Title: From Norms to Reality: Why Anti-corruption Protocols fail in Advancing African Regional Integration
Authors: Netty Magura
Volume: 9
Issue: 8
Pages: 227-232
Publication Date: 2025/08/28
Abstract:
Efforts to curb corruption in Africa have produced an impressive body of protocols, conventions, and institutional commitments at both continental and regional levels. From the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption (AUCPCC) to regional protocols under SADC, ECOWAS, and the EAC, the continent has sought to embed governance reforms within its broader integration agenda. Yet corruption persists, undermining trade facilitation, distorting markets, and eroding trust in regional institutions. This article interrogates the paradox of norms without practice, examining why anti-corruption frameworks often fail to deliver tangible outcomes for African regional integration. Drawing on governance theory, political economy analysis, and case studies from Southern, West, and East Africa, the article argues that weak enforcement mechanisms, institutional deficits, elite capture, and sociocultural norms explain the implementation gap. It concludes that unless anti-corruption is repositioned as a central pillar of integration supported by enforceable sanctions, digital innovations, and multi-actor coalitions the, transformative potential of AfCFTA and Agenda 2063 will remain unrealized.