High-Level Conference on the Promotion of Good Governance and Fight against Corruption

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June 13, 2022 to June 14, 2022

Follow the Opening Session live on Monday 10:00 AM CAT here

Objectives

The High-Level Conference on Governance and Corruption will discuss good governance for the achievement of Africa’s growth opportunities and progress toward Agenda 2063 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This is timely, as Africa is beginning to recover from the pandemic. The region’s policymakers have a chance to recover the momentum stalled by the pandemic, including by drawing lessons from their experience in managing the COVID-19 crisis to strengthen governance and integrity systems. In so doing, African leaders in the public and private sectors can deepen and broaden the positive momentum on governance and anticorruption reform that many countries in the region had achieved in the decades preceding the pandemic. This work has become even more urgent in views of the spillovers on Africa from the unfolding security crisis in Europe, which exacerbates the adverse shock from the pandemic and other shocks (crisis in the Sahel, adverse climate events, etc.) .

The conference will offer a platform for the AUC and the IMF to present their approaches for engaging with member countries on governance, and to share insights drawn from extensive experience contributing to institutional capacity development and integrity. The AUC and IMF will also share perspectives based on each institution’s efforts to help member countries address governance and corruption issues in the context of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic and prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The specific objectives of the conference include to: (1) help build consensus on the macro-critical impacts of poor governance and corruption; (2) reaffirm African governments’ commitment to prioritize anticorruption and good governance reforms; ( 3) identify the pillars of a plan of action to promote governance in Africa, including during crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic; (4) discuss the AUC strategy and the IMF framework on governance and corruption, and disseminate key IMF and AUC messages on governance and corruption issues; (5) discuss African countries’ capacity development (CD) needs on governance and corruption issues and CD opportunities offered by the IMF and other international organizations

Target audience

About 200 officials have been invited by the AUC and the IMF. The target audience is principally government officials (such as Ministers of Finance, Economy and Planning, heads of revenue mobilization agencies, and Central Bank Governors and deputy governors) from each of the 55 AU Member States, as well as representatives of Regional Economic Communities (RECs), CEOs of African stock exchanges, and leaders of regional civil society organizations (CSOs) interested in governance and corruption issues. Each AFRITAC will sponsor two high-level government officials per country who will attend the conference in person. AFRITACs will support the participation in virtual mode of additional relevant government officials. ATI will invite its alumni to attend, with nominative invitations to those alumni and speakers of the last two courses on governance and corruption.

Panelists and speakers have been selected to balance theoretical knowledge and practical expertise and understanding of the peculiar circumstances of the African continent, including historical background and societal preferences. As a result, speakers will include policymakers and government experts on governance and corruption issues, representatives of firms and advocacy organizations, representatives from regional organizations, AU and IMF officials, and academics. To help guide their interventions, speakers and discussants will be provided a short description of expectations of each session. Presentations are expected no later two weeks before the conference. This will allow translation of the material and will give interpreters time to familiarize themselves with the subjects. Panelists and speakers will be provided audio equipment to ensure they are heard well by those attending remotely.

Program of Work

The conference will take place over two days, with a rotation of plenary sessions to discussed broad strategies and objectives with breakout sessions to discuss technical themes and implementation issues.

• Day 1 will focus on the governance challenges facing Africa right now, including the issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic and the security crisis in Europe, as well as on the AUC and IMF approaches to addressing corruption.

• Day 2 will focus on the road ahead to address corruption in core state functions: experience sharing, lessons learned, what the priorities should be going forward, and how to foster effective collaborations.

The Conference will be delivered through simultaneous interpretation in Arabic, English, French, and Portuguese

Click <a href="">here</a> for the full programme

Expected Outcomes

The expected outcomes of the conference include a document summarizing discussions, a compilation of presentations and questions raised representing the acts of the conference, and the establishment of a network of counterparts on governance and corruption issues. A press release will be issued at the end of the conference. The AUC and the IMF will develop a communication strategy to promote the conclusions of the conference.

Venue and Date

The High-Level Conference on Governance and Corruption is to be held at the Gaborone International Convention Centre in Gaborone, Botswana, from 13-14 June 2022. It is organized by the AUC Commission and the IMF’s Africa Training Institute in collaboration with the IMF five regional technical assistance centers in sub -Saharan Africa (AFRITAC Central, East AFRITAC, AFRITAC West, AFRITAC West II, and AFRITAC South). The conference will be hybrid. It will be held in-person in Botswana where most speakers will gather and will accommodate other attendees who will connect through zoom links. The remote attendees will include ATI alumni that attended recent courses on governance and corruption issues. There will be simultaneous interpretation in English, French, Portuguese, and Arabic.

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