International Fraud Handbook

CHAPTER 13Sub-Saharan Africa

REGIONAL FRAUD TRENDS

The 2018 Report to the Nations on Occupational Fraud and Abuse issued by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) includes 267 cases from sub-Saharan Africa that were investigated between January 2016 and October 2017. These cases caused a median loss of US $90,000 per case.

As noted in Exhibit 13.1, corruption is the most common form of occupational fraud committed in sub-Saharan Africa; 49% of the cases analyzed involved some form of corruption, which is more than twice as frequent as any other type of fraud scheme. Theft of cash on hand is the second most common category of occupational fraud, occurring in 21% of the cases in the region. In addition, fraud schemes in sub-Saharan Africa are more than twice as likely to be detected by a tip as by any other means (see Exhibit 13.2).

Exhibit 13.1 Scheme Types – Sub-Saharan Africa

Exhibit 13.2 Initial Detection Method – Sub-Saharan Africa

The 2018 Report to the Nations also examines the anti-fraud controls that were present at victim organizations at the time the frauds being analyzed were committed. Exhibit 13.3 shows that external audits of the financial ...