Back to Open Ownership map: Worldwide action on beneficial ownership transparency

Regions

Africa

As a natural resource-rich region, corporate ownership transparency is increasingly being embraced in Africa. It is seen as a tool that can help combat revenue leakages caused by a myriad of socio-economic issues such as corruption, money-laundering, procurement fraud, illicit financial flows, and tax evasion. Our support to countries covers parts of Eastern, Western, and Southern Africa. In East Africa, countries like Kenya are establishing legal frameworks and systems for the disclosure of beneficial ownership (BO) data for legal arrangements. In the West, the new President of Senegal has committed to transparency of ownership information for companies in the extractive sector. The relevant actors are taking steps to amend the legislative framework on access to BO information. In the South, significant progress has been made to set up registers for the collection of BO data for legal arrangements, such as trusts. We have seen a growing interest in the use of BO data from government data users, such as public procurement authorities.

Working with different funders, we have been providing technical support to countries in the region that are implementing beneficial ownership transparency (BOT). We support countries to establish and strengthen legislative and regulatory frameworks that will enable the effective collection, storing, and sharing of quality BO information. We also build the technical capacity of implementing government agencies to operationalise such legislative frameworks on BOT whilst providing guidance to implementers as they navigate complex elements of BOT implementation, such as verification and compliance. We have been privileged to be a part of the BOT implementation journey of several economies in the region. As we continue to support countries to implement best practice, we recognise the dynamic nature of the space, and the need for a coordinated approach to implementation in the region.

Countries in the region

  • Algeria
  • Angola
  • Benin
  • Botswana

    Open Ownership has provided support to the Companies and Intellectual Property Authority (CIPA) to help review their companies' legislation, including the Companies Act and associated Regulations, and we will be providing support on reviewing their beneficial ownership guidelines. We are exploring opportunities for providing further support to the CIPA and other stakeholders including the Financial Intelligence Agency, the Master of the High Court, and the Ethics and Integrity Directorate.

  • Burkina Faso
  • Burundi
  • Cabo Verde
  • Cameroon
  • Central African Republic
  • Chad
  • Comoros
  • Côte d'Ivoire

    Open Ownership supported the government by reviewing its beneficial ownership legislation and plan to provide more technical support as it advances with beneficial ownership implementation.

  • Democratic Republic of the Congo
  • Djibouti
  • Egypt
  • Equatorial Guinea
  • Eritrea
  • Eswatini
  • Ethiopia
  • Gabon
  • Ghana

    Open Ownership (OO) is providing technical support to the Minerals Commission and the Petroleums Commission on the institutionalisation of beneficial ownership data in its licensing processes. This support is provided under the Opening Extractives programme. OO is also providing technical support to the Office of the Registrar of Companies as it develops a new e-register for the collection, maintenance, and sharing of beneficial ownership information.

  • Guinea
  • Guinea-Bissau
  • Islamic Republic of Mauritania
  • Kenya

    Open Ownership is providing technical assistance to improve the quality of the beneficial ownership (BO) data stored in the public procurement information portal and build the capacity of key actors to use this BO information to improve transparency and integrity in public procurement. We are also supporting the Business Registration Service to establish a regulatory framework for the disclosure and maintenance of accurate BO information for trusts.

  • Lesotho
  • Liberia

    Open Ownership is supporting the key government implementing agencies with the development and operationalisation of a regulatory framework and a digital system for the collection, storing, and sharing of beneficial ownership information. Our efforts are also focused on building the capacity of government and non-government stakeholders to declare and collect quality beneficial ownership data.

  • Libya
  • Madagascar

    Open Ownership has delivered technical capacity-building sessions on beneficial ownership transparency for the technical staff of the Financial Intelligence Unit and other government agencies.

  • Malawi

    Open Ownership is delivering technical assistance to the Department of the Registrar General and other key stakeholders to improve existing legislative frameworks, systems, and technical capacity for the effective collection and sharing of beneficial ownership data.

  • Mali
  • Mauritius
  • Morocco
  • Mozambique
  • Namibia

    Open Ownership is providing technical assistance to the Financial Intelligence Centre, the Business and Intellectual Property Authority, and the Master of the High Court, as they work to develop systems to collect, maintain, and share beneficial ownership information. We are also supporting them as they navigate implementation issues, particularly with compliance and data collection.

  • Niger
  • Nigeria

    Open Ownership has been supporting Nigeria with publishing its beneficial ownership data in line with the Beneficial Ownership Data Standard. Our efforts are also focused on advancing standardisation of data use among extractive regulators in Nigeria.

  • Republic of South Africa

    Open Ownership is engaged in providing support to the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission and other government stakeholders who are part of the Inter-Departmental Committee for Beneficial Ownership, which has included legal and systems support. In partnership with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the Commonwealth Africa Anti-Corruption Centre, we have delivered regional peer-learning events.

  • Republic of the Congo
  • Republic of The Gambia
  • Rwanda
  • São Tomé and Príncipe
  • Senegal

    Open Ownership is supporting the Senegal Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative and the Ministry of Justice as they amend the access provisions of their Decree on Beneficial Ownership to make a subset of the beneficial ownership information in their extractive sector register accessible to the public.

  • Seychelles
  • Sierra Leone
  • Somalia
  • South Sudan
  • Sudan
  • Togo
  • Tunisia
  • Uganda
  • United Republic of Tanzania
  • Zambia

    Open Ownership is providing technical assistance to support the development of a national beneficial ownership register and the sharing of beneficial ownership data between key government agencies.

  • Zimbabwe