Africa Regional Centre of Excellence in Integrity AFCOE

Members of Chambers are proud to be closely associated with and to support the work of the Africa Regional Centre of Excellence in Integrity (AFCOE see: www.rcoe-sa.org), the mandate of which is to contribute meaningfully and innovatively to the defeat of corruption across the African continent, so that its people may enjoy sustainable economic development through which they can be lifted out of poverty and into prosperity.

The AFCOE fulfils its mandate in two ways:

1. By functioning as a pan-African counter-corruption think tank, including holding annually from the Spring of 2025 the two-day Africa Counter-Corruption Dialogue.  That Dialogue will be an annual ‘grand-strategic’ conclave held in Stellenbosch and rotating every other year between Nairobi and Abuja (respectively AFCOE (West) and AFCOE (East)), and attended by African leaders and their counterparts from around the World.  The objective of the Dialogue will be to identify effective, efficient, deliverable and, above all else, coordinated pan-African strategies for combatting corruption in Africa, and the product of this process will be the Counter-Corruption Framework for Africa.  That framework will then be implemented within African states through National Conversations facilitated by the AFCOE.  In effect, the Dialogue will become for counter-corruption in Africa what Davos is for the World Economic Forum in Switzerland.  The event will rapidly emerge to become Africa’s leading and most influential counter-corruption gathering; and

2. By functioning as a pan-African centre for integrity and counter-corruption training, and enhancing the capacity and capabilities of counter-corruption agencies and professionals across Africa (including law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, the judiciary, civil servants, and compliance officers in the public and private sectors) through the provision of highly practical, real-world integrity training courses of up to three weeks in duration, all of which will be accredited by Stellenbosch University.  This process of accreditation will, over time, create pathways into tertiary education that may have hitherto been denied to less fortunate or disadvantaged members of South African society. 

The AFCOE was established in August 2022, following the unanimous declaration of all the high-level delegates attending the Pavocat-Stellenbosch Academy (PSA) Counter-Corruption Summit convened at the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study (STIAS) on 27th July 2022.  In November of 2023, that summit was followed by the AFCOE convening the two-day Pan African Counter-Corruption Assembly (PACCA), attended by Ministers of Justice from across Africa and which led to the affirmation of the need in Africa for the annual Dialogue.

The PSA, which has the responsibility for the management and administration of the AFCOE, is a formal collaboration between Stellenbosch University and Pavocat.  In its management and administration of the AFCOE and the Dialogue, the PSA is guided by an Advisory Board chaired by Professor Lee Marler of Chambers. The board comprises individuals outstanding in their respective fields with the added advantage of the knowledge and expertise provided by its distinguished Founding Patrons, who include:

For more information in respect of the AFCOE please see its most recent brochure or contact Professor Lee Marler at lee.marler@pavocatchambers.com

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