InfraCo Africa launches a new Whistleblowing helpline

A new whistleblowing helpline will provide InfraCo Africa with further assurance that its projects are developed to the highest environmental, social and ethical standards. Often working in the poorest, post conflict or fragile states, transparency and project quality are of vital importance to InfraCo Africa. Its success relies on any individual working with InfraCo Africa feeling able to report any concerns that they might have. To make it easier to report any such concerns, InfraCo Africa have asked SafeCall to provide an independent external reporting helpline.

“We are proud of the standard to which InfraCo Africa operates and the quality of its projects, this whistleblowing helpline will help ensure that we continue working at such a high standard. We therefore encourage anyone who has any concerns about any aspect of our projects to contact SafeCall in confidence. All calls will be taken seriously.” (Alex Katon, Executive Director, InfraCo Africa)

Anyone with a concern, whether about bribery or corruption, health and safety practices, environmental impact, negligence or any other practices or behaviours, can call the whistleblowing helpline. Concerns can be treated anonymously, will be investigated and any issues addressed promptly. Any such calls and subsequent actions, will be reported to InfraCo Africa’s Board and shareholder on a regular basis. Further details on the whistleblowing service provided by SafeCall can be found here.

The World Bank estimates that developing countries lose almost US$1trillion a year to bribery. While these estimates are difficult to verify (and are not always consistent), they indicate that the amounts involved are significant and pose widespread problems, particularly in resource-rich countries and fragile and conflict-affected states. Regardless of the exact numbers, both the World Bank and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa estimate an upward trend in illicit financial flows between 2001 and 20013, with increases averaging at 9.4% a year. These estimates suggest that in any one year the amount paid out in bribes is equivalent to the amount of official development assistance received by Africa.

InfraCo Africa values its reputation for integrity and openness and has a zero-tolerance approach towards fraud, bribery and corruption of any kind. Implementing a whistleblowing hotline demonstrates InfraCo Africa’s ongoing commitment to transparency and best practice in project development.