In partnership with the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), Asoko Insight is pleased to announce the launch of a new compliance support platform for businesses working with African supply chains.
Rising prioritisation of ethical business practices from a wide spectrum of stakeholders – including investors, regulators and consumers – means ESG has become increasingly important to bottom lines across the globe. Working across borders, especially in Africa’s often opaque markets, can make it difficult to assess the integrity of partners along the supply chain. This puts global businesses at risk of reputational damage or of falling afoul of regulatory imperatives in their home countries if their supply chain doesn’t uphold the same levels of integrity they operate with.
The Ethics 1st offer
Ethics 1st addresses this risk by providing independent support and verification of African businesses – including the SMEs that dominate the market – to achieve best-in-class compliance standards. Built on Asoko’s proven digital infrastructure, the Ethics 1st compliance verification platform enables a dynamic interface that can be tailored to existing processes and KYC/DD/supplier management systems to eradicate ‘check-box’ compliance and ensure a strong commitment to integrity backed up by externally assessed management frameworks.
By providing a cost-effective solution to a historically resource-intensive activity, Ethics 1st aims to facilitate a thriving business ecosystem that rewards companies operating with integrity, thus driving the fight against corruption, which has the potential to redirect the billions of dollars currently lost to illicit operations towards developing economies across the continent.
Rob Withagen, co-founder and CEO of Asoko Insight, said: “Integrating Africa into global trade is imperative both for the continent’s development and to increase the resilience of international supply chains. Reducing the risk profile of African SMEs by enabling greater transparency and standardisation of compliance activities will be instrumental in facilitating business links between multinationals and Africa’s dynamic private sector.”
Building capacity, one business at a time
This compliance verification provision builds on CIPE’s work over the last five years to develop compliance capacity through initiatives like the African Business Integrity Network (ABIN), a network of compliance professionals, and Ethics 1st, a comprehensive due diligence system supported by a comprehensive capacity development program for MSMEs, both of which can now be leveraged by multinationals, investors and other stakeholders that prioritise integrity in their business relationships on the continent.
Lola Adekanye, Senior Program Officer for Africa at CIPE, said: “De-risking investment is essential to Africa’s economic development and we believe that private companies have a critical role to play in this effort. By creating an ecosystem of businesses that put ethics and integrity first in their operations and industry, the private sector can transform the investment landscape one business at a time. Having built a strong foundation, we’re excited to engage multinationals, Development Finance Institutions, and other allies in attaining sustainable development to fulfill the shared commitment to increase integrity, transparency, accountability, and sustainability in supply chains in Africa.”
