Overview
PwC Kenya has today released the PwC Economic Crime and Fraud Survey report - Eastern Africa for the survey undertaken in 2022. The report covers six Eastern African countries - on the backdrop of the PwC Global Economic Crime and Fraud survey (GECS) 2022. The report themed ‘Protecting the Perimeter: The rise of external fraud’ shares insights on the areas impacting organisations in the region in terms of both risk and their responses to economic crime and fraud. The areas covered include the effectiveness of fraud prevention methods; supply chain fraud in an evolving world; corruption and accountability; ESG fraud; and cybersecurity risks and their exposure.
The 2022 GECS survey introduced several economic crime categories that correspond to global developments that were not covered by previous issues. These include supply chain fraud, disinformation and misinformation fraud, ESG reporting fraud, and government relief fraud among others. This report dedicates several sections to covering some of these new economic crimes as well as some new developments in relation to the traditional economic crimes such as asset misappropriation, money laundering and cybercrime.
2022 PwC Economic Crime and Fraud Survey Report - Eastern
The world we live in is dynamic and economic crimes emerge and evolve rapidly. Find out from John Kamua, Associate Director how our Global Economic Survey Report shows how institution leaders are responding to the threat of new crimes and evolution of old ones.
Muniu Thoithi, PwC’s Deals and Consulting Leader, Eastern Africa says, “Today’s fraud landscape is more complex than ever, presenting continually evolving challenges for organisations to contend with. Our 2022 survey results provide first-hand insights from those confronting these challenges in the region, highlighting new and emerging areas of risk that require attention to protect against economic crime.”
The level of fraud experienced within organisations is notably high, with 63% of Eastern African respondents having experienced fraud within their organisation in the last two years against 46% of respondents globally. Respondents in the Eastern Africa region reported higher incidence rates for more prevalent crimes such as Customer fraud, Asset Misappropriation, Procurement fraud, Bribery & Corruption and Supply Chain fraud. For less prevalent crimes such as HR fraud, Tax fraud, Government Relief fraud and ESG Reporting fraud, respondents in Eastern Africa generally reported a lower incidence rate than their global counterparts.
Conclusion – key takeaways for protecting your perimeter
Fraud and corruption risk evolves with the evolution of the business environment, in response to emerging areas such as the current focus on ESG and increased digitisation of supply chains, and in reaction to internal control measures. As such, continuous risk management is important to mitigate emergence of new types of economic crimes or evolution of existing typologies. Maintaining robust oversight with the flexibility to shift focus as needed when new risks emerge is critical in protecting your perimeter.
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