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Corruption remains a major barrier to sustainable development, democratic governance and human rights across Africa, diverting public resources, weakening institutions, eroding public trust and undermining economic growth. The African Union (AU) recognizes it as an impediment to achieving Agenda 2063 and sustainable development. To commemorate the adoption of the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption (AUCPCC), 11th July is observed annually as African Anti-Corruption Day. The 2026 theme, Scaling up the Promotion of Integrity and Anti-Corruption Actions Across Africa calls for renewed collective action placing emphasis on stronger institutions and practical actions.
With our new Regional Coordinator for Sub-Saharan Africa, Lewis Kundai, onboard, our regional community met for its 20th Regional Meeting in late July 2026, to exchange on efforts and events they organized or took part in around Africa Anti-Corruption Day.
The discussion also highlighted the increasingly challenging contexts in which civil society organizations (CSOs) across the region are operating. Experiences shared by members pointed to interconnected pressures on civic space including state capture, surveillance and the misuse of Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing Terrorism (AML/CFT) frameworks to restrict civil society and human rights defenders. These pressures are compounded by the declining donor funding, affecting organisations’ advocacy efforts and overall operational sustainability. The experiences underscored the importance of peer learning to better understand trends and strengthen responses for addressing the shrinking civic space.
Linking global efforts to regional efforts
At a global level the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in October 2003, is the legally binding international anti-corruption instrument and provides the global framework for preventing and combating corruption. The Convention recognizes that corruption cannot be addressed only through criminal sanctions but it requires robust preventive measures, effective law enforcement, international cooperation, asset recovery and technical assistance. In article 5 particularly, the convention calls on States Parties to develop, implement and periodically evaluate coordinated anti-corruption policies that promote the rule of law, proper management of public affairs, and the participation of the public in the fight against corruption.
In the African context, these global commitments are reinforced by the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption (AUCPCC) adopted a few months before the UNCAC, on 11 July 2003. The AUCPCC complements UNCAC by responding to Africa’s governance priorities while strengthening preventive measures, criminalization, asset recovery, international cooperation and the participation of civil society in anti-corruption efforts. Since its adoption, the Convention has served as the continent’s principal legal framework for promoting integrity, accountability and good governance among AU Member States. Similar to UNCAC, AUCPCC’s article 5 sets out the legislative and other measures Member States should adopt such as strengthening national anti-corruption institutions, protecting whistleblowers, and promoting transparency and access to information.
These two frameworks are best read as one system operating at different scales. UNCAC sets the universal floor and provides the international cooperation and asset recovery machinery that no country can replicate alone; the AUCPCC gives those obligations regional specificity, continental ownership and a peer accountability mechanism through the AU Advisory Board on Corruption. The persistent challenge across both is implementation – commitments on paper have consistently outrun enforcement in practice. Scaling up integrity across Africa, then, means using the global framework to strengthen the regional one, and the regional one to make global obligations concrete in national law, budgets and institutions.
Leading conversations at the regional and national level
The Coalition participated in this year’s webinar organized by the Africa Union Advisory Board on Corruption (AUABC) on 13th July, while the Coalition members used the commemoration as an opportunity to engage citizens, strengthen dialogue, and encourage practical reforms. Their activities reflected different aspects of the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption, demonstrating how integrity can be promoted through education, public participation, institutional accountability and collective action.
- The Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC) commemorated the day through a nationwide youth-focused campaign reaffirming its commitment to listening directly to young people, understanding how corruption affects their daily lives and aspirations, and engaging them in meaningful conversations on practical actions they can take to promote accountability and integrity. As part of the campaign, GACC reached young people in schools across Ghana and also convened a regional X Space that brought together young professionals from Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Somalia, Angola, and several other African countries. The discussion provided a platform for participants to exchange experiences and explore practical approaches to strengthening integrity across the continent.
Complementing these initiatives, GACC issued a public statement calling for renewed commitment to building a Ghana and an Africa where integrity thrives and corruption has no place. The statement underscored that the fight against corruption is a shared responsibility that requires the active participation of all, emphasizing that every act of honesty, every decision to do what is right and every effort to promote accountability brings society closer to the transparent, just and prosperous future it envisions.
- Good Governance Africa marked the day by convening its Executive Dialogue Series under the theme Integrity as a Competitive Advantage: From Compliance to Prevention. The event brought together leaders from government, the private sector, academia, civil society, and accountability institutions. The event featured two complementary engagements; a high-level dialogue with business leaders and representatives from seven bilateral chambers of commerce on positioning integrity as a strategic business advantage, and a technical forum for procurement and compliance professionals, governance practitioners, civil society, and the National Prosecuting Authority to explore practical approaches to preventing corruption.
To support these discussions Good Governance Africa published a policy paper examining South Africa’s post-Zondo anti-corruption landscape for the private sector. The paper explores current reforms, international good practices, and practical measures businesses can adopt to strengthen governance, procurement integrity, and corruption prevention.
- Good Governance Africa together with Transparency International Madagascar, Integrity Initiatives International, Transparency Mauritius, HEDA Resource Centre, Tournons La Page and Pan-African Lawyers Union released a joint statement calling for the closing of the enforcement gap by strengthening public institutions that resist capture.
The 2026 Africa Anti-Corruption Day demonstrated that promoting integrity requires more than policy commitments – it depends on sustained action by governments, civil society, young people, oversight institutions and communities.
If you are a civil society activist from Sub-Saharan Africa and would like to become involved, please contact our Regional Coordinator Lewis Kundai at lewis.kundai@uncaccoalition.org.
