the backwardness of the Continent, the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF), has taken the recipe of how to tame the scourge to African leaders at the ongoing 30th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government in Addis Ababa, Ethiopian.The ACBF, the Specialised Agency for Capacity Development of the African Union (AU), is headed by a Nigerian, Prof. Emmanuel Nnadozie, as its Executive Secretary.

A statement from the ACBF Headquarters in Harare, Zimbabwe, said the Foundation has decided to take necessary steps to advise African Heads of State and Government on capacity requirements to fight corruption on the continent because of its negative impact.

Nnadozie said the Summit’s theme, which centres on effectively fighting corruption to guarantee Africa’s transformation is very pertinent and timely, to keep the Continent on a path to achieving tangible results in the implementation of Agenda 2063 and the SDGs, thus making Africa’s transformation a reality.

“For a long time, the discussion around fighting corruption to enhance policy implementation and service delivery in Africa has been centered around behavior and mentality change alone. Whereas the evidence on the field shows serious gaps in the capacity of institutions called upon to fight corruption to undertake their daunting tasks in a holistic and result-based manner,” he added.

Prof Nnadozie said ACBF would be bringing fresh perspectives on capacity to tackle corruption by proposing mechanisms to coordinate the work of such institutions alongside frameworks for economic and political competitiveness, judicial effectiveness and transformative leadership, among others.

The ACBF added: “Effectively fighting corruption will help Africa to optimise investment in the skills revolution that will facilitate Africa’s accelerated and sustainable transformation through a successful implementation of national development plans, Agenda 2063 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).”

Meanwhile, the Foundation and the African Development Bank (AfDB), will soon publish the African Financial Governance Outlook (AFGO), a new flagship report to enrich understanding of public financial management, and its contribution to good governance, with the ultimate aim of reducing poverty and delivering sustainable and inclusive economic growth in Africa.ACBF said it will take advantage of its participation in two major sessions at the AU Summit on January 28 and 29, to make decisive contributions on capacity requirements to fight corruption.