THE AFRICAN BUSINESS FORTUNE- EAC
EAC adopts code of conduct to guide regional trade
By O. Benard
Business operations within the East African Community( EAC) are set to revamp after the bloc adopted codes of conduct to curb corruption and unethical business behavior within the trading bloc.
Denis Karera, chairman of the East African Business Council( EABC), the organ representing the private sector in the bloc, stated that the code of conduct was intended to create a sense of ethical business operations among the business operators in the region.
“ The code of conduct is necessary because we do business in very unethical ways. We agreed that corruption was a present danger, keeping lots of people outside jobs, key tenders ….. people lose not because they have lost, but because they have not carried an envelope for the powers that be,” Karera said.
The code is set to complement, rather than replace, individual company’ s codes of ethics and other existing national and international codes, thus entitling companies to ensure that employees understand and comply with the code.
By committing to the code, business operators in the region pledge to treat their stakeholders with respect, run their businesses responsibly, are actively involved in promoting integrity and preventing corruption as well as act in compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
“ We demonstrate our commitment by creating policies, procedures and structures to implement the values and obligations of this code in our companies, and by reporting annually on our implementation of this code,” a part of the code reads.
The regulations were adopted at the recently concluded EAC summit in Tanzania, and endorsed after a report of the“ baseline assessment and risk mapping of unethical business conduct in the community” was presented by EABC. The report affirms that codes of conduct are recognized as an important component of self-regulation and acts as a guide for users, providing a point of reference on how to navigate certain situations.
EABC business ethics report, which briefs on among other areas, unethical business behavior, ethics management initiatives and factors that contribute to unethical business practices, points out that“ bribery to access a service, to avoid a regulation and to win a tender was identified as the most problematic factors in doing business in the private sector by chief executive officers, associations and employees with associations describing it as a big problem, while chief executive officers described it as an average problem. Regional projects and trade EAC heads of state endorsed the guiding principles at a time when most countries in the region have kick-started mega projects.
For instance, Kenya and Tanzania launched the construction of the Arusha-Tengeru dual carriage way and a by-pass road in Tengeru in efforts to ease the flow of cargo.
President Uhuru Kenyatta and Tanzania’ s John Magufuli commenced the $ 12million
President Paul Kagame launched Kenya National Electronic Single Window System seen as a major boost for regional trade since it will simplify
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