Charter for Recovery of Assets Stolen from Africa Issued

The Charter was presented in the African Asset Recovery Practitioners Forum (hereinafter, the Forum) that took place from 15 to 17 April in Nairobi (Kenya). It saw the participation of anti-corruption agencies, asset recovery bodies, prosecutorial and law enforcement authorities of member States of the African Union (AU) and international organisations, in particular:

African Development Bank;
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime;
Civil Forum for Asset Recovery and others.

The signature of the Charter by 31 member States of the AU became the main event of the Forum.

The Charter does not have binding character, but is an operative guiding document for the bodies authorised to recover assets. As stated by the representatives of the African Union Advisory Board on Corruption, the Charter is a “strategic platform underpinning the Common African Position on Asset Recovery (CAPAR)*.

*CAPAR was adopted in 2020 as a framework strategy for the recovery of assets stolen from Africa and located in foreign jurisdictions. The key objective of development and adoption of CAPAR consisted in providing member States of the AU with assistance in detecting, returning and effectively using the assets recovered.

CAPAR identifies Africa’s priorities in asset recovery, in particular:

1. Detect and identify stolen assets:

Strengthen national and international systems for tracing stolen assets;
Incentivizing reporting of information about stolen assets by whistleblowers;
Improve performance of the bodies responsible for tracing stolen assets;
Promote and raise awareness about enhanced transparency for detecting stolen assets;

2. Confiscate and return stolen assets:

Focus on recovery of assets moved from African countries;
Strengthen legal and financial institutions to promote the asset recovery process;

3. Manage the assets recovered:

Create and support the functioning of an agreed system of management of the assets recovered;
Form or improve the existing institutional, legal and political mechanisms for managing the assets recovered;
Implement the strategies aimed at enhancing the level of transparency of management of the assets recovered;

4. Ensure cooperation and partnership in tracing and returning assets:

Increase coordination between national, regional and international legal frameworks and that of action of the bodies and organisations authorised to recover assets;
Engage different stakeholders, in particular, civil society organisations, in asset recovery.