About Us

The Centre for Corporate Governance in Africa at the University of Stellenbosch Business School conducts multi-disciplinary research and offers educational and development activities to improve the effectiveness of corporate governance in African organisations.

The Centre focuses on:

The development of the compliance and performance aspects of directors' attitudes, knowledge and skills.
The link between corporate governance, business ethics and total organisational performance.

The purpose of the Centre is to improve the effectiveness of corporate governance within African organisations, predominantly in the private sector.

The vision of the Centre is to be the leading provider of research and educational services on the African continent in the area of corporate governance.

The mission of the Centre is to develop both the compliance and the performance aspects of directors' attitudes, knowledge and skills, as well as the link between corporate governance, business ethics and total organisational performance.

Why the need for this Centre?

Corporate failures and the current global financial crisis have focused the attention on the need for sound corporate governance and effective ethics programmes. However, the losses incurred by these high-profile cases are not the only problems. Far more damage is done in less spectacular fashion through bad decisions made by directors, not as a result of ill intent, but rather through lack of training and understanding of the basic values of corporate governance: honesty, transparency and accountability.

Codes and guidelines such as the King III Report (South Africa), the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (USA) and the Combined Code (UK) encourage sound corporate governance, but formal standards are only part of the solution.

The Unit for Corporate Governance in Africa was launched at the USB in July 2007 and is a direct response to the African continent's need for a proper focus on corporate governance through research, education and development initiatives. In 2011 the Unit became the Centre for Corporate Governance in Africa.