On 26 June 2018, the Basel Institute on Governance and the Office of Integrity and Anti-Corruption of the African Development Bank (AfDB) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at strengthening collaboration on anti-corruption projects in regional member countries of the African Development Bank Group.

Motivated by the desire to “promote integrity in the use of the Bank's resources”, the broad agreement covers fundamental aspects of developing “measures aimed at preventing, detecting and deterring coercion, collusion, corruption, fraud and obstruction in Bank-funded projects and operations financed by the Bank”.

These include, among other things:

• sharing knowledge;
• conducting joint research;
• developing practical training tools;
• conducting training and awareness-raising activities;
• providing technical assistance to countries and organisations;
• facilitating and partnering on initiatives to counter corruption and on other areas of mutual interest; 
• disseminating information and research through joint publications.

The MoU follows two regional training workshops co-funded by the AfDB and delivered by the International Centre for Asset Recovery’s (ICAR’s) training team. The first, held in Uganda in October 2016 for investigators of East and Southern African countries, was conducted in collaboration with the East African Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities (EAAACA) and Southern African Development Community (SADC). Arranged by the Commonwealth Africa Anti-Corruption Centre (CAACC) in Botswana in 2017, the second training workshop brought together anti-corruption agencies in 18 African countries with a focus on best practices and practical tools for financial investigations and asset recovery.

Further regional ICAR training workshops are anticipated as a first step. At a wider level, it is hoped that the MoU will enhance mutual support and collaboration between the Basel Institute on Governance, the AfDB’s anti-corruption divisions, the EAAACA, the CAACC and other major actors involved in regional anti-corruption efforts in Africa.