NEW: ACGN aligns to AfCFTA

Fatima Bulla-Musakwa

NEWLY elected vice chairperson of the Institute of Directors Africa Chairs Forum, Dr Mike Juru says the body is keen to have uniformity in applying corporate governance, which is one of the tenets that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is premised on.

The Chairs Forum comprises all current and past chairpersons or presidents of member countries organisations of the African Corporate Governance Network (ACGN).

It is currently formulating a standard continental code of corporate governance.

By enhancing the capacity of directors to observe corporate governance, Dr Juru said trade will not be restricted to goods only but will extend to services, which include those provided by directors.

“We are saying trade will move from Zimbabwe to Ghana, but then it includes services of directors. So the director in Zimbabwe should be in a position to be a director in Ghana or in Egypt, so that it’s not restricted to the trade of goods.

“We are also looking at facilitators that, for instance the trainers in Ghana should be coming to Zimbabwe and those in Zimbabwe should be able to move to Malawi and train directors,” Dr Juru said.

ACGN represents over 20 500 senior executives and directors across the continent.

One of its founding objectives is to develop the institutional capacity of its members to enhance effective corporate governance practices to build better private and public sector organisations, as well as corporate citizens in Africa.

It further provides policy-makers and market participants with an important forum to exchange experiences and best practices to address ongoing corporate governance challenges in Africa.

Dr Juru was elected together with Mr Rockson Dogbegah, the president of Institute of Directors Ghana, who was elected chairman to serve for the next two years.

Mrs Victoria Silutongwe, a past president of the Institute of Directors Zambia, was elected its inaugural secretary.