- The Maritime Anti-Corruption Network (MACN) has received two-year project funding from the US government’s development agency USAID to help in the fight against transnational maritime sector corruption.
- These funds are part of USAID’s ‘Doing Business with Integrity’ activity and the collaboration will be part of its ‘Countering Transnational Corruption Grand Challenge for Development’.
The Maritime Anti-Corruption Network (MACN) has secured a two-year funding deal from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
This is part of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)’s “Doing Business with Integrity” initiative, which falls under the broader Countering Transnational Corruption Grand Challenge for Development.
MACN partners with USAID to expand Anti-corruption efforts
The project will receive additional backing from private sector supporters like Maersk Line Ltd, Lauritzen Foundation, DS Norden, Hafnia, Odfjell, and JM Baxi, alongside key partners in Nigeria and India.
This collaboration aims to assist MACN in expanding its HelpDesk service, a tool developed to resolve incidents of corruption in ports.
According to MACN, the HelpDesk allows maritime companies to report corruption in real-time, with 99 per cent of bribery cases resolved without any payments. Over 3,000 vessels have used the service so far.
The next phase of the project will focus on expanding HelpDesk access across India, Egypt, and Nigeria. This includes extending its reach to major ports such as Mumbai, Alexandria, and Lagos.
It’s estimated that the service will support over 1,600 vessels in India, 200 in Nigeria, and 180 in Egypt.
Beyond that, the initiative aims to engage more local businesses, offering compliance training to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to foster a more transparent supply chain. A key part of this effort will involve creating a centralised data platform to better track and analyse corruption risks.
The HelpDesk tool, as noted by MACN, has helped shipowners in Nigeria save between $20,000 and $150,000 per port call by avoiding delays and corrupt demands.
At this year’s IAPH World Ports Conference, illicit trade emerged as a key issue. Figureheads of the session called for a concerted effort involving not only port personnel but government officials, law enforcement and the greater society at large to mobilise against illicit trade.
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Source: MACN
