Compliance is now established on Africa's agenda, both by necessity and also by choice

Thomas Kendra

The general growth of compliance

The focus on compliance is growing worldwide: whilst once a term that concerned only a sub-set of specialist industries, compliance is now becoming an essential concern for all companies. For instance, since 2010, the amount of ‘Compliance Officer’ positions held in the United States has risen by almost 50%. [1] This development is spurred in large part by shifting global priorities more generally. An obvious example is the increased focus on environmental sustainability, which has in turn given rise to a range of environmentally focused regimes demanding strict compliance: in the 2022 Hogan Lovells Global Compliance Survey Steering the Course, 82% of the compliance leaders consulted stated that identifying risk pertaining to the Environment (such as climate impact), Social issues (such as impact on local communities) and Governance (such as internal diversity profile of employees and senior management) (together ESG) is a current and future priority in their business strategy. [2] The world’s ever-increasing digitalisation is another factor influencing compliance, with regulators charged to keep pace with technological developments in order to guard against misuse.

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