Africa must lead global governance and compliance standards – Tiffany A. Archer
By Ebenezer Chike Adjei NJOKU
At a time of growing scepticism about global governance norms, Africa is moving to define its approach to compliance, risk, and institutional resilience, rooted in ethics, cultural intelligence, and local realities.
The sentiment emerged strongly from the inaugural Executive Forum on Strategic Compliance in West Africa, where participants pushed back against the legacy of externally imposed standards and signalled a turning point in the continent’s governance trajectory and argued that governance reform in Africa must be generational, not cyclical.
Tiffany A. Archer, Esq., founder of Eunomia Risk Advisory and organiser of the Forum, said the time had come for African leadership to shape and not simply follow the global conversation on governance.
“Today’s gathering is a signal that Africa is not waiting to be invited to the table. We are building our own, with integrity, intelligence, and intention. What the world needs now are capable, courageous stewards who move from policy to practice, who understand that compliance is not just about avoiding risk—it is about creating value and protecting the future,” she further stated.
The event convened governance experts, business leaders, legal practitioners, regulators, and academics across Africa and the diaspora to examine emerging challenges in corporate and public governance. Participants called for a departure from prescriptive, externally defined models and urged the development of frameworks grounded in African contexts and experience.
From passive adoption to strategic influence
Eunomia Risk Advisory, the Forum convener, is a boutique governance and compliance consultancy that applies behavioural economics, data analytics, and institutional strategy to help organisations reform culture and improve accountability.
Ms. Archer, who has advised Fortune 200 companies, worked with the US Department of Justice, and teaches compliance at Fordham Law School and Organizational Risk Management at New York University (NYU), said her goal is not to export Western models but to partner with African institutions to co-create bespoke solutions.
“Too often, compliance and ethics are treated as foreign mandates; boxes to tick. But the most courageous and values-driven leadership I have seen is coming from this region,” she said.
The Forum framed governance not as an imported ideology, but as a strategic asset to be developed, exported, and owned. Ms. Archer announced that the Forum would anchor a Pan-African initiative to support leadership development, predictive compliance systems, and cross-border policy innovation. This shift echoes a growing trend across emerging economies seeking to assert their governance paradigms in the face of geopolitical realignment and rising regulatory complexity.
According to the World Economic Forum’s 2024 Global Risks Report, institutional trust is declining globally, with 68 percent of respondents in developing regions saying they believe “governments serve the interests of a few.” In this context, forums like Eunomia’s provide a platform for rethinking governance from the bottom up.
Challenging the global hierarchy
The Forum also challenged assumptions about Africa’s role in global governance architecture. Professor Douglas Boateng, a veteran industrialist and governance scholar, argued that Africa can no longer afford to operate as a passive consumer of international best practices.
“We need to stop cutting and pasting Western models that do not work in our context. With determination, Africans can export knowledge and frameworks to the world. And Ghana, once again, must take the lead,” Prof. Boateng stressed.
He warned that ceremonial leadership and four-year political governance cycles are impeding long-term planning and institutional development. “In too many boardrooms, we plan for four years instead of 40. That is not governance. That is political theatre,” he added.
Prof. Boateng’s recently published governance book, designed to be digestible by both teenagers and corporate executives, was cited as an example of how simplified, accessible tools can build generational leadership. The book has been approved by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA) and is in discussions for adoption in other African countries.
Africa’s voice in the compliance conversation
Panel discussions reinforced the need for Africa to become a normative contributor—not just a rule taker—in global compliance and governance conversations. Speakers noted that Africa’s experiences with informality, rapid digitalisation, and demographic shifts make it an ideal laboratory for next-generation governance models.
“There is an assumption in the West that Africa must catch up. But in reality, the global system is broken. It is time for Africa to show what is possible,” GuyChristian Agbor, a legal scholar and governance advisor, explained.
Mr. Agbor introduced an expanded (ESGTT) framework—Environmental, Social, Governance, Technology, and Taxation—as a new lens for compliance and policy evaluation in Africa. “This is not about rejecting global standards. It is about redefining them to reflect our priorities,” he said.
The Forum also touched on the practical constraints that African businesses, particularly SMEs, face in meeting global standards. “We cannot impose complex, resource-intensive frameworks on small businesses and expect compliance. We must build systems that are scalable, relevant, and inclusive,” NanaAma Botchway, founder of corporate law firm n. dowuona & Company stated.
Mrs. Botchway advocated for simplified governance models tailored to the realities of African enterprise and called on professional bodies like the Institute of Directors and Ghana Bar Association to provide practical education and resources for board members and entrepreneurs.
Governance turning point
The consensus among speakers was that the continent’s growing youth population, digital transformation, and evolving trade architecture through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) present both a challenge and a mandate to lead.
Professor Edmund Ato Kwaw, who presented a paper on mobile money and digital finance within the context of AfCFTA, highlighted Africa’s dominance in mobile transactions—home to over 70 percent of the world’s mobile money accounts—as evidence that governance innovation can and should come from the continent. “We cannot rely on legacy banking models alone. The future of finance, regulation, and compliance in Africa lies in digital infrastructure. But without appropriate oversight, these systems remain vulnerable,” Prof. Kwaw said.
His remarks underscored the broader theme of the Forum: that governance must be predictive, not reactive, rooted not in imitation, but in innovation.
Vision to execution
As African countries face growing fiscal pressures, rising public expectations, and a shifting geopolitical order, the Forum called for a deeper commitment to ethical governance, cross-sector collaboration, and institution building. “We have the talent. We have the tools. What we need now is the will. Africa is not just part of the global governance conversation. We are shaping it,” Ms. Archer added.
The Forum concluded with a pledge to continue building a Pan-African platform for strategic compliance, beginning with targeted capacity-building initiatives and knowledge exchange. Several delegates expressed interest in cross-border training, legal harmonisation efforts, and ongoing collaboration between public agencies, academia, and private sector actors.
With its behavioral-science approach and deep regional insight, Eunomia Risk Advisory reaffirmed its commitment to translating this vision into execution—working alongside African institutions to build resilient systems, strengthen governance ecosystems, and drive lasting impact across the continent.
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