The Regional Hub for Africa provides anti-corruption and financial crime advisory services and technical assistance to 47 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The Hub supports the three regional platforms established in Africa, namely: Eastern Africa (2017), Southern Africa (2019) and West Africa and the Sahel (2022), and the implementation of their respective road maps. The Hub also creates inter-platform connections and interactions through common regional priorities.
Building on this and as an extension of the Hub’s work, the Regional Illicit Finance Fusion Center for Africa strengthens our ability to address financial and economic crime across the region by supporting Member States’ anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorism financing efforts.
The Hub’s anti-corruption and financial crime efforts are aligned with UNODC’s Strategic Vision for Africa 2030, which sets safeguarding people and institutions from corruption and economic crime as one of the Vision’s five goals. The Hub also coordinates activities with the African Union’s Advisory Board Against Corruption, building on existing synergies between the UN Convention against Corruption and the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption. Other African Union’s initiatives such as the Common Position on Asset Recovery (CAPAR) are also being considered in shaping the Hub’s initiatives.
Cooperation with other regional anti-corruption bodies is key for achieving the Hub’s objectives. The Hub engages proactively with the Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities in Africa (AAACA), the Eastern Africa Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities (EAAACA), the Anti-Corruption Sub Committee of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Commonwealth Africa Anti-Corruption Centre (CAACC), the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Network of National Anti-Corruption Institutions in West Africa (NACIWA), the Asset Recovery Inter-Agency Network for Central Africa (ARINCA), the Asset Recovery Inter-Agency Network for West Africa (ARINWA), the Asset Recovery Inter-Agency Network for Southern Africa (ARINSA), the Action Group against Money Laundering in Central Africa (GABAC), and the Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA), for the realization of shared agendas and objectives through joint initiatives.
The work of the Hub recognizes the important role played by civil society, academia, media, private sector, youth and others. It provides ongoing support to African networks such as the Norbert Zongo Network for Investigative Journalists (CENOZO) and the Platform to Protect Whistleblowers in Africa (PPLAAF). The Hub also leverages UNODC’s implementing partnership agreements with Open Contracting Partnership and Open Ownership to support the delivery of technical assistance on public procurement and beneficial ownership transparency, respectively.
The Hub is based in Nairobi, Kenya, with additional anti-corruption and financial crime experts currently located throughout the region, including in Côte d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Africa and Zambia.
