CSO SESSION
Promoting Corporate Accountability Legislation in Africa: Moving from Voluntary Standards to Binding Laws

Session partner:

• African Coalition for Corporate Accountability (ACCA)

Background 

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While discussions on corporate accountability continue to gain momentum across the continent, there remains a stark gap between rhetoric and implementation. Despite years of advocacy and numerous policy dialogues, no African country has yet enacted a comprehensive, standalone corporate accountability or mandatory human rights due diligence (mHRDD) law.

On one hand, communities continue to bear the brunt of business-related human rights abuses, particularly in the extractive, agricultural, and infrastructure sectors often with little to no access to remedy or corporate accountability. On the other hand, human rights defenders face harassment, threats, and reprisals for speaking out, while powerful corporations operate with impunity, shielded by weak legal frameworks and government silence. This persistent imbalance of power underscores the urgent need to move beyond voluntary commitments and adopt binding legal obligations that protect people and the environment from corporate harm.

 

Despite limited tangible progress to date, ACCA has consistently championed the need for robust regulatory frameworks to ensure that corporate actors respect human rights and the environment. The proposed session at the upcoming Business and Human Rights Forum in Zambia will serve as a critical platform to examine the challenges, opportunities, and political will required to advance enforceable corporate accountability laws across Africa. This timely and urgent conversation aims to confront these persistent legislative voids and shift the regional discourse beyond voluntary standards, such as the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, towards binding legal obligations for companies operating on the continent.

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Justification

In the absence of binding legal obligations in the Continent, corporate misconduct continues to cause serious harm to people and the environment across Africa, often with impunity. The existing voluntary measures and soft-law instruments, while helpful in principle, they do not provide adequate protection or effective remedies for affected communities. As a result, the demand for mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence legislation is not only timely but necessary.

The proposed session is timely and necessary in helping to shape an African-led, context-specific legal response to corporate accountability. It also presents an opportunity to align this agenda with ongoing regional economic integration under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). As the AfCFTA seeks to boost intra-African trade and attract investment, human rights and environmental protections must not be sidelined in pursuit of economic growth. Instead, trade and investment rules should be designed to complement and reinforce corporate accountability, ensuring that the expansion of markets does not come at the expense of people’s rights and environmental sustainability.

Further, drawing on legislative developments from other regions such as France’s Duty of Vigilance Law and the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), the proposed session will explore how African countries can craft their own legal frameworks that promote responsible business conduct within the context of AfCFTA.

Ultimately, this session will serve as a strategic platform to mobilise stakeholders including policymakers, civil society, affected communities, and regional institutions towards a unified vision for binding corporate accountability standards that protect rights, advance justice, and are embedded within Africa’s broader development and trade ambitions.

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Key Objectives

 

• Highlight the urgent need for binding corporate accountability legislation across Africa

• Clarify the distinction between mandatory human rights due diligence (mHRDD) and broader corporate accountability frameworks

• Share regional and international legal models to inform African policymaking

• Facilitate dialogue among civil society, legal experts, and policymakers on advancing corporate accountability laws

• Identify actionable strategies for ACCA and partners to support national and regional advocacy efforts.

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Guiding Questions

• What are the key gaps in current legal and policy frameworks that allow corporate human rights abuses to persist in Africa?

• Why have voluntary corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives and soft-law instruments failed to deliver justice for affected communities?

• What distinguishes mandatory human rights due diligence (mHRDD) from other corporate accountability approaches, and why is it essential for Africa?

• What lessons can African countries draw from international legal models, such as France’s Duty of Vigilance Law and the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD)?

• How can corporate accountability legislation be harmonised with regional trade and investment frameworks, including the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)?

• What role should civil society, regional bodies, and affected communities play in shaping and pushing for national corporate accountability laws?

• What are the political, legal, and practical challenges to adopting such laws in African countries and how can they be overcome?

• What concrete steps can ACCA and its partners take to support advocacy for national and regional corporate accountability frameworks?

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Format

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Panel discussion followed by open dialogue​