Seychelles from 29 to 30 October 2015. The Government of Liberia Delegation Headed by Deputy Commerce Minister Cyril A. Allen II attended the second annual Afrieximbank customer due Diligence forum in Seychelles.

The Forum was officially opened by his Excellency Mr. Danny Faure, Vice-President of the Republic of Seychelles. The forum gathered over 200 participants from more than 25 countries across the continent, including experts from various institutions, regulators and corporate entities from Africa and beyond.

The expectations of this year’s Forum were very high and this was reflected in the comprehensive coverage of topics discussed, including producing a framework for an African Customer Due Diligence architecture and corporate governance best practice and making progress in the implementation of the African Customer Due Diligence Repository Platform.

Participants concurred on the need to have a unique African Corporate Governance culture and framework but affirmed that such a framework must be grounded on global standards and best practices of corporate governance.

One of the high points was the signing of the MoU between Afreximbank and the Seychelles Chamber of Commerce and Industry, an important step towards the establishment of the Repository.

Delegates in the two-day Forum reached the following conclusions:

1. Good corporate governance and strong customer due diligence structures are essential for growth and economic development in Africa.
2. Good corporate governance and customer due diligence could play a key role in domestic resources mobilization and access to capital. In this regard, participants welcomed ongoing efforts by Afreximbank to enhance domestic resource mobilization, including through its central bank deposit programme and pension fund scheme.
3. Corporate governance and customer due diligence are intimately linked, with the latter serving as entry point to mitigate loophole in corporate governance.
4. African corporate should abide by global corporate governance standards, the key issues lie in enforcement and compliance and this was seen as one area which should be emphasized within the continent. It was suggested that Afreximbank should champion this by working with African institutions and governments.
5. More than addressing issues related to money-laundering and terrorism financing, enforcing best customer due diligence culture and practices could mitigate the risk of illicit financial flows and capital flight from Africa, a continent where trade financing and investment gap remains key constraints to growth.
6. Commended Afreximbank for the steps taken towards the establishment of the African CDD Repository Platform, since the maiden meeting in Dakar, including the establishment of the advisory steering committee and the secretariat.
7. Going forward a strong partnership would be critical for a successful implementation of the Repository Platform.
8. Afreximbank was encouraged to engage very early on with financial institutions (both African and global) and regulators to enhance the implementation process.
9. Other critical recommendations to enhance the platform include:

• Capacity building and training;
• The need for reliable data collection and monitoring; and
• The use of technology.

    10. On corporate governance, the delegates welcomed the progress made by the continent.

     11. The delegates also recognized the diversity across countries and praised ongoing efforts within   the                 OHADA institutions to harmonize corporate governance and law in its member countries. 

     12. At the same time it was recommended that attempts be made to harmonize and standardize corporate           governance standards across the continent, especially as the region takes important steps to establish           the Continental Free Trade Area by 2017.

     13. On corporate governance a number of key recommendations were made, including:

• The need to train African Board of Directors;
• To enforce policy and governance structures; including insurance of full attendance of board meetings;
• Inter-generational representation in board composition; and
• The need for gender diversity in board membership.

     14. Delegates praised ongoing efforts by stock exchanges and professional associations to foster good            corporate governance culture and encouraged Afreximbank to deepen engagement with these entities.

    15.   Participants encouraged Afreximbank to take the recommendations emerging from the Forum to the             African Union, African Governments and regional institutions. In the same vein, participants also felt              that such   level of engagement with policy makers will enhance implementation of good corporate            governance and customer due diligence best practices across the continent.