At the October CEOs’ Lunch, attended by 40 members, guests and others who find our events a great networking and learning opportunity, Malvi Chavda from Pricewaterhouse Coopers gave a presentation on the results of their 2014 global survey on ‘Economic Crime: a threat to business processes’.
Over 5,000 senior officers from business, government and public sector organisations, of which 83 from Zambia. Key findings of this survey for Zambia and globally are that:
- Asset misappropriation is the leading form of economic crime: 81% in Zambia and 69% globally
- Bribery and corruption ranks second: 35% in Zambia and 27% globally
- Procurement fraud comes third: 30% in Zambia and 29% globally
The survey finds that the cost of economic crime in Zambia is relatively high compared to Africa and Global levels. The survey reveals that 46% of Zambian respondents reported that the cost of economic crime was between $100k and $1m, while in Africa as a whole, 29% of respondents reported that they suffered less than $50k from economic crime, less than the 32% global figure.
Economic loss is not the only concern that companies face when combating crime. Respondents pointed at damage to employee morale and business relations as some of the most severe non-financial impacts.
The survey shows that most fraud is committed by internal fraudsters, according to 65% of Zambian respondents compared to 63% in Africa and 56% globally. Of these, most in Zambia are junior staff members at 54% followed by middle management at 46%, while the wider African and global findings show that fraud is perpetrated first and foremost by middle management (a trend now evident in Zambia in the preliminary 2016 survey findings).
The report also covers many other aspects such as stopping and preventing fraud, cybercrime, perceptions of the related legal environment and a global perspective. To find out more and to download a copy of the survey, go to http://www.pwc.com/gx/en/services/advisory/consulting/forensics/economic-crime-survey.html.
If any members of the Chamber wish to attend the PwC launch event for the next report in February 2016 or in case there are any queries, please get in touch with Malvi at malvi.chavda@zm.pwc.com or on 0967 862 743.