The Association of Anti-Corruption Agencies in Commonwealth Africa (AAACoA) was created in 2011 in Gaborone, Botswana. It was formulated to bring together efforts to fight corruption through sharing best practices, training, capacity building and policy research. It also helps Commonwealth governments to develop and adopt measures and strategies to fight corruption and improve governance. Government of Botswana in partnership with Commonwealth Secretariat set up Commonwealth Africa Anti-Corruption Centre (CAACC) in 2013 as a secretariat for AAACoA.
Anti-Corruption Agencies agreed at the first Conference for heads of Anti-Corruption Agencies meeting held in Gaborone, Botswana, that there was a need to strengthen anti-corruption agencies and promote regional network of anti-corruption agencies and the need for regional cooperation was impressed upon. As a result, the Association of Anti-Corruption Agencies in Commonwealth Africa Association (AAACoA) was established to address challenges faced by Anti-Corruption agencies in Commonwealth Africa in implementing their anti-corruption mandate. AAACoA is composed of Anti-Corruption Agencies (ACAs) from twenty (20) African Countries; Botswana, Cameroon, Eswatini, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, and Zambia.
The Association of Anti-Corruption Agencies in Commonwealth Africa hosts annual conferences as a collaborative effort by members and stakeholders with the aim to broker exchange of ideas and best practices among anti-corruption agencies and encourages sharing of expertise where there is comparative advantage. The decisions from the conferences are adopted and implemented in the same spirit of working together. At these meetings, heads make presentations on, where amongst others, anti-corruption strategies that they use and any innovative projects. This also provides an opportunity for networking and exchange and transfer of experiences.
Hosting of the conference is rotated amongst the members. The association currently boasts 23 member agencies.